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Sample records for induces illusory motion

  1. Active Control Does Not Eliminate Motion-Induced Illusory Displacement

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    Ian M. Thornton

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available When the sine-wave grating of a Gabor patch drifts to the left or right, the perceived position of the entire object is shifted in the direction of local motion. In the current work we explored whether active control of the physical position of the patch overcomes such motion induced illusory displacement. In Experiment 1 we created a simple computer game and asked participants to continuously guide a Gabor patch along a randomly curving path using a joystick. When the grating inside the Gabor patch was stationary, participants could perform this task without error. When the grating drifted to either left or right, we observed systematic errors consistent with previous reports of motion-induced illusory displacement. In Experiment 2 we created an iPad application where the built-in accelerometer tilt control was used to steer the patch through as series of “gates”. Again, we observed systematic guidance errors that depended on the direction and speed of local motion. In conclusion, we found no evidence that participants could adapt or compensate for illusory displacement given active control of the target.

  2. Influence of Visual Motion, Suggestion, and Illusory Motion on Self-Motion Perception in the Horizontal Plane.

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    Rosenblatt, Steven David; Crane, Benjamin Thomas

    2015-01-01

    A moving visual field can induce the feeling of self-motion or vection. Illusory motion from static repeated asymmetric patterns creates a compelling visual motion stimulus, but it is unclear if such illusory motion can induce a feeling of self-motion or alter self-motion perception. In these experiments, human subjects reported the perceived direction of self-motion for sway translation and yaw rotation at the end of a period of viewing set visual stimuli coordinated with varying inertial stimuli. This tested the hypothesis that illusory visual motion would influence self-motion perception in the horizontal plane. Trials were arranged into 5 blocks based on stimulus type: moving star field with yaw rotation, moving star field with sway translation, illusory motion with yaw, illusory motion with sway, and static arrows with sway. Static arrows were used to evaluate the effect of cognitive suggestion on self-motion perception. Each trial had a control condition; the illusory motion controls were altered versions of the experimental image, which removed the illusory motion effect. For the moving visual stimulus, controls were carried out in a dark room. With the arrow visual stimulus, controls were a gray screen. In blocks containing a visual stimulus there was an 8s viewing interval with the inertial stimulus occurring over the final 1s. This allowed measurement of the visual illusion perception using objective methods. When no visual stimulus was present, only the 1s motion stimulus was presented. Eight women and five men (mean age 37) participated. To assess for a shift in self-motion perception, the effect of each visual stimulus on the self-motion stimulus (cm/s) at which subjects were equally likely to report motion in either direction was measured. Significant effects were seen for moving star fields for both translation (p = 0.001) and rotation (pperception was shifted in the direction consistent with the visual stimulus. Arrows had a small effect on self-motion

  3. Influence of Visual Motion, Suggestion, and Illusory Motion on Self-Motion Perception in the Horizontal Plane.

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    Steven David Rosenblatt

    Full Text Available A moving visual field can induce the feeling of self-motion or vection. Illusory motion from static repeated asymmetric patterns creates a compelling visual motion stimulus, but it is unclear if such illusory motion can induce a feeling of self-motion or alter self-motion perception. In these experiments, human subjects reported the perceived direction of self-motion for sway translation and yaw rotation at the end of a period of viewing set visual stimuli coordinated with varying inertial stimuli. This tested the hypothesis that illusory visual motion would influence self-motion perception in the horizontal plane. Trials were arranged into 5 blocks based on stimulus type: moving star field with yaw rotation, moving star field with sway translation, illusory motion with yaw, illusory motion with sway, and static arrows with sway. Static arrows were used to evaluate the effect of cognitive suggestion on self-motion perception. Each trial had a control condition; the illusory motion controls were altered versions of the experimental image, which removed the illusory motion effect. For the moving visual stimulus, controls were carried out in a dark room. With the arrow visual stimulus, controls were a gray screen. In blocks containing a visual stimulus there was an 8s viewing interval with the inertial stimulus occurring over the final 1s. This allowed measurement of the visual illusion perception using objective methods. When no visual stimulus was present, only the 1s motion stimulus was presented. Eight women and five men (mean age 37 participated. To assess for a shift in self-motion perception, the effect of each visual stimulus on the self-motion stimulus (cm/s at which subjects were equally likely to report motion in either direction was measured. Significant effects were seen for moving star fields for both translation (p = 0.001 and rotation (p0.1 for both. Thus, although a true moving visual field can induce self-motion, results of this

  4. Directional bias of illusory stream caused by relative motion adaptation.

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    Tomimatsu, Erika; Ito, Hiroyuki

    2016-07-01

    Enigma is an op-art painting that elicits an illusion of rotational streaming motion. In the present study, we tested whether adaptation to various motion configurations that included relative motion components could be reflected in the directional bias of the illusory stream. First, participants viewed the center of a rotating Enigma stimulus for adaptation. There was no physical motion on the ring area. During the adaptation period, the illusory stream on the ring was mainly seen in the direction opposite to that of the physical rotation. After the physical rotation stopped, the illusory stream on the ring was mainly seen in the same direction as that of the preceding physical rotation. Moreover, adapting to strong relative motion induced a strong bias in the illusory motion direction in the subsequently presented static Enigma stimulus. The results suggest that relative motion detectors corresponding to the ring area may produce the illusory stream of Enigma. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  5. Structure-from-motion: dissociating perception, neural persistence, and sensory memory of illusory depth and illusory rotation.

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    Pastukhov, Alexander; Braun, Jochen

    2013-02-01

    In the structure-from-motion paradigm, physical motion on a screen produces the vivid illusion of an object rotating in depth. Here, we show how to dissociate illusory depth and illusory rotation in a structure-from-motion stimulus using a rotationally asymmetric shape and reversals of physical motion. Reversals of physical motion create a conflict between the original illusory states and the new physical motion: Either illusory depth remains constant and illusory rotation reverses, or illusory rotation stays the same and illusory depth reverses. When physical motion reverses after the interruption in presentation, we find that illusory rotation tends to remain constant for long blank durations (T (blank) ≥ 0.5 s), but illusory depth is stabilized if interruptions are short (T (blank) ≤ 0.1 s). The stability of illusory depth over brief interruptions is consistent with the effect of neural persistence. When this is curtailed using a mask, stability of ambiguous vision (for either illusory depth or illusory rotation) is disrupted. We also examined the selectivity of the neural persistence of illusory depth. We found that it relies on a static representation of an interpolated illusory object, since changes to low-level display properties had little detrimental effect. We discuss our findings with respect to other types of history dependence in multistable displays (sensory stabilization memory, neural fatigue, etc.). Our results suggest that when brief interruptions are used during the presentation of multistable displays, switches in perception are likely to rely on the same neural mechanisms as spontaneous switches, rather than switches due to the initial percept choice at the stimulus onset.

  6. Vertical illusory self-motion through haptic stimulation of the feet

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    Nordahl, Rolf; Nilsson, Niels Christian; Turchet, Luca

    2012-01-01

    Circular and linear self-motion illusions induced through visual and auditory stimuli have been studied rather extensively. While the ability of haptic stimuli to augment such illusions has been investigated, the self-motion illusions which primarily are induced by stimulation of the haptic...... to generate the haptic feedback while the final condition included no haptic feedback. Analysis of self-reports were used to assess the participants' experience of illusory self-motion. The results indicate that such illusions are indeed possible. Significant differences were found between the condition...... modality remain relatively unexplored. In this paper, we present an experiment performed with the intention of investigating whether it is possible to use haptic stimulation of the main supporting areas of the feet to induce vertical illusory self-motion on behalf of unrestrained participants during...

  7. Primary visual cortex activity along the apparent-motion trace reflects illusory perception.

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    Lars Muckli

    2005-08-01

    Full Text Available The illusion of apparent motion can be induced when visual stimuli are successively presented at different locations. It has been shown in previous studies that motion-sensitive regions in extrastriate cortex are relevant for the processing of apparent motion, but it is unclear whether primary visual cortex (V1 is also involved in the representation of the illusory motion path. We investigated, in human subjects, apparent-motion-related activity in patches of V1 representing locations along the path of illusory stimulus motion using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Here we show that apparent motion caused a blood-oxygenation-level-dependent response along the V1 representations of the apparent-motion path, including regions that were not directly activated by the apparent-motion-inducing stimuli. This response was unaltered when participants had to perform an attention-demanding task that diverted their attention away from the stimulus. With a bistable motion quartet, we confirmed that the activity was related to the conscious perception of movement. Our data suggest that V1 is part of the network that represents the illusory path of apparent motion. The activation in V1 can be explained either by lateral interactions within V1 or by feedback mechanisms from higher visual areas, especially the motion-sensitive human MT/V5 complex.

  8. Haptically Induced Illusory Self-motion and the Influence of Context of Motion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nilsson, Niels Christian; Nordahl, Rolf; Sikström, Erik

    2012-01-01

    of the feet. The experiment was based on the a within-subjects design and included four conditions, each representing one context of motion: an elevator, a train compartment, a bathroom, and a completely dark environment. The audiohaptic stimuli was identical across all conditions. The participants’ sensation...... of movement was assessed by means of existing measures of illusory self-motion, namely, reported self-motion illusion per stimulus type, illusion compellingness, intensity and onset time. Finally the participants were also asked to estimate the experienced direction of movement. While the data obtained from...

  9. Neural Mechanisms of Illusory Motion: Evidence from ERP Study

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    Xu Y. A. N. Yun

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available ERPs were used to examine the neural correlates of illusory motion, by presenting the Rice Wave illusion (CI, its two variants (WI and NI and a real motion video (RM. Results showed that: Firstly, RM elicited a more negative deflection than CI, NI and WI between 200–350ms. Secondly, between 500–600ms, CI elicited a more positive deflection than NI and WI, and RM elicited a more positive deflection than CI, what's more interesting was the sequential enhancement of brain activity with the corresponding motion strength. We inferred that the former component might reflect the successful encoding of the local motion signals in detectors at the lower stage; while the latter one might be involved in the intensive representations of visual input in real/illusory motion perception, this was the whole motion-signal organization in the later stage of motion perception. Finally, between 1185–1450 ms, a significant positive component was found between illusory/real motion tasks than NI (no motion. Overall, we demonstrated that there was a stronger deflection under the corresponding lager motion strength. These results reflected not only the different temporal patterns between illusory and real motion but also extending to their distinguishing working memory representation and storage.

  10. Displacement of location in illusory line motion.

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    Hubbard, Timothy L; Ruppel, Susan E

    2013-05-01

    Six experiments examined displacement in memory for the location of the line in illusory line motion (ILM; appearance or disappearance of a stationary cue is followed by appearance of a stationary line that is presented all at once, but the stationary line is perceived to "unfold" or "be drawn" from the end closest to the cue to the end most distant from the cue). If ILM was induced by having a single cue appear, then memory for the location of the line was displaced toward the cue, and displacement was larger if the line was closer to the cue. If ILM was induced by having one of two previously visible cues vanish, then memory for the location of the line was displaced away from the cue that vanished. In general, the magnitude of displacement increased and then decreased as retention interval increased from 50 to 250 ms and from 250 to 450 ms, respectively. Displacement of the line (a) is consistent with a combination of a spatial averaging of the locations of the cue and the line with a relatively weaker dynamic in the direction of illusory motion, (b) might be implemented in a spreading activation network similar to networks previously suggested to implement displacement resulting from implied or apparent motion, and (c) provides constraints and challenges for theories of ILM.

  11. Illusory object motion in the centre of a radial pattern: The Pursuit–Pursuing illusion

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    Ito, Hiroyuki

    2012-01-01

    A circular object placed in the centre of a radial pattern consisting of thin sectors was found to cause a robust motion illusion. During eye-movement pursuit of a moving target, the presently described stimulus produced illusory background-object motion in the same direction as that of the eye movement. In addition, the display induced illusory stationary perception of a moving object against the whole display motion. In seven experiments, the characteristics of the illusion were examined in terms of luminance relationships and figural characteristics of the radial pattern. Some potential explanations for these findings are discussed. PMID:23145267

  12. Illusory object motion in the centre of a radial pattern: The Pursuit-Pursuing illusion.

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    Ito, Hiroyuki

    2012-01-01

    A circular object placed in the centre of a radial pattern consisting of thin sectors was found to cause a robust motion illusion. During eye-movement pursuit of a moving target, the presently described stimulus produced illusory background-object motion in the same direction as that of the eye movement. In addition, the display induced illusory stationary perception of a moving object against the whole display motion. In seven experiments, the characteristics of the illusion were examined in terms of luminance relationships and figural characteristics of the radial pattern. Some potential explanations for these findings are discussed.

  13. Illusory Speed is Retained in Memory during Invisible Motion

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    Luca Battaglini

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The brain can retain speed information in early visual short-term memory in an astonishingly precise manner. We investigated whether this (early visual memory system is active during the extrapolation of occluded motion and whether it reflects speed misperception due to contrast and size. Experiments 1A and 2A showed that reducing target contrast or increasing its size led to an illusory speed underestimation. Experiments 1B, 2B, and 3 showed that this illusory phenomenon is reflected in the memory of speed during occluded motion, independent of the range of visible speeds, of the length of the visible trajectory or the invisible trajectory, and of the type of task. These results suggest that illusory speed is retained in memory during invisible motion.

  14. A comparison of colour, shape, and flash induced illusory line motion.

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    Hamm, Jeff P

    2017-04-01

    When a bar suddenly appears between two boxes, the bar will appear to shoot away from the box that matches it in colour or in shape-a phenomenon referred to as attribute priming of illusory line motion (ILM; colour ILM and shape ILM, respectively). If the two boxes are identical, ILM will still occur away from a box if it changes luminance shortly before the presentation of the bar ( flash ILM). This flash condition has been suggested to produce the illusory motion due to the formation of an attentional gradient surrounding the flashed location. However, colour ILM and shape ILM cannot be explained by an attentional gradient as there is no way for attention to select the matching box prior to the presentation of the bar. These findings challenge the attentional gradient explanation for ILM, but only if it is assumed that ILM arises for the same underlying reason. Two experiments are presented that address the question of whether or not flash ILM is the same as colour ILM or shape ILM. The results suggest that while colour ILM and shape ILM reflect a common illusion, flash ILM arises for a different reason. Therefore, the attentional gradient explanation for flash ILM is not refuted by the occurrence of colour ILM or shape ILM, which may reflect transformational apparent motion (TAM).

  15. Sensory memory of illusory depth in structure-from-motion.

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    Pastukhov, Alexander; Lissner, Anna; Füllekrug, Jana; Braun, Jochen

    2014-01-01

    When multistable displays (stimuli consistent with two or more equally plausible perceptual interpretations) are presented intermittently, their perceptions are stabilized by sensory memory. Independent memory traces are generated not only for different types of multistable displays (Maier, Wilke, Logothetis, & Leopold, Current Biology 13:1076-1085, 2003), but also for different ambiguous features of binocular rivalry (Pearson & Clifford, Journal of Vision 4:196-202, 2004). In the present study, we examined whether a similar independence of sensory memories is observed in structure-from-motion (SFM), a multistable display with two ambiguous properties. In SFM, a 2-D planar motion creates a vivid impression of a rotating 3-D volume. Both the illusory rotation and illusory depth (i.e., how close parts of an object appear to the observer) of an SFM object are ambiguous. We dissociated the sensory memories of these two ambiguous properties by using an intermittent presentation in combination with a forced-ambiguous-switch paradigm (Pastukhov, Vonau, & Braun, PLoS ONE 7:e37734, 2012). We demonstrated that the illusory depth of SFM generates a sensory memory trace that is independent from that of illusory rotation. Despite this independence, the specificities levels of the sensory memories were identical for illusory depth and illusory rotation. The history effect was weakened by a change in the volumetric property of a shape (whether it was a hollow band or a filled drum volume), but not by changes in color or size. We discuss how these new results constrain models of sensory memory and SFM processing.

  16. Type of featural attention differentially modulates hMT+ responses to illusory motion aftereffects.

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    Castelo-Branco, Miguel; Kozak, Lajos R; Formisano, Elia; Teixeira, João; Xavier, João; Goebel, Rainer

    2009-11-01

    Activity in the human motion complex (hMT(+)/V5) is related to the perception of motion, be it either real surface motion or an illusion of motion such as apparent motion (AM) or motion aftereffect (MAE). It is a long-lasting debate whether illusory motion-related activations in hMT(+) represent the motion itself or attention to it. We have asked whether hMT(+) responses to MAEs are present when shifts in arousal are suppressed and attention is focused on concurrent motion versus nonmotion features. Significant enhancement of hMT(+) activity was observed during MAEs when attention was focused either on concurrent spatial angle or color features. This observation was confirmed by direct comparison of adapting (MAE inducing) versus nonadapting conditions. In contrast, this effect was diminished when subjects had to report on concomitant speed changes of superimposed AM. The same finding was observed for concomitant orthogonal real motion (RM), suggesting that selective attention to concurrent illusory or real motion was interfering with the saliency of MAE signals in hMT(+). We conclude that MAE-related changes in the global activity of hMT(+) are present provided selective attention is not focused on an interfering feature such as concurrent motion. Accordingly, there is a genuine MAE-related motion signal in hMT(+) that is neither explained by shifts in arousal nor by selective attention.

  17. Images of illusory motion in primary visual cortex

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, A.; Madsen, Kristoffer Hougaard; Lund, T.E.

    2006-01-01

    Illusory motion can be generated by successively flashing a stationary visual stimulus in two spatial locations separated by several degrees of visual angle. In appropriate conditions, the apparent motion is indistinguishable from real motion: The observer experiences a luminous object traversing...... a continuous path from one stimulus location to the other through intervening positions where no physical stimuli exist. The phenomenon has been extensively investigated for nearly a century but little is known about its neurophysiological foundation. Here we present images of activations in the primary visual...

  18. Illusory Motion Reproduced by Deep Neural Networks Trained for Prediction.

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    Watanabe, Eiji; Kitaoka, Akiyoshi; Sakamoto, Kiwako; Yasugi, Masaki; Tanaka, Kenta

    2018-01-01

    The cerebral cortex predicts visual motion to adapt human behavior to surrounding objects moving in real time. Although the underlying mechanisms are still unknown, predictive coding is one of the leading theories. Predictive coding assumes that the brain's internal models (which are acquired through learning) predict the visual world at all times and that errors between the prediction and the actual sensory input further refine the internal models. In the past year, deep neural networks based on predictive coding were reported for a video prediction machine called PredNet. If the theory substantially reproduces the visual information processing of the cerebral cortex, then PredNet can be expected to represent the human visual perception of motion. In this study, PredNet was trained with natural scene videos of the self-motion of the viewer, and the motion prediction ability of the obtained computer model was verified using unlearned videos. We found that the computer model accurately predicted the magnitude and direction of motion of a rotating propeller in unlearned videos. Surprisingly, it also represented the rotational motion for illusion images that were not moving physically, much like human visual perception. While the trained network accurately reproduced the direction of illusory rotation, it did not detect motion components in negative control pictures wherein people do not perceive illusory motion. This research supports the exciting idea that the mechanism assumed by the predictive coding theory is one of basis of motion illusion generation. Using sensory illusions as indicators of human perception, deep neural networks are expected to contribute significantly to the development of brain research.

  19. Illusory Motion Reproduced by Deep Neural Networks Trained for Prediction

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    Eiji Watanabe

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The cerebral cortex predicts visual motion to adapt human behavior to surrounding objects moving in real time. Although the underlying mechanisms are still unknown, predictive coding is one of the leading theories. Predictive coding assumes that the brain's internal models (which are acquired through learning predict the visual world at all times and that errors between the prediction and the actual sensory input further refine the internal models. In the past year, deep neural networks based on predictive coding were reported for a video prediction machine called PredNet. If the theory substantially reproduces the visual information processing of the cerebral cortex, then PredNet can be expected to represent the human visual perception of motion. In this study, PredNet was trained with natural scene videos of the self-motion of the viewer, and the motion prediction ability of the obtained computer model was verified using unlearned videos. We found that the computer model accurately predicted the magnitude and direction of motion of a rotating propeller in unlearned videos. Surprisingly, it also represented the rotational motion for illusion images that were not moving physically, much like human visual perception. While the trained network accurately reproduced the direction of illusory rotation, it did not detect motion components in negative control pictures wherein people do not perceive illusory motion. This research supports the exciting idea that the mechanism assumed by the predictive coding theory is one of basis of motion illusion generation. Using sensory illusions as indicators of human perception, deep neural networks are expected to contribute significantly to the development of brain research.

  20. Stimulus meanings alter illusory self-motion (vection)--experimental examination of the train illusion.

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    Seno, Takeharu; Fukuda, Haruaki

    2012-01-01

    Over the last 100 years, numerous studies have examined the effective visual stimulus properties for inducing illusory self-motion (known as vection). This vection is often experienced more strongly in daily life than under controlled experimental conditions. One well-known example of vection in real life is the so-called 'train illusion'. In the present study, we showed that this train illusion can also be generated in the laboratory using virtual computer graphics-based motion stimuli. We also demonstrated that this vection can be modified by altering the meaning of the visual stimuli (i.e., top down effects). Importantly, we show that the semantic meaning of a stimulus can inhibit or facilitate vection, even when there is no physical change to the stimulus.

  1. Vection and visually induced motion sickness: How are they related?

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    Behrang eKeshavarz

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The occurrence of visually induced motion sickness has been frequently linked to the sensation of illusory self-motion (so-called vection, however, the precise nature of this relationship is still not fully understood. To date, it is still a matter of debate whether or not vection is a necessary prerequisite for visually induced motion sickness (VIMS. That is, can there be visually induced motion sickness without any sensation of self-motion? In this paper, we will describe the possible nature of this relationship, review the literature that may speak to this relationship (including theoretical accounts of vection and VIMS, and offer suggestions with respect to operationally defining and reporting these phenomena in future.

  2. Illusory bending of a rigidly moving line segment: effects of image motion and smooth pursuit eye movements.

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    Thaler, Lore; Todd, James T; Spering, Miriam; Gegenfurtner, Karl R

    2007-04-20

    Four experiments in which observers judged the apparent "rubberiness" of a line segment undergoing different types of rigid motion are reported. The results reveal that observers perceive illusory bending when the motion involves certain combinations of translational and rotational components and that the illusion is maximized when these components are presented at a frequency of approximately 3 Hz with a relative phase angle of approximately 120 degrees . Smooth pursuit eye movements can amplify or attenuate the illusion, which is consistent with other results reported in the literature that show effects of eye movements on perceived image motion. The illusion is unaffected by background motion that is in counterphase with the motion of the line segment but is significantly attenuated by background motion that is in-phase. This is consistent with the idea that human observers integrate motion signals within a local frame of reference, and it provides strong evidence that visual persistency cannot be the sole cause of the illusion as was suggested by J. R. Pomerantz (1983). An analysis of the motion patterns suggests that the illusory bending motion may be due to an inability of observers to accurately track the motions of features whose image displacements undergo rapid simultaneous changes in both space and time. A measure of these changes is presented, which is highly correlated with observers' numerical ratings of rubberiness.

  3. Neural correlates of visually induced self-motion illusion in depth.

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    Kovács, Gyula; Raabe, Markus; Greenlee, Mark W

    2008-08-01

    Optic-flow fields can induce the conscious illusion of self-motion in a stationary observer. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to reveal the differential processing of self- and object-motion in the human brain. Subjects were presented a constantly expanding optic-flow stimulus, composed of disparate red-blue dots, viewed through red-blue glasses to generate a vivid percept of three-dimensional motion. We compared the activity obtained during periods of illusory self-motion with periods of object-motion percept. We found that the right MT+, precuneus, as well as areas located bilaterally along the dorsal part of the intraparietal sulcus and along the left posterior intraparietal sulcus were more active during self-motion perception than during object-motion. Additional signal increases were located in the depth of the left superior frontal sulcus, over the ventral part of the left anterior cingulate, in the depth of the right central sulcus and in the caudate nucleus/putamen. We found no significant deactivations associated with self-motion perception. Our results suggest that the illusory percept of self-motion is correlated with the activation of a network of areas, ranging from motion-specific areas to regions involved in visuo-vestibular integration, visual imagery, decision making, and introspection.

  4. Spontaneous local alpha oscillations predict motion-induced blindness.

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    Händel, Barbara F; Jensen, Ole

    2014-11-01

    Bistable visual illusions are well suited for exploring the neuronal states of the brain underlying changes in perception. In this study, we investigated oscillatory activity associated with 'motion-induced blindness' (MIB), which denotes the perceptual disappearance of salient target stimuli when a moving pattern is superimposed on them (Bonneh et al., ). We applied an MIB paradigm in which illusory target disappearances would occur independently in the left and right hemifields. Both illusory and real target disappearance were followed by an alpha lateralization with weaker contralateral than ipsilateral alpha activity (~10 Hz). However, only the illusion showed early alpha lateralization in the opposite direction, which preceded the alpha effect present for both conditions and coincided with the estimated onset of the illusion. The duration of the illusory disappearance was further predicted by the magnitude of this early lateralization when considered over subjects. In the gamma band (60-80 Hz), we found an increase in activity contralateral relative to ipsilateral only after a real disappearance. Whereas early alpha activity was predictive of onset and length of the illusory percept, gamma activity showed no modulation in relation to the illusion. Our study demonstrates that the spontaneous changes in visual alpha activity have perceptual consequences. © 2014 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Paranormal believers are more prone to illusory agency detection than skeptics

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    van Elk, M.

    2013-01-01

    It has been hypothesized that illusory agency detection is at the basis of belief in supernatural agents and paranormal beliefs. In the present study a biological motion perception task was used to study illusory agency detection in a group of skeptics and a group of paranormal believers.

  6. Illusory motion reveals velocity matching, not foveation, drives smooth pursuit of large objects.

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    Ma, Zheng; Watamaniuk, Scott N J; Heinen, Stephen J

    2017-10-01

    When small objects move in a scene, we keep them foveated with smooth pursuit eye movements. Although large objects such as people and animals are common, it is nonetheless unknown how we pursue them since they cannot be foveated. It might be that the brain calculates an object's centroid, and then centers the eyes on it during pursuit as a foveation mechanism might. Alternatively, the brain merely matches the velocity by motion integration. We test these alternatives with an illusory motion stimulus that translates at a speed different from its retinal motion. The stimulus was a Gabor array that translated at a fixed velocity, with component Gabors that drifted with motion consistent or inconsistent with the translation. Velocity matching predicts different pursuit behaviors across drift conditions, while centroid matching predicts no difference. We also tested whether pursuit can segregate and ignore irrelevant local drifts when motion and centroid information are consistent by surrounding the Gabors with solid frames. Finally, observers judged the global translational speed of the Gabors to determine whether smooth pursuit and motion perception share mechanisms. We found that consistent Gabor motion enhanced pursuit gain while inconsistent, opposite motion diminished it, drawing the eyes away from the center of the stimulus and supporting a motion-based pursuit drive. Catch-up saccades tended to counter the position offset, directing the eyes opposite to the deviation caused by the pursuit gain change. Surrounding the Gabors with visible frames canceled both the gain increase and the compensatory saccades. Perceived speed was modulated analogous to pursuit gain. The results suggest that smooth pursuit of large stimuli depends on the magnitude of integrated retinal motion information, not its retinal location, and that the position system might be unnecessary for generating smooth velocity to large pursuit targets.

  7. Neural mechanisms underlying sound-induced visual motion perception: An fMRI study.

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    Hidaka, Souta; Higuchi, Satomi; Teramoto, Wataru; Sugita, Yoichi

    2017-07-01

    Studies of crossmodal interactions in motion perception have reported activation in several brain areas, including those related to motion processing and/or sensory association, in response to multimodal (e.g., visual and auditory) stimuli that were both in motion. Recent studies have demonstrated that sounds can trigger illusory visual apparent motion to static visual stimuli (sound-induced visual motion: SIVM): A visual stimulus blinking at a fixed location is perceived to be moving laterally when an alternating left-right sound is also present. Here, we investigated brain activity related to the perception of SIVM using a 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging technique. Specifically, we focused on the patterns of neural activities in SIVM and visually induced visual apparent motion (VIVM). We observed shared activations in the middle occipital area (V5/hMT), which is thought to be involved in visual motion processing, for SIVM and VIVM. Moreover, as compared to VIVM, SIVM resulted in greater activation in the superior temporal area and dominant functional connectivity between the V5/hMT area and the areas related to auditory and crossmodal motion processing. These findings indicate that similar but partially different neural mechanisms could be involved in auditory-induced and visually-induced motion perception, and neural signals in auditory, visual, and, crossmodal motion processing areas closely and directly interact in the perception of SIVM. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Paranormal believers are more prone to illusory agency detection than skeptics.

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    van Elk, Michiel

    2013-09-01

    It has been hypothesized that illusory agency detection is at the basis of belief in supernatural agents and paranormal beliefs. In the present study a biological motion perception task was used to study illusory agency detection in a group of skeptics and a group of paranormal believers. Participants were required to detect the presence or absence of a human agent in a point-light display. It was found that paranormal believers had a lower perceptual sensitivity than skeptics, which was due to a response bias to 'yes' for stimuli in which no agent was present. The relation between paranormal beliefs and illusory agency detection held only for stimuli with low to intermediate ambiguity, but for stimuli with a high number of visual distractors responses of believers and skeptics were at the same level. Furthermore, it was found that illusory agency detection was unrelated to traditional religious belief and belief in witchcraft, whereas paranormal beliefs (i.e. Psi, spiritualism, precognition, superstition) were strongly related to illusory agency detection. These findings qualify the relation between illusory pattern perception and supernatural and paranormal beliefs and suggest that paranormal beliefs are strongly related to agency detection biases. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Perception of visual apparent motion is modulated by a gap within concurrent auditory glides, even when it is illusory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qingcui eWang

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Auditory and visual events often happen concurrently, and how they group together can have a strong effect on what is perceived. We investigated whether/how intra- or cross-modal temporal grouping influenced the perceptual decision of otherwise ambiguous visual apparent motion. To achieve this, we juxtaposed auditory gap transfer illusion with visual Ternus display. The Ternus display involves a multi-element stimulus that can induce either of two different percepts of apparent motion: ‘element motion’ or ‘group motion’. In element motion, the endmost disk is seen as moving back and forth while the middle disk at the central position remains stationary; while in group motion, both disks appear to move laterally as a whole. The gap transfer illusion refers to the illusory subjective transfer of a short gap (around 100 ms from the long glide to the short continuous glide when the two glides intercede at the temporal middle point. In our experiments, observers were required to make a perceptual discrimination of Ternus motion in the presence of concurrent auditory glides (with or without a gap inside. Results showed that a gap within a short glide imposed a remarkable effect on separating visual events, and led to a dominant perception of group motion as well. The auditory configuration with gap transfer illusion triggered the same auditory capture effect. Further investigations showed that visual interval which coincided with the gap interval (50-230 ms in the long glide was perceived to be shorter than that within both the short glide and the ‘gap-transfer’ auditory configurations in the same physical intervals (gaps. The results indicated that auditory temporal perceptual grouping takes priority over the cross-modal interaction in determining the final readout of the visual perception, and the mechanism of selective attention on auditory events also plays a role.

  10. Oscillatory phase dynamics in neural entrainment underpin illusory percepts of time.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrmann, Björn; Henry, Molly J; Grigutsch, Maren; Obleser, Jonas

    2013-10-02

    Neural oscillatory dynamics are a candidate mechanism to steer perception of time and temporal rate change. While oscillator models of time perception are strongly supported by behavioral evidence, a direct link to neural oscillations and oscillatory entrainment has not yet been provided. In addition, it has thus far remained unaddressed how context-induced illusory percepts of time are coded for in oscillator models of time perception. To investigate these questions, we used magnetoencephalography and examined the neural oscillatory dynamics that underpin pitch-induced illusory percepts of temporal rate change. Human participants listened to frequency-modulated sounds that varied over time in both modulation rate and pitch, and judged the direction of rate change (decrease vs increase). Our results demonstrate distinct neural mechanisms of rate perception: Modulation rate changes directly affected listeners' rate percept as well as the exact frequency of the neural oscillation. However, pitch-induced illusory rate changes were unrelated to the exact frequency of the neural responses. The rate change illusion was instead linked to changes in neural phase patterns, which allowed for single-trial decoding of percepts. That is, illusory underestimations or overestimations of perceived rate change were tightly coupled to increased intertrial phase coherence and changes in cerebro-acoustic phase lag. The results provide insight on how illusory percepts of time are coded for by neural oscillatory dynamics.

  11. Illusory body ownership of an invisible body interpolated between virtual hands and feet via visual-motor synchronicity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kondo, Ryota; Sugimoto, Maki; Minamizawa, Kouta; Hoshi, Takayuki; Inami, Masahiko; Kitazaki, Michiteru

    2018-05-15

    Body ownership can be modulated through illusory visual-tactile integration or visual-motor synchronicity/contingency. Recently, it has been reported that illusory ownership of an invisible body can be induced by illusory visual-tactile integration from a first-person view. We aimed to test whether a similar illusory ownership of the invisible body could be induced by the active method of visual-motor synchronicity and if the illusory invisible body could be experienced in front of and facing away from the observer. Participants observed left and right white gloves and socks in front of them, at a distance of 2 m, in a virtual room through a head-mounted display. The white gloves and socks were synchronized with the observers' actions. In the experiments, we tested the effect of synchronization, and compared this to a whole-body avatar, measuring self-localization drift. We observed that visual hands and feet were sufficient to induce illusory body ownership, and this effect was as strong as using a whole-body avatar.

  12. Suppressive and enhancing effects in early visual cortex during illusory shape perception: A comment on.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moors, Pieter

    2015-01-01

    In a recent functional magnetic resonance imaging study, Kok and de Lange (2014) observed that BOLD activity for a Kanizsa illusory shape stimulus, in which pacmen-like inducers elicit an illusory shape percept, was either enhanced or suppressed relative to a nonillusory control configuration depending on whether the spatial profile of BOLD activity in early visual cortex was related to the illusory shape or the inducers, respectively. The authors argued that these findings fit well with the predictive coding framework, because top-down predictions related to the illusory shape are not met with bottom-up sensory input and hence the feedforward error signal is enhanced. Conversely, for the inducing elements, there is a match between top-down predictions and input, leading to a decrease in error. Rather than invoking predictive coding as the explanatory framework, the suppressive effect related to the inducers might be caused by neural adaptation to perceptually stable input due to the trial sequence used in the experiment.

  13. Perception of visual apparent motion is modulated by a gap within concurrent auditory glides, even when it is illusory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qingcui; Guo, Lu; Bao, Ming; Chen, Lihan

    2015-01-01

    Auditory and visual events often happen concurrently, and how they group together can have a strong effect on what is perceived. We investigated whether/how intra- or cross-modal temporal grouping influenced the perceptual decision of otherwise ambiguous visual apparent motion. To achieve this, we juxtaposed auditory gap transfer illusion with visual Ternus display. The Ternus display involves a multi-element stimulus that can induce either of two different percepts of apparent motion: ‘element motion’ (EM) or ‘group motion’ (GM). In “EM,” the endmost disk is seen as moving back and forth while the middle disk at the central position remains stationary; while in “GM,” both disks appear to move laterally as a whole. The gap transfer illusion refers to the illusory subjective transfer of a short gap (around 100 ms) from the long glide to the short continuous glide when the two glides intercede at the temporal middle point. In our experiments, observers were required to make a perceptual discrimination of Ternus motion in the presence of concurrent auditory glides (with or without a gap inside). Results showed that a gap within a short glide imposed a remarkable effect on separating visual events, and led to a dominant perception of GM as well. The auditory configuration with gap transfer illusion triggered the same auditory capture effect. Further investigations showed that visual interval which coincided with the gap interval (50–230 ms) in the long glide was perceived to be shorter than that within both the short glide and the ‘gap-transfer’ auditory configurations in the same physical intervals (gaps). The results indicated that auditory temporal perceptual grouping takes priority over the cross-modal interaction in determining the final readout of the visual perception, and the mechanism of selective attention on auditory events also plays a role. PMID:26042055

  14. On the Reality of Illusory Conjunctions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botella, Juan; Suero, Manuel; Durán, Juan I

    2017-01-01

    The reality of illusory conjunctions in perception has been sometimes questioned, arguing that they can be explained by other mechanisms. Most relevant experiments are based on migrations along the space dimension. But the low rate of illusory conjunctions along space can easily hide them among other types of errors. As migrations over time are a more frequent phenomenon, illusory conjunctions can be disentangled from other errors. We report an experiment in which series of colored letters were presented in several spatial locations, allowing for migrations over both space and time. The distribution of frequencies were fit by several multinomial tree models based on alternative hypothesis about illusory conjunctions and the potential sources of free-floating features. The best-fit model acknowledges that most illusory conjunctions are migrations in the time domain. Migrations in space are probably present, but the rate is very low. Other conjunction errors, as those produced by guessing or miscategorizations of the to-be-reported feature, are also present in the experiment. The main conclusion is that illusory conjunctions do exist.

  15. Optimal combination of illusory and luminance-defined 3-D surfaces: A role for ambiguity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartle, Brittney; Wilcox, Laurie M; Murray, Richard F

    2018-04-01

    The shape of the illusory surface in stereoscopic Kanizsa figures is determined by the interpolation of depth from the luminance edges of adjacent inducing elements. Despite ambiguity in the position of illusory boundaries, observers reliably perceive a coherent three-dimensional (3-D) surface. However, this ambiguity may contribute additional uncertainty to the depth percept beyond what is expected from measurement noise alone. We evaluated the intrinsic ambiguity of illusory boundaries by using a cue-combination paradigm to measure the reliability of depth percepts elicited by stereoscopic illusory surfaces. We assessed the accuracy and precision of depth percepts using 3-D Kanizsa figures relative to luminance-defined surfaces. The location of the surface peak was defined by illusory boundaries, luminance-defined edges, or both. Accuracy and precision were assessed using a depth-discrimination paradigm. A maximum likelihood linear cue combination model was used to evaluate the relative contribution of illusory and luminance-defined signals to the perceived depth of the combined surface. Our analysis showed that the standard deviation of depth estimates was consistent with an optimal cue combination model, but the points of subjective equality indicated that observers consistently underweighted the contribution of illusory boundaries. This systematic underweighting may reflect a combination rule that attributes additional intrinsic ambiguity to the location of the illusory boundary. Although previous studies show that illusory and luminance-defined contours share many perceptual similarities, our model suggests that ambiguity plays a larger role in the perceptual representation of illusory contours than of luminance-defined contours.

  16. Self-motion perception: assessment by real-time computer-generated animations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, D. E.; Phillips, J. O.

    2001-01-01

    We report a new procedure for assessing complex self-motion perception. In three experiments, subjects manipulated a 6 degree-of-freedom magnetic-field tracker which controlled the motion of a virtual avatar so that its motion corresponded to the subjects' perceived self-motion. The real-time animation created by this procedure was stored using a virtual video recorder for subsequent analysis. Combined real and illusory self-motion and vestibulo-ocular reflex eye movements were evoked by cross-coupled angular accelerations produced by roll and pitch head movements during passive yaw rotation in a chair. Contrary to previous reports, illusory self-motion did not correspond to expectations based on semicircular canal stimulation. Illusory pitch head-motion directions were as predicted for only 37% of trials; whereas, slow-phase eye movements were in the predicted direction for 98% of the trials. The real-time computer-generated animations procedure permits use of naive, untrained subjects who lack a vocabulary for reporting motion perception and is applicable to basic self-motion perception studies, evaluation of motion simulators, assessment of balance disorders and so on.

  17. Suppressive and Enhancing Effects in Early Visual Cortex during Illusory Shape Perception: A Comment on Kok and de Lange (2014

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pieter Moors

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available In a recent functional magnetic resonance imaging study, Kok and de Lange (2014 observed that BOLD activity for a Kanizsa illusory shape stimulus, in which pacmen-like inducers elicit an illusory shape percept, was either enhanced or suppressed relative to a nonillusory control configuration depending on whether the spatial profile of BOLD activity in early visual cortex was related to the illusory shape or the inducers, respectively. The authors argued that these findings fit well with the predictive coding framework, because top-down predictions related to the illusory shape are not met with bottom-up sensory input and hence the feedforward error signal is enhanced. Conversely, for the inducing elements, there is a match between top-down predictions and input, leading to a decrease in error. Rather than invoking predictive coding as the explanatory framework, the suppressive effect related to the inducers might be caused by neural adaptation to perceptually stable input due to the trial sequence used in the experiment.

  18. Visual search of illusory contours: Shape and orientation effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gvozdenović Vasilije

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Illusory contours are specific class of visual stimuli that represent stimuli configurations perceived as integral irrespective of the fact that they are given in fragmented uncompleted wholes. Due to their specific features, illusory contours gained much attention in last decade representing prototype of stimuli used in investigations focused on binding problem. On the other side, investigations of illusory contours are related to problem of the level of their visual processing. Neurophysiologic studies show that processing of illusory contours proceed relatively early, on the V2 level, on the other hand most of experimental studies claim that illusory contours are perceived with engagement of visual attention, binding their elements to whole percept. This research is focused on two experiments in which visual search of illusory contours are based on shape and orientation. The main experimental procedure evolved the task proposed by Bravo and Nakayama where instead of detection, subjects were performing identification of one among two possible targets. In the first experiment subjects detected the presence of illusory square or illusory triangle, while in the second experiment subject were detecting two different orientations of illusory triangle. The results are interpreted in terms of visual search and feature integration theory. Beside the type of visual search task, search type proved to be dependent of specific features of illusory shapes which further complicate theoretical interpretation of the level of their perception.

  19. The influence of visual motion on interceptive actions and perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marinovic, Welber; Plooy, Annaliese M; Arnold, Derek H

    2012-05-01

    Visual information is an essential guide when interacting with moving objects, yet it can also be deceiving. For instance, motion can induce illusory position shifts, such that a moving ball can seem to have bounced past its true point of contact with the ground. Some evidence suggests illusory motion-induced position shifts bias pointing tasks to a greater extent than they do perceptual judgments. This, however, appears at odds with other findings and with our success when intercepting moving objects. Here we examined the accuracy of interceptive movements and of perceptual judgments in relation to simulated bounces. Participants were asked to intercept a moving disc at its bounce location by positioning a virtual paddle, and then to report where the disc had landed. Results showed that interceptive actions were accurate whereas perceptual judgments were inaccurate, biased in the direction of motion. Successful interceptions necessitated accurate information concerning both the location and timing of the bounce, so motor planning evidently had privileged access to an accurate forward model of bounce timing and location. This would explain why people can be accurate when intercepting a moving object, but lack insight into the accurate information that had guided their actions when asked to make a perceptual judgment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Inducing circular vection with tactile stimulation encircling the waist

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tinga, A.M.; Jansen, C.; Smagt, M.J. van der; Nijboer, T.C.W.; Erp, J.B.F. van

    2018-01-01

    In general, moving sensory stimuli (visual and auditory) can induce illusory sensations of self-motion (i.e. vection) in the direction opposite of the sensory stimulation. The aim of the current study was to examine whether tactile stimulation encircling the waist could induce circular vection

  1. The role of attention in illusory conjunctions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsal, Y; Meiran, N; Lavie, N

    1994-03-01

    In five experiments, we investigated the effects of attention on illusory conjunctions formed between features of unrelated objects. The first three experiments used a weak manipulation of attention and found that illusory conjunctions formed either among features receiving high attentional priority or among features receiving low attentional priority were not more frequent than were conjunctions formed between mixed features of different attentional priority. The last two experiments used a strong manipulation of attention and failed to reveal any evidence of true illusory conjunctions. The results are inconsistent with the feature-integration theory, which predicts that when attention is focused on a subset of items, illusory conjunctions ought to occur within and outside of the attended subset, but not between the attended and unattended items.

  2. More than a cool illusion? Functional significance of self-motion illusion (circular vection) for perspective switches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riecke, Bernhard E; Feuereissen, Daniel; Rieser, John J; McNamara, Timothy P

    2015-01-01

    Self-motion can facilitate perspective switches and "automatic spatial updating" and help reduce disorientation in applications like virtual reality (VR). However, providing physical motion through moving-base motion simulators or free-space walking areas comes with high cost and technical complexity. This study provides first evidence that merely experiencing an embodied illusion of self-motion ("circular vection") can provide similar behavioral benefits as actual self-motion: Blindfolded participants were asked to imagine facing new perspectives in a well-learned room, and point to previously learned objects. Merely imagining perspective switches while stationary yielded worst performance. When perceiving illusory self-rotation to the novel perspective, however, performance improved significantly and yielded performance similar to actual rotation. Circular vection was induced by combining rotating sound fields ("auditory vection") and biomechanical vection from stepping along a carrousel-like rotating floor platter. In sum, illusory self-motion indeed facilitated perspective switches and thus spatial orientation, similar to actual self-motion, thus providing first compelling evidence of the functional significance and behavioral relevance of vection. This could ultimately enable us to complement the prevailing introspective vection measures with behavioral indicators, and guide the design for more affordable yet effective VR simulators that intelligently employ multi-modal self-motion illusions to reduce the need for costly physical observer motion.

  3. Unidirectional Motion of Vehicle on Sinusoidal Path

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 17; Issue 4. Unidirectional Motion of Vehicle on Sinusoidal Path: Can it Cause Illusory Forward and Backward Motion? Anuj Bhatnagar. Classroom Volume 17 Issue 4 April 2012 pp 387-392 ...

  4. More than a Cool Illusion? Functional Significance of Self-Motion Illusion (Circular Vection for Perspective Switches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bernhard E. Riecke

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Self-motion can facilitate perspective switches and automatic spatial updating and help reduce disorientation in applications like Virtual Reality. However, providing physical motion through moving-base motion simulators or free-space walking areas comes with high cost and technical complexity. This study provides first evidence that merely experiencing an embodied illusion of self-motion (circular vection can provide similar behavioral benefits as actual self-motion: Blindfolded participants were asked to imagine facing new perspectives in a well-learned room, and point to previously-learned objects. Merely imagining perspective switches while stationary yielded worst performance. When perceiving illusory self-rotation to the novel perspective, however, performance improved significantly and yielded performance similar to actual rotation. Circular vection was induced by combining rotating sound fields (auditory vection and biomechanical vection from stepping along a carrousel-like rotating floor platter. In sum, illusory self-motion indeed facilitated perspective switches and thus spatial orientation, similar to actual self-motion, thus providing first compelling evidence of the functional significance and behavioral relevance of vection. This could ultimately enable us to complement the prevailing introspective vection measures with behavioral indicators, and guide the design for more affordable yet effective Virtual Reality simulators that intelligently employ multi-modal self-motion illusions to reduce the need for costly physical observer motion.

  5. Illusion and Illusoriness of Color and Coloration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baingio Pinna

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In this work, through a phenomenological analysis, we studied the perception of the chromatic illusion and illusoriness. The necessary condition for an illusion to occur is the discovery of a mismatch/disagreement between the geometrical/physical domain and the phenomenal one. The illusoriness is instead a phenomenal attribute related to a sense of strangeness, deception, singularity, mendacity, and oddity. The main purpose of this work is to study the phenomenology of chromatic illusion vs. illusoriness, which is useful for shedding new light on the no-man’s land between “sensory” and “cognitive” processes that have not been fully explored. Some basic psychological and biological implications for living organisms are deduced.

  6. If it's not there, where is it? Locating illusory conjunctions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazeltine, R E; Prinzmetal, W; Elliott, W

    1997-02-01

    There is evidence that complex objects are decomposed by the visual system into features, such as shape and color. Consistent with this theory is the phenomenon of illusory conjunctions, which occur when features are incorrectly combined to form an illusory object. We analyzed the perceived location of illusory conjunctions to study the roles of color and shape in the location of visual objects. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants located illusory conjunctions about halfway between the veridical locations of the component features. Experiment 3 showed that the distribution of perceived locations was not the mixture of two distributions centered at the 2 feature locations. Experiment 4 replicated these results with an identification task rather than a detection task. We concluded that the locations of illusory conjunctions were not arbitrary but were determined by both constituent shape and color.

  7. Perception of self-tilt in a true and illusory vertical plane

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groen, Eric L.; Jenkin, Heather L.; Howard, Ian P.; Oman, C. M. (Principal Investigator)

    2002-01-01

    A tilted furnished room can induce strong visual reorientation illusions in stationary subjects. Supine subjects may perceive themselves upright when the room is tilted 90 degrees so that the visual polarity axis is kept aligned with the subject. This 'upright illusion' was used to induce roll tilt in a truly horizontal, but perceptually vertical, plane. A semistatic tilt profile was applied, in which the tilt angle gradually changed from 0 degrees to 90 degrees, and vice versa. This method produced larger illusory self-tilt than usually found with static tilt of a visual scene. Ten subjects indicated self-tilt by setting a tactile rod to perceived vertical. Six of them experienced the upright illusion and indicated illusory self-tilt with an average gain of about 0.5. This value is smaller than with true self-tilt (0.8), but comparable to the gain of visually induced self-tilt in erect subjects. Apparently, the contribution of nonvisual cues to gravity was independent of the subject's orientation to gravity itself. It therefore seems that the gain of visually induced self-tilt is smaller because of lacking, rather than conflicting, nonvisual cues. A vector analysis is used to discuss the results in terms of relative sensory weightings.

  8. Is meaning implicated in illusory conjunctions?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Virzi, R A; Egeth, H E

    1984-08-01

    According to feature-integration theory, when attention is diverted from a display, features from different objects in that display may be wrongly recombined, giving rise to "illusory conjunctions" (Treisman & Schmidt, 1982). Two experiments are reported that examine the nature of these illusory conjunctions. In displays that contain color names and adjectives printed in colored ink, subjects made two kinds of interesting and previously unreported errors. Consider, for example, a display that included the word BROWN in red ink and the word HEAVY in green ink. Subjects would sometimes incorrectly report that the word RED or the ink color brown had appeared in the display (e.g., RED in green ink or HEAVY in brown ink). It appears that subjects extract semantic representations from input and are sometimes confused about whether a particular representation has been extracted from a word or a color patch. Contrary to feature-integration theory, these findings suggest that illusory conjunctions may occur with high-level codes as well as with perceptual features.

  9. A new look at Op art: towards a simple explanation of illusory motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zanker, Johannes M.; Walker, Robin

    Vivid motion illusions created by some Op art paintings are at the centre of a lively scientific debate about possible mechanisms that might underlie these phenomena. Here we review emerging evidence from a new approach that combines perceptual judgements of the illusion and observations of eye movements with simulations of the induced optic flow. This work suggests that the small involuntary saccades which participants make when viewing such Op art patterns would generate an incoherent distribution of motion signals that resemble the perceptual effects experienced by the observers. The combined experimental and computational evidence supports the view that the illusion is indeed caused by involuntary image displacements picked up by low-level motion detectors, and further suggests that coherent motion signals are crucial to perceive a stable world.

  10. Observers can reliably identify illusory flashes in the illusory flash paradigm

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Erp, J.B.F. van; Philippi, T.G.; Werkhoven, P.

    2013-01-01

    In the illusory flash paradigm, a single flash may be experienced as two flashes when accompanied by two beeps or taps, and two flashes may be experienced as a single flash when accompanied by one beep or tap. The classic paradigm restricts responses to '1' and '2' (2-AFC), ignoring possible

  11. Eye movement instructions modulate motion illusion and body sway with Op Art.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kapoula, Zoï; Lang, Alexandre; Vernet, Marine; Locher, Paul

    2015-01-01

    Op Art generates illusory visual motion. It has been proposed that eye movements participate in such illusion. This study examined the effect of eye movement instructions (fixation vs. free exploration) on the sensation of motion as well as the body sway of subjects viewing Op Art paintings. Twenty-eight healthy adults in orthostatic stance were successively exposed to three visual stimuli consisting of one figure representing a cross (baseline condition) and two Op Art paintings providing sense of motion in depth-Bridget Riley's Movements in Squares and Akiyoshi Kitaoka's Rollers. Before their exposure to the Op Art images, participants were instructed either to fixate at the center of the image (fixation condition) or to explore the artwork (free viewing condition). Posture was measured for 30 s per condition using a body fixed sensor (accelerometer). The major finding of this study is that the two Op Art paintings induced a larger antero-posterior body sway both in terms of speed and displacement and an increased motion illusion in the free viewing condition as compared to the fixation condition. For body sway, this effect was significant for the Riley painting, while for motion illusion this effect was significant for Kitaoka's image. These results are attributed to macro-saccades presumably occurring under free viewing instructions, and most likely to the small vergence drifts during fixations following the saccades; such movements in interaction with visual properties of each image would increase either the illusory motion sensation or the antero-posterior body sway.

  12. P3-23: Center/Surround Motion Interactions Measured Using a Nulling Procedure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soo Hyun Park

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Many direction-selective neurons have a receptive field structure that promotes suppressive interactions between center and surround regions. These interactions sculpt the overall pattern of activity among those neurons and, therefore, presumably impact perceived direction of motion. To test this conjecture, we have assessed the effect of motion signals produced by a moving stimulus on perceived motion within a neighboring region. On each trial a vertical bar (inducer appeared at 8 eccentricity in the upper visual field, moving either leftward or rightward, and a circular shaped random dot kinematogram (test appeared at 4 eccentricity. The test dots moved randomly except when the inducer passed nearby the test, at which time a pulse of coherent motion occurred in one of the two directions within the test. Coherence strength was adjusted by QUEST to maintain equal likelihood (point of subjective equality: PSE of leftward and rightward reports of perceived direction during this motion pulse. The inducer caused a substantial shift in PSE: it was necessary for the test to contain 50% coherent motion in the same direction as that of the inducer to nullify the illusory motion within the test caused by the inducer. The effect of the inducer could also be offset by simultaneously presenting a second inducer moving in the opposite direction. This pattern of results implies substantial suppressive interactions between neighboring moving stimuli, interactions whose strength and direction can be assessed psychophysically using nulling procedures.

  13. Directional harmonic theory: a computational Gestalt model to account for illusory contour and vertex formation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehar, Steven

    2003-01-01

    Visual illusions and perceptual grouping phenomena offer an invaluable tool for probing the computational mechanism of low-level visual processing. Some illusions, like the Kanizsa figure, reveal illusory contours that form edges collinear with the inducing stimulus. This kind of illusory contour has been modeled by neural network models by way of cells equipped with elongated spatial receptive fields designed to detect and complete the collinear alignment. There are, however, other illusory groupings which are not so easy to account for in neural network terms. The Ehrenstein illusion exhibits an illusory contour that forms a contour orthogonal to the stimulus instead of collinear with it. Other perceptual grouping effects reveal illusory contours that exhibit a sharp corner or vertex, and still others take the form of vertices defined by the intersection of three, four, or more illusory contours that meet at a point. A direct extension of the collinear completion models to account for these phenomena tends towards a combinatorial explosion, because it would suggest cells with specialized receptive fields configured to perform each of those completion types, each of which would have to be replicated at every location and every orientation across the visual field. These phenomena therefore challenge the adequacy of the neural network approach to account for these diverse perceptual phenomena. I have proposed elsewhere an alternative paradigm of neurocomputation in the harmonic resonance theory (Lehar 1999, see website), whereby pattern recognition and completion are performed by spatial standing waves across the neural substrate. The standing waves perform a computational function analogous to that of the spatial receptive fields of the neural network approach, except that, unlike that paradigm, a single resonance mechanism performs a function equivalent to a whole array of spatial receptive fields of different spatial configurations and of different orientations

  14. Illusory conjunctions die hard: a reply to Prinzmetal, Diedrichsen, and Ivry (2001).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donk, M

    2001-06-01

    M. Donk (1999) showed that various data patterns that have been considered as evidence for the existence of illusory conjunctions may be due to errors of target-nontarget confusion, an account that challenges the mere existence of illusory conjunction. In a reply, W. Prinzmetal, J. Diedrichsen, and R. B. Ivry (2001) argued against this conclusion, claiming that some earlier findings can be explained only when one assumes that illusory conjunctions exist. The current article shows that Prinzmetal et al.'s claims cannot refute any of Donk's earlier conclusions, suggesting indeed that one can only conclude that "illusory conjunctions are an illusion."

  15. The Verriest Lecture: Color lessons from space, time, and motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shevell, Steven K.

    2012-01-01

    The appearance of a chromatic stimulus depends on more than the wavelengths composing it. The scientific literature has countless examples showing that spatial and temporal features of light influence the colors we see. Studying chromatic stimuli that vary over space, time or direction of motion has a further benefit beyond predicting color appearance: the unveiling of otherwise concealed neural processes of color vision. Spatial or temporal stimulus variation uncovers multiple mechanisms of brightness and color perception at distinct levels of the visual pathway. Spatial variation in chromaticity and luminance can change perceived three-dimensional shape, an example of chromatic signals that affect a percept other than color. Chromatic objects in motion expose the surprisingly weak link between the chromaticity of objects and their physical direction of motion, and the role of color in inducing an illusory motion direction. Space, time and motion – color’s colleagues – reveal the richness of chromatic neural processing. PMID:22330398

  16. Categorization influences illusory conjunctions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esterman, Michael; Prinzmetal, William; Robertson, Lynn

    2004-08-01

    Illusory conjunctions (ICs) provide evidence for a binding problem that must be resolved in vision. Objects that are perceptually grouped are more likely to have their features erroneously conjoined. We examined whether semantic grouping, determined by category membership (letter vs. number), also influences illusory conjunction rates. Participants were instructed to detect an "L" or a "7" among briefly presented character strings and to report its color. Despite high shape discrimination accuracy, participants often made color conjunction errors, reporting instead the color of a distractor character, "O". This distractor could be ambiguously interpreted as a letter or a number. The status of the "O" was determined by other noncolored flanker characters, which were either letters or numbers. When both the target and flankers were of the same category, participants made more ICs than when the target and flankers were of different categories. This finding demonstrates that alphanumeric categorization can precede and subsequently influence binding.

  17. Performance characterization of Watson Ahumada motion detector using random dot rotary motion stimuli.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siddharth Jain

    Full Text Available The performance of Watson & Ahumada's model of human visual motion sensing is compared against human psychophysical performance. The stimulus consists of random dots undergoing rotary motion, displayed in a circular annulus. The model matches psychophysical observer performance with respect to most parameters. It is able to replicate some key psychophysical findings such as invariance of observer performance to dot density in the display, and decrease of observer performance with frame duration of the display.Associated with the concept of rotary motion is the notion of a center about which rotation occurs. One might think that for accurate estimation of rotary motion in the display, this center must be accurately known. A simple vector analysis reveals that this need not be the case. Numerical simulations confirm this result, and may explain the position invariance of MST(d cells. Position invariance is the experimental finding that rotary motion sensitive cells are insensitive to where in their receptive field rotation occurs.When all the dots in the display are randomly drawn from a uniform distribution, illusory rotary motion is perceived. This case was investigated by Rose & Blake previously, who termed the illusory rotary motion the omega effect. Two important experimental findings are reported concerning this effect. First, although the display of random dots evokes perception of rotary motion, the direction of motion perceived does not depend on what dot pattern is shown. Second, the time interval between spontaneous flips in perceived direction is lognormally distributed (mode approximately 2 s. These findings suggest the omega effect fits in the category of a typical bistable illusion, and therefore the processes that give rise to this illusion may be the same processes that underlie much of other bistable phenomenon.

  18. Faces in the Mist: Illusory Face and Letter Detection

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    Cory A. Rieth

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available We report three behavioral experiments on the spatial characteristics evoking illusory face and letter detection. False detections made to pure noise images were analyzed using a modified reverse correlation method in which hundreds of observers rated a modest number of noise images (480 during a single session. This method was originally developed for brain imaging research, and has been used in a number of fMRI publications, but this is the first report of the behavioral classification images. In Experiment 1 illusory face detection occurred in response to scattered dark patches throughout the images, with a bias to the left visual field. This occurred despite the use of a fixation cross and expectations that faces would be centered. In contrast, illusory letter detection (Experiment 2 occurred in response to centrally positioned dark patches. Experiment 3 included an oval in all displays to spatially constrain illusory face detection. With the addition of this oval the classification image revealed an eyes/nose/mouth pattern. These results suggest that face detection is triggered by a minimal face-like pattern even when these features are not centered in visual focus.

  19. Adaptation to an Illusory Duration: Nothing Like the Real Thing?

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    John Hotchkiss

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Recent work has shown that adapting to a visual or auditory stimulus of a particular duration leads to a repulsive distortion of the perceived duration of a subsequently presented test stimulus. This distortion seems to be modality-specific and manifests itself as an expansion or contraction of perceived duration dependent upon whether the test stimulus is longer or shorter than the adapted duration. It has been shown (Berger et al 2003, Journal of Vision 3, 406–412 that perceived events can be as effective as actual events in inducing improvements in performance. In light of this, we investigated whether an illusory visual duration was capable of inducing a duration after-effect in a visual test stimulus that was actually no different in duration from the adaptor. Pairing a visual stimulus with a concurrent auditory stimulus of subtly longer or shorter duration expands or contracts the duration of the visual stimulus. We mapped out this effect and then chose two auditory durations (one long, one short that produced the maximum distortion in the perceived duration of the visual stimulus. After adapting to this bimodal stimulus, our participants were asked to reproduce a visual duration. Group data showed that participants, on average, reproduced the physical duration of the visual test stimulus accurately; in other words, there was no consistent effect of adaptation to an illusory duration.

  20. A historical note on illusory contours in shadow writing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vezzani, Stefano; Marino, Barbara F M

    2009-01-01

    It is widely accepted that illusory contours have been first displayed and discussed by Schumann (1900, Zeitschrift für Psychologie und Physiologie der Sinnesorgane 23 1-32). Here we show that, before him, Jastrow (1899, Popular Science Monthly 54 299-312) produced illusory contours consisting of a shadow word. A brief history of shadow writing in psychological literature from Jastrow to Brunswik is presented, in which the contributions of Pillsbury, Warren, Koffka, and Benussi are examined.

  1. Illusory correlation and social anxiety.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Jong, P.J.; Boegels, S.; Kindt, M.; Merckelbach, H.

    1998-01-01

    An illusory correlation (IC) experiment examined the presence of a phobia-relevant covariation bias in the context of social anxiety. 60 female college students (28 with low and 32 with high social anxiety) were shown a series of slides comprising pictures of angry, happy, and neutral faces which

  2. Betting on Illusory Patterns: Probability Matching in Habitual Gamblers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaissmaier, Wolfgang; Wilke, Andreas; Scheibehenne, Benjamin; McCanney, Paige; Barrett, H Clark

    2016-03-01

    Why do people gamble? A large body of research suggests that cognitive distortions play an important role in pathological gambling. Many of these distortions are specific cases of a more general misperception of randomness, specifically of an illusory perception of patterns in random sequences. In this article, we provide further evidence for the assumption that gamblers are particularly prone to perceiving illusory patterns. In particular, we compared habitual gamblers to a matched sample of community members with regard to how much they exhibit the choice anomaly 'probability matching'. Probability matching describes the tendency to match response proportions to outcome probabilities when predicting binary outcomes. It leads to a lower expected accuracy than the maximizing strategy of predicting the most likely event on each trial. Previous research has shown that an illusory perception of patterns in random sequences fuels probability matching. So does impulsivity, which is also reported to be higher in gamblers. We therefore hypothesized that gamblers will exhibit more probability matching than non-gamblers, which was confirmed in a controlled laboratory experiment. Additionally, gamblers scored much lower than community members on the cognitive reflection task, which indicates higher impulsivity. This difference could account for the difference in probability matching between the samples. These results suggest that gamblers are more willing to bet impulsively on perceived illusory patterns.

  3. Detection of visual events along the apparent motion trace in patients with paranoid schizophrenia.

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    Sanders, Lia Lira Olivier; Muckli, Lars; de Millas, Walter; Lautenschlager, Marion; Heinz, Andreas; Kathmann, Norbert; Sterzer, Philipp

    2012-07-30

    Dysfunctional prediction in sensory processing has been suggested as a possible causal mechanism in the development of delusions in patients with schizophrenia. Previous studies in healthy subjects have shown that while the perception of apparent motion can mask visual events along the illusory motion trace, such motion masking is reduced when events are spatio-temporally compatible with the illusion, and, therefore, predictable. Here we tested the hypothesis that this specific detection advantage for predictable target stimuli on the apparent motion trace is reduced in patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Our data show that, although target detection along the illusory motion trace is generally impaired, both patients and healthy control participants detect predictable targets more often than unpredictable targets. Patients had a stronger motion masking effect when compared to controls. However, patients showed the same advantage in the detection of predictable targets as healthy control subjects. Our findings reveal stronger motion masking but intact prediction of visual events along the apparent motion trace in patients with paranoid schizophrenia and suggest that the sensory prediction mechanism underlying apparent motion is not impaired in paranoid schizophrenia. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  4. Illusory expectations can affect retrieval-monitoring accuracy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonough, Ian M; Gallo, David A

    2012-03-01

    The present study investigated how expectations, even when illusory, can affect the accuracy of memory decisions. Participants studied words presented in large or small font for subsequent memory tests. Replicating prior work, judgments of learning indicated that participants expected to remember large words better than small words, even though memory for these words was equivalent on a standard test of recognition memory and subjective judgments. Critically, we also included tests that instructed participants to selectively search memory for either large or small words, thereby allowing different memorial expectations to contribute to performance. On these tests we found reduced false recognition when searching memory for large words relative to small words, such that the size illusion paradoxically affected accuracy measures (d' scores) in the absence of actual memory differences. Additional evidence for the role of illusory expectations was that (a) the accuracy effect was obtained only when participants searched memory for the aspect of the stimuli corresponding to illusory expectations (size instead of color) and (b) the accuracy effect was eliminated on a forced-choice test that prevented the influence of memorial expectations. These findings demonstrate the critical role of memorial expectations in the retrieval-monitoring process. 2012 APA, all rights reserved

  5. Illusory conjunctions and perceptual grouping in a visual search task in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carr, V J; Dewis, S A; Lewin, T J

    1998-07-27

    This report describes part of a series of experiments, conducted within the framework of feature integration theory, to determine whether patients with schizophrenia show deficits in preattentive processing. Thirty subjects with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia and 30 age-, gender-, and education-matched normal control subjects completed two computerized experimental tasks, a visual search task assessing the frequency of illusory conjunctions (i.e. false perceptions) under conditions of divided attention (Experiment 3) and a task which examined the effects of perceptual grouping on illusory conjunctions (Experiment 4). We also assessed current symptomatology and its relationship to task performance. Contrary to our hypotheses, schizophrenia subjects did not show higher rates of illusory conjunctions, and the influence of perceptual grouping on the frequency of illusory conjunctions was similar for schizophrenia and control subjects. Nonetheless, specific predictions from feature integration theory about the impact of different target types (Experiment 3) and perceptual groups (Experiment 4) on the likelihood of forming an illusory conjunction were strongly supported, thereby confirming the integrity of the experimental procedures. Overall, these studies revealed no firm evidence that schizophrenia is associated with a preattentive abnormality in visual search using stimuli that differ on the basis of physical characteristics.

  6. Is the Positive Illusory Bias Illusory? Examining Discrepant Self-Perceptions of Competence in Girls with ADHD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swanson, Erika N.; Owens, Elizabeth B.; Hinshaw, Stephen P.

    2012-01-01

    It has been claimed that excessively positive self-perceptions of competence are a key risk factor for concurrent and subsequent impairments in youth with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We examined whether girls with ADHD demonstrate positive illusory self-perceptions in scholastic competence, social acceptance, and behavioral…

  7. Angle alignment evokes perceived depth and illusory surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapley, Robert; Maertens, Marianne

    2008-01-01

    There is a distinct visual process that triggers the perception of illusory surfaces and contours along the intersections of aligned, zigzag line patterns. Such illusory contours and surfaces are qualitatively different from illusory contours of the Kanizsa type. The illusory contours and surfaces in this case are not the product of occlusion and do not imply occlusion of one surface by another. Rather, the aligned angles in the patterns are combined by the visual system into the perception of a fold or a 3-D corner, as of stairs on a staircase or a wall ending on a floor. The depth impression is ambiguous and reversible like the Necker cube. Such patterns were used by American Indian artists of the Akimel O'odham (Pima) tribe in basketry, and also by modern European and American artists like Josef Albers, Bridget Riley, Victor Vasarely, and Frank Stella. Our research aims to find out what manipulations of the visual image affect perceived depth in such patterns in order to learn about the perceptual mechanisms. Using paired comparisons, we find that human observers perceive depth in such patterns if, and only if, lines in adjacent regions of the patterns join to form angles, and also if, and only if, the angles are aligned precisely to be consistent with a fold or 3-D corner. The amount of perceived depth is graded, depending on the steepness and the density of angles in the aligned-angle pattern. The required precision of the alignment implies that early retinotopic visual cortical areas may be involved in this perceptual behavior, but the linkage of form with perceived depth suggests involvement of higher cortical areas as well.

  8. Surface regions of illusory images are detected with a slower processing speed than those of luminance-defined images.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mihaylova, Milena; Manahilov, Velitchko

    2010-11-24

    Research has shown that the processing time for discriminating illusory contours is longer than for real contours. We know, however, little whether the visual processes, associated with detecting regions of illusory surfaces, are also slower as those responsible for detecting luminance-defined images. Using a speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT) procedure, we measured accuracy as a function of processing time for detecting illusory Kanizsa-type and luminance-defined squares embedded in 2D static luminance noise. The data revealed that the illusory images were detected at slower processing speed than the real images, while the points in time, when accuracy departed from chance, were not significantly different for both stimuli. The classification images for detecting illusory and real squares showed that observers employed similar detection strategies using surface regions of the real and illusory squares. The lack of significant differences between the x-intercepts of the SAT functions for illusory and luminance-modulated stimuli suggests that the detection of surface regions of both images could be based on activation of a single mechanism (the dorsal magnocellular visual pathway). The slower speed for detecting illusory images as compared to luminance-defined images could be attributed to slower processes of filling-in of regions of illusory images within the dorsal pathway.

  9. Illusory inferences from a disjunction of conditionals: a new mental models account.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrouillet, P; Lecas, J F

    2000-08-14

    (Johnson-Laird, P.N., & Savary, F. (1999, Illusory inferences: a novel class of erroneous deductions. Cognition, 71, 191-229.) have recently presented a mental models account, based on the so-called principle of truth, for the occurrence of inferences that are compelling but invalid. This article presents an alternative account of the illusory inferences resulting from a disjunction of conditionals. In accordance with our modified theory of mental models of the conditional, we show that the way individuals represent conditionals leads them to misinterpret the locus of the disjunction and prevents them from drawing conclusions from a false conditional, thus accounting for the compelling character of the illusory inference.

  10. Illusory conjunctions reflect the time course of the attentional blink.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botella, Juan; Privado, Jesús; de Liaño, Beatriz Gil-Gómez; Suero, Manuel

    2011-07-01

    Illusory conjunctions in the time domain are binding errors for features from stimuli presented sequentially but in the same spatial position. A similar experimental paradigm is employed for the attentional blink (AB), an impairment of performance for the second of two targets when it is presented 200-500 msec after the first target. The analysis of errors along the time course of the AB allows the testing of models of illusory conjunctions. In an experiment, observers identified one (control condition) or two (experimental condition) letters in a specified color, so that illusory conjunctions in each response could be linked to specific positions in the series. Two items in the target colors (red and white, embedded in distractors of different colors) were employed in four conditions defined according to whether both targets were in the same or different colors. Besides the U-shaped function for hits, the errors were analyzed by calculating several response parameters reflecting characteristics such as the average position of the responses or the attentional suppression during the blink. The several error parameters cluster in two time courses, as would be expected from prevailing models of the AB. Furthermore, the results match the predictions from Botella, Barriopedro, and Suero's (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27, 1452-1467, 2001) model for illusory conjunctions.

  11. Illusory correlation: a function of availability or representativeness heuristics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDonald, M G

    2000-08-01

    The present study sought to investigate the illusory correlation phenomenon by experimentally manipulating the availability of information through the use of the "lag" effect (Madigan, 1969). Seventy-four university students voluntarily participated in this study. Similar to Starr and Katkin's (1969) methodology, subjects were visually presented with each possible combination of four experimental problem descriptions and four sentence completions that were paired and shown twice at each of four lags (i.e., with 0, 2, 8 and 20 intervening variables). Subjects were required to make judgements concerning the frequency with which sentence completions and problem descriptions co-occurred. In agreement with previous research (Starr & Katkin, 1969), the illusory correlation effect was found for specific descriptions and sentence completions. Results also yielded a significant effect of lag for mean ratings between 0 and 2 lags; however, there was no reliable increase in judged co-occurrence at lags 8 and 20. Evidence failed to support the hypothesis that greater availability, through the experimental manipulation of lag, would result in increased frequency of co-occurrence judgements. Findings indicate that, in the present study, the illusory correlation effect is probably due to a situational bias based on the representativeness heuristic.

  12. Illusory conjunctions are alive and well: a reply to Donk (1999).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prinzmetal, W; Diedrichsen, J; Ivry, R B

    2001-06-01

    When presented with a red T and a green O, observers occasionally make conjunction responses and indicate that they saw a green T. These errors have been interpreted as reflecting separable processing stages of feature detection and integration with the illusory conjunctions arising from a failure at the integration stage. Recently, M. Donk (1999) asserted that the phenomenon of illusory conjunctions is an artifact. Conjunction reports are actually the result of confusing a nontarget item (O in the example above) for a target item (the letter T) and (correctly) reporting the color associated with the (incorrectly) selected target. The authors demonstrate that although target-nontarget confusion errors are a potential source of conjunction reports, there is a plethora of findings that cannot be accounted for by this confusion model. A review of the literature indicates that in many studies, illusory conjunctions do result from a failure to properly integrate features.

  13. A case of illusory own-body perceptions after transcranial magnetic stimulation of the cerebellum

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schutter, D.J.L.G.; Kammers, M.P.M.; Enter, D.; Honk, E.J. van

    2006-01-01

    Illusory own-body perceptions are 'body in space' misinterpretations of the brain and belong to the class of out-of-body experiences wherein the angular gyrus seems importantly implicated. In the present study additional cerebellum involvement in illusory own-body perceptions was investigated in a

  14. Does chronic idiopathic dizziness reflect an impairment of sensory predictions of self-motion?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joern K Pomper

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Most patients suffering from chronic idiopathic dizziness do not present signs of vestibular dysfunction or organic failures of other kinds. Hence, this kind of dizziness is commonly seen as psychogenic in nature, sharing commonalities with specific phobias, panic disorder and generalized anxiety. A more specific concept put forward by Brandt and Dieterich (1986 states that these patients suffer from dizziness because of an inadequate compensation of self-induced sensory stimulation. According to this hypothesis self-motion-induced reafferent visual stimulation is interpreted as motion in the world since a predictive signal reflecting the consequences of self-motion, needed to compensate the reafferent stimulus, is inadequate. While conceptually intriguing, experimental evidence supporting the idea of an inadequate prediction of the sensory consequences of own movements has as yet been lacking. Here we tested this hypothesis by applying it to the perception of background motion induced by smooth-pursuit eye movements. As a matter of fact, we found the same mildly undercompensating prediction, responsible for the perception of slight illusory world motion („Filehne illusion in the 15 patients tested and their age-matched controls. Likewise, the ability to adapt this prediction to the needs of the visual context was not deteriorated in patients. Finally, we could not find any correlation between measures of the individual severity of dizziness and the ability to predict. In sum, our results do not support the concept of a deviant prediction of self-induced sensory stimulation as cause of chronic idiopathic dizziness.

  15. Direct Contribution of Auditory Motion Information to Sound-Induced Visual Motion Perception

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Souta Hidaka

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available We have recently demonstrated that alternating left-right sound sources induce motion perception to static visual stimuli along the horizontal plane (SIVM: sound-induced visual motion perception, Hidaka et al., 2009. The aim of the current study was to elucidate whether auditory motion signals, rather than auditory positional signals, can directly contribute to the SIVM. We presented static visual flashes at retinal locations outside the fovea together with a lateral auditory motion provided by a virtual stereo noise source smoothly shifting in the horizontal plane. The flashes appeared to move in the situation where auditory positional information would have little influence on the perceived position of visual stimuli; the spatiotemporal position of the flashes was in the middle of the auditory motion trajectory. Furthermore, the auditory motion altered visual motion perception in a global motion display; in this display, different localized motion signals of multiple visual stimuli were combined to produce a coherent visual motion perception so that there was no clear one-to-one correspondence between the auditory stimuli and each visual stimulus. These findings suggest the existence of direct interactions between the auditory and visual modalities in motion processing and motion perception.

  16. Implicit and explicit illusory correlation as a function of political ideology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carraro, Luciana; Negri, Paolo; Castelli, Luigi; Pastore, Massimiliano

    2014-01-01

    Research has demonstrated that people who embrace different ideological orientations often show differences at the level of basic cognitive processes. For instance, conservatives (vs. liberals) display an automatic selective attention for negative (vs. positive) stimuli, and tend to more easily form illusory correlations between negative information and minority groups. In the present work, we further explored this latter effect by examining whether it only involves the formation of explicit attitudes or it extends to implicit attitudes. To this end, following the typical illusory correlation paradigm, participants were presented with members of two numerically different groups (majority and minority) each performing either a positive or negative behaviour. Negative behaviors were relatively infrequent, and the proportion of positive and negative behaviors within each group was the same. Next, explicit and implicit (i.e., IAT-measured) attitudes were assessed. Results showed that conservatives (vs. liberals) displayed stronger explicit as well as implicit illusory correlations effects, forming more negative attitudes toward the minority (vs. majority) group at both the explicit and implicit level.

  17. Can walking motions improve visually induced rotational self-motion illusions in virtual reality?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riecke, Bernhard E; Freiberg, Jacob B; Grechkin, Timofey Y

    2015-02-04

    Illusions of self-motion (vection) can provide compelling sensations of moving through virtual environments without the need for complex motion simulators or large tracked physical walking spaces. Here we explore the interaction between biomechanical cues (stepping along a rotating circular treadmill) and visual cues (viewing simulated self-rotation) for providing stationary users a compelling sensation of rotational self-motion (circular vection). When tested individually, biomechanical and visual cues were similarly effective in eliciting self-motion illusions. However, in combination they yielded significantly more intense self-motion illusions. These findings provide the first compelling evidence that walking motions can be used to significantly enhance visually induced rotational self-motion perception in virtual environments (and vice versa) without having to provide for physical self-motion or motion platforms. This is noteworthy, as linear treadmills have been found to actually impair visually induced translational self-motion perception (Ash, Palmisano, Apthorp, & Allison, 2013). Given the predominant focus on linear walking interfaces for virtual-reality locomotion, our findings suggest that investigating circular and curvilinear walking interfaces offers a promising direction for future research and development and can help to enhance self-motion illusions, presence and immersion in virtual-reality systems. © 2015 ARVO.

  18. Knowledge does not protect against illusory truth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fazio, Lisa K; Brashier, Nadia M; Payne, B Keith; Marsh, Elizabeth J

    2015-10-01

    In daily life, we frequently encounter false claims in the form of consumer advertisements, political propaganda, and rumors. Repetition may be one way that insidious misconceptions, such as the belief that vitamin C prevents the common cold, enter our knowledge base. Research on the illusory truth effect demonstrates that repeated statements are easier to process, and subsequently perceived to be more truthful, than new statements. The prevailing assumption in the literature has been that knowledge constrains this effect (i.e., repeating the statement "The Atlantic Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth" will not make you believe it). We tested this assumption using both normed estimates of knowledge and individuals' demonstrated knowledge on a postexperimental knowledge check (Experiment 1). Contrary to prior suppositions, illusory truth effects occurred even when participants knew better. Multinomial modeling demonstrated that participants sometimes rely on fluency even if knowledge is also available to them (Experiment 2). Thus, participants demonstrated knowledge neglect, or the failure to rely on stored knowledge, in the face of fluent processing experiences. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  19. Motion-induced dose artifacts in helical tomotherapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Bryan; Chen, Jeff; Battista, Jerry [London Regional Cancer Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON (Canada); Kron, Tomas [Peter MacCallum Cancer Center, Melbourne (Australia)], E-mail: bryan.kim@lhsc.on.ca

    2009-10-07

    Tumor motion is a particular concern for a complex treatment modality such as helical tomotherapy, where couch position, gantry rotation and MLC leaf opening all change with time. In the present study, we have investigated the impact of tumor motion for helical tomotherapy, which could result in three distinct motion-induced dose artifacts, namely (1) dose rounding, (2) dose rippling and (3) IMRT leaf opening asynchronization effect. Dose rounding and dose rippling effects have been previously described, while the IMRT leaf opening asynchronization effect is a newly discovered motion-induced dose artifact. Dose rounding is the penumbral widening of a delivered dose distribution near the edges of a target volume along the direction of tumor motion. Dose rippling is a series of periodic dose peaks and valleys observed within the target region along the direction of couch motion, due to an asynchronous interplay between the couch motion and the longitudinal component of tumor motion. The IMRT leaf opening asynchronization effect is caused by an asynchronous interplay between the temporal patterns of leaf openings and tumor motion. The characteristics of each dose artifact were investigated individually as functions of target motion amplitude and period for both non-IMRT and IMRT helical tomotherapy cases, through computer simulation modeling and experimental verification. The longitudinal dose profiles generated by the simulation program agreed with the experimental data within {+-}0.5% and {+-}1.5% inside the PTV region for the non-IMRT and IMRT cases, respectively. The dose rounding effect produced a penumbral increase up to 20.5 mm for peak-to-peak target motion amplitudes ranging from 1.0 cm to 5.0 cm. Maximum dose rippling magnitude of 25% was calculated, when the target motion period approached an unusually high value of 10 s. The IMRT leaf opening asynchronization effect produced dose differences ranging from -29% to 7% inside the PTV region. This information

  20. Sound frequency and aural selectivity in sound-contingent visual motion aftereffect.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maori Kobayashi

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: One possible strategy to evaluate whether signals in different modalities originate from a common external event or object is to form associations between inputs from different senses. This strategy would be quite effective because signals in different modalities from a common external event would then be aligned spatially and temporally. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that after adaptation to visual apparent motion paired with alternating auditory tones, the tones begin to trigger illusory motion perception to a static visual stimulus, where the perceived direction of visual lateral motion depends on the order in which the tones are replayed. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unclear. One important approach to understanding the mechanisms is to examine whether the effect has some selectivity in auditory processing. However, it has not yet been determined whether this aftereffect can be transferred across sound frequencies and between ears. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Two circles placed side by side were presented in alternation, producing apparent motion perception, and each onset was accompanied by a tone burst of a specific and unique frequency. After exposure to this visual apparent motion with tones for a few minutes, the tones became drivers for illusory motion perception. However, the aftereffect was observed only when the adapter and test tones were presented at the same frequency and to the same ear. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings suggest that the auditory processing underlying the establishment of novel audiovisual associations is selective, potentially but not necessarily indicating that this processing occurs at an early stage.

  1. P1-17: Pseudo-Haptics Using Motion-in-Depth Stimulus and Second-Order Motion Stimulus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuichi Sato

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Modification of motion of the computer cursor during the manipulation by the observer evokes illusory haptic sensation (Lecuyer et al., 2004 ACM SIGCHI '04 239–246. This study investigates the pseudo-haptics using motion-in-depth and second-order motion. A stereoscopic display and a PHANTOM were used in the first experiment. A subject was asked to move a visual target at a constant speed in horizontal, vertical, or front-back direction. During the manipulation, the speed was reduced to 50% for 500 msec. The haptic sensation was measured using the magnitude estimation method. The result indicates that perceived haptic sensation from motion-in-depth was about 30% of that from horizontal or vertical motion. A 2D display and the PHANTOM were used in the second experiment. The motion cue was second order—in each frame, dots in a square patch reverses in contrast (i.e., all black dots become white and all white dots become black. The patch was moved in a horizontal direction. The result indicates that perceived haptic sensation from second-order motion was about 90% of that from first-order motion.

  2. Perception of illusory contour figures: Microgenetic analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Gvozdenović Vasilije P.

    2004-01-01

    Microgenetic analysis was used to investigate perception of illusory contour figures which represent whole, completed forms on the basis of segmented, incomplete stimulation. The analysis provided an experimental approach to this phenomenon which was standardly investigated phenomenologically. Experimental procedure consisted of two phases: a) priming phase and b) test phase which consisted of visual search task. Two types of visual search tasks were applied: (i) classic detection, in which s...

  3. Ground Motion Characteristics of Induced Earthquakes in Central North America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atkinson, G. M.; Assatourians, K.; Novakovic, M.

    2017-12-01

    The ground motion characteristics of induced earthquakes in central North America are investigated based on empirical analysis of a compiled database of 4,000,000 digital ground-motion records from events in induced-seismicity regions (especially Oklahoma). Ground-motion amplitudes are characterized non-parametrically by computing median amplitudes and their variability in magnitude-distance bins. We also use inversion techniques to solve for regional source, attenuation and site response effects. Ground motion models are used to interpret the observations and compare the source and attenuation attributes of induced earthquakes to those of their natural counterparts. Significant conclusions are that the stress parameter that controls the strength of high-frequency radiation is similar for induced earthquakes (depth of h 5 km) and shallow (h 5 km) natural earthquakes. By contrast, deeper natural earthquakes (h 10 km) have stronger high-frequency ground motions. At distances close to the epicenter, a greater focal depth (which increases distance from the hypocenter) counterbalances the effects of a larger stress parameter, resulting in motions of similar strength close to the epicenter, regardless of event depth. The felt effects of induced versus natural earthquakes are also investigated using USGS "Did You Feel It?" reports; 400,000 reports from natural events and 100,000 reports from induced events are considered. The felt reports confirm the trends that we expect based on ground-motion modeling, considering the offsetting effects of the stress parameter versus focal depth in controlling the strength of motions near the epicenter. Specifically, felt intensity for a given magnitude is similar near the epicenter, on average, for all event types and depths. At distances more than 10 km from the epicenter, deeper events are felt more strongly than shallow events. These ground-motion attributes imply that the induced-seismicity hazard is most critical for facilities in

  4. The role of remote closure in the perception of occlusion at junctions and illusory contours.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillam, Barbara J; Grove, Philip M; Layden, Jessica

    2010-01-01

    Abstract. Perceived occlusion at T-junctions or illusory contours at implicit T-junctions are often modelled by using edge information without surface context. We explored the effect of closure on perceived occlusion at T-junctions. Two vertical lines separated by a gap each had six abutting horizontal lines on opposite sides forming T-junctions. These lines were either closed or not closed into pairs at the stem ends of the Ts. In experiment 1, closed T-junction stems gave a much stronger sense of occlusion at the vertical lines than unclosed ones, even though closure information was remote from the putative occlusion and local T-junction information remained constant. When the outer two T-junctions were converted to L-junctions, perceived occlusion considerably diminished. The effect of closure on illusory-contour strength for stimuli like those of experiment 1 but with the vertical lines omitted was explored in experiment 2. The two sets of horizontal lines, separated by a gap, were either closed or not closed into pairs at their outer ends. Illusory-contour strength along the vertical alignments was much greater for closed pairs. Line terminations on both sides of the gap enhanced illusory-contour strength, but whether they were collinear or not had little effect.

  5. Is interpolation cognitively encapsulated? Measuring the effects of belief on Kanizsa shape discrimination and illusory contour formation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keane, Brian P.; Lu, Hongjing; Papathomas, Thomas V.; Silverstein, Steven M.; Kellman, Philip J.

    2012-01-01

    Contour interpolation is a perceptual process that fills-in missing edges on the basis of how surrounding edges (inducers) are spatiotemporally related. Cognitive encapsulation refers to the degree to which perceptual mechanisms act in isolation from beliefs, expectations, and utilities (Pylyshyn, 1999). Is interpolation encapsulated from belief? We addressed this question by having subjects discriminate briefly-presented, partially-visible fat and thin shapes, the edges of which either induced or did not induce illusory contours (relatable and non-relatable conditions, respectively). Half the trials in each condition incorporated task-irrelevant distractor lines, known to disrupt the filling-in of contours. Half of the observers were told that the visible parts of the shape belonged to a single thing (group strategy); the other half were told that the visible parts were disconnected (ungroup strategy). It was found that distractor lines strongly impaired performance in the relatable condition, but minimally in the non-relatable condition; that strategy did not alter the effects of the distractor lines for either the relatable or non-relatable stimuli; and that cognitively grouping relatable fragments improved performance whereas cognitively grouping non-relatable fragments did not. These results suggest that 1) filling-in effects during illusory contour formation cannot be easily removed via strategy; 2) filling-in effects cannot be easily manufactured from stimuli that fail to elicit interpolation; and 3) actively grouping fragments can readily improve discrimination performance, but only when those fragments form interpolated contours. Taken together, these findings indicate that discriminating filled-in shapes depends on strategy but filling-in itself may be encapsulated from belief. PMID:22440789

  6. Illusory conjunctions of pitch and duration in unfamiliar tone sequences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, W F; Hall, M D; Pressing, J

    2001-02-01

    In 3 experiments, the authors examined short-term memory for pitch and duration in unfamiliar tone sequences. Participants were presented a target sequence consisting of 2 tones (Experiment 1) or 7 tones (Experiments 2 and 3) and then a probe tone. Participants indicated whether the probe tone matched 1 of the target tones in both pitch and duration. Error rates were relatively low if the probe tone matched 1 of the target tones or if it differed from target tones in pitch, duration, or both. Error rates were remarkably high, however, if the probe tone combined the pitch of 1 target tone with the duration of a different target tone. The results suggest that illusory conjunctions of these dimensions frequently occur. A mathematical model is presented that accounts for the relative contribution of pitch errors, duration errors, and illusory conjunctions of pitch and duration.

  7. Parietal lesions produce illusory conjunction errors in rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raymond PIERRE Kesner

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available When several different objects are presented, visual objects are perceived correctly only if their features are identified and then bound together. Illusory-conjunction errors result when an object is correctly identified but is combined incorrectly. The parietal cortex (PPC has been shown repeatedly to play an important role in feature binding. The present study builds on a series of recent studies that have made use of visual search paradigms to elucidate the neural system involved in feature binding. This experiment attempts to define the role the PPC plays in binding the properties of a visual object that varies on the features of color and size in rats. Rats with PPC lesions or control surgery were exposed to three blocks of 20 trials administered over a 1-week period, with each block containing ten-one feature and ten-two feature trials. The target object consisted of one color object (e.g. black and white and one size object (e.g. short and tall. Of the ten one feature trials, five of the trials were tailored specifically for size discrimination and five for color discrimination. In the two-feature condition, the animal was required to locate the targeted object among four objects with two objects differing in size and two objects differing in color. The results showed a significant decrease in learning the task for the PPC lesioned rats compared to controls, especially for the two-feature condition. Based on a subsequent error analysis for color and size, the results showed a significant increase in illusory conjunction errors for the PPC lesioned rats relative to controls for color and relative to color discrimination, suggesting that the PPC may support feature binding as it relates to color. There was an increase in illusory conjunctions errors for both the PPC lesioned and control animals for size, but this appeared to be due to a difficulty with size discrimination.

  8. Vection Modulates Emotional Valence of Autobiographical Episodic Memories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seno, Takeharu; Kawabe, Takahiro; Ito, Hiroyuki; Sunaga, Shoji

    2013-01-01

    We examined whether illusory self-motion perception ("vection") induced by viewing upward and downward grating motion stimuli can alter the emotional valence of recollected autobiographical episodic memories. We found that participants recollected positive episodes more often while perceiving upward vection. However, when we tested a small moving…

  9. Event-related potentials and illusory conjunctions in the time domain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beatriz Gil-Gómez de Liaño

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation, RSVP can migrate forming a wrong combination or illusory conjunction. Several serial and parallel models have been proposed to explain the generation of this type of errors. The behavioral results fit better the two-stage parallel model than other serial and parallel models. However, they have not been studied the psychophysiological correlates that distinguish successful bindings from Illusory Conjunctions. The goal here is to collect electrophysiological records during this task to determine the degree to which they converge with the evidence from behavioral results. One RSVP task required to identify the only uppercase word in a stream of lowercase words at a rate of 12 items/sec. As in previous experiments, more intrusions from post-target items than from pre-target items were observed. The results from eventrelated potentials are also more supportive for the two-stage parallel model than for the serial or other parallel models, as reflected in the differential waves associated to correct and wrong combinations

  10. Presentation of words to separate hemispheres prevents interword illusory conjunctions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liederman, J; Sohn, Y S

    1999-03-01

    We tested the hypothesis that division of inputs between the hemispheres could prevent interword letter migrations in the form of illusory conjunctions. The task was to decide whether a centrally-presented consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) target word matched one of four CVC words presented to a single hemisphere or divided between the hemispheres in a subsequent test display. During half of the target-absent trials, known as conjunction trials, letters from two separate words (e.g., "tag" and "cop") in the test display could be mistaken for a target word (e.g., "top"). For the other half of the target-absent trails, the test display did not match any target consonants (Experiment 1, N = 16) or it matched one target consonant (Experiment 2, N = 29), the latter constituting true "feature" trials. Bi- as compared to unihemispheric presentation significantly reduced the number of conjunction, but not feature, errors. Illusory conjunctions did not occur when the words were presented to separate hemispheres.

  11. The sound-induced phosphene illusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolognini, Nadia; Convento, Silvia; Fusaro, Martina; Vallar, Giuseppe

    2013-12-01

    Crossmodal illusions clearly show how perception, rather than being a modular and self-contained function, can be dramatically altered by interactions between senses. Here, we provide evidence for a novel crossmodal "physiological" illusion, showing that sounds can boost visual cortical responses in such a way to give rise to a striking illusory visual percept. In healthy participants, a single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (sTMS) delivered to the occipital cortex evoked a visual percept, i.e., a phosphene. When sTMS is accompanied by two auditory beeps, the second beep induces in neurologically unimpaired participants the perception of an illusory second phosphene, namely the sound-induced phosphene illusion. This perceptual "fission" of a single phosphene, due to multiple beeps, is not matched by a "fusion" of double phosphenes due to a single beep, and it is characterized by an early auditory modulation of the TMS-induced visual responses (~80 ms). Multiple beeps also induce an illusory feeling of multiple TMS pulses on the participants' scalp, consistent with an audio-tactile fission illusion. In conclusion, an auditory stimulation may bring about a phenomenological change in the conscious visual experience produced by the transcranial stimulation of the occipital cortex, which reveals crossmodal binding mechanisms within early stages of visual processing.

  12. Illusory changes in body size modulate body satisfaction in a way that is related to non-clinical eating disorder psychopathology.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catherine Preston

    Full Text Available Historically, body size overestimation has been linked to abnormal levels of body dissatisfaction found in eating disorders. However, recently this relationship has been called into question. Indeed, despite a link between how we perceive and how we feel about our body seeming intuitive, until now lack of an experimental method to manipulate body size has meant that a causal link, even in healthy participants, has remained elusive. Recent developments in body perception research demonstrate that the perceptual experience of the body can be readily manipulated using multisensory illusions. The current study exploits such illusions to modulate perceived body size in an attempt to influence body satisfaction. Participants were presented with stereoscopic video images of slimmer and wider mannequin bodies viewed through head-mounted displays from first person perspective. Illusory ownership was induced by synchronously stroking the seen mannequin body with the unseen real body. Pre and post-illusion affective and perceptual measures captured changes in perceived body size and body satisfaction. Illusory ownership of a slimmer body resulted in participants perceiving their actual body as slimmer and giving higher ratings of body satisfaction demonstrating a direct link between perceptual and affective body representations. Change in body satisfaction following illusory ownership of a wider body, however, was related to degree of (non-clinical eating disorder psychopathology, which can be linked to fluctuating body representations found in clinical samples. The results suggest that body perception is linked to body satisfaction and may be of importance for eating disorder symptomology.

  13. Illusory Changes in Body Size Modulate Body Satisfaction in a Way That Is Related to Non-Clinical Eating Disorder Psychopathology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preston, Catherine; Ehrsson, H. Henrik

    2014-01-01

    Historically, body size overestimation has been linked to abnormal levels of body dissatisfaction found in eating disorders. However, recently this relationship has been called into question. Indeed, despite a link between how we perceive and how we feel about our body seeming intuitive, until now lack of an experimental method to manipulate body size has meant that a causal link, even in healthy participants, has remained elusive. Recent developments in body perception research demonstrate that the perceptual experience of the body can be readily manipulated using multisensory illusions. The current study exploits such illusions to modulate perceived body size in an attempt to influence body satisfaction. Participants were presented with stereoscopic video images of slimmer and wider mannequin bodies viewed through head-mounted displays from first person perspective. Illusory ownership was induced by synchronously stroking the seen mannequin body with the unseen real body. Pre and post-illusion affective and perceptual measures captured changes in perceived body size and body satisfaction. Illusory ownership of a slimmer body resulted in participants perceiving their actual body as slimmer and giving higher ratings of body satisfaction demonstrating a direct link between perceptual and affective body representations. Change in body satisfaction following illusory ownership of a wider body, however, was related to degree of (non-clinical) eating disorder psychopathology, which can be linked to fluctuating body representations found in clinical samples. The results suggest that body perception is linked to body satisfaction and may be of importance for eating disorder symptomology. PMID:24465698

  14. Defining the computational structure of the motion detector in Drosophila.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Damon A; Bursztyn, Limor; Horowitz, Mark A; Schnitzer, Mark J; Clandinin, Thomas R

    2011-06-23

    Many animals rely on visual motion detection for survival. Motion information is extracted from spatiotemporal intensity patterns on the retina, a paradigmatic neural computation. A phenomenological model, the Hassenstein-Reichardt correlator (HRC), relates visual inputs to neural activity and behavioral responses to motion, but the circuits that implement this computation remain unknown. By using cell-type specific genetic silencing, minimal motion stimuli, and in vivo calcium imaging, we examine two critical HRC inputs. These two pathways respond preferentially to light and dark moving edges. We demonstrate that these pathways perform overlapping but complementary subsets of the computations underlying the HRC. A numerical model implementing differential weighting of these operations displays the observed edge preferences. Intriguingly, these pathways are distinguished by their sensitivities to a stimulus correlation that corresponds to an illusory percept, "reverse phi," that affects many species. Thus, this computational architecture may be widely used to achieve edge selectivity in motion detection. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Illusory conjunctions in simultanagnosia: coarse coding of visual feature location?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCrea, Simon M; Buxbaum, Laurel J; Coslett, H Branch

    2006-01-01

    Simultanagnosia is a disorder characterized by an inability to see more than one object at a time. We report a simultanagnosic patient (ED) with bilateral posterior infarctions who produced frequent illusory conjunctions on tasks involving form and surface features (e.g., a red T) and form alone. ED also produced "blend" errors in which features of one familiar perceptual unit appeared to migrate to another familiar perceptual unit (e.g., "RO" read as "PQ"). ED often misread scrambled letter strings as a familiar word (e.g., "hmoe" read as "home"). Finally, ED's success in reporting two letters in an array was inversely related to the distance between the letters. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that ED's illusory reflect coarse coding of visual feature location that is ameliorated in part by top-down information from object and word recognition systems; the findings are also consistent, however, with Treisman's Feature Integration Theory. Finally, the data provide additional support for the claim that the dorsal parieto-occipital cortex is implicated in the binding of visual feature information.

  16. Enhancement of vortex induced forces and motion through surface roughness control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernitsas, Michael M [Saline, MI; Raghavan, Kamaldev [Houston, TX

    2011-11-01

    Roughness is added to the surface of a bluff body in a relative motion with respect to a fluid. The amount, size, and distribution of roughness on the body surface is controlled passively or actively to modify the flow around the body and subsequently the Vortex Induced Forces and Motion (VIFM). The added roughness, when designed and implemented appropriately, affects in a predetermined way the boundary layer, the separation of the boundary layer, the level of turbulence, the wake, the drag and lift forces, and consequently the Vortex Induced Motion (VIM), and the fluid-structure interaction. The goal of surface roughness control is to increase Vortex Induced Forces and Motion. Enhancement is needed in such applications as harnessing of clean and renewable energy from ocean/river currents using the ocean energy converter VIVACE (Vortex Induced Vibration for Aquatic Clean Energy).

  17. Verification of motion induced thread effect during tomotherapy using gel dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edvardsson, Anneli; Ljusberg, Anna; Ceberg, Crister; Medin, Joakim; Ambolt, Lee; Nordström, Fredrik; Ceberg, Sofie

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to evaluate how breathing motion during tomotherapy (Accuray, CA, USA) treatment affects the absorbed dose distribution. The experiments were carried out using gel dosimetry and a motion device simulating respiratory-like motion (HexaMotion, ScandiDos, Uppsala, Sweden). Normoxic polyacrylamide gels (nPAG) were irradiated, both during respiratory-like motion and in a static mode. To be able to investigate interplay effects the static absorbed dose distribution was convolved with the motion function and differences between the dynamic and convolved static absorbed dose distributions were interpreted as interplay effects. The expected dose blurring was present and the interplay effects formed a spiral pattern in the lower dose volume. This was expected since the motion induced affects the preset pitch and the theoretically predicted thread effect may emerge. In this study, the motion induced thread effect was experimentally verified for the first time

  18. Empirical Ground Motion Characterization of Induced Seismicity in Alberta and Oklahoma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novakovic, M.; Atkinson, G. M.; Assatourians, K.

    2017-12-01

    We develop empirical ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for ground motions from induced earthquakes in Alberta and Oklahoma following the stochastic-model-based method of Atkinson et al. (2015 BSSA). The Oklahoma ground-motion database is compiled from over 13,000 small to moderate seismic events (M 1 to 5.8) recorded at 1600 seismic stations, at distances from 1 to 750 km. The Alberta database is compiled from over 200 small to moderate seismic events (M 1 to 4.2) recorded at 50 regional stations, at distances from 30 to 500 km. A generalized inversion is used to solve for regional source, attenuation and site parameters. The obtained parameters describe the regional attenuation, stress parameter and site amplification. Resolving these parameters allows for the derivation of regionally-calibrated GMPEs that can be used to compare ground motion observations between waste water injection (Oklahoma) and hydraulic fracture induced events (Alberta), and further compare induced observations with ground motions resulting from natural sources (California, NGAWest2). The derived GMPEs have applications for the evaluation of hazards from induced seismicity and can be used to track amplitudes across the regions in real time, which is useful for ground-motion-based alerting systems and traffic light protocols.

  19. A measurement theory of illusory conjunctions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prinzmetal, William; Ivry, Richard B; Beck, Diane; Shimizu, Naomi

    2002-04-01

    Illusory conjunctions refer to the incorrect perceptual combination of correctly perceived features, such as color and shape. Research on the phenomenon has been hampered by the lack of a measurement theory that accounts for guessing features, as well as the incorrect combination of correctly perceived features. Recently, several investigators have suggested using multinomial models as a tool for measuring feature integration. The authors examined the adequacy of these models in 2 experiments by testing whether model parameters reflect changes in stimulus factors. In a third experiment, confidence ratings were used as a tool for testing the model. Multinomial models accurately reflected both variations in stimulus factors and observers' trial-by-trial confidence ratings.

  20. Ultrasound-induced acoustophoretic motion of microparticles in three dimensions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Muller, Peter Barkholt; Rossi, M.; Marín, Á. G.

    2013-01-01

    We derive analytical expressions for the three-dimensional (3D) acoustophoretic motion of spherical microparticles in rectangular microchannels. The motion is generated by the acoustic radiation force and the acoustic streaming-induced drag force. In contrast to the classical theory of Rayleigh...

  1. Motion-induced eddy current thermography for high-speed inspection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianbo Wu

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available This letter proposes a novel motion-induced eddy current based thermography (MIECT for high-speed inspection. In contrast to conventional eddy current thermography (ECT based on a time-varying magnetic field created by an AC coil, the motion-induced eddy current is induced by the relative motion between magnetic field and inspected objects. A rotating magnetic field created by three-phase windings is used to investigate the heating principle and feasibility of the proposed method. Firstly, based on Faraday’s law the distribution of MIEC is investigated, which is then validated by numerical simulation. Further, experimental studies are conducted to validate the proposed method by creating rotating magnetic fields at different speeds from 600 rpm to 6000 rpm, and it is verified that rotating speed will increase MIEC intensity and thereafter improve the heating efficiency. The conclusion can be preliminarily drawn that the proposed MIECT is a platform suitable for high-speed inspection.

  2. Visual motion transforms visual space representations similarly throughout the human visual hierarchy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvey, Ben M; Dumoulin, Serge O

    2016-02-15

    Several studies demonstrate that visual stimulus motion affects neural receptive fields and fMRI response amplitudes. Here we unite results of these two approaches and extend them by examining the effects of visual motion on neural position preferences throughout the hierarchy of human visual field maps. We measured population receptive field (pRF) properties using high-field fMRI (7T), characterizing position preferences simultaneously over large regions of the visual cortex. We measured pRFs properties using sine wave gratings in stationary apertures, moving at various speeds in either the direction of pRF measurement or the orthogonal direction. We find direction- and speed-dependent changes in pRF preferred position and size in all visual field maps examined, including V1, V3A, and the MT+ map TO1. These effects on pRF properties increase up the hierarchy of visual field maps. However, both within and between visual field maps the extent of pRF changes was approximately proportional to pRF size. This suggests that visual motion transforms the representation of visual space similarly throughout the visual hierarchy. Visual motion can also produce an illusory displacement of perceived stimulus position. We demonstrate perceptual displacements using the same stimulus configuration. In contrast to effects on pRF properties, perceptual displacements show only weak effects of motion speed, with far larger speed-independent effects. We describe a model where low-level mechanisms could underlie the observed effects on neural position preferences. We conclude that visual motion induces similar transformations of visuo-spatial representations throughout the visual hierarchy, which may arise through low-level mechanisms. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Illusory conjunctions in visual short-term memory: Individual differences in corpus callosum connectivity and splitting attention between the two hemifields.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Shuo; Ray, Nicholas R; Ramakrishnan, Nithya; Nashiro, Kaoru; O'Connell, Margaret A; Basak, Chandramallika

    2016-11-01

    Overloading the capacity of visual attention can result in mistakenly combining the various features of an object, that is, illusory conjunctions. We hypothesize that if the two hemispheres separately process visual information by splitting attention, connectivity of corpus callosum-a brain structure integrating the two hemispheres-would predict the degree of illusory conjunctions. In the current study, we assessed two types of illusory conjunctions using a memory-scanning paradigm; the features were either presented across the two opposite hemifields or within the same hemifield. Four objects, each with two visual features, were briefly presented together followed by a probe-recognition and a confidence rating for the recognition accuracy. MRI scans were also obtained. Results indicated that successful recollection during probe recognition was better for across hemifields conjunctions compared to within hemifield conjunctions, lending support to the bilateral advantage of the two hemispheres in visual short-term memory. Age-related differences regarding the underlying mechanisms of the bilateral advantage indicated greater reliance on recollection-based processing in young and on familiarity-based processing in old. Moreover, the integrity of the posterior corpus callosum was more predictive of opposite hemifield illusory conjunctions compared to within hemifield illusory conjunctions, even after controlling for age. That is, individuals with lesser posterior corpus callosum connectivity had better recognition for objects when their features were recombined from the opposite hemifields than from the same hemifield. This study is the first to investigate the role of the corpus callosum in splitting attention between versus within hemifields. © 2016 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

  4. Reduction of vortex induced forces and motion through surface roughness control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernitsas, Michael M; Raghavan, Kamaldev

    2014-04-01

    Roughness is added to the surface of a bluff body in a relative motion with respect to a fluid. The amount, size, and distribution of roughness on the body surface is controlled passively or actively to modify the flow around the body and subsequently the Vortex Induced Forces and Motion (VIFM). The added roughness, when designed and implemented appropriately, affects in a predetermined way the boundary layer, the separation of the boundary layer, the level of turbulence, the wake, the drag and lift forces, and consequently the Vortex Induced Motion (VIM), and the fluid-structure interaction. The goal of surface roughness control is to decrease/suppress Vortex Induced Forces and Motion. Suppression is required when fluid-structure interaction becomes destructive as in VIM of flexible cylinders or rigid cylinders on elastic support, such as underwater pipelines, marine risers, tubes in heat exchangers, nuclear fuel rods, cooling towers, SPAR offshore platforms.

  5. Using visuo-kinetic virtual reality to induce illusory spinal movement: the MoOVi Illusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvie, Daniel S; Smith, Ross T; Hunter, Estin V; Davis, Miles G; Sterling, Michele; Moseley, G Lorimer

    2017-01-01

    Illusions that alter perception of the body provide novel opportunities to target brain-based contributions to problems such as persistent pain. One example of this, mirror therapy, uses vision to augment perceived movement of a painful limb to treat pain. Since mirrors can't be used to induce augmented neck or other spinal movement, we aimed to test whether such an illusion could be achieved using virtual reality, in advance of testing its potential therapeutic benefit. We hypothesised that perceived head rotation would depend on visually suggested movement. In a within-subjects repeated measures experiment, 24 healthy volunteers performed neck movements to 50 o of rotation, while a virtual reality system delivered corresponding visual feedback that was offset by a factor of 50%-200%-the Motor Offset Visual Illusion (MoOVi)-thus simulating more or less movement than that actually occurring. At 50 o of real-world head rotation, participants pointed in the direction that they perceived they were facing. The discrepancy between actual and perceived direction was measured and compared between conditions. The impact of including multisensory (auditory and visual) feedback, the presence of a virtual body reference, and the use of 360 o immersive virtual reality with and without three-dimensional properties, was also investigated. Perception of head movement was dependent on visual-kinaesthetic feedback ( p  = 0.001, partial eta squared = 0.17). That is, altered visual feedback caused a kinaesthetic drift in the direction of the visually suggested movement. The magnitude of the drift was not moderated by secondary variables such as the addition of illusory auditory feedback, the presence of a virtual body reference, or three-dimensionality of the scene. Virtual reality can be used to augment perceived movement and body position, such that one can perform a small movement, yet perceive a large one. The MoOVi technique tested here has clear potential for assessment and

  6. Using visuo-kinetic virtual reality to induce illusory spinal movement: the MoOVi Illusion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel S. Harvie

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Background Illusions that alter perception of the body provide novel opportunities to target brain-based contributions to problems such as persistent pain. One example of this, mirror therapy, uses vision to augment perceived movement of a painful limb to treat pain. Since mirrors can’t be used to induce augmented neck or other spinal movement, we aimed to test whether such an illusion could be achieved using virtual reality, in advance of testing its potential therapeutic benefit. We hypothesised that perceived head rotation would depend on visually suggested movement. Method In a within-subjects repeated measures experiment, 24 healthy volunteers performed neck movements to 50o of rotation, while a virtual reality system delivered corresponding visual feedback that was offset by a factor of 50%–200%—the Motor Offset Visual Illusion (MoOVi—thus simulating more or less movement than that actually occurring. At 50o of real-world head rotation, participants pointed in the direction that they perceived they were facing. The discrepancy between actual and perceived direction was measured and compared between conditions. The impact of including multisensory (auditory and visual feedback, the presence of a virtual body reference, and the use of 360o immersive virtual reality with and without three-dimensional properties, was also investigated. Results Perception of head movement was dependent on visual-kinaesthetic feedback (p = 0.001, partial eta squared = 0.17. That is, altered visual feedback caused a kinaesthetic drift in the direction of the visually suggested movement. The magnitude of the drift was not moderated by secondary variables such as the addition of illusory auditory feedback, the presence of a virtual body reference, or three-dimensionality of the scene. Discussion Virtual reality can be used to augment perceived movement and body position, such that one can perform a small movement, yet perceive a large one. The Mo

  7. Connecting the dots : Illusory pattern perception predicts belief in conspiracies and the supernatural

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Prooijen, Jan Willem; Douglas, Karen M.; De Inocencio, Clara

    A common assumption is that belief in conspiracy theories and supernatural phenomena are grounded in illusory pattern perception. In the present research we systematically tested this assumption. Study 1 revealed that such irrational beliefs are related to perceiving patterns in randomly generated

  8. Connecting the dots: Illusory pattern perception predicts belief in conspiracies and the supernatural.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Prooijen, Jan-Willem; Douglas, Karen M; De Inocencio, Clara

    2018-04-01

    A common assumption is that belief in conspiracy theories and supernatural phenomena are grounded in illusory pattern perception. In the present research we systematically tested this assumption. Study 1 revealed that such irrational beliefs are related to perceiving patterns in randomly generated coin toss outcomes. In Study 2, pattern search instructions exerted an indirect effect on irrational beliefs through pattern perception. Study 3 revealed that perceiving patterns in chaotic but not in structured paintings predicted irrational beliefs. In Study 4, we found that agreement with texts supporting paranormal phenomena or conspiracy theories predicted pattern perception. In Study 5, we manipulated belief in a specific conspiracy theory. This manipulation influenced the extent to which people perceive patterns in world events, which in turn predicted unrelated irrational beliefs. We conclude that illusory pattern perception is a central cognitive mechanism accounting for conspiracy theories and supernatural beliefs.

  9. Connecting the dots: Illusory pattern perception predicts belief in conspiracies and the supernatural

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douglas, Karen M.; De Inocencio, Clara

    2017-01-01

    Abstract A common assumption is that belief in conspiracy theories and supernatural phenomena are grounded in illusory pattern perception. In the present research we systematically tested this assumption. Study 1 revealed that such irrational beliefs are related to perceiving patterns in randomly generated coin toss outcomes. In Study 2, pattern search instructions exerted an indirect effect on irrational beliefs through pattern perception. Study 3 revealed that perceiving patterns in chaotic but not in structured paintings predicted irrational beliefs. In Study 4, we found that agreement with texts supporting paranormal phenomena or conspiracy theories predicted pattern perception. In Study 5, we manipulated belief in a specific conspiracy theory. This manipulation influenced the extent to which people perceive patterns in world events, which in turn predicted unrelated irrational beliefs. We conclude that illusory pattern perception is a central cognitive mechanism accounting for conspiracy theories and supernatural beliefs. PMID:29695889

  10. Motion induced interplay effects for VMAT radiotherapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edvardsson, Anneli; Nordström, Fredrik; Ceberg, Crister; Ceberg, Sofie

    2018-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to develop a method to simulate breathing motion induced interplay effects for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), to verify the proposed method with measurements, and to use the method to investigate how interplay effects vary with different patient- and machine specific parameters. VMAT treatment plans were created on a virtual phantom in a treatment planning system (TPS). Interplay effects were simulated by dividing each plan into smaller sub-arcs using an in-house developed software and shifting the isocenter for each sub-arc to simulate a sin6 breathing motion in the superior–inferior direction. The simulations were performed for both flattening-filter (FF) and flattening-filter free (FFF) plans and for different breathing amplitudes, period times, initial breathing phases, dose levels, plan complexities, CTV sizes, and collimator angles. The resulting sub-arcs were calculated in the TPS, generating a dose distribution including the effects of motion. The interplay effects were separated from dose blurring and the relative dose differences to 2% and 98% of the CTV volume (ΔD98% and ΔD2%) were calculated. To verify the simulation method, measurements were carried out, both static and during motion, using a quasi-3D phantom and a motion platform. The results of the verification measurements during motion were comparable to the results of the static measurements. Considerable interplay effects were observed for individual fractions, with the minimum ΔD98% and maximum ΔD2% being  ‑16.7% and 16.2%, respectively. The extent of interplay effects was larger for FFF compared to FF and generally increased for higher breathing amplitudes, larger period times, lower dose levels, and more complex treatment plans. Also, the interplay effects varied considerably with the initial breathing phase, and larger variations were observed for smaller CTV sizes. In conclusion, a method to simulate motion induced interplay effects was

  11. Motion induced interplay effects for VMAT radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edvardsson, Anneli; Nordström, Fredrik; Ceberg, Crister; Ceberg, Sofie

    2018-04-19

    The purpose of this study was to develop a method to simulate breathing motion induced interplay effects for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), to verify the proposed method with measurements, and to use the method to investigate how interplay effects vary with different patient- and machine specific parameters. VMAT treatment plans were created on a virtual phantom in a treatment planning system (TPS). Interplay effects were simulated by dividing each plan into smaller sub-arcs using an in-house developed software and shifting the isocenter for each sub-arc to simulate a sin 6 breathing motion in the superior-inferior direction. The simulations were performed for both flattening-filter (FF) and flattening-filter free (FFF) plans and for different breathing amplitudes, period times, initial breathing phases, dose levels, plan complexities, CTV sizes, and collimator angles. The resulting sub-arcs were calculated in the TPS, generating a dose distribution including the effects of motion. The interplay effects were separated from dose blurring and the relative dose differences to 2% and 98% of the CTV volume (ΔD 98% and ΔD 2% ) were calculated. To verify the simulation method, measurements were carried out, both static and during motion, using a quasi-3D phantom and a motion platform. The results of the verification measurements during motion were comparable to the results of the static measurements. Considerable interplay effects were observed for individual fractions, with the minimum ΔD 98% and maximum ΔD 2% being  -16.7% and 16.2%, respectively. The extent of interplay effects was larger for FFF compared to FF and generally increased for higher breathing amplitudes, larger period times, lower dose levels, and more complex treatment plans. Also, the interplay effects varied considerably with the initial breathing phase, and larger variations were observed for smaller CTV sizes. In conclusion, a method to simulate motion induced interplay effects was

  12. Color Difference Threshold of Chromostereopsis Induced by Flat Display Emission

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maris eOzolinsh

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The study of chromostereopsis has gained attention in the backdrop of the use of computer displays in daily life. In this context, we analyze the illusory depth sense using planar color images presented on a computer screen. We determine the color difference threshold required to induce an illusory sense of depth psychometrically using a constant stimuli paradigm. Isoluminant stimuli are presented on a computer screen, which stimuli are aligned along the blue-red line in the computer display CIE xyY color chart. Stereo disparity is generated by increasing the color difference between the central and surrounding areas of the stimuli with both areas consisting of random dots on a black background. The observed altering of illusory dept sense, thus also stereo disparity is validated using the center-of-gravity model. The induced illusory sense of the depth effect undergoes color reversal upon varying the binocular lateral eye pupil covering conditions (lateral or medial. Analysis of the retinal image point spread function for the display red and blue pixel radiation validates the altering of chromostereopsis retinal disparity achieved by increasing the color difference, and also the chromostereopsis color reversal caused by varying the eye pupil covering conditions.

  13. Attenuating illusory binding with TMS of the right parietal cortex

    OpenAIRE

    Esterman, Michael; Verstynen, Timothy; Robertson, Lynn C.

    2007-01-01

    A number of neuroimaging and neuropsychology studies have implicated various regions of parietal cortex as playing a critical role in the binding of color and form into conjunctions. The current study investigates the role of two such regions by examining how parietal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) influences binding errors known as ‘illusory conjunctions.’ Participants made fewer binding errors after 1 Hz rTMS of the right intraparietal sulcus (IPS), while basic perception of featur...

  14. Motion-induced blindness and microsaccades: cause and effect

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bonneh, Y.S.; Donner, T.H.; Sagi, D.; Fried, M.; Heeger, D.J.; Arieli, A.

    2010-01-01

    It has been suggested that subjective disappearance of visual stimuli results from a spontaneous reduction of microsaccade rate causing image stabilization, enhanced adaptation, and a consequent fading. In motion-induced blindness (MIB), salient visual targets disappear intermittently when

  15. Neural mechanisms underlying sensitivity to reverse-phi motion in the fly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonhardt, Aljoscha; Meier, Matthias; Serbe, Etienne; Eichner, Hubert; Borst, Alexander

    2017-01-01

    Optical illusions provide powerful tools for mapping the algorithms and circuits that underlie visual processing, revealing structure through atypical function. Of particular note in the study of motion detection has been the reverse-phi illusion. When contrast reversals accompany discrete movement, detected direction tends to invert. This occurs across a wide range of organisms, spanning humans and invertebrates. Here, we map an algorithmic account of the phenomenon onto neural circuitry in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Through targeted silencing experiments in tethered walking flies as well as electrophysiology and calcium imaging, we demonstrate that ON- or OFF-selective local motion detector cells T4 and T5 are sensitive to certain interactions between ON and OFF. A biologically plausible detector model accounts for subtle features of this particular form of illusory motion reversal, like the re-inversion of turning responses occurring at extreme stimulus velocities. In light of comparable circuit architecture in the mammalian retina, we suggest that similar mechanisms may apply even to human psychophysics.

  16. Using Simulated Ground Motions to Constrain Near-Source Ground Motion Prediction Equations in Areas Experiencing Induced Seismicity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bydlon, S. A.; Dunham, E. M.

    2016-12-01

    Recent increases in seismic activity in historically quiescent areas such as Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas, including large, potentially induced events such as the 2011 Mw 5.6 Prague, OK, earthquake, have spurred the need for investigation into expected ground motions associated with these seismic sources. The neoteric nature of this seismicity increase corresponds to a scarcity of ground motion recordings within 50 km of earthquakes Mw 3.0 and greater, with increasing scarcity at larger magnitudes. Gathering additional near-source ground motion data will help better constraints on regional ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) and will happen over time, but this leaves open the possibility of damaging earthquakes occurring before potential ground shaking and seismic hazard in these areas are properly understood. To aid the effort of constraining near-source GMPEs associated with induced seismicity, we integrate synthetic ground motion data from simulated earthquakes into the process. Using the dynamic rupture and seismic wave propagation code waveqlab3d, we perform verification and validation exercises intended to establish confidence in simulated ground motions for use in constraining GMPEs. We verify the accuracy of our ground motion simulator by performing the PEER/SCEC layer-over-halfspace comparison problem LOH.1 Validation exercises to ensure that we are synthesizing realistic ground motion data include comparisons to recorded ground motions for specific earthquakes in target areas of Oklahoma between Mw 3.0 and 4.0. Using a 3D velocity structure that includes a 1D structure with additional small-scale heterogeneity, the properties of which are based on well-log data from Oklahoma, we perform ground motion simulations of small (Mw 3.0 - 4.0) earthquakes using point moment tensor sources. We use the resulting synthetic ground motion data to develop GMPEs for small earthquakes in Oklahoma. Preliminary results indicate that ground motions can be amplified

  17. Auditory Motion Elicits a Visual Motion Aftereffect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berger, Christopher C; Ehrsson, H Henrik

    2016-01-01

    The visual motion aftereffect is a visual illusion in which exposure to continuous motion in one direction leads to a subsequent illusion of visual motion in the opposite direction. Previous findings have been mixed with regard to whether this visual illusion can be induced cross-modally by auditory stimuli. Based on research on multisensory perception demonstrating the profound influence auditory perception can have on the interpretation and perceived motion of visual stimuli, we hypothesized that exposure to auditory stimuli with strong directional motion cues should induce a visual motion aftereffect. Here, we demonstrate that horizontally moving auditory stimuli induced a significant visual motion aftereffect-an effect that was driven primarily by a change in visual motion perception following exposure to leftward moving auditory stimuli. This finding is consistent with the notion that visual and auditory motion perception rely on at least partially overlapping neural substrates.

  18. Auditory Motion Elicits a Visual Motion Aftereffect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher C. Berger

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The visual motion aftereffect is a visual illusion in which exposure to continuous motion in one direction leads to a subsequent illusion of visual motion in the opposite direction. Previous findings have been mixed with regard to whether this visual illusion can be induced cross-modally by auditory stimuli. Based on research on multisensory perception demonstrating the profound influence auditory perception can have on the interpretation and perceived motion of visual stimuli, we hypothesized that exposure to auditory stimuli with strong directional motion cues should induce a visual motion aftereffect. Here, we demonstrate that horizontally moving auditory stimuli induced a significant visual motion aftereffect—an effect that was driven primarily by a change in visual motion perception following exposure to leftward moving auditory stimuli. This finding is consistent with the notion that visual and auditory motion perception rely on at least partially overlapping neural substrates.

  19. Infrasonic induced ground motions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Ting-Li

    On January 28, 2004, the CERI seismic network recorded seismic signals generated by an unknown source. Our conclusion is that the acoustic waves were initiated by an explosive source near the ground surface. The meteorological temperature and effective sound speed profiles suggested existence of an efficient near-surface waveguide that allowed the acoustic disturbance to propagate to large distances. An explosion occurring in an area of forest and farms would have limited the number of eyewitnesses. Resolution of the source might be possible by experiment or by detailed analysis of the ground motion data. A seismo-acoustic array was built to investigate thunder-induced ground motions. Two thunder events with similar N-wave waveforms but different horizontal slownesses are chosen to evaluate the credibility of using thunder as a seismic source. These impulsive acoustic waves excited P and S reverberations in the near surface that depend on both the incident wave horizontal slowness and the velocity structure in the upper 30 meters. Nineteen thunder events were chosen to further investigate the seismo-acoustic coupling. The consistent incident slowness differences between acoustic pressure and ground motions suggest that ground reverberations were first initiated somewhat away from the array. Acoustic and seismic signals were used to generate the time-domain transfer function through the deconvolution technique. Possible non-linear interaction for acoustic propagation into the soil at the surface was observed. The reverse radial initial motions suggest a low Poisson's ratio for the near-surface layer. The acoustic-to-seismic transfer functions show a consistent reverberation series of the Rayleigh wave type, which has a systematic dispersion relation to incident slownesses inferred from the seismic ground velocity. Air-coupled Rayleigh wave dispersion was used to quantitatively constrain the near-surface site structure with constraints afforded by near-surface body

  20. Illusory reversal of causality between touch and vision has no effect on prism adaptation rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hirokazu eTanaka

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Learning, according to Oxford Dictionary, is to gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, from being taught, etc. In order to learn from experience, the central nervous system has to decide what action leads to what consequence, and temporal perception plays a critical role in determining the causality between actions and consequences. In motor adaptation, causality between action and consequence is implicitly assumed so that a subject adapts to a new environment based on the consequence caused by her action. Adaptation to visual displacement induced by prisms is a prime example; the visual error signal associated with the motor output contributes to the recovery of accurate reaching, and a delayed feedback of visual error can decrease the adaptation rate. Subjective feeling of temporal order of action and consequence, however, can be modified or even reversed when her sense of simultaneity is manipulated with an artificially delayed feedback. Our previous study (Tanaka, Homma & Imamizu (2011 Exp Brain Res demonstrated that the rate of prism adaptation was unaffected when the subjective delay of visual feedback was shortened. This study asked whether subjects could adapt to prism adaptation and whether the rate of prism adaptation was affected when the subjective temporal order was illusory reversed. Adapting to additional 100 ms delay and its sudden removal caused a positive shift of point of simultaneity in a temporal-order judgment experiment, indicating an illusory reversal of action and consequence. We found that, even in this case, the subjects were able to adapt to prism displacement with the learning rate that was statistically indistinguishable to that without temporal adaptation. This result provides further evidence to the dissociation between conscious temporal perception and motor adaptation.

  1. Illusory Reversal of Causality between Touch and Vision has No Effect on Prism Adaptation Rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Hirokazu; Homma, Kazuhiro; Imamizu, Hiroshi

    2012-01-01

    Learning, according to Oxford Dictionary, is "to gain knowledge or skill by studying, from experience, from being taught, etc." In order to learn from experience, the central nervous system has to decide what action leads to what consequence, and temporal perception plays a critical role in determining the causality between actions and consequences. In motor adaptation, causality between action and consequence is implicitly assumed so that a subject adapts to a new environment based on the consequence caused by her action. Adaptation to visual displacement induced by prisms is a prime example; the visual error signal associated with the motor output contributes to the recovery of accurate reaching, and a delayed feedback of visual error can decrease the adaptation rate. Subjective feeling of temporal order of action and consequence, however, can be modified or even reversed when her sense of simultaneity is manipulated with an artificially delayed feedback. Our previous study (Tanaka et al., 2011; Exp. Brain Res.) demonstrated that the rate of prism adaptation was unaffected when the subjective delay of visual feedback was shortened. This study asked whether subjects could adapt to prism adaptation and whether the rate of prism adaptation was affected when the subjective temporal order was illusory reversed. Adapting to additional 100 ms delay and its sudden removal caused a positive shift of point of simultaneity in a temporal order judgment experiment, indicating an illusory reversal of action and consequence. We found that, even in this case, the subjects were able to adapt to prism displacement with the learning rate that was statistically indistinguishable to that without temporal adaptation. This result provides further evidence to the dissociation between conscious temporal perception and motor adaptation.

  2. Whole-Motion Model of Perception during Forward- and Backward-Facing Centrifuge Runs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holly, Jan E.; Vrublevskis, Arturs; Carlson, Lindsay E.

    2009-01-01

    Illusory perceptions of motion and orientation arise during human centrifuge runs without vision. Asymmetries have been found between acceleration and deceleration, and between forward-facing and backward-facing runs. Perceived roll tilt has been studied extensively during upright fixed-carriage centrifuge runs, and other components have been studied to a lesser extent. Certain, but not all, perceptual asymmetries in acceleration-vs-deceleration and forward-vs-backward motion can be explained by existing analyses. The immediate acceleration-deceleration roll-tilt asymmetry can be explained by the three-dimensional physics of the external stimulus; in addition, longer-term data has been modeled in a standard way using physiological time constants. However, the standard modeling approach is shown in the present research to predict forward-vs-backward-facing symmetry in perceived roll tilt, contradicting experimental data, and to predict perceived sideways motion, rather than forward or backward motion, around a curve. The present work develops a different whole-motion-based model taking into account the three-dimensional form of perceived motion and orientation. This model predicts perceived forward or backward motion around a curve, and predicts additional asymmetries such as the forward-backward difference in roll tilt. This model is based upon many of the same principles as the standard model, but includes an additional concept of familiarity of motions as a whole. PMID:19208962

  3. Cross-modal illusory conjunctions between vision and touch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cinel, Caterina; Humphreys, Glyn W; Poli, Riccardo

    2002-10-01

    Cross-modal illusory conjunctions (ICs) happen when, under conditions of divided attention, felt textures are reported as being seen or vice versa. Experiments provided evidence for these errors, demonstrated that ICs are more frequent if tactile and visual stimuli are in the same hemispace, and showed that ICs still occur under forced-choice conditions but do not occur when attention to the felt texture is increased. Cross-modal ICs were also found in a patient with parietal damage even with relatively long presentations of visual stimuli. The data are consistent with there being cross-modal integration of sensory information, with the modality of origin sometimes being misattributed when attention is constrained. The empirical conclusions from the experiments are supported by formal models.

  4. Contour adaptation reduces the spreading of edge induced colors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coia, Andrew J; Crognale, Michael A

    2017-04-25

    Brief exposure to flickering achromatic outlines of an area causes a reduction in the brightness contrast of the surface inside the area. This contour adaptation to achromatic contours does not reduce surface contrast when the surface is chromatic (the saturation or colorimetric purity of the surface is maintained). In addition to reducing the brightness of physical luminance contrast, contour adaptation also reduces (or even reverses) the illusory brightness contrast seen in the Craik-O'Brien-Cornsweet illusion, in which two physically identical grey areas appear different brightness because of a sharp luminance edge separating them. Chromatic color spreading illusions also occur with chromatic inducing edges, and an unanswered question is whether contour adaptation can reduce the perceived contrast of illusory color spreading from edges, even though it cannot reduce the perceived contrast of physical surface color. The current studies use a color spreading illusion known as the watercolor effect in order to test whether illusory color spreading is affected by contour adaptation. The general findings of physical achromatic contrast being reduced and chromatic contrast being robust to contour adaptation were replicated. However, both illusory brightness and color were reduced by contour adaptation, even when the illusion edges only differed in chromatic contrast with each other and the background. Additional studies adapting to chromatic contours showed opposite effects on illusory color contrast than achromatic adaptation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Neural mechanisms underlying sensitivity to reverse-phi motion in the fly

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meier, Matthias; Serbe, Etienne; Eichner, Hubert; Borst, Alexander

    2017-01-01

    Optical illusions provide powerful tools for mapping the algorithms and circuits that underlie visual processing, revealing structure through atypical function. Of particular note in the study of motion detection has been the reverse-phi illusion. When contrast reversals accompany discrete movement, detected direction tends to invert. This occurs across a wide range of organisms, spanning humans and invertebrates. Here, we map an algorithmic account of the phenomenon onto neural circuitry in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Through targeted silencing experiments in tethered walking flies as well as electrophysiology and calcium imaging, we demonstrate that ON- or OFF-selective local motion detector cells T4 and T5 are sensitive to certain interactions between ON and OFF. A biologically plausible detector model accounts for subtle features of this particular form of illusory motion reversal, like the re-inversion of turning responses occurring at extreme stimulus velocities. In light of comparable circuit architecture in the mammalian retina, we suggest that similar mechanisms may apply even to human psychophysics. PMID:29261684

  6. Transient cardio-respiratory responses to visually induced tilt illusions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, S. J.; Ramsdell, C. D.; Mullen, T. J.; Oman, C. M.; Harm, D. L.; Paloski, W. H.

    2000-01-01

    Although the orthostatic cardio-respiratory response is primarily mediated by the baroreflex, studies have shown that vestibular cues also contribute in both humans and animals. We have demonstrated a visually mediated response to illusory tilt in some human subjects. Blood pressure, heart and respiration rate, and lung volume were monitored in 16 supine human subjects during two types of visual stimulation, and compared with responses to real passive whole body tilt from supine to head 80 degrees upright. Visual tilt stimuli consisted of either a static scene from an overhead mirror or constant velocity scene motion along different body axes generated by an ultra-wide dome projection system. Visual vertical cues were initially aligned with the longitudinal body axis. Subjective tilt and self-motion were reported verbally. Although significant changes in cardio-respiratory parameters to illusory tilts could not be demonstrated for the entire group, several subjects showed significant transient decreases in mean blood pressure resembling their initial response to passive head-up tilt. Changes in pulse pressure and a slight elevation in heart rate were noted. These transient responses are consistent with the hypothesis that visual-vestibular input contributes to the initial cardiovascular adjustment to a change in posture in humans. On average the static scene elicited perceived tilt without rotation. Dome scene pitch and yaw elicited perceived tilt and rotation, and dome roll motion elicited perceived rotation without tilt. A significant correlation between the magnitude of physiological and subjective reports could not be demonstrated.

  7. Energy-imbalance mechanism of domain wall motion induced by propagation spin waves in finite magnetic nanostripe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Jinrong; Han, Zhaoyan; Su, Yuanchang; Hu, Jingguo

    2014-01-01

    The mechanism of the domain wall (DW) motions induced by spin wave in finite magnetic nanostripe is studied by micromagnetic simulations. We find that the spin-wave induced DM motions are always accompanied by an energy imbalance between two sides of the DW. The DW motion can be attributed to the expansion of the low-energy-density area and the contraction of the high-energy-density area. The energy imbalance strongly depends on whether the spin wave passes through the DW or is reflected by the DW. In the area of the spin wave propagation, the energy density increases with the time. However, in the superposition area of the incident spin wave and the reflected spin wave, the energy density decreases with the increasing of the time. It shows that this energy imbalance can be controlled by tuning the frequency of the spin wave. Finally, the effect of the damping parameter value is discussed. - Highlights: • The mechanism of the spin-wave induced DW motions is studied. • The spin-wave induced DW motions and the energy imbalance mechanism are given. • The DW motion with the same direction to that of SW is explained. • The DW motion with the opposite direction to that of SW is explained

  8. The effects of area postrema lesions and selective vagotomy on motion-induced conditioned taste aversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fox, Robert A.; Sutton, R. L.; Mckenna, Susan

    1991-01-01

    Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is one of several behaviors which was suggested as a putative measure of motion sickness in rats. A review is made of studies which used surgical disruption of area postrema or the vagus nerve to investigate whether CTA and vomiting induced by motion may depend on common neural pathways or structures. When the chemoreceptive function of the area postrema (AP) is destroyed by complete ablation, rats develop CTA and cats and monkeys develop CTA and vomit. Thus the AP is not crucially involved in either CTA or vomiting induced by motion. However, after complete denervation of the stomach or after labyrinthectomy rats do not develop CTA when motion is used as the unconditioned stimulus. Studies of brainstem projections of the vagus nerve, the area postrema, the periaqueductal grey, and the vestibular system are used as the basis for speculation about regions which could mediate both motion-induced vomiting and behavioral food aversion.

  9. Prospective motion correction with volumetric navigators (vNavs) reduces the bias and variance in brain morphometry induced by subject motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tisdall, M Dylan; Reuter, Martin; Qureshi, Abid; Buckner, Randy L; Fischl, Bruce; van der Kouwe, André J W

    2016-02-15

    Recent work has demonstrated that subject motion produces systematic biases in the metrics computed by widely used morphometry software packages, even when the motion is too small to produce noticeable image artifacts. In the common situation where the control population exhibits different behaviors in the scanner when compared to the experimental population, these systematic measurement biases may produce significant confounds for between-group analyses, leading to erroneous conclusions about group differences. While previous work has shown that prospective motion correction can improve perceived image quality, here we demonstrate that, in healthy subjects performing a variety of directed motions, the use of the volumetric navigator (vNav) prospective motion correction system significantly reduces the motion-induced bias and variance in morphometry. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Selective attention and error processing in an illusory conjunction task - An event-related brain potential study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijers, AA; Boksem, MAS

    2005-01-01

    We recorded event-related potentials in an illusory conjunction task, in which subjects were cued on each trial to search for a particular colored letter in a subsequently presented test array, consisting of three different letters in three different colors. In a proportion of trials the target

  11. Optic flow induced self-tilt perception

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bos, J.E.

    2008-01-01

    Roll optic flow induces illusory self-tilt in humans. As far as the mechanism underlying this visual-vestibular interaction is understood, larger angles of self-tilt are predicted than observed. It is hypothesized that the discrepancy can be explained by idiotropic (i.e., referring to a personal

  12. S3-3: Misbinding of Color and Motion in Human V2 Revealed by Color-Contingent Motion Adaptation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fang Fang

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Wu, Kanai, & Shimojo (2004 Nature 429 262 described a compelling illusion demonstrating a steady-state misbinding of color and motion. Here, we took advantage of the illusion and performed psychophysical and fMRI adaptation experiments to explore the neural mechanism of color-motion misbinding. The stimulus subtended 20 deg by 14 deg of visual angle and contained two sheets of random dots, one sheet moving up and the other moving down. On the upward-moving sheet, dots in the right-end area (4 deg by 14 deg were red, and the rest of the dots were green. On the downward-moving sheet, dots in the right-end area were green, and the rest of the dots were red. When subjects fixated at the center of the stimulus, they bound the color and motion of the dots in the right-end area erroneously–the red dots appeared to move downwards and the green dots appeared to move upwards. In the psychophysical experiment, we measured the color-contingent motion aftereffect in the right-end area after adaptation to the illusory stimulus. A significant aftereffect was observed as if subjects had adapted to the perceived binding of color and motion, rather than the physical binding. For example, after adaptation, stationary red dots appeared to move upwards, and stationary green dots appeared to move downwards. In the fMRI experiment, we measured direction-selective motion adaptation effects in V1, V2, V3, V4, V3A/B, and V5. Relative to other cortical areas, V2 showed a much stronger adaptation effect to the perceived motion direction (rather than the physical direction for both the red and green dots. Significantly, the fMRI adaptation effect in V2 correlated with the color-contingent motion aftereffect across twelve subjects. This study provides the first human evidence that color and motion could be misbound at a very early stage of visual processing.

  13. Does seeing ice really feel cold? Visual-thermal interaction under an illusory body-ownership.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shoko Kanaya

    Full Text Available Although visual information seems to affect thermal perception (e.g. red color is associated with heat, previous studies have failed to demonstrate the interaction between visual and thermal senses. However, it has been reported that humans feel an illusory thermal sensation in conjunction with an apparently-thermal visual stimulus placed on a prosthetic hand in the rubber hand illusion (RHI wherein an individual feels that a prosthetic (rubber hand belongs to him/her. This study tests the possibility that the ownership of the body surface on which a visual stimulus is placed enhances the likelihood of a visual-thermal interaction. We orthogonally manipulated three variables: induced hand-ownership, visually-presented thermal information, and tactically-presented physical thermal information. Results indicated that the sight of an apparently-thermal object on a rubber hand that is illusorily perceived as one's own hand affects thermal judgments about the object physically touching this hand. This effect was not observed without the RHI. The importance of ownership of a body part that is touched by the visual object on the visual-thermal interaction is discussed.

  14. Frequency filtering based analysis on the cardiac induced lung tumor motion and its impact on the radiotherapy management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Ting; Qin, Songbing; Xu, Xiaoting; Jabbour, Salma K.; Haffty, Bruce G.; Yue, Ning J.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose/objectives: Lung tumor motion may be impacted by heartbeat in addition to respiration. This study seeks to quantitatively analyze heart-motion-induced tumor motion and to evaluate its impact on lung cancer radiotherapy. Methods/materials: Fluoroscopy images were acquired for 30 lung cancer patients. Tumor, diaphragm, and heart were delineated on selected fluoroscopy frames, and their motion was tracked and converted into temporal signals based on deformable registration propagation. The clinical relevance of heart impact was evaluated using the dose volumetric histogram of the redefined target volumes. Results: Correlation was found between tumor and cardiac motion for 23 patients. The heart-induced motion amplitude ranged from 0.2 to 2.6 mm. The ratio between heart-induced tumor motion and the tumor motion was inversely proportional to the amplitude of overall tumor motion. When the heart motion impact was integrated, there was an average 9% increase in internal target volumes for 17 patients. Dose coverage decrease was observed on redefined planning target volume in simulated SBRT plans. Conclusions: The tumor motion of thoracic cancer patients is influenced by both heart and respiratory motion. The cardiac impact is relatively more significant for tumor with less motion, which may lead to clinically significant uncertainty in radiotherapy for some patients

  15. Micromagnetic analysis of current-induced domain wall motion in a bilayer nanowire with synthetic antiferromagnetic coupling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Komine, Takashi, E-mail: komine@mx.ibaraki.ac.jp; Aono, Tomosuke [Faculty of Engineering, Ibaraki University 4-12-1, Nakanarusawa, Hitachi, Ibaraki, 316-8511 (Japan)

    2016-05-15

    We demonstrate current-induced domain wall motion in bilayer nanowire with synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) coupling by modeling two body problems for motion equations of domain wall. The influence of interlayer exchange coupling and magnetostatic interactions on current-induced domain wall motion in SAF nanowires was also investigated. By assuming the rigid wall model for translational motion, the interlayer exchange coupling and the magnetostatic interaction between walls and domains in SAF nanowires enhances domain wall speed without any spin-orbit-torque. The enhancement of domain wall speed was discussed by energy distribution as a function of wall angle configuration in bilayer nanowires.

  16. Rashba spin–orbit coupling effects on a current-induced domain wall motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryu, Jisu; Seo, Soo-Man; Lee, Kyung-Jin; Lee, Hyun-Woo

    2012-01-01

    A current-induced domain wall motion in magnetic nanowires with a strong structural inversion asymmetry [I.M. Miron, T. Moore, H. Szambolics, L.D. Buda-Prejbeanu, S. Auffret, B. Rodmacq, S. Pizzini, J. Vogel, M. Bonfim, A. Schuhl, G. Gaudin, Nat. Mat. 10 (2011) 419] seems to have novel features such as the domain wall motion along the current direction or the delay of the onset of the Walker breakdown. In such a highly asymmetric system, the Rashba spin–orbit coupling (RSOC) may affect a domain wall motion. We studied theoretically the RSOC effects on a domain wall motion and found that the RSOC, indeed, can induce the domain wall motion along the current direction in certain situations. It also delays the Walker breakdown and for a strong RSOC, the Walker breakdown does not occur at all. The RSOC effects are sensitive to the magnetic anisotropy of nanowires and also to the ratio between the Gilbert damping parameter α and the non-adiabaticity parameter β. - Highlights: ► Effects of Rashba spin–orbit coupling on a domain wall motion is calculated. ► The effects depend highly on the anisotropy of a magnetic system. ► It modifies the wall velocity for the system with a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. ► The modified velocity can be along the current direction in certain situations. ► Rashba spin–orbit coupling also hinders the onset of the Walker breakdown.

  17. EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL STUDY OF ATTENTION REGULATION DURING ILLUSORY FIGURE CATEGORIZATION TASK IN ADHD, AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER, AND TYPICAL CHILDREN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sokhadze, Estate M.; Baruth, Joshua M.; Sears, Lonnie; Sokhadze, Guela E.; El-Baz, Ayman S.; Williams, Emily; Klapheke, Robert; Casanova, Manuel F.

    2012-01-01

    Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are very common developmental disorders which share some similar symptoms of social, emotional, and attentional deficits. This study is aimed to help understand the differences and similarities of these deficits using analysis of dense-array event-related potentials (ERP) during an illusory figure recognition task. Although ADHD and ASD seem very distinct, they have been shown to share some similarities in their symptoms. Our hypothesis was that children with ASD will show less pronounced differences in ERP responses to target and non-target stimuli as compared to typical children, and to a lesser extent, ADHD. Participants were children with ASD (N=16), ADHD (N=16), and controls (N=16). EEG was collected using a 128 channel EEG system. The task involved the recognition of a specific illusory shape, in this case a square or triangle, created by three or four inducer disks. There were no between group differences in reaction time (RT) to target stimuli, but both ASD and ADHD committed more errors, specifically the ASD group had statistically higher commission error rate than controls. Post-error RT in ASD group was exhibited in a post-error speeding rather than corrective RT slowing typical for the controls. The ASD group also demonstrated an attenuated error-related negativity (ERN) as compared to ADHD and controls. The fronto-central P200, N200, and P300 were enhanced and less differentiated in response to target and non-target figures in the ASD group. The same ERP components were marked by more prolonged latencies in the ADHD group as compared to both ASD and typical controls. The findings are interpreted according to the “minicolumnar” hypothesis proposing existence of neuropathological differences in ASD and ADHD, specifically minicolumnar number/width morphometry spectrum differences. In autism, a model of local hyperconnectivity and long-range hypoconnectivity explains

  18. A Common Framework for the Analysis of Complex Motion? Standstill and Capture Illusions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Max Reinhard Dürsteler

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available A series of illusions was created by presenting stimuli, which consisted of two overlapping surfaces each defined by textures of independent visual features (i.e. modulation of luminance, color, depth, etc.. When presented concurrently with a stationary 2-D luminance texture, observers often fail to perceive the motion of an overlapping stereoscopically defined depth-texture. This illusory motion standstill arises due to a failure to represent two independent surfaces (one for luminance and one for depth textures and motion transparency (the ability to perceive motion of both surfaces simultaneously. Instead the stimulus is represented as a single non-transparent surface taking on the stationary nature of the luminance-defined texture. By contrast, if it is the 2D-luminance defined texture that is in motion, observers often perceive the stationary depth texture as also moving. In this latter case, the failure to represent the motion transparency of the two textures gives rise to illusionary motion capture. Our past work demonstrated that the illusions of motion standstill and motion capture can occur for depth-textures that are rotating, or expanding / contracting, or else spiraling. Here I extend these findings to include stereo-shearing. More importantly, it is the motion (or lack thereof of the luminance texture that determines how the motion of the depth will be perceived. This observation is strongly in favor of a single pathway for complex motion that operates on luminance-defines texture motion signals only. In addition, these complex motion illusions arise with chromatically-defined textures with smooth, transitions between their colors. This suggests that in respect to color motion perception the complex motions’ pathway is only able to accurately process signals from isoluminant colored textures with sharp transitions between colors, and/or moving at high speeds, which is conceivable if it relies on inputs from a hypothetical dual

  19. Motion-Induced Blindness Using Increments and Decrements of Luminance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stine Wm Wren

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Motion-induced blindness describes the disappearance of stationary elements of a scene when other, perhaps non-overlapping, elements of the scene are in motion. We measured the effects of increment (200.0 cd/m2 and decrement targets (15.0 cd/m2 and masks presented on a grey background (108.0 cd/m2, tapping into putative ON- and OFF-channels, on the rate of target disappearance psychophysically. We presented two-frame motion, which has coherent motion energy, and dynamic Glass patterns and dynamic anti-Glass patterns, which do not have coherent motion energy. Using the method of constant stimuli, participants viewed stimuli of varying durations (3.1 s, 4.6 s, 7.0 s, 11 s, or 16 s in a given trial and then indicated whether or not the targets vanished during that trial. Psychometric function midpoints were used to define absolute threshold mask duration for the disappearance of the target. 95% confidence intervals for threshold disappearance times were estimated using a bootstrap technique for each of the participants across two experiments. Decrement masks were more effective than increment masks with increment targets. Increment targets were easier to mask than decrement targets. Distinct mask pattern types had no effect, suggesting that perceived coherence contributes to the effectiveness of the mask. The ON/OFF dichotomy clearly carries its influence to the level of perceived motion coherence. Further, the asymmetry in the effects of increment and decrement masks on increment and decrement targets might lead one to speculate that they reflect the ‘importance’ of detecting decrements in the environment.

  20. High efficiency of the spin-orbit torques induced domain wall motion in asymmetric interfacial multilayered Tb/Co wires

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bang, Do; Awano, Hiroyuki

    2015-01-01

    We investigated current-induced DW motion in asymmetric interfacial multilayered Tb/Co wires for various thicknesses of magnetic and Pt-capping layers. It is found that the driving mechanism for the DW motion changes from interfacial to bulk effects at much thick magnetic layer (up to 19.8 nm). In thin wires, linearly depinning field dependence of critical current density and in-plane field dependence of DW velocity suggest that the extrinsic pinning governs field-induced DW motion and injecting current can be regarded as an effective field. It is expected that the high efficiency of spin-orbit torques in thick magnetic multilayers would have important implication for future spintronic devices based on in-plane current induced-DW motion or switching

  1. High efficiency of the spin-orbit torques induced domain wall motion in asymmetric interfacial multilayered Tb/Co wires

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bang, Do, E-mail: bang@spin.mp.es.osaka-u.ac.jp [Toyota Technological Institute, Tempaku, Nagoya 468-8511 (Japan); Institute of Materials Science, VAST, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi (Viet Nam); Awano, Hiroyuki [Toyota Technological Institute, Tempaku, Nagoya 468-8511 (Japan)

    2015-05-07

    We investigated current-induced DW motion in asymmetric interfacial multilayered Tb/Co wires for various thicknesses of magnetic and Pt-capping layers. It is found that the driving mechanism for the DW motion changes from interfacial to bulk effects at much thick magnetic layer (up to 19.8 nm). In thin wires, linearly depinning field dependence of critical current density and in-plane field dependence of DW velocity suggest that the extrinsic pinning governs field-induced DW motion and injecting current can be regarded as an effective field. It is expected that the high efficiency of spin-orbit torques in thick magnetic multilayers would have important implication for future spintronic devices based on in-plane current induced-DW motion or switching.

  2. Chirality induction and protonation-induced molecular motions in helical molecular strands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolomiets, Elena; Berl, Volker; Lehn, Jean-Marie

    2007-01-01

    The long oligopyridinedicarboxamide strand 9, containing 15 heterocyclic rings has been synthesized and its helical structure determined by X-ray crystallography. It was shown that the shorter analogue 6 displays induced circular dichroism and amplification of induced chirality upon dissolution in an optically active solvent, diethyl-L-tartrate. A novel class of helical foldamers was prepared, strands 14-16, based on two oligopyridine carboxamide segments linked through a L-tartaric acid derived spacer. These tartro strands display internal chirality induction as well as chirality amplification. NMR spectroscopy (on 8 and 9) and circular dichroism (on 16) studies show that the oligopyridine carboxamide strands undergo reversible unfolding/folding upon protonation. The protonation-induced unfolding has been confirmed by X-ray crystallographic determination of the molecular structure of the extended protonated heptameric form 8(+). The molecular-scale mechano-chemical motions of the protonation-induced structural switching consist of a change of the length of the molecule, from 6 angstroms (6, coiled form) to 29 angstroms (8(+), uncoiled form) for the heptamer and from 12.5 angstroms (9, coiled form, X-ray structure) to 57 angstroms (9(+), uncoiled form, from modeling) for the pentadecamer. Similar unfolding/folding motional processes take place in the L-tartro strands 15 and 16 upon protonation/deprotonation, with loss of helicity-induced circular dichroism on unfolding as shown for the protonated form 16(+).

  3. Stochastic resonance induced by novel random transitions of motion of FitzHugh-Nagumo neuron model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Guangjun; Xu Jianxue

    2005-01-01

    In contrast to the previous studies which have dealt with stochastic resonance induced by random transitions of system motion between two coexisting limit cycle attractors in the FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) neuron model after Hopf bifurcation and which have dealt with the phenomenon of stochastic resonance induced by external noise when the model with periodic input has only one attractor before Hopf bifurcation, in this paper we have focused our attention on stochastic resonance (SR) induced by a novel transition behavior, the transitions of motion of the model among one attractor on the left side of bifurcation point and two attractors on the right side of bifurcation point under the perturbation of noise. The results of research show: since one bifurcation of transition from one to two limit cycle attractors and the other bifurcation of transition from two to one limit cycle attractors occur in turn besides Hopf bifurcation, the novel transitions of motion of the model occur when bifurcation parameter is perturbed by weak internal noise; the bifurcation point of the model may stochastically slightly shift to the left or right when FHN neuron model is perturbed by external Gaussian distributed white noise, and then the novel transitions of system motion also occur under the perturbation of external noise; the novel transitions could induce SR alone, and when the novel transitions of motion of the model and the traditional transitions between two coexisting limit cycle attractors after bifurcation occur in the same process the SR also may occur with complicated behaviors types; the mechanism of SR induced by external noise when FHN neuron model with periodic input has only one attractor before Hopf bifurcation is related to this kind of novel transition mentioned above

  4. Perception of linear horizontal self-motion induced by peripheral vision /linearvection/ - Basic characteristics and visual-vestibular interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berthoz, A.; Pavard, B.; Young, L. R.

    1975-01-01

    The basic characteristics of the sensation of linear horizontal motion have been studied. Objective linear motion was induced by means of a moving cart. Visually induced linear motion perception (linearvection) was obtained by projection of moving images at the periphery of the visual field. Image velocity and luminance thresholds for the appearance of linearvection have been measured and are in the range of those for image motion detection (without sensation of self motion) by the visual system. Latencies of onset are around 1 sec and short term adaptation has been shown. The dynamic range of the visual analyzer as judged by frequency analysis is lower than the vestibular analyzer. Conflicting situations in which visual cues contradict vestibular and other proprioceptive cues show, in the case of linearvection a dominance of vision which supports the idea of an essential although not independent role of vision in self motion perception.

  5. Decoding Illusory Self-location from Activity in the Human Hippocampus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arvid eGuterstam

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Decades of research have demonstrated a role for the hippocampus in spatial navigation and episodic and spatial memory. However, empirical evidence linking hippocampal activity to the perceptual experience of being physically located at a particular place in the environment is lacking. In this study, we used a multisensory out-of-body illusion to perceptually ‘teleport’ six healthy participants between two different locations in the scanner room during high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. The participants were fitted with MRI-compatible head-mounted displays that changed their first-person visual perspective to that of a pair of cameras placed in one of two corners of the scanner room. To elicit the illusion of being physically located in this position, we delivered synchronous visuo-tactile stimulation in the form of an object moving towards the cameras coupled with touches applied to the participant’s chest. Asynchronous visuo-tactile stimulation did not induce the illusion and served as a control condition. We found that illusory self-location could be successfully decoded from patterns of activity in the hippocampus in all of the participants in the synchronous (P0.05. At the group-level, the decoding accuracy was significantly higher in the synchronous than in the asynchronous condition (P=0.012. These findings associate hippocampal activity with the perceived location of the bodily self in space, which suggests that the human hippocampus is involved not only in spatial navigation and memory but also in the construction of our sense of bodily self-location.

  6. Current-induced domain wall motion in magnetic nanowires with spatial variation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ieda, Jun'ichi; Sugishita, Hiroki; Maekawa, Sadamichi

    2010-01-01

    We model current-induced domain wall motion in magnetic nanowires with the variable width. Employing the collective coordinate method we trace the wall dynamics. The effect of the width modulation is implemented by spatial dependence of an effective magnetic field. The wall destination in the potential energy landscape due to the magnetic anisotropy and the spatial nonuniformity is obtained as a function of the current density. For a nanowire of a periodically modulated width, we identify three (pinned, nonlinear, and linear) current density regimes for current-induced wall motion. The threshold current densities depend on the pulse duration as well as the magnitude of wire modulation. In the nonlinear regime, application of ns order current pulses results in wall displacement which opposes or exceeds the prediction of the spin transfer mechanism. The finding explains stochastic nature of the domain wall displacement observed in recent experiments.

  7. Respiratory impact on motion sickness induced by linear motion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mert, A.; Klöpping-Ketelaars, I.; Bles, W.

    2009-01-01

    Motion sickness incidence (MSI) for vertical sinusoidal motion reaches a maximum at 0.167 Hz. Normal breathing frequency is close to this frequency. There is some evidence for synchronization of breathing with this stimulus frequency. If this enforced breathing takes place over a larger frequency

  8. Estimation of Source and Attenuation Parameters from Ground Motion Observations for Induced Seismicity in Alberta

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novakovic, M.; Atkinson, G. M.

    2015-12-01

    We use a generalized inversion to solve for site response, regional source and attenuation parameters, in order to define a region-specific ground-motion prediction equation (GMPE) from ground motion observations in Alberta, following the method of Atkinson et al. (2015 BSSA). The database is compiled from over 200 small to moderate seismic events (M 1 to 4.2) recorded at ~50 regional stations (distances from 30 to 500 km), over the last few years; almost all of the events have been identified as being induced by oil and gas activity. We remove magnitude scaling and geometric spreading functions from observed ground motions and invert for stress parameter, regional attenuation and site amplification. Resolving these parameters allows for the derivation of a regionally-calibrated GMPE that can be used to accurately predict amplitudes across the region in real time, which is useful for ground-motion-based alerting systems and traffic light protocols. The derived GMPE has further applications for the evaluation of hazards from induced seismicity.

  9. Illusory movement perception improves motor control for prosthetic hands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marasco, Paul D.; Hebert, Jacqueline S.; Sensinger, Jon W.; Shell, Courtney E.; Schofield, Jonathon S.; Thumser, Zachary C.; Nataraj, Raviraj; Beckler, Dylan T.; Dawson, Michael R.; Blustein, Dan H.; Gill, Satinder; Mensh, Brett D.; Granja-Vazquez, Rafael; Newcomb, Madeline D.; Carey, Jason P.; Orzell, Beth M.

    2018-01-01

    To effortlessly complete an intentional movement, the brain needs feedback from the body regarding the movement’s progress. This largely non-conscious kinesthetic sense helps the brain to learn relationships between motor commands and outcomes to correct movement errors. Prosthetic systems for restoring function have predominantly focused on controlling motorized joint movement. Without the kinesthetic sense, however, these devices do not become intuitively controllable. Here we report a method for endowing human amputees with a kinesthetic perception of dexterous robotic hands. Vibrating the muscles used for prosthetic control via a neural-machine interface produced the illusory perception of complex grip movements. Within minutes, three amputees integrated this kinesthetic feedback and improved movement control. Combining intent, kinesthesia, and vision instilled participants with a sense of agency over the robotic movements. This feedback approach for closed-loop control opens a pathway to seamless integration of minds and machines. PMID:29540617

  10. Origins of ion irradiation-induced Ga nanoparticle motion on GaAs surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, M.; Wu, J. H.; Chen, H. Y.; Thornton, K.; Goldman, R. S.; Sofferman, D. L.; Beskin, I.

    2013-01-01

    We have examined the origins of ion irradiation-induced nanoparticle (NP) motion. Focused-ion-beam irradiation of GaAs surfaces induces random walks of Ga NPs, which are biased in the direction opposite to that of ion beam scanning. Although the instantaneous NP velocities are constant, the NP drift velocities are dependent on the off-normal irradiation angle, likely due to a difference in surface non-stoichiometry induced by the irradiation angle dependence of the sputtering yield. It is hypothesized that the random walks are initiated by ion irradiation-induced thermal fluctuations, with biasing driven by anisotropic mass transport

  11. Auditory motion capturing ambiguous visual motion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arjen eAlink

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In this study, it is demonstrated that moving sounds have an effect on the direction in which one sees visual stimuli move. During the main experiment sounds were presented consecutively at four speaker locations inducing left- or rightwards auditory apparent motion. On the path of auditory apparent motion, visual apparent motion stimuli were presented with a high degree of directional ambiguity. The main outcome of this experiment is that our participants perceived visual apparent motion stimuli that were ambiguous (equally likely to be perceived as moving left- or rightwards more often as moving in the same direction than in the opposite direction of auditory apparent motion. During the control experiment we replicated this finding and found no effect of sound motion direction on eye movements. This indicates that auditory motion can capture our visual motion percept when visual motion direction is insufficiently determinate without affecting eye movements.

  12. Stopping power and polarization induced in a plasma by a fast charged particle in circular motion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Villo-Perez, Isidro [Departamento de Electronica, Tecnologia de las Computadoras y Proyectos, Universidad Politecnica de Cartagena, Cartagena (Spain); Arista, Nestor R. [Division Colisiones Atomicas, Centro Atomico Bariloche and Instituto Balseiro, Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Bariloche (Argentina); Garcia-Molina, Rafael [Departamento de Fisica, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia (Spain)

    2002-03-28

    We describe the perturbation induced in a plasma by a charged particle in circular motion, analysing in detail the evolution of the induced charge, the electrostatic potential and the energy loss of the particle. We describe the initial transitory behaviour and the different ways in which convergence to final stationary solutions may be obtained depending on the basic parameters of the problem. The results for the stopping power show a resonant behaviour which may give place to large stopping enhancement values as compared with the case of particles in straight-line motion with the same linear velocity. The results also explain a resonant effect recently obtained for particles in circular motion in magnetized plasmas. (author)

  13. Inhibition drives configural superiority of illusory Gestalt: Combined behavioral and drift-diffusion model evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nie, Qi-Yang; Maurer, Mara; Müller, Hermann J; Conci, Markus

    2016-05-01

    Illusory Kanizsa figures demonstrate that a perceptually completed whole is more than the sum of its composite parts. In the current study, we explored part/whole relationships in object completion using the configural superiority effect (CSE) with illusory figures (Pomerantz & Portillo, 2011). In particular, we investigated to which extent the CSE is modulated by closure in target and distractor configurations. Our results demonstrated a typical CSE, with detection of a configural whole being more efficient than the detection of a corresponding part-level target. Moreover, the CSE was more pronounced when grouped objects were presented in distractors rather than in the target. A follow-up experiment systematically manipulated closure in whole target or, respectively, distractor configurations. The results revealed the effect of closure to be again stronger in distractor, rather than in target configurations, suggesting that closure primarily affects the inhibition of distractors, and to a lesser extent the selection of the target. In addition, a drift-diffusion model analysis of our data revealed that efficient distractor inhibition expedites the rate of evidence accumulation, with closure in distractors particularly speeding the drift toward the decision boundary. In sum, our findings demonstrate that the CSE in Kanizsa figures derives primarily from the inhibition of closed distractor objects, rather than being driven by a conspicuous target configuration. Altogether, these results support a fundamental role of inhibition in driving configural superiority effects in visual search. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Illusory Memories of Emotionally Charged Words in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Further Evidence for Atypical Emotion Processing outside the Social Domain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaigg, Sebastian B.; Bowler, Dermot M.

    2009-01-01

    Recent evidence suggests that individuals with ASD may not accumulate distinct representations of emotional information throughout development. On the basis of this observation we predicted that such individuals would not be any less likely to falsely remember emotionally significant as compared to neutral words when such "illusory memories" are…

  15. Motion in images is essential to cause motion sickness symptoms, but not to increase postural sway

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lubeck, A.J.A.; Bos, J.E.; Stins, J.F.

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Objective It is generally assumed that motion in motion images is responsible for increased postural sway as well as for visually induced motion sickness (VIMS). However, this has not yet been tested. To that end, we studied postural sway and VIMS induced by motion and still images. Method

  16. Perception of illusory contour figures: Microgenetic analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gvozdenović Vasilije P.

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Microgenetic analysis was used to investigate perception of illusory contour figures which represent whole, completed forms on the basis of segmented, incomplete stimulation. The analysis provided an experimental approach to this phenomenon which was standardly investigated phenomenologically. Experimental procedure consisted of two phases: a priming phase and b test phase which consisted of visual search task. Two types of visual search tasks were applied: (i classic detection, in which subjects were detecting presence or absence of the target stimuli and (ii two-alternative forced choice, 2AFC, in which subjects performed discrimination between two concurrent targets (target A vs. target B. Variation of exposition of prim stimuli was used as an indication of the percept formation period. Concepts like early vision, visual attention and feature binding were investigated. Four experiments were conducted. Their outcome showed that (i perception of amodal figure requires visual attention, (ii features binding precedes spatial attention and (iii time period of percept formation is dependent of task properties and varies between 50 - 150 ms. Some results obtained in this research could be explained by feature-integration theory (Treisman & Gelade, 1980; Treisman, 1986. Furthermore, percept formation period data comply with data acquired in Elliott & Müller's psychophysical research (1998.

  17. Study on the effects of ion motion on laser-induced plasma wakes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou Suyun; Yu Wei; Yuan Xiao; Xu Han; Cao, L. H.; Cai, H. B.; Zhou, C. T.

    2012-01-01

    A 2D analytical model is presented for the generation of plasma wakes (or bubbles) with an ultra-intense laser pulse by taking into account the response of plasma ions. It is shown that the effect of ion motion becomes significant at the laser intensity exceeding 10 21 W/cm 2 and plasma background density below 10 19 cm −3 . In this regime, ion motion tends to suppress the electrostatic field induced by charge separation and makes the electron acceleration less effective. As a result, the assumption of immobile ions overestimates the efficiency of laser wake-field acceleration of electrons. Based on the analytical model, the dynamics of plasma ions in laser-induced wake field is investigated. It is found that only one bubble appears as the plasmas background density exceeds the resonant density and the deposited laser energy is concentrated into the bubble, resulting in the generation of an ion bunch with extremely high energy density.

  18. Clinical significance of exercise-induced left ventricular wall motion abnormality occurring at a low heart rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kimchi, A.; Rozanski, A.; Fletcher, C.; Maddahi, J.; Swan, H.J.; Berman, D.S.

    1987-01-01

    We studied the relationship between the heart rate at the time of onset of exercise-induced wall motion abnormality and the severity of coronary artery disease in 89 patients who underwent exercise equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography as part of their evaluation for coronary artery disease. Segmental wall motion was scored with a five-point system (3 = normal; -1 = dyskinesis); a decrease of one score defined the onset of wall motion abnormality. The onset of wall motion abnormality at less than or equal to 70% of maximal predicted heart rate had 100% predictive accuracy for coronary artery disease and higher sensitivity than the onset of ischemic ST segment depression at similar heart rate during exercise: 36% (25 of 69 patients with coronary disease) vs 19% (13 of 69 patients), p = 0.01. Wall motion abnormality occurring at less than or equal to 70% of maximal predicted heart rate was present in 49% of patients (23 of 47) with critical stenosis (greater than or equal to 90% luminal diameter narrowing), and in only 5% of patients (2 of 42) without such severe stenosis, p less than 0.001. The sensitivity of exercise-induced wall motion abnormality occurring at a low heart rate for the presence of severe coronary artery disease was similar to that of a deterioration in wall motion by more than two scores during exercise (49% vs 53%) or an absolute decrease of greater than or equal to 5% in exercise left ventricular ejection fraction (49% vs 45%)

  19. Enhancement of spin Hall effect induced torques for current-driven magnetic domain wall motion: Inner interface effect

    KAUST Repository

    Bang, Do; Yu, Jiawei; Qiu, Xuepeng; Wang, Yi; Awano, Hiroyuki; Manchon, Aurelien; Yang, Hyunsoo

    2016-01-01

    We investigate the current-induced domain wall motion in perpendicular magnetized Tb/Co wires with structure inversion asymmetry and different layered structures. We find that the critical current density to drive domain wall motion strongly depends on the layered structure. The lowest critical current density ∼15MA/cm2 and the highest slope of domain wall velocity curve are obtained for the wire having thin Co sublayers and more inner Tb/Co interfaces, while the largest critical current density ∼26MA/cm2 required to drive domain walls is observed in the Tb-Co alloy magnetic wire. It is found that the Co/Tb interface contributes negligibly to Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, while the effective spin-orbit torque strongly depends on the number of Tb/Co inner interfaces (n). An enhancement of the antidamping torques by extrinsic spin Hall effect due to Tb rare-earth impurity-induced skew scattering is suggested to explain the high efficiency of current-induced domain wall motion.

  20. Enhancement of spin Hall effect induced torques for current-driven magnetic domain wall motion: Inner interface effect

    KAUST Repository

    Bang, Do

    2016-05-23

    We investigate the current-induced domain wall motion in perpendicular magnetized Tb/Co wires with structure inversion asymmetry and different layered structures. We find that the critical current density to drive domain wall motion strongly depends on the layered structure. The lowest critical current density ∼15MA/cm2 and the highest slope of domain wall velocity curve are obtained for the wire having thin Co sublayers and more inner Tb/Co interfaces, while the largest critical current density ∼26MA/cm2 required to drive domain walls is observed in the Tb-Co alloy magnetic wire. It is found that the Co/Tb interface contributes negligibly to Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, while the effective spin-orbit torque strongly depends on the number of Tb/Co inner interfaces (n). An enhancement of the antidamping torques by extrinsic spin Hall effect due to Tb rare-earth impurity-induced skew scattering is suggested to explain the high efficiency of current-induced domain wall motion.

  1. The efficacy of airflow and seat vibration on reducing visually induced motion sickness

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    D’Amour, Sarah; Bos, Jelte E.; Keshavarz, Behrang

    2017-01-01

    Visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) is a well-known sensation in virtual environments and simulators, typically characterized by a variety of symptoms such as pallor, sweating, dizziness, fatigue, and/or nausea. Numerous methods to reduce VIMS have been previously introduced; however, a reliable

  2. Illusory movement perception improves motor control for prosthetic hands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marasco, Paul D; Hebert, Jacqueline S; Sensinger, Jon W; Shell, Courtney E; Schofield, Jonathon S; Thumser, Zachary C; Nataraj, Raviraj; Beckler, Dylan T; Dawson, Michael R; Blustein, Dan H; Gill, Satinder; Mensh, Brett D; Granja-Vazquez, Rafael; Newcomb, Madeline D; Carey, Jason P; Orzell, Beth M

    2018-03-14

    To effortlessly complete an intentional movement, the brain needs feedback from the body regarding the movement's progress. This largely nonconscious kinesthetic sense helps the brain to learn relationships between motor commands and outcomes to correct movement errors. Prosthetic systems for restoring function have predominantly focused on controlling motorized joint movement. Without the kinesthetic sense, however, these devices do not become intuitively controllable. We report a method for endowing human amputees with a kinesthetic perception of dexterous robotic hands. Vibrating the muscles used for prosthetic control via a neural-machine interface produced the illusory perception of complex grip movements. Within minutes, three amputees integrated this kinesthetic feedback and improved movement control. Combining intent, kinesthesia, and vision instilled participants with a sense of agency over the robotic movements. This feedback approach for closed-loop control opens a pathway to seamless integration of minds and machines. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

  3. Plasticity of illusory vowel perception in Brazilian-Japanese bilinguals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parlato-Oliveira, Erika; Christophe, Anne; Hirose, Yuki; Dupoux, Emmanuel

    2010-06-01

    Previous research shows that monolingual Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese listeners perceive illusory vowels (/u/ and /i/, respectively) within illegal sequences of consonants. Here, several populations of Japanese-Brazilian bilinguals are tested, using an explicit vowel identification task (experiment 1), and an implicit categorization and sequence recall task (experiment 2). Overall, second-generation immigrants, who first acquired Japanese at home and Brazilian during childhood (after age 4) showed a typical Brazilian pattern of result (and so did simultaneous bilinguals, who were exposed to both languages from birth on). In contrast, late bilinguals, who acquired their second language in adulthood, exhibited a pattern corresponding to their native language. In addition, an influence of the second language was observed in the explicit task of Exp. 1, but not in the implicit task used in Exp. 2, suggesting that second language experience affects mostly explicit or metalinguistic skills. These results are compared to other studies of phonological representations in adopted children or immigrants, and discussed in relation to the role of age of acquisition and sociolinguistic factors.

  4. Evaluation of adaptation to visually induced motion sickness based on the maximum cross-correlation between pulse transmission time and heart rate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiba Shigeru

    2007-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Computer graphics and virtual reality techniques are useful to develop automatic and effective rehabilitation systems. However, a kind of virtual environment including unstable visual images presented to wide field screen or a head mounted display tends to induce motion sickness. The motion sickness induced in using a rehabilitation system not only inhibits effective training but also may harm patients' health. There are few studies that have objectively evaluated the effects of the repetitive exposures to these stimuli on humans. The purpose of this study is to investigate the adaptation to visually induced motion sickness by physiological data. Methods An experiment was carried out in which the same video image was presented to human subjects three times. We evaluated changes of the intensity of motion sickness they suffered from by a subjective score and the physiological index ρmax, which is defined as the maximum cross-correlation coefficient between heart rate and pulse wave transmission time and is considered to reflect the autonomic nervous activity. Results The results showed adaptation to visually-induced motion sickness by the repetitive presentation of the same image both in the subjective and the objective indices. However, there were some subjects whose intensity of sickness increased. Thus, it was possible to know the part in the video image which related to motion sickness by analyzing changes in ρmax with time. Conclusion The physiological index, ρmax, will be a good index for assessing the adaptation process to visually induced motion sickness and may be useful in checking the safety of rehabilitation systems with new image technologies.

  5. Rotary motion impairs attention to color change in 4-month-old infants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kavšek, Michael

    2013-06-01

    Continuous color changes of an array of elements appear to stop changing if the array undergoes a coherent motion. This silencing illusion was demonstrated for adults by Suchow and Alvarez (Current Biology, 2011, vol. 21, pp. 140-143). The current forced-choice preferential looking study examined 4-month-old infants' sensitivity to the silencing illusion. Two experimental conditions were conducted. In the dynamic condition, infants were tested with two rotating rings of circular different-colored dots. In one of these rings the dots continuously changed color, whereas in the other ring the dots did not change color. In the static condition, the global rotary motion was eliminated from the targets. Infants preferred looking at the color-changing target in the static condition but not in the dynamic condition; they attended to the color changes in the static condition but failed to detect them in the dynamic condition. This differential looking pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that the silencing illusion can be established during early infancy. A control group of adults also responded to the silencing phenomenon. This substantiates that the stimuli generate a robust illusory effect. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Object-based warping: an illusory distortion of space within objects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vickery, Timothy J; Chun, Marvin M

    2010-12-01

    Visual objects are high-level primitives that are fundamental to numerous perceptual functions, such as guidance of attention. We report that objects warp visual perception of space in such a way that spatial distances within objects appear to be larger than spatial distances in ground regions. When two dots were placed inside a rectangular object, they appeared farther apart from one another than two dots with identical spacing outside of the object. To investigate whether this effect was object based, we measured the distortion while manipulating the structure surrounding the dots. Object displays were constructed with a single object, multiple objects, a partially occluded object, and an illusory object. Nonobject displays were constructed to be comparable to object displays in low-level visual attributes. In all cases, the object displays resulted in a more powerful distortion of spatial perception than comparable non-object-based displays. These results suggest that perception of space within objects is warped.

  7. Quadri-stability of a spatially ambiguous auditory illusion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Constance May Bainbridge

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In addition to vision, audition plays an important role in sound localization in our world. One way we estimate the motion of an auditory object moving towards or away from us is from changes in volume intensity. However, the human auditory system has unequally distributed spatial resolution, including difficulty distinguishing sounds in front versus behind the listener. Here, we introduce a novel quadri-stable illusion, the Transverse-and-Bounce Auditory Illusion, which combines front-back confusion with changes in volume levels of a nonspatial sound to create ambiguous percepts of an object approaching and withdrawing from the listener. The sound can be perceived as traveling transversely from front to back or back to front, or bouncing to remain exclusively in front of or behind the observer. Here we demonstrate how human listeners experience this illusory phenomenon by comparing ambiguous and unambiguous stimuli for each of the four possible motion percepts. When asked to rate their confidence in perceiving each sound’s motion, participants reported equal confidence for the illusory and unambiguous stimuli. Participants perceived all four illusory motion percepts, and could not distinguish the illusion from the unambiguous stimuli. These results show that this illusion is effectively quadri-stable. In a second experiment, the illusory stimulus was looped continuously in headphones while participants identified its perceived path of motion to test properties of perceptual switching, locking, and biases. Participants were biased towards perceiving transverse compared to bouncing paths, and they became perceptually locked into alternating between front-to-back and back-to-front percepts, perhaps reflecting how auditory objects commonly move in the real world. This multi-stable auditory illusion opens opportunities for studying the perceptual, cognitive, and neural representation of objects in motion, as well as exploring multimodal perceptual

  8. Central auditory masking by an illusory tone.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher J Plack

    Full Text Available Many natural sounds fluctuate over time. The detectability of sounds in a sequence can be reduced by prior stimulation in a process known as forward masking. Forward masking is thought to reflect neural adaptation or neural persistence in the auditory nervous system, but it has been unclear where in the auditory pathway this processing occurs. To address this issue, the present study used a "Huggins pitch" stimulus, the perceptual effects of which depend on central auditory processing. Huggins pitch is an illusory tonal sensation produced when the same noise is presented to the two ears except for a narrow frequency band that is different (decorrelated between the ears. The pitch sensation depends on the combination of the inputs to the two ears, a process that first occurs at the level of the superior olivary complex in the brainstem. Here it is shown that a Huggins pitch stimulus produces more forward masking in the frequency region of the decorrelation than a noise stimulus identical to the Huggins-pitch stimulus except with perfect correlation between the ears. This stimulus has a peripheral neural representation that is identical to that of the Huggins-pitch stimulus. The results show that processing in, or central to, the superior olivary complex can contribute to forward masking in human listeners.

  9. Prediction of Motion Induced Image Degradation Using a Markerless Motion Tracker

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Rasmus Munch; Johannesen, Helle Hjorth; Henriksen, Otto Mølby

    In this work a markerless motion tracker, TCL2, is used to predict image quality in 3D T1 weighted MPRAGE MRI brain scans. An experienced radiologist scored the image quality for 172 scans as being usable or not usable, i.e. if a repeated scan was required. Based on five motion parameters......, a classification algorithm was trained and an accuracy for identifying not usable images of 95.9% was obtained with a sensitivity of 91.7% and specificity of 96.3%. This work shows the feasibility of the markerless motion tracker for predicting image quality with a high accuracy....

  10. The development of equipment for the technical assessment of respiratory motion induced artefacts in MRI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jackson, P.C.; Davies, S.C.; Zananiri, F.V.; Follett, D.H.; Halliwell, M.; Wells, P.N.T.; Bean, J.P.

    1993-01-01

    A device and technique to study the effects of respiratory motion on the quality of magnetic resonance images is proposed. The construction of the device enables a variety of test objects to be mounted and used in the evaluation of imaging parameters that may be affected by motion. The equipment is constructed of cast acrylic and the movement is actuated and controlled pneumatically thus ensuring that there are no interactions with the magnetic field and radiofrequency detection system to cause further image artefacts. Separate studies have been performed, using ultrasound, to assess the degree and rate of movement of organs owing to respiration in order to derive the motion parameters for the apparatus. Preliminary results indicate that the technique produces motion induced artefacts simulating those which are the result of the effects of respiration. (author)

  11. Illusory Facets of Sport: The Case of the Duke University Basketball Team

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muniowski Łukasz

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available In the society of the spectacle, illusion is an omnipresent phenomenon. It is used to distract the masses from issues crucial to their existence and to support a system of oppression. However, there is also a “lighter” side of illusion: it creates celebrities and helps sell products (films, music albums, sneakers, etc.. While the connotation is that spectacle uses illusion in order to present the ordinary or negative as extraordinary and positive (e.g., promiscuous athletes talking about family values, it is also possible for a reverse illusory process to take place, resulting in the regular being presented as irregular (e.g., a physical player presented as “aggressive”, such as Kermit Washington. Unlike the deliberate use of illusion by the architects of the spectacle, this reverse process happens spontaneously.

  12. Assessment of motion-induced fluidization of dense pyroclastic gravity currents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Salatino

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper addresses some fundamental aspects of the dynamics of dense granular flows down inclines relevant to pyroclastic density currents. A simple mechanistic framework is presented to analyze the dynamics of the frontal zone, with a focus on the establishment of conditions that promote air entrainment at the head of the current and motion-induced self-fluidization of the flow. The one-dimensional momentum balance on the current along the incline is considered under the hypothesis of strongly turbulent flow and pseudo-homogeneous behaviour of the two-phase gas-solid flow. Departures from one-dimensional flow in the frontal region are also analyzed and provide the key to the assessment of air cross-flow and fluidization of the solids in the head of the current. The conditions for the establishment of steady motion of pyroclastic flows down an incline, in either the fluidized or «dry» granular states, are examined.

  13. Crossmodal Contingent Aftereffect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wataru Teramoto

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Sounds containing no motion or positional cues could induce illusory visual motion perception for static visual stimuli. Two identical visual stimuli placed side by side were presented in alternation producing apparent motion perception and each stimulus was accompanied by a tone burst of a specific and unique frequency. After prolonged exposure to the apparent motion, the tones acquired driving effects for motion perception; a visual stimulus blinking at a fixed location was perceived as lateral motion. The effect lasted at least for a few days and was only observed at the retinal position that was previously exposed to apparent motion with the tones. Furthermore, the effect was specific to ear and sound frequency presented in the exposure period. These results indicate that strong association between visual motion and sound sequence is easily formed within a short period and that very early stages of sensory processing might be responsive loci for the current phenomenon.

  14. Quantification of respiration-induced esophageal tumor motion using fiducial markers and four-dimensional computed tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Peng; Hulshof, Maarten C C M; de Jong, Rianne; van Hooft, Jeanin E; Bel, Arjan; Alderliesten, Tanja

    2016-03-01

    Respiration-induced tumor motion is an important geometrical uncertainty in esophageal cancer radiation therapy. The aim of this study was to quantify this motion using fiducial markers and four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT). Twenty esophageal cancer patients underwent endoscopy-guided marker implantation in the tumor volume and 4DCT acquisition. The 4DCT data were sorted into 10 breathing phases and the end-of-inhalation phase was selected as reference. We quantified for each visible marker (n=60) the motion in each phase and derived the peak-to-peak motion magnitude throughout the breathing cycle. The motion was quantified and analyzed for four different regions and in three orthogonal directions. The median(interquartile range) of the peak-to-peak magnitudes of the respiration-induced marker motion (left-right/anterior-posterior/cranial-caudal) was 1.5(0.5)/1.6(0.5)/2.9(1.4) mm for the proximal esophagus (n=6), 1.5(1.4)/1.4(1.3)/3.7(2.6) mm for the middle esophagus (n=12), 2.6(1.3)/3.3(1.8)/5.4(2.9) mm for the distal esophagus (n=25), and 3.7(2.1)/5.3(1.8)/8.2(3.1) mm for the proximal stomach (n=17). The variations in the results between the three directions, four regions, and patients suggest the need of individualized region-dependent anisotropic internal margins. Therefore, we recommend using markers with 4DCT to patient-specifically adapt the internal target volume (ITV). Without 4DCT, 3DCTs at the end-of-inhalation and end-of-exhalation phases could be alternatively applied for ITV individualization. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Detection of cyclic-fold bifurcation in electrostatic MEMS transducers by motion-induced current

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Sangtak; Khater, Mahmoud; Effa, David; Abdel-Rahman, Eihab; Yavuz, Mustafa

    2017-08-01

    This paper presents a new detection method of cyclic-fold bifurcations in electrostatic MEMS transducers based on a variant of the harmonic detection of resonance method. The electrostatic transducer is driven by an unbiased harmonic signal at half its natural frequency, ω a   =  1/2 ω o . The response of the transducer consists of static displacement and a series of harmonics at 2 ω a , 4 ω a , and so on. Its motion-induced current is shifted by the excitation frequency, ω a , to appear at 3 ω a , 5 ω a , and higher odd harmonics, providing higher sensitivity to the measurement of harmonic motions. With this method, we successfully detected the variation in the location of the cyclic-fold bifurcation of an encapsulated electrostatic MEMS transducer. We also detected a regime of tapping mode motions subsequent to the bifurcation.

  16. Detection of cyclic-fold bifurcation in electrostatic MEMS transducers by motion-induced current

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Sangtak; Abdel-Rahman, Eihab; Khater, Mahmoud; Effa, David; Yavuz, Mustafa

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents a new detection method of cyclic-fold bifurcations in electrostatic MEMS transducers based on a variant of the harmonic detection of resonance method. The electrostatic transducer is driven by an unbiased harmonic signal at half its natural frequency, ω a   =  1/2  ω o . The response of the transducer consists of static displacement and a series of harmonics at 2  ω a , 4  ω a , and so on. Its motion-induced current is shifted by the excitation frequency, ω a , to appear at 3  ω a , 5  ω a , and higher odd harmonics, providing higher sensitivity to the measurement of harmonic motions. With this method, we successfully detected the variation in the location of the cyclic-fold bifurcation of an encapsulated electrostatic MEMS transducer. We also detected a regime of tapping mode motions subsequent to the bifurcation. (paper)

  17. Color-motion feature-binding errors are mediated by a higher-order chromatic representation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shevell, Steven K; Wang, Wei

    2016-03-01

    Peripheral and central moving objects of the same color may be perceived to move in the same direction even though peripheral objects have a different true direction of motion [Nature429, 262 (2004)10.1038/429262a]. The perceived, illusory direction of peripheral motion is a color-motion feature-binding error. Recent work shows that such binding errors occur even without an exact color match between central and peripheral objects, and, moreover, the frequency of the binding errors in the periphery declines as the chromatic difference increases between the central and peripheral objects [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A31, A60 (2014)JOAOD60740-323210.1364/JOSAA.31.000A60]. This change in the frequency of binding errors with the chromatic difference raises the general question of the chromatic representation from which the difference is determined. Here, basic properties of the chromatic representation are tested to discover whether it depends on independent chromatic differences on the l and the s cardinal axes or, alternatively, on a more specific higher-order chromatic representation. Experimental tests compared the rate of feature-binding errors when the central and peripheral colors had the identical s chromaticity (so zero difference in s) and a fixed magnitude of l difference, while varying the identical s level in center and periphery (thus always keeping the s difference at zero). A chromatic representation based on independent l and s differences would result in the same frequency of color-motion binding errors at everyslevel. The results are contrary to this prediction, thus showing that the chromatic representation at the level of color-motion feature binding depends on a higher-order chromatic mechanism.

  18. Importance of human right inferior frontoparietal network connected by inferior branch of superior longitudinal fasciculus tract in corporeal awareness of kinesthetic illusory movement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amemiya, Kaoru; Naito, Eiichi

    2016-05-01

    It is generally believed that the human right cerebral hemisphere plays a dominant role in corporeal awareness, which is highly associated with conscious experience of the physical self. Prompted by our previous findings, we examined whether the right frontoparietal activations often observed when people experience kinesthetic illusory limb movement are supported by a large-scale brain network connected by a specific branch of the superior longitudinal fasciculus fiber tracts (SLF I, II, and III). We scanned brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while nineteen blindfolded healthy volunteers experienced illusory movement of the right stationary hand elicited by tendon vibration, which was replicated after the scanning. We also scanned brain activity when they executed and imagined right hand movement, and identified the active brain regions during illusion, execution, and imagery in relation to the SLF fiber tracts. We found that illusion predominantly activated the right inferior frontoparietal regions connected by SLF III, which were not substantially recruited during execution and imagery. Among these regions, activities in the right inferior parietal cortices and inferior frontal cortices showed right-side dominance and correlated well with the amount of illusion (kinesthetic illusory awareness) experienced by the participants. The results illustrated the predominant involvement of the right inferior frontoparietal network connected by SLF III when people recognize postural changes of their limb. We assume that the network bears a series of functions, specifically, monitoring the current status of the musculoskeletal system, and building-up and updating our postural model (body schema), which could be a basis for the conscious experience of the physical self. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  19. Dynamic RSA for the evaluation of inducible micromotion of Oxford UKA during step-up and step-down motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horsager, Kristian; Kaptein, Bart L; Rømer, Lone; Jørgensen, Peter B; Stilling, Maiken

    2017-06-01

    Background and purpose - Implant inducible micromotions have been suggested to reflect the quality of the fixation interface. We investigated the usability of dynamic RSA for evaluation of inducible micromotions of the Oxford Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty (UKA) tibial component, and evaluated factors that have been suggested to compromise the fixation, such as fixation method, component alignment, and radiolucent lines (RLLs). Patients and methods - 15 patients (12 men) with a mean age of 69 (55-86) years, with an Oxford UKA (7 cemented), were studied after a mean time in situ of 4.4 (3.6-5.1) years. 4 had tibial RLLs. Each patient was recorded with dynamic RSA (10 frames/second) during a step-up/step-down motion. Inducible micromotions were calculated for the tibial component with respect to the tibia bone. Postoperative component alignment was measured with model-based RSA and RLLs were measured on screened radiographs. Results - All tibial components showed inducible micromotions as a function of the step-cycle motion with a mean subsidence of up to -0.06 mm (95% CI: -0.10 to -0.03). Tibial component inducible micromotions were similar for cemented fixation and cementless fixation. Patients with tibial RLLs had 0.5° (95% CI: 0.18-0.81) greater inducible medio-lateral tilt of the tibial component. There was a correlation between postoperative posterior slope of the tibial plateau and inducible anterior-posterior tilt. Interpretation - All patients had inducible micromotions of the tibial component during step-cycle motion. RLLs and a high posterior slope increased the magnitude of inducible micromotions. This suggests that dynamic RSA is a valuable clinical tool for the evaluation of functional implant fixation.

  20. The effect of internal and external fields of view on visually induced motion sickness

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bos, J.E.; Vries, S.C. de; Emmerik, M.L. van; Groen, E.L.

    2010-01-01

    Field of view (FOV) is said to affect visually induced motion sickness. FOV, however, is characterized by an internal setting used by the graphics generator (iFOV) and an external factor determined by screen size and viewing distance (eFOV). We hypothesized that especially the incongruence between

  1. Disrupted integration of sensory stimuli with information about the movement of the body as a mechanism explaining LSD-induced experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juszczak, Grzegorz R

    2017-03-01

    LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is a model psychedelic drug used to study mechanism underlying the effects induced by hallucinogens. However, despite advanced knowledge about molecular mechanism responsible for the effects induced by LSD and other related substances acting at serotonergic 5-HT 2a receptors, we still do not understand how these drugs trigger specific sensory experiences. LSD-induced experience is characterised by perception of movement in the environment and by presence of various bodily sensations such as floating in space, merging into surroundings and movement out of the physical body (the out-of-body experience). It means that a large part of the experience induced by the LSD can be simplified to the illusory movement that can be attributed to the self or to external objects. The phenomenology of the LSD-induced experience has been combined with the fact that serotonergic neurons provide all major parts of the brain with information about the level of tonic motor activity, occurrence of external stimuli and the execution of orienting responses. Therefore, it has been proposed that LSD-induced stimulation of 5-HT 2a receptors disrupts the integration of the sensory stimuli with information about the movement of the body leading to perception of illusory movement. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Pleasant music as a countermeasure against visually induced motion sickness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keshavarz, Behrang; Hecht, Heiko

    2014-05-01

    Visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) is a well-known side-effect in virtual environments or simulators. However, effective behavioral countermeasures against VIMS are still sparse. In this study, we tested whether music can reduce the severity of VIMS. Ninety-three volunteers were immersed in an approximately 14-minute-long video taken during a bicycle ride. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups, either including relaxing music, neutral music, stressful music, or no music. Sickness scores were collected using the Fast Motion Sickness Scale and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire. Results showed an overall trend for relaxing music to reduce the severity of VIMS. When factoring in the subjective pleasantness of the music, a significant reduction of VIMS occurred only when the presented music was perceived as pleasant, regardless of the music type. In addition, we found a gender effect with women reporting more sickness than men. We assume that the presentation of pleasant music can be an effective, low-cost, and easy-to-administer method to reduce VIMS. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  3. Effects of temperature gradient induced nanoparticle motion on conduction and convection of fluid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou Leping; Peterson, George P.; Yoda, Minani; Wang Buxuan

    2012-01-01

    The role of temperature gradient induced nanoparticle motion on conduction and convection was investigated. Possible mechanisms for variations resulting from variations in the thermophysical properties are theoretically and experimentally discussed. The effect of the nanoparticle motion on conduction is demonstrated through thermal conductivity measurement of deionized water with suspended CuO nanoparticles (50 nm in diameter) and correlated with the contributions of Brownian diffusion, thermophoresis, etc. The tendencies observed is that the magnitude of and the variation in the thermal conductivity increases with increasing volume fraction for a given temperature, which is due primarily to the Brownian diffusion of the nanoparticles. Using dimensional analysis, the thermal conductivity is correlated and both the interfacial thermal resistance and near-field radiation are found to be essentially negligible. A modification term that incorporates the contributions of Brownian motion and thermophoresis is proposed. The effect of nanoscale convection is illustrated through an experimental investigation that utilized fluorescent polystyrene nanoparticle tracers (200 nm in diameter) and multilayer nanoparticle image velocimetry. The results indicate that both the magnitude and the deviation of the fluid motion increased with increasing heat flux in the near-wall region. Meanwhile, the fluid motion tended to decrease with the off-wall distance for a given heating power. A corresponding numerical study of convection of pure deionized water shows that the velocity along the off-wall direction is several orders of magnitude lower than that of deionized water, which indicates that Brownian motion in the near-wall region is crucial for fluid with suspended nanoparticles in convection.

  4. Transformations of visual memory induced by implied motions of pattern elements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finke, R A; Freyd, J J

    1985-10-01

    Four experiments measured distortions in short-term visual memory induced by displays depicting independent translations of the elements of a pattern. In each experiment, observers saw a sequence of 4 dot patterns and were instructed to remember the third pattern and to compare it with the fourth. The first three patterns depicted translations of the dots in consistent, but separate directions. Error rates and reaction times for rejecting the fourth pattern as different from the third were substantially higher when the dots in that pattern were displaced slightly forward, in the same directions as the implied motions, compared with when the dots were displaced in the opposite, backward directions. These effects showed little variation across interstimulus intervals ranging from 250 to 2,000 ms, and did not depend on whether the displays gave rise to visual apparent motion. However, they were eliminated when the dots in the fourth pattern were displaced by larger amounts in each direction, corresponding to the dot positions in the next and previous patterns in the same inducing sequence. These findings extend our initial report of the phenomenon of "representational momentum" (Freyd & Finke, 1984a), and help to rule out alternatives to the proposal that visual memories tend to undergo, at least to some extent, the transformations implied by a prior sequence of observed events.

  5. Combining Motion-Induced Blindness with Binocular Rivalry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K Jaworska

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Motion-induced blindness (MIB and binocular rivalry (BR are examples of multistable phenomena in which our perception varies despite constant retinal input. It has been suggested that both phenomena are related and share a common underlying mechanism. We tried to determine whether experimental manipulations of the target dot and the mask systematically affect MIB and BR in an experimental paradigm that can elicit both phenomena. Eighteen observers fixated the center of a split-screen stereo display that consisted of a distracter mask and a superimposed target dot with different colour (isoluminant Red/Green in corresponding peripheral areas of the left and right eye. Observers reported perceived colour and disappearance of the target dot by pressing and releasing corresponding keys. In a within-subjects design the mask was presented in rivalry or not—with orthogonal drift in the left and right eye or with the same drift in both eyes. In control conditions the mask remained stationary. In addition, the size of the target dot was varied (small, medium, and large. Our results suggest that MIB measured by normalized frequency and duration of target disappearance and BR measured by normalized frequency and duration of colour reversals of the target were both affected by motion in the mask. Surprisingly, binocular rivalry in the mask had only a small effect on BR of the target and virtually no effect on MIB. The overall pattern of normalized MIB and BR measures, however, differed across experimental conditions. In conclusion, the results show some degree of dissociation between MIB and BR. Further analyses will inform whether or not the two phenomena occur independently of each other.

  6. Molecular Dynamics Study of Thermally Augmented Nanodroplet Motion on Chemical Energy Induced Wettability Gradient Surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Monojit; Chowdhury, Anamika; Bhusan, Richa; DasGupta, Sunando

    2015-10-20

    Droplet motion on a surface with chemical energy induced wettability gradient has been simulated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to highlight the underlying physics of molecular movement near the solid-liquid interface including the contact line friction. The simulations mimic experiments in a comprehensive manner wherein microsized droplets are propelled by the surface wettability gradient against forces opposed to motion. The liquid-wall Lennard-Jones interaction parameter and the substrate temperature are varied to explore their effects on the three-phase contact line friction coefficient. The contact line friction is observed to be a strong function of temperature at atomistic scales, confirming their experimentally observed inverse functionality. Additionally, the MD simulation results are successfully compared with those from an analytical model for self-propelled droplet motion on gradient surfaces.

  7. Potential of mechanical metamaterials to induce their own global rotational motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dudek, K. K.; Wojciechowski, K. W.; Dudek, M. R.; Gatt, R.; Mizzi, L.; Grima, J. N.

    2018-05-01

    The potential of several classes of mechanical metamaterials to induce their own overall rotational motion through the individual rotation of their subunits is examined. Using a theoretical approach, we confirm that for various rotating rigid unit systems, if by design the sum of angular momentum of subunits rotating in different directions is made to be unequal, then the system will experience an overall rotation, the extent of which may be controlled through careful choice of the geometric parameters defining these systems. This phenomenon of self-induced rotation is also confirmed experimentally. Furthermore, we discuss how these systems can be designed in a special way so as to permit extended rotations which allows them to overcome geometric lockage and the relevance of this concept in applications ranging from satellites to spacecraft and telescopes employed in space.

  8. Illusory Conjunciton 生起確立の分布に及ぼすいくつかの要因について : 付加特徴の効果,空間異方性,VVQテストとの関連

    OpenAIRE

    浅川, 伸一; 須永, 範明; 丹治, 哲雄

    1991-01-01

    Recently, many reseachers have paid attention to the Feature Integration Theory proposed by Treisman and her colleagues. The theory predicts that if attention is overloaded or diverted, features (i.e. colors, contrast, shapes, orientations of line, etc.) of each object would be recombined wrongly (illusory conjunction) and thus subjects sometimes would report the illusory object which is not displayed actually. The results of previous studies, however, were inconsistent since the probability ...

  9. Utilizing the energy from induced wind produce by highway vehicle motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abas Abd Wahab; Tong, C.W.

    2000-01-01

    A research work has been conducted at the Faculty of mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia to utilize energy from airflow induced by moving vehicles along the highway for advertising and signboard lighting. Series of data collections have been made at Km 20 Johor Bahru - Kuala Lumpur Plus Highway. Wind anemometer equipped with data recorder has been placed at the highway divider to measure the wind speed induced by the vehicles moving from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur and vice versa. From the data analysis it has been found that the to and from Kuala Lumpur motion of the vehicles induced a stable and continuous source of airflow (wind) ranges from 2 to 4 m/s. The energy in this induced wind has been estimated and has the potential to be used for the above said purpose. Five design models have been tested in the Faculty of mechanical Engineering Low Speed Wind Tunnel and the twisted vertical blades with circular end covers has proven to be the most efficient and suitable. The optimum sizing of the vertical axis wind turbine has also been determined. The details of the collection of wind induced data and analysis, estimation of energy content, the vertical axis wind turbine models testing and results are presented in this paper. (Author)

  10. Effect of vertical ground motion on earthquake-induced derailment of railway vehicles over simply-supported bridges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Zhibin; Pei, Shiling; Li, Xiaozhen; Liu, Hongyan; Qiang, Shizhong

    2016-11-01

    The running safety of railway vehicles on bridges can be negatively affected by earthquake events. This phenomenon has traditionally been investigated with only the lateral ground excitation component considered. This paper presented results from a numerical investigation on the contribution of vertical ground motion component to the derailment of vehicles on simply-supported bridges. A full nonlinear wheel-rail contact model was used in the investigation together with the Hertzian contact theory and nonlinear creepage theory, which allows the wheel to jump vertically and separate from the rail. The wheel-rail relative displacement was used as the criterion for derailment events. A total of 18 ground motion records were used in the analysis to account for the uncertainty of ground motions. The results showed that inclusion of vertical ground motion will likely increase the chance of derailment. It is recommended to include vertical ground motion component in earthquake induced derailment analysis to ensure conservative estimations. The derailment event on bridges was found to be more closely related to the deck acceleration rather than the ground acceleration.

  11. Beating motion of a circular cylinder in vortex-induced vibrations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Linwei; Chan, Eng-Soon; Wei, Yan

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, beating phenomenon of a circular cylinder in vortex-induced vibration is studied by numerical simulations in a systematic manner. The cylinder mass coefficients of 2 and 10 are considered, and the Reynolds number is 150. Two distinctive frequencies, namely cylinder oscillation and vortex shedding frequencies, are obtained from the harmonic analysis of the cylinder displacement. The result is consistent with that observed in laboratory experiments. It is found that the cylinder oscillation frequency changes with the natural frequency of the cylinder while the reduced velocity is varied. The added-mass coefficient of the cylinder in beating motion is therefore estimated. Meanwhile, the vortex shedding frequency does not change dramatically in the beating situations. In fact, it is very close to 0.2. Accordingly, the lift force coefficient has two main components associated with these two frequencies. Besides, higher harmonics of the cylinder oscillation frequency appear in the spectrum of the lift coefficient. Moreover, the vortex shedding timing is studied in the beating motion by examining the instantaneous flow fields in the wake, and two scenarios of the vortex formation are observed.

  12. Dynamic signatures of driven vortex motion.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Crabtree, G. W.; Kwok, W. K.; Lopez, D.; Olsson, R. J.; Paulius, L. M.; Petrean, A. M.; Safar, H.

    1999-09-16

    We probe the dynamic nature of driven vortex motion in superconductors with a new type of transport experiment. An inhomogeneous Lorentz driving force is applied to the sample, inducing vortex velocity gradients that distinguish the hydrodynamic motion of the vortex liquid from the elastic and-plastic motion of the vortex solid. We observe elastic depinning of the vortex lattice at the critical current, and shear induced plastic slip of the lattice at high Lorentz force gradients.

  13. Perception of the dynamic visual vertical during sinusoidal linear motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pomante, A; Selen, L P J; Medendorp, W P

    2017-10-01

    disambiguation of linear acceleration and spatial orientation. We discuss the dynamics of these illusory percepts in terms of a dynamic Bayesian model that combines uncertainty in the vestibular signals with priors based on the natural statistics of head motion. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

  14. A model of the formation of illusory conjunctions in the time domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botella, J; Suero, M; Barriopedro, M I

    2001-12-01

    The authors present a model to account for the miscombination of features when stimuli are presented using the rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) technique (illusory conjunctions in the time domain). It explains the distributions of responses through a mixture of trial outcomes. In some trials, attention is successfully focused on the target, whereas in others, the responses are based on partial information. Two experiments are presented that manipulated the mean processing time of the target-defining dimension and of the to-be-reported dimension, respectively. As predicted, the average origin of the responses is delayed when lengthening the target-defining dimension, whereas it is earlier when lengthening the to-be-reported dimension; in the first case the number of correct responses is dramatically reduced, whereas in the second it does not change. The results, a review of other research, and simulations carried out with a formal version of the model are all in close accordance with the predictions.

  15. Effects of auditory information on self-motion perception during simultaneous presentation of visual shearing motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanahashi, Shigehito; Ashihara, Kaoru; Ujike, Hiroyasu

    2015-01-01

    Recent studies have found that self-motion perception induced by simultaneous presentation of visual and auditory motion is facilitated when the directions of visual and auditory motion stimuli are identical. They did not, however, examine possible contributions of auditory motion information for determining direction of self-motion perception. To examine this, a visual stimulus projected on a hemisphere screen and an auditory stimulus presented through headphones were presented separately or simultaneously, depending on experimental conditions. The participant continuously indicated the direction and strength of self-motion during the 130-s experimental trial. When the visual stimulus with a horizontal shearing rotation and the auditory stimulus with a horizontal one-directional rotation were presented simultaneously, the duration and strength of self-motion perceived in the opposite direction of the auditory rotation stimulus were significantly longer and stronger than those perceived in the same direction of the auditory rotation stimulus. However, the auditory stimulus alone could not sufficiently induce self-motion perception, and if it did, its direction was not consistent within each experimental trial. We concluded that auditory motion information can determine perceived direction of self-motion during simultaneous presentation of visual and auditory motion information, at least when visual stimuli moved in opposing directions (around the yaw-axis). We speculate that the contribution of auditory information depends on the plausibility and information balance of visual and auditory information. PMID:26113828

  16. Assessment of Respiration-Induced Motion and Its Impact on Treatment Outcome for Lung Cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yan Wang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This study presented the analysis of free-breathing lung tumor motion characteristics using GE 4DCT and Varian RPM systems. Tumor respiratory movement was found to be associated with GTV size, the superior-inferior tumor location in the lung, and the attachment degree to rigid structure (e.g., chest wall, vertebrae, or mediastinum, with tumor location being the most important factor among the other two. Improved outcomes in survival and local control of 43 lung cancer patients were also reported. Consideration of respiration-induced motion based on 4DCT for lung cancer yields individualized margin and more accurate and safe target coverage and thus can potentially improve treatment outcome.

  17. The effect of internal and external fields of view on visually induced motion sickness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bos, Jelte E; de Vries, Sjoerd C; van Emmerik, Martijn L; Groen, Eric L

    2010-07-01

    Field of view (FOV) is said to affect visually induced motion sickness. FOV, however, is characterized by an internal setting used by the graphics generator (iFOV) and an external factor determined by screen size and viewing distance (eFOV). We hypothesized that especially the incongruence between iFOV and eFOV would lead to sickness. To that end we used a computer game environment with different iFOV and eFOV settings, and found the opposite effect. We speculate that the relative large differences between iFOV and eFOV used in this experiment caused the discrepancy, as may be explained by assuming an observer model controlling body motion. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Thon rings from amorphous ice and implications of beam-induced Brownian motion in single particle electron cryo-microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McMullan, G., E-mail: gm2@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk; Vinothkumar, K.R.; Henderson, R.

    2015-11-15

    We have recorded dose-fractionated electron cryo-microscope images of thin films of pure flash-frozen amorphous ice and pre-irradiated amorphous carbon on a Falcon II direct electron detector using 300 keV electrons. We observe Thon rings [1] in both the power spectrum of the summed frames and the sum of power spectra from the individual frames. The Thon rings from amorphous carbon images are always more visible in the power spectrum of the summed frames whereas those of amorphous ice are more visible in the sum of power spectra from the individual frames. This difference indicates that while pre-irradiated carbon behaves like a solid during the exposure, amorphous ice behaves like a fluid with the individual water molecules undergoing beam-induced motion. Using the measured variation in the power spectra amplitude with number of electrons per image we deduce that water molecules are randomly displaced by a mean squared distance of ∼1.1 Å{sup 2} for every incident 300 keV e{sup −}/Å{sup 2}. The induced motion leads to an optimal exposure with 300 keV electrons of 4.0 e{sup −}/Å{sup 2} per image with which to observe Thon rings centred around the strong 3.7 Å scattering peak from amorphous ice. The beam-induced movement of the water molecules generates pseudo-Brownian motion of embedded macromolecules. The resulting blurring of single particle images contributes an additional term, on top of that from radiation damage, to the minimum achievable B-factor for macromolecular structure determination. - Highlights: • Thon rings can be seen from amorphous ice. • Radiation damage to amorphous ice randomly displaces water molecules. • Each incident 300 keV e{sup −}/Å{sup 2} displaces water molecules on average by ∼1 Å. • Macromolecules embedded in amorphous ice undergo beam induced Brownian motion.

  19. Cortical representation of illusory body perception in healthy persons and amputees: implications for the understanding and treatment of phantom limb pain

    OpenAIRE

    Milde, Christopher

    2018-01-01

    A disturbed body perception is characteristic for various neurological and mental disorders and becomes particularly evident in phantom phenomena after limb amputation. Body illusions, such as mirror visual feedback (MVF) illusions, have been shown to be efficient in treating chronic pain and to be further related to a reversal of cortical reorganization. The present thesis aimed at identifying the neural circuitry of illusory body perception in healthy subjects and unilateral upper-limb ampu...

  20. Enhancing the smoothness of joint motion induced by functional electrical stimulation using co-activation strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruppel Mirjana

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The motor precision of today’s neuroprosthetic devices that use artificial generation of limb motion using Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES is generally low. We investigate the adoption of natural co-activation strategies as present in antagonistic muscle pairs aiming to improve motor precision produced by FES. In a test in which artificial knee-joint movements were generated, we could improve the smoothness of FES-induced motion by 513% when applying co-activation during the phases in which torque production is switched between muscles – compared to no co-activation. We further demonstrated how the co-activation level influences the joint stiffness in a pendulum test.

  1. Interfractional variability of respiration-induced esophageal tumor motion quantified using fiducial markers and four-dimensional cone-beam computed tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Peng; Hulshof, Maarten C C M; van Wieringen, Niek; Bel, Arjan; Alderliesten, Tanja

    2017-07-01

    To investigate the interfractional variability of respiration-induced esophageal tumor motion using fiducial markers and four-dimensional cone-beam computed tomography (4D-CBCT) and assess if a 4D-CT is sufficient for predicting the motion during the treatment. Twenty-four patients with 63 markers visible in the retrospectively reconstructed 4D-CBCTs were included. For each marker, we calculated the amplitude and trajectory of the respiration-induced motion. Possible time trends of the amplitude over the treatment course and the interfractional variability of amplitudes and trajectory shapes were assessed. Further, the amplitudes measured in the 4D-CT were compared to those in the 4D-CBCTs. The amplitude was largest in the cranial-caudal direction of the distal esophagus (mean: 7.1mm) and proximal stomach (mean: 7.8mm). No time trend was observed in the amplitude over the treatment course. The interfractional variability of amplitudes and trajectory shapes was limited (mean: ≤1.4mm). Moreover, small and insignificant deviation was found between the amplitudes quantified in the 4D-CT and in the 4D-CBCT (mean absolute difference: ≤1.0mm). The limited interfractional variability of amplitudes and trajectory shapes and small amplitude difference between 4D-CT-based and 4D-CBCT-based measurements imply that a single 4D-CT would be sufficient for predicting the respiration-induced esophageal tumor motion during the treatment course. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. 6% magnetic-field-induced strain by twin-boundary motion in ferromagnetic Ni-Mn-Ga

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murray, S. J.; Marioni, M.; Allen, S. M.; O'Handley, R. C.; Lograsso, T. A.

    2000-01-01

    Field-induced strains of 6% are reported in ferromagnetic Ni-Mn-Ga martensites at room temperature. The strains are the result of twin boundary motion driven largely by the Zeeman energy difference across the twin boundary. The strain measured parallel to the applied magnetic field is negative in the sample/field geometry used here. The strain saturates in fields of order 400 kA/m and is blocked by a compressive stress of order 2 MPa applied orthogonal to the magnetic field. The strain versus field curves exhibit appreciable hysteresis associated with the motion of the twin boundaries. A simple model accounts quantitatively for the dependence of strain on magnetic field and external stress using as input parameters only measured quantities. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics

  3. Full Range of Motion Induces Greater Muscle Damage Than Partial Range of Motion in Elbow Flexion Exercise With Free Weights.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baroni, Bruno M; Pompermayer, Marcelo G; Cini, Anelize; Peruzzolo, Amanda S; Radaelli, Régis; Brusco, Clarissa M; Pinto, Ronei S

    2017-08-01

    Baroni, BM, Pompermayer, MG, Cini, A, Peruzzolo, AS, Radaelli, R, Brusco, CM, and Pinto, RS. Full range of motion induces greater muscle damage than partial range of motion in elbow flexion exercise with free weights. J Strength Cond Res 31(8): 2223-2230, 2017-Load and range of motion (ROM) applied in resistance training (RT) affect the muscle damage magnitude and the recovery time-course. Because exercises performed with partial ROM allow a higher load compared with those with full ROM, this study investigated the acute effect of a traditional RT exercise using full ROM or partial ROM on muscle damage markers. Fourteen healthy men performed 4 sets of 10 concentric-eccentric repetitions of unilateral elbow flexion on the Scott bench. Arms were randomly assigned to partial-ROM (50-100°) and full-ROM (0-130°) conditions, and load was determined as 80% of 1 repetition maximum (1RM) in the full- and partial-ROM tests. Muscle damage markers were assessed preexercise, immediately, and 24, 48, and 72 hours after exercise. Primary outcomes were peak torque, muscle soreness during palpation and elbow extension, arm circumference, and joint ROM. The load lifted in the partial-ROM condition (1RM = 19.1 ± 3.0 kg) was 40 ± 18% higher compared with the full-ROM condition (1RM = 13.7 ± 2.2 kg). Seventy-two hours after exercise, the full-ROM condition led to significant higher soreness sensation during elbow extension (1.3-4.1 cm vs. 1.0-1.9 cm) and smaller ROM values (97.5-106.1° vs. 103.6-115.7°). Peak torque, soreness from palpation, and arm circumference were statistically similar between conditions, although mean values in all time points of these outcomes have suggested more expressive muscle damage for the full-ROM condition. In conclusion, elbow flexion exercise with full ROM seems to induce greater muscle damage than partial-ROM exercises, even though higher absolute load was achieved with partial ROM.

  4. Irritant-Induced Paradoxical Vocal Fold Motion Disorder: Diagnosis and Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marcinow, Anna M; Thompson, Jennifer; Forrest, L Arick; deSilva, Brad W

    2015-12-01

    To review our experience with the diagnosis and treatment of irritant-induced paradoxical vocal fold motion disorder (IPVFMD). Retrospective chart review. Tertiary academic referral center. Thirty-four cases that met IPVFMD criteria and 76 cases of non-IPVFMD were selected from a database of patients with paradoxical vocal fold motion disorder-the diagnosis of which was made on the basis of flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopy and augmented by an odor challenge. Clinical charts were reviewed to document history of environmental allergies, pulmonary disease, gastroesophageal reflux, psychiatric disorder, fibromyalgia, tobacco use, alcohol use, dysphonia, cough, dysphagia, and treatment outcomes. There were no statistical differences between the IPVFMD and non-IPVFMD groups. Of the patients who were assigned and attended laryngeal control therapy, 13 (65%) reported improvement of symptoms. Symptom improvement increased to 100% in those patients who attended at least 2 laryngeal control therapy sessions. IPVFMD should be considered in patients presenting with respiratory symptoms after irritant exposure. Sensitivity of diagnosis can be improved via a standardized approach consisting of a careful history and physical examination, including laryngoscopy in the presence of triggers. Laryngeal control therapy is a well-tolerated and effective method of managing IPVFMD. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2015.

  5. The use of EEG to measure cerebral changes during computer-based motion-sickness-inducing tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strychacz, Christopher; Viirre, Erik; Wing, Shawn

    2005-05-01

    Motion sickness (MS) is a stressor commonly attributed with causing serious navigational and performance errors. The distinct nature of MS suggests this state may have distinct neural markers distinguishable from other states known to affect performance (e.g., stress, fatigue, sleep deprivation, high workload). This pilot study used new high-resolution electro-encephalograph (EEG) technologies to identify distinct neuronal activation changes that occur during MS. Brain EEG activity was monitored while subjects performed a ball-tracking task and viewed stimuli on a projection screen intended to induce motion sickness/spatial disorientation. Results show the presence of EEG spectral changes in all subjects who developed motion sickness when compared to baseline levels. These changes included: 1) low frequency (1 to 10 Hz) changes that may reflect oculomotor movements rather than intra-cerebral sources; 2) increased spectral power across all frequencies (attributable to increased scalp conductivity related to sweating), 3) local increases of power spectra in the 20-50 Hz range (likely attributable to external muscles on the skull) and; 4) a central posterior (occipital) independent component that shows suppression of a 20 Hz peak in the MS condition when compared to baseline. Further research is necessary to refine neural markers, characterize their origin and physiology, to distinguish between motion sickness and other states and to enable markers to be used for operator state monitoring and the designing of interventions for motion sickness.

  6. Respiration Induced Heart Motion and Indications of Gated Delivery for Left-Sided Breast Irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qi, X. Sharon; Hu, Angela; Wang Kai; Newman, Francis; Crosby, Marcus; Hu Bin; White, Julia; Li, X. Allen

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: To investigate respiration-induced heart motion for left-sided breast irradiation using a four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) technique and to determine novel indications to assess heart motion and identify breast patients who may benefit from a gated treatment. Methods and Materials: Images of 4DCT acquired during free breathing for 20 left-sided breast cancer patients, who underwent whole breast irradiation with or without regional nodal irradiation, were analyzed retrospectively. Dose distributions were reconstructed in the phases of 0%, 20%, and 50%. The intrafractional heart displacement was measured in three selected transverse CT slices using D LAD (the distance from left ascending aorta to a fixed line [connecting middle point of sternum and the body] drawn on each slice) and maximum heart depth (MHD, the distance of the forefront of the heart to the line). Linear regression analysis was used to correlate these indices with mean heart dose and heart dose volume at different breathing phases. Results: Respiration-induced heart displacement resulted in observable variations in dose delivered to the heart. During a normal free-breathing cycle, heart-induced motion D LAD and MHD changed up to 9 and 11 mm respectively, resulting in up to 38% and 39% increases of mean doses and V 25.2 for the heart. MHD and D LAD were positively correlated with mean heart dose and heart dose volume. Respiratory-adapted gated treatment may better spare heart and ipsilateral-lung compared with the conventional non-gated plan in a subset of patients with large D LAD or MHD variations. Conclusion: Proposed indices offer novel assessment of heart displacement based on 4DCT images. MHD and D LAD can be used independently or jointly as selection criteria for respiratory gating procedure before treatment planning. Patients with great intrafractional MHD variations or tumor(s) close to the diaphragm may particularly benefit from the gated treatment.

  7. Respiration Induced Heart Motion and Indications of Gated Delivery for Left-Sided Breast Irradiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qi, X. Sharon, E-mail: xiangrong.qi@ucdenver.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO (United States); Hu, Angela [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO (United States); Wang Kai [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (United States); Newman, Francis [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO (United States); Crosby, Marcus; Hu Bin; White, Julia; Li, X. Allen [Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (United States)

    2012-04-01

    Purpose: To investigate respiration-induced heart motion for left-sided breast irradiation using a four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) technique and to determine novel indications to assess heart motion and identify breast patients who may benefit from a gated treatment. Methods and Materials: Images of 4DCT acquired during free breathing for 20 left-sided breast cancer patients, who underwent whole breast irradiation with or without regional nodal irradiation, were analyzed retrospectively. Dose distributions were reconstructed in the phases of 0%, 20%, and 50%. The intrafractional heart displacement was measured in three selected transverse CT slices using D{sub LAD} (the distance from left ascending aorta to a fixed line [connecting middle point of sternum and the body] drawn on each slice) and maximum heart depth (MHD, the distance of the forefront of the heart to the line). Linear regression analysis was used to correlate these indices with mean heart dose and heart dose volume at different breathing phases. Results: Respiration-induced heart displacement resulted in observable variations in dose delivered to the heart. During a normal free-breathing cycle, heart-induced motion D{sub LAD} and MHD changed up to 9 and 11 mm respectively, resulting in up to 38% and 39% increases of mean doses and V{sub 25.2} for the heart. MHD and D{sub LAD} were positively correlated with mean heart dose and heart dose volume. Respiratory-adapted gated treatment may better spare heart and ipsilateral-lung compared with the conventional non-gated plan in a subset of patients with large D{sub LAD} or MHD variations. Conclusion: Proposed indices offer novel assessment of heart displacement based on 4DCT images. MHD and D{sub LAD} can be used independently or jointly as selection criteria for respiratory gating procedure before treatment planning. Patients with great intrafractional MHD variations or tumor(s) close to the diaphragm may particularly benefit from the gated

  8. Induced motion of a sphere due to a flexible elastic sheet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rallabandi, Bhargav; Oppenheimer, Naomi; Salez, Thomas; Stone, Howard A.

    2017-11-01

    A sphere translating parallel to a rigid wall in Stokes flow experiences an increased drag but no normal force. In contrast, a sphere translating along the surface of a soft elastic substrate experiences an induced normal force due to the coupling between hydrodynamic stresses and elastic deformation. Here, we use theory and experiments to show that an analogous effect occurs for a particle moving near a flexible elastic membrane with bending and stretching resistances. Applying the Lorentz reciprocal theorem in the lubrication limit, we find that the induced force on the particle is repulsive, scaling with the square of its translational speed and inversely with the bending modulus and tension of the membrane. The theoretical predictions are validated by experiments of a sphere driven by gravity down a vertically suspended elastic sheet, where we observe a spontaneous motion of the sphere away from the sheet. The general theoretical approach and the specific results are pertinent to the dynamics of objects near biological membranes and other deformable interfaces.

  9. Illusory correlations despite equated category frequencies: A test of the information loss account.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weigl, Michael; Mecklinger, Axel; Rosburg, Timm

    2018-06-14

    Illusory correlations (IC) are the perception of covariation, where none exists. For example, people associate majorities with frequent behavior and minorities with infrequent behavior even in the absence of such an association. According to the information loss account, ICs result from greater fading of infrequent group-behavior combinations in memory. We conducted computer simulations based on this account which showed that ICs are expected under standard conditions with skewed category frequencies (i.e. 2:1 ratio for positive and negative descriptions), but not under conditions with equated category frequencies (i.e. 1:1 ratio for positive and negative descriptions). Contrary to these simulations, our behavioral experiments revealed an IC under both conditions, which did not decrease over time. Thus, information loss alone is not sufficient as an explanation for the formation of ICs. These results imply that negative items contribute to ICs not only due to their infrequency, but also due to their emotional salience. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Orientation Preferences and Motion Sickness Induced in a Virtual Reality Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Wei; Chao, Jian-Gang; Zhang, Yan; Wang, Jin-Kun; Chen, Xue-Wen; Tan, Cheng

    2017-10-01

    Astronauts' orientation preferences tend to correlate with their susceptibility to space motion sickness (SMS). Orientation preferences appear universally, since variable sensory cue priorities are used between individuals. However, SMS susceptibility changes after proper training, while orientation preferences seem to be intrinsic proclivities. The present study was conducted to investigate whether orientation preferences change if susceptibility is reduced after repeated exposure to a virtual reality (VR) stimulus environment that induces SMS. A horizontal supine posture was chosen to create a sensory context similar to weightlessness, and two VR devices were used to produce a highly immersive virtual scene. Subjects were randomly allocated to an experimental group (trained through exposure to a provocative rotating virtual scene) and a control group (untrained). All subjects' orientation preferences were measured twice with the same interval, but the experimental group was trained three times during the interval, while the control group was not. Trained subjects were less susceptible to SMS, with symptom scores reduced by 40%. Compared with untrained subjects, trained subjects' orientation preferences were significantly different between pre- and posttraining assessments. Trained subjects depended less on visual cues, whereas few subjects demonstrated the opposite tendency. Results suggest that visual information may be inefficient and unreliable for body orientation and stabilization in a rotating visual scene, while reprioritizing preferences for different sensory cues was dynamic and asymmetric between individuals. The present findings should facilitate customization of efficient and proper training for astronauts with different sensory prioritization preferences and dynamic characteristics.Chen W, Chao J-G, Zhang Y, Wang J-K, Chen X-W, Tan C. Orientation preferences and motion sickness induced in a virtual reality environment. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017

  11. Illusory words: the roles of attention and of top-down constraints in conjoining letters to form words.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Treisman, A; Souther, J

    1986-02-01

    When attention is divided among four briefly exposed syllables, subjects mistakenly detect targets whose letters are present in the display but in the wrong combinations. These illusory conjunctions are somewhat more frequent when the target is a word and when the distractors are nonwords, but the effects of lexical status are small, and no longer reach significance in free report of the same displays. Search performance is further impaired if the nonwords are unpronounceable consonant strings rather than consonant-vowel-consonant strings, but the decrement is due to missed targets rather than to increased conjunction errors. The results are discussed in relation to feature-integration theory and to current models of word perception.

  12. Modulation of Illusory Auditory Perception by Transcranial Electrical Stimulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giulia Prete

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to test whether transcranial electrical stimulation can modulate illusory perception in the auditory domain. In two separate experiments we applied transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (anodal/cathodal tDCS, 2 mA; N = 60 and high-frequency transcranial Random Noise Stimulation (hf-tRNS, 1.5 mA, offset 0; N = 45 on the temporal cortex during the presentation of the stimuli eliciting the Deutsch's illusion. The illusion arises when two sine tones spaced one octave apart (400 and 800 Hz are presented dichotically in alternation, one in the left and the other in the right ear, so that when the right ear receives the high tone, the left ear receives the low tone, and vice versa. The majority of the population perceives one high-pitched tone in one ear alternating with one low-pitched tone in the other ear. The results revealed that neither anodal nor cathodal tDCS applied over the left/right temporal cortex modulated the perception of the illusion, whereas hf-tRNS applied bilaterally on the temporal cortex reduced the number of times the sequence of sounds is perceived as the Deutsch's illusion with respect to the sham control condition. The stimulation time before the beginning of the task (5 or 15 min did not influence the perceptual outcome. In accordance with previous findings, we conclude that hf-tRNS can modulate auditory perception more efficiently than tDCS.

  13. Prolonged asymmetric vestibular stimulation induces opposite, long-term effects on self-motion perception and ocular responses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pettorossi, V E; Panichi, R; Botti, F M; Kyriakareli, A; Ferraresi, A; Faralli, M; Schieppati, M; Bronstein, A M

    2013-04-01

    Self-motion perception and the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) were investigated in healthy subjects during asymmetric whole body yaw plane oscillations while standing on a platform in the dark. Platform oscillation consisted of two half-sinusoidal cycles of the same amplitude (40°) but different duration, featuring a fast (FHC) and a slow half-cycle (SHC). Rotation consisted of four or 20 consecutive cycles to probe adaptation further with the longer duration protocol. Self-motion perception was estimated by subjects tracking with a pointer the remembered position of an earth-fixed visual target. VOR was measured by electro-oculography. The asymmetric stimulation pattern consistently induced a progressive increase of asymmetry in motion perception, whereby the gain of the tracking response gradually increased during FHCs and decreased during SHCs. The effect was observed already during the first few cycles and further increased during 20 cycles, leading to a totally distorted location of the initial straight-ahead. In contrast, after some initial interindividual variability, the gain of the slow phase VOR became symmetric, decreasing for FHCs and increasing for SHCs. These oppositely directed adaptive effects in motion perception and VOR persisted for nearly an hour. Control conditions using prolonged but symmetrical stimuli produced no adaptive effects on either motion perception or VOR. These findings show that prolonged asymmetric activation of the vestibular system leads to opposite patterns of adaptation of self-motion perception and VOR. The results provide strong evidence that semicircular canal inputs are processed centrally by independent mechanisms for perception of body motion and eye movement control. These divergent adaptation mechanisms enhance awareness of movement toward the faster body rotation, while improving the eye stabilizing properties of the VOR.

  14. Utilize target motion to cover clinical target volume (ctv) - a novel and practical treatment planning approach to manage respiratory motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jin Jianyue; Ajlouni, Munther; Kong Fengming; Ryu, Samuel; Chetty, Indrin J.; Movsas, Benjamin

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: To use probability density function (PDF) to model motion effects and incorporate this information into treatment planning for lung cancers. Material and methods: PDFs were calculated from the respiratory motion traces of 10 patients. Motion effects were evaluated by convolving static dose distributions with various PDFs. Based on a differential dose prescription with relatively lower dose to the clinical target volume (CTV) than to the gross tumor volume (GTV), two approaches were proposed to incorporate PDFs into treatment planning. The first approach uses the GTV-based internal target volume (ITV) as the planning target volume (PTV) to ensure full dose to the GTV, and utilizes the motion-induced dose gradient to cover the CTV. The second approach employs an inhomogeneous static dose distribution within a minimized PTV to best match the prescription dose gradient. Results: Motion effects on dose distributions were minimal in the anterior-posterior (AP) and lateral directions: a 10-mm motion only induced about 3% of dose reduction in the peripheral target region. The motion effect was remarkable in the cranial-caudal direction. It varied with the motion amplitude, but tended to be similar for various respiratory patterns. For the first approach, a 10-15 mm motion would adequately cover the CTV (presumed to be 60-70% of the GTV dose) without employing the CTV in planning. For motions 15-mm. An example of inhomogeneous static dose distribution in a reduced PTV was given, and it showed significant dose reduction in the normal tissue without compromising target coverage. Conclusions: Respiratory motion-induced dose gradient can be utilized to cover the CTV and minimize the lung dose without the need for more sophisticated technologies

  15. Current-induced domain wall motion in Ni{sub 80}Fe{sub 20} nanowires with low depinning fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malinowski, Gregory; Loerincz, Andreas; Krzyk, Stephen; Moehrke, Philipp; Bedau, Daniel; Boulle, Olivier; Rhensius, Jan; Klaeui, Mathias [Fachbereich Physik, Universitaet Konstanz, Universitaetsstrasse 10, D-78457 (Germany); Heyderman, Laura J [Laboratory for Micro- and Nanotechnology, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Cho, Young Jin; Seo, Sunae, E-mail: gregory.malinowski@uni-konstanz.d [Samsung Electronics, San 14-1 Nongseo-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do (Korea, Republic of)

    2010-02-03

    In this paper, we report on domain wall (DW) motion induced by current pulses at variable temperature in 900 nm wide and 25 nm thick Ni{sub 80}Fe{sub 20} wires with low pinning fields. By using Ar ion milling to pattern our wires rather than the conventional lift-off technique, a depinning field as low as {approx}2-3 Oe at room temperature is obtained. Comparison with previous results acquired on similar wires with much higher pinning shows that the critical current density scales with the depinning field, leading to a critical current density of {approx}2.5 x 10{sup 11} A m{sup -2} at 250 K. Moreover, when a current pulse with a current density larger than the critical current density is injected, the DW is not necessarily depinned but it can undergo a modification of its spin structure which hinders current-induced DW motion. Hence, reliable propagation of the DW requires an accurate adjustment of the pulsed current density.

  16. Motions and Hull-Induced Bridging-Structure Loads for a Small Waterplane Area, Twin-Hulled, Attack Aircraft Carrier in Waves

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Jones, Harry D; Gerzina, David M

    1973-01-01

    ... small waterplane area, twin-hulled, attack aircraft carrier in waves. Motions of the model were measured, together with the forces and moments induced by the hulls on the cross structure spanning the two hulls...

  17. Illusory sensation of movement induced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Mark Schram; Lundbye-Jensen, Jesper; Grey, Michael James

    2010-01-01

    Human movement sense relies on both somatosensory feedback and on knowledge of the motor commands used to produce the movement. We have induced a movement illusion using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over primary motor cortex and dorsal premotor cortex in the absence of limb movement...... and its associated somatosensory feedback. Afferent and efferent neural signalling was abolished in the arm with ischemic nerve block, and in the leg with spinal nerve block. Movement sensation was assessed following trains of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation applied over...... premotor cortex stimulation was less affected by sensory and motor deprivation than was primary motor cortex stimulation. We propose that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over dorsal premotor cortex produces a corollary discharge that is perceived as movement....

  18. Predictive local receptive fields based respiratory motion tracking for motion-adaptive radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yubo Wang; Tatinati, Sivanagaraja; Liyu Huang; Kim Jeong Hong; Shafiq, Ghufran; Veluvolu, Kalyana C; Khong, Andy W H

    2017-07-01

    Extracranial robotic radiotherapy employs external markers and a correlation model to trace the tumor motion caused by the respiration. The real-time tracking of tumor motion however requires a prediction model to compensate the latencies induced by the software (image data acquisition and processing) and hardware (mechanical and kinematic) limitations of the treatment system. A new prediction algorithm based on local receptive fields extreme learning machines (pLRF-ELM) is proposed for respiratory motion prediction. All the existing respiratory motion prediction methods model the non-stationary respiratory motion traces directly to predict the future values. Unlike these existing methods, the pLRF-ELM performs prediction by modeling the higher-level features obtained by mapping the raw respiratory motion into the random feature space of ELM instead of directly modeling the raw respiratory motion. The developed method is evaluated using the dataset acquired from 31 patients for two horizons in-line with the latencies of treatment systems like CyberKnife. Results showed that pLRF-ELM is superior to that of existing prediction methods. Results further highlight that the abstracted higher-level features are suitable to approximate the nonlinear and non-stationary characteristics of respiratory motion for accurate prediction.

  19. A standing posture is associated with increased susceptibility to the sound-induced flash illusion in fall-prone older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stapleton, John; Setti, Annalisa; Doheny, Emer P; Kenny, Rose Anne; Newell, Fiona N

    2014-02-01

    Recent research has provided evidence suggesting a link between inefficient processing of multisensory information and incidence of falling in older adults. Specifically, Setti et al. (Exp Brain Res 209:375-384, 2011) reported that older adults with a history of falling were more susceptible than their healthy, age-matched counterparts to the sound-induced flash illusion. Here, we investigated whether balance control in fall-prone older adults was directly associated with multisensory integration by testing susceptibility to the illusion under two postural conditions: sitting and standing. Whilst standing, fall-prone older adults had a greater body sway than the age-matched healthy older adults and their body sway increased when presented with the audio-visual illusory but not the audio-visual congruent conditions. We also found an increase in susceptibility to the sound-induced flash illusion during standing relative to sitting for fall-prone older adults only. Importantly, no performance differences were found across groups in either the unisensory or non-illusory multisensory conditions across the two postures. These results suggest an important link between multisensory integration and balance control in older adults and have important implications for understanding why some older adults are prone to falling.

  20. Directed motion of spheres induced by unbiased driving forces in viscous fluids beyond the Stokes' law regime

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casado-Pascual, Jesús

    2018-03-01

    The emergence of directed motion is investigated in a system consisting of a sphere immersed in a viscous fluid and subjected to time-periodic forces of zero average. The directed motion arises from the combined action of a nonlinear drag force and the applied driving forces, in the absence of any periodic substrate potential. Necessary conditions for the existence of such directed motion are obtained and an analytical expression for the average terminal velocity is derived within the adiabatic approximation. Special attention is paid to the case of two mutually perpendicular forces with sinusoidal time dependence, one with twice the period of the other. It is shown that, although neither of these two forces induces directed motion when acting separately, when added together, the resultant force generates directed motion along the direction of the force with the shortest period. The dependence of the average terminal velocity on the system parameters is analyzed numerically and compared with that obtained using the adiabatic approximation. Among other results, it is found that, for appropriate parameter values, the direction of the average terminal velocity can be reversed by varying the forcing strength. Furthermore, certain aspects of the observed phenomenology are explained by means of symmetry arguments.

  1. The motional stark effect with laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foley, E. L.; Levinton, F. M.

    2010-05-01

    The motional Stark effect (MSE) diagnostic is the worldwide standard technique for internal magnetic field pitch angle measurements in magnetized plasmas. Traditionally, it is based on using polarimetry to measure the polarization direction of light emitted from a hydrogenic species in a neutral beam. As the beam passes through the magnetized plasma at a high velocity, in its rest frame it perceives a Lorentz electric field. This field causes the H-alpha emission to be split and polarized. A new technique under development adds laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) to a diagnostic neutral beam (DNB) for an MSE measurement that will enable radially resolved magnetic field magnitude as well as pitch angle measurements in even low-field (experiments. An MSE-LIF system will be installed on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. It will enable reconstructions of the plasma pressure, q-profile and current as well as, in conjunction with the existing MSE system, measurements of radial electric fields.

  2. Combined prospective and retrospective correction to reduce motion-induced image misalignment and geometric distortions in EPI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ooi, Melvyn B; Muraskin, Jordan; Zou, Xiaowei; Thomas, William J; Krueger, Sascha; Aksoy, Murat; Bammer, Roland; Brown, Truman R

    2013-03-01

    Despite rigid-body realignment to compensate for head motion during an echo-planar imaging time-series scan, nonrigid image deformations remain due to changes in the effective shim within the brain as the head moves through the B(0) field. The current work presents a combined prospective/retrospective solution to reduce both rigid and nonrigid components of this motion-related image misalignment. Prospective rigid-body correction, where the scan-plane orientation is dynamically updated to track with the subject's head, is performed using an active marker setup. Retrospective distortion correction is then applied to unwarp the remaining nonrigid image deformations caused by motion-induced field changes. Distortion correction relative to a reference time-frame does not require any additional field mapping scans or models, but rather uses the phase information from the echo-planar imaging time-series itself. This combined method is applied to compensate echo-planar imaging scans of volunteers performing in-plane and through-plane head motions, resulting in increased image stability beyond what either prospective or retrospective rigid-body correction alone can achieve. The combined method is also assessed in a blood oxygen level dependent functional MRI task, resulting in improved Z-score statistics. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Thermally induced motion of marine sediments resulting from disposal of radioactive wastes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chavez, P.F.; Dawson, P.R.

    1981-01-01

    Coupled creep and heat transfer calculations have been performed to assess the sensitivity of heat load, viscosity, and canister density on the motion of waste canisters buried in marine sediments. Results indicate that no upward movement is predicted for heat loads remaining within the metallurgical and geochemical constraints placed on the temperature of sediments near the canister for the times analyzed. Upward movement of the canister is again not observed in calculations involving reasonable variations of the sediment viscosity and canister density. Maximum effective deviatoric stress levels due to thermally induced differential body forces are significantly less than the sediment's short term peak strength

  4. Static and Dynamic Water Motion-Induced Instability in Oxide Thin-Film Transistors and Its Suppression by Using Low-k Fluoropolymer Passivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Seungbeom; Jo, Jeong-Wan; Kim, Jaeyoung; Song, Seungho; Kim, Jaekyun; Park, Sung Kyu; Kim, Yong-Hoon

    2017-08-09

    Here, we report static and dynamic water motion-induced instability in indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) and its effective suppression with the use of a simple, solution-processed low-k (ε ∼ 1.9) fluoroplastic resin (FPR) passivation layer. The liquid-contact electrification effect, in which an undesirable drain current modulation is induced by a dynamic motion of a charged liquid such as water, can cause a significant instability in IGZO TFTs. It was found that by adopting a thin (∼44 nm) FPR passivation layer for IGZO TFTs, the current modulation induced by the water-contact electrification was greatly reduced in both off- and on-states of the device. In addition, the FPR-passivated IGZO TFTs exhibited an excellent stability to static water exposure (a threshold voltage shift of +0.8 V upon 3600 s of water soaking), which is attributed to the hydrophobicity of the FPR passivation layer. Here, we discuss the origin of the current instability caused by the liquid-contact electrification as well as various static and dynamic stability tests for IGZO TFTs. On the basis of our findings, we believe that the use of a thin, solution-processed FPR passivation layer is effective in suppressing the static and dynamic water motion-induced instabilities, which may enable the realization of high-performance and environment-stable oxide TFTs for emerging wearable and skin-like electronics.

  5. Assessing Respiration-Induced Tumor Motion and Internal Target Volume Using Four-Dimensional Computed Tomography for Radiotherapy of Lung Cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, H. Helen; Balter, Peter; Tutt, Teresa; Choi, Bum; Zhang, Joy; Wang, Catherine; Chi, Melinda; Luo Dershan; Pan Tinsu; Hunjan, Sandeep; Starkschall, George; Rosen, Isaac; Prado, Karl; Liao Zhongxing; Chang, Joe; Komaki, Ritsuko; Cox, James D.; Mohan, Radhe; Dong Lei

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: To assess three-dimensional tumor motion caused by respiration and internal target volume (ITV) for radiotherapy of lung cancer. Methods and Materials: Respiration-induced tumor motion was analyzed for 166 tumors from 152 lung cancer patients, 57.2% of whom had Stage III or IV non-small-cell lung cancer. All patients underwent four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) during normal breathing before treatment. The expiratory phase of 4DCT images was used as the reference set to delineate gross tumor volume (GTV). Gross tumor volumes on other respiratory phases and resulting ITVs were determined using rigid-body registration of 4DCT images. The association of GTV motion with various clinical and anatomic factors was analyzed statistically. Results: The proportions of tumors that moved >0.5 cm along the superior-inferior (SI), lateral, and anterior-posterior (AP) axes during normal breathing were 39.2%, 1.8%, and 5.4%, respectively. For 95% of the tumors, the magnitude of motion was less than 1.34 cm, 0.40 cm, and 0.59 cm along the SI, lateral, and AP directions. The principal component of tumor motion was in the SI direction, with only 10.8% of tumors moving >1.0 cm. The tumor motion was found to be associated with diaphragm motion, the SI tumor location in the lung, size of the GTV, and disease T stage. Conclusions: Lung tumor motion is primarily driven by diaphragm motion. The motion of locally advanced lung tumors is unlikely to exceed 1.0 cm during quiet normal breathing except for small lesions located in the lower half of the lung

  6. Source mechanism inversion and ground motion modeling of induced earthquakes in Kuwait - A Bayesian approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, C.; Toksoz, M. N.; Marzouk, Y.; Al-Enezi, A.; Al-Jeri, F.; Buyukozturk, O.

    2016-12-01

    The increasing seismic activity in the regions of oil/gas fields due to fluid injection/extraction and hydraulic fracturing has drawn new attention in both academia and industry. Source mechanism and triggering stress of these induced earthquakes are of great importance for understanding the physics of the seismic processes in reservoirs, and predicting ground motion in the vicinity of oil/gas fields. The induced seismicity data in our study are from Kuwait National Seismic Network (KNSN). Historically, Kuwait has low local seismicity; however, in recent years the KNSN has monitored more and more local earthquakes. Since 1997, the KNSN has recorded more than 1000 earthquakes (Mw Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) and KNSN, and widely felt by people in Kuwait. These earthquakes happen repeatedly in the same locations close to the oil/gas fields in Kuwait (see the uploaded image). The earthquakes are generally small (Mw stress of these earthquakes was calculated based on the source mechanisms results. In addition, we modeled the ground motion in Kuwait due to these local earthquakes. Our results show that most likely these local earthquakes occurred on pre-existing faults and were triggered by oil field activities. These events are generally smaller than Mw 5; however, these events, occurring in the reservoirs, are very shallow with focal depths less than about 4 km. As a result, in Kuwait, where oil fields are close to populated areas, these induced earthquakes could produce ground accelerations high enough to cause damage to local structures without using seismic design criteria.

  7. Communication: Mode bifurcation of droplet motion under stationary laser irradiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takabatake, Fumi [Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan); Department of Bioengineering and Robotics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579 (Japan); Yoshikawa, Kenichi [Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0394 (Japan); Ichikawa, Masatoshi, E-mail: ichi@scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan)

    2014-08-07

    The self-propelled motion of a mm-sized oil droplet floating on water, induced by a local temperature gradient generated by CW laser irradiation is reported. The circular droplet exhibits two types of regular periodic motion, reciprocal and circular, around the laser spot under suitable laser power. With an increase in laser power, a mode bifurcation from rectilinear reciprocal motion to circular motion is caused. The essential aspects of this mode bifurcation are discussed in terms of spontaneous symmetry-breaking under temperature-induced interfacial instability, and are theoretically reproduced with simple coupled differential equations.

  8. Thon rings from amorphous ice and implications of beam-induced Brownian motion in single particle electron cryo-microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMullan, G; Vinothkumar, K R; Henderson, R

    2015-11-01

    We have recorded dose-fractionated electron cryo-microscope images of thin films of pure flash-frozen amorphous ice and pre-irradiated amorphous carbon on a Falcon II direct electron detector using 300 keV electrons. We observe Thon rings [1] in both the power spectrum of the summed frames and the sum of power spectra from the individual frames. The Thon rings from amorphous carbon images are always more visible in the power spectrum of the summed frames whereas those of amorphous ice are more visible in the sum of power spectra from the individual frames. This difference indicates that while pre-irradiated carbon behaves like a solid during the exposure, amorphous ice behaves like a fluid with the individual water molecules undergoing beam-induced motion. Using the measured variation in the power spectra amplitude with number of electrons per image we deduce that water molecules are randomly displaced by a mean squared distance of ∼1.1 Å(2) for every incident 300 keV e(-)/Å(2). The induced motion leads to an optimal exposure with 300 keV electrons of 4.0 e(-)/Å(2) per image with which to observe Thon rings centred around the strong 3.7 Å scattering peak from amorphous ice. The beam-induced movement of the water molecules generates pseudo-Brownian motion of embedded macromolecules. The resulting blurring of single particle images contributes an additional term, on top of that from radiation damage, to the minimum achievable B-factor for macromolecular structure determination. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Gaze stability of observers watching Op Art pictures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zanker, Johannes M; Doyle, Melanie; Robin, Walker

    2003-01-01

    It has been the matter of some debate why we can experience vivid dynamic illusions when looking at static pictures composed from simple black and white patterns. The impression of illusory motion is particularly strong when viewing some of the works of 'Op Artists, such as Bridget Riley's painting Fall. Explanations of the illusory motion have ranged from retinal to cortical mechanisms, and an important role has been attributed to eye movements. To assess the possible contribution of eye movements to the illusory-motion percept we studied the strength of the illusion under different viewing conditions, and analysed the gaze stability of observers viewing the Riley painting and control patterns that do not produce the illusion. Whereas the illusion was reduced, but not abolished, when watching the painting through a pinhole, which reduces the effects of accommodation, it was not perceived in flash afterimages, suggesting an important role for eye movements in generating the illusion for this image. Recordings of eye movements revealed an abundance of small involuntary saccades when looking at the Riley pattern, despite the fact that gaze was kept within the dedicated fixation region. The frequency and particular characteristics of these rapid eye movements can vary considerably between different observers, but, although there was a tendency for gaze stability to deteriorate while viewing a Riley painting, there was no significant difference in saccade frequency between the stimulus and control patterns. Theoretical considerations indicate that such small image displacements can generate patterns of motion signals in a motion-detector network, which may serve as a simple and sufficient, but not necessarily exclusive, explanation for the illusion. Why such image displacements lead to perceptual results with a group of Op Art and similar patterns, but remain invisible for other stimuli, is discussed.

  10. Hyperventilation in a motion sickness desensitization program

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mert, A.; Bles, W.; Nooij, S.A.E.

    2007-01-01

    Introduction: In motion sickness desensitization programs, the motion sickness provocative stimulus is often a forward bending of the trunk on a rotating chair, inducing Coriolis effects. Since respiratory relaxation techniques are applied successfully in these courses, we investigated whether these

  11. Vection is the main contributor to motion sickness induced by visual yaw rotation: Implications for conflict and eye movement theories.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suzanne A E Nooij

    Full Text Available This study investigated the role of vection (i.e., a visually induced sense of self-motion, optokinetic nystagmus (OKN, and inadvertent head movements in visually induced motion sickness (VIMS, evoked by yaw rotation of the visual surround. These three elements have all been proposed as contributing factors in VIMS, as they can be linked to different motion sickness theories. However, a full understanding of the role of each factor is still lacking because independent manipulation has proven difficult in the past. We adopted an integrative approach to the problem by obtaining measures of potentially relevant parameters in four experimental conditions and subsequently combining them in a linear mixed regression model. To that end, participants were exposed to visual yaw rotation in four separate sessions. Using a full factorial design, the OKN was manipulated by a fixation target (present/absent, and vection strength by introducing a conflict in the motion direction of the central and peripheral field of view (present/absent. In all conditions, head movements were minimized as much as possible. Measured parameters included vection strength, vection variability, OKN slow phase velocity, OKN frequency, the number of inadvertent head movements, and inadvertent head tilt. Results show that VIMS increases with vection strength, but that this relation varies among participants (R2 = 0.48. Regression parameters for vection variability, head and eye movement parameters were not significant. These results may seem to be in line with the Sensory Conflict theory on motion sickness, but we argue that a more detailed definition of the exact nature of the conflict is required to fully appreciate the relationship between vection and VIMS.

  12. Neck proprioception shapes body orientation and perception of motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pettorossi, Vito Enrico; Schieppati, Marco

    2014-01-01

    This review article deals with some effects of neck muscle proprioception on human balance, gait trajectory, subjective straight-ahead (SSA), and self-motion perception. These effects are easily observed during neck muscle vibration, a strong stimulus for the spindle primary afferent fibers. We first remind the early findings on human balance, gait trajectory, SSA, induced by limb, and neck muscle vibration. Then, more recent findings on self-motion perception of vestibular origin are described. The use of a vestibular asymmetric yaw-rotation stimulus for emphasizing the proprioceptive modulation of motion perception from the neck is mentioned. In addition, an attempt has been made to conjointly discuss the effects of unilateral neck proprioception on motion perception, SSA, and walking trajectory. Neck vibration also induces persistent aftereffects on the SSA and on self-motion perception of vestibular origin. These perceptive effects depend on intensity, duration, side of the conditioning vibratory stimulation, and on muscle status. These effects can be maintained for hours when prolonged high-frequency vibration is superimposed on muscle contraction. Overall, this brief outline emphasizes the contribution of neck muscle inflow to the construction and fine-tuning of perception of body orientation and motion. Furthermore, it indicates that tonic neck-proprioceptive input may induce persistent influences on the subject's mental representation of space. These plastic changes might adapt motion sensitiveness to lasting or permanent head positional or motor changes.

  13. The efficacy of airflow and seat vibration on reducing visually induced motion sickness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Amour, Sarah; Bos, Jelte E; Keshavarz, Behrang

    2017-09-01

    Visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) is a well-known sensation in virtual environments and simulators, typically characterized by a variety of symptoms such as pallor, sweating, dizziness, fatigue, and/or nausea. Numerous methods to reduce VIMS have been previously introduced; however, a reliable countermeasure is still missing. In the present study, the effect of airflow and seat vibration to alleviate VIMS was investigated. Eighty-two participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups (airflow, vibration, combined airflow and vibration, and control) and then exposed to a 15 min long video of a bicycle ride shot from first-person view. VIMS was measured using the Fast Motion Sickness Scale (FMS) and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). Results showed that the exposure of airflow significantly reduced VIMS, whereas the presence of seat vibration, in contrast, did not have an impact on VIMS. Additionally, we found that females reported higher FMS scores than males, however, this sex difference was not found in the SSQ scores. Our findings demonstrate that airflow can be an effective and easy-to-apply technique to reduce VIMS in virtual environments and simulators, while vibration applied to the seat is not a successful method.

  14. Adaptive motion of animals and machines

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Kimura, Hiroshi

    2006-01-01

    ... single function in a control system and mechanism. That is, adaptation in motion is induced at every level from the central nervous system to the musculoskeletal system. Thus, we organized the International Symposium on Adaptive Motion in Animals and Machines (AMAM) for scientists and engineers concerned with adaptation on various levels to be broug...

  15. Effects of thermal motion on electromagnetically induced absorption

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tilchin, E.; Wilson-Gordon, A. D.; Firstenberg, O.

    2011-01-01

    We describe the effect of thermal motion and buffer-gas collisions on a four-level closed N system interacting with strong pump(s) and a weak probe. This is the simplest system that experiences electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) due to transfer of coherence via spontaneous emission from the excited state to the ground state. We investigate the influence of Doppler broadening, velocity-changing collisions (VCC), and phase-changing collisions (PCC) with a buffer gas on the EIA spectrum of optically active atoms. In addition to exact expressions, we present an approximate solution for the probe absorption spectrum, which provides physical insight into the behavior of the EIA peak due to VCC, PCC, and the wave-vector difference between the pump and probe beams. VCC are shown to produce a wide pedestal at the base of the EIA peak, which is scarcely affected by the pump-probe angular deviation, whereas the sharp central EIA peak becomes weaker and broader due to the residual Doppler-Dicke effect. Using diffusionlike equations for the atomic coherences and populations, we construct a spatial-frequency filter for a spatially structured probe beam and show that Ramsey narrowing of the EIA peak is obtained for beams of finite width.

  16. Effects of Vibrotactile Stimulation During Virtual Sandboarding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lind, Stine; Thomsen, Lui; Egebjerg, Mie

    2016-01-01

    This poster details a within-subjects study (n=17) investigating the effects of vibrotactile stimulation on illusory self-motion, presence and perceived realism during an interactive sandboarding simulation. Vibrotactile feedback was delivered using a low frequency audio transducer mounted undern...

  17. Direct observation of X-ray induced atomic motion using scanning tunneling microscope combined with synchrotron radiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saito, Akira; Tanaka, Takehiro; Takagi, Yasumasa; Hosokawa, Hiromasa; Notsu, Hiroshi; Ohzeki, Gozo; Tanaka, Yoshihito; Kohmura, Yoshiki; Akai-Kasaya, Megumi; Ishikawa, Tetsuya; Kuwahara, Yuji; Kikuta, Seishi; Aono, Masakazu

    2011-04-01

    X-ray induced atomic motion on a Ge(111)-c(2 x 8) clean surface at room temperature was directly observed with atomic resolution using a synchrotron radiation (SR)-based scanning tunneling microscope (STM) system under ultra high vacuum condition. The atomic motion was visualized as a tracking image by developing a method to merge the STM images before and after X-ray irradiation. Using the tracking image, the atomic mobility was found to be strongly affected by defects on the surface, but was not dependent on the incident X-ray energy, although it was clearly dependent on the photon density. The atomic motion can be attributed to surface diffusion, which might not be due to core-excitation accompanied with electronic transition, but a thermal effect by X-ray irradiation. The crystal surface structure was possible to break even at a lower photon density than the conventionally known barrier. These results can alert X-ray studies in the near future about sample damage during measurements, while suggesting the possibility of new applications. Also the obtained results show a new availability of the in-situ SR-STM system.

  18. How fear-relevant illusory correlations might develop and persist in anxiety disorders: A model of contributing factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiemer, Julian; Pauli, Paul

    2016-12-01

    Fear-relevant illusory correlations (ICs) are defined as the overestimation of the relationship between a fear-relevant stimulus and aversive consequences. ICs reflect biased cognitions affecting the learning and unlearning of fear in anxiety disorders, and a deeper understanding might help to improve treatment. A model for the maintenance of ICs is proposed that highlights the importance of amplified aversiveness and salience of fear-relevant outcomes, impaired executive contingency monitoring and an availability heuristic. The model explains why ICs are enhanced in high fearful individuals and allows for some implications that might be applied to augment the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy, such as emotion regulation and the direction of attention to non-aversive experiences. Finally, we suggest possible future research directions and an alternative measure of ICs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Effects of Second-Order Sum- and Difference-Frequency Wave Forces on the Motion Response of a Tension-Leg Platform Considering the Set-down Motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Bin; Tang, Yougang; Li, Yan; Cai, Runbo

    2018-04-01

    This paper presents a study on the motion response of a tension-leg platform (TLP) under first- and second-order wave forces, including the mean-drift force, difference and sum-frequency forces. The second-order wave force is calculated using the full-field quadratic transfer function (QTF). The coupled effect of the horizontal motions, such as surge, sway and yaw motions, and the set-down motion are taken into consideration by the nonlinear restoring matrix. The time-domain analysis with 50-yr random sea state is performed. A comparison of the results of different case studies is made to assess the influence of second-order wave force on the motions of the platform. The analysis shows that the second-order wave force has a major impact on motions of the TLP. The second-order difference-frequency wave force has an obvious influence on the low-frequency motions of surge and sway, and also will induce a large set-down motion which is an important part of heave motion. Besides, the second-order sum-frequency force will induce a set of high-frequency motions of roll and pitch. However, little influence of second-order wave force is found on the yaw motion.

  20. The Impact of Motion Induced Interruptions on Cognitive Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-07-23

    found that even participants presenting with minor physiological effects of motion experienced a decline in multitasking performance. Further, Yu...literature has investigated the impact of task based interruptions such as being inter- rupted by a phone call or writing an email . In these...Engineers Journal. 102 (2) 65-72. Matsangas, P. (2013). The Effect of Mild Motion Sickness and Sopite Syndrome on Multitasking Cognitive Performance

  1. Induced motion of domain walls in multiferroics with quadratic interaction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gerasimchuk, Victor S., E-mail: viktor.gera@gmail.com [National Technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Peremohy Avenue 37, 03056 Kiev (Ukraine); Shitov, Anatoliy A., E-mail: shitov@mail.ru [Donbass National Academy of Civil Engineering, Derzhavina Street 2, 86123 Makeevka, Donetsk Region (Ukraine)

    2013-10-15

    We theoretically study the dynamics of 180-degree domain wall of the ab-type in magnetic materials with quadratic magnetoelectric interaction in external alternating magnetic and electric fields. The features of the oscillatory and translational motions of the domain walls and stripe structures depending on the parameters of external fields and characteristics of the multiferroics are discussed. The possibility of the domain walls drift in a purely electric field is established. - Highlights: • We study DW and stripe DS in multiferroics with quadratic magnetoelectric interaction. • We build up the theory of oscillatory and translational (drift) DW and DS motion. • DW motion can be caused by crossed alternating electric and magnetic fields. • DW motion can be caused by alternating “pure” electric field. • DW drift velocity is formed by the AFM and Dzyaloshinskii interaction terms.

  2. Aeroelastic impact of above-rated wave-induced structural motions on the near-wake stability of a floating offshore wind turbine rotor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, Steven; Jaworski, Justin

    2017-11-01

    The impact of above-rated wave-induced motions on the stability of floating offshore wind turbine near-wakes is studied numerically. The rotor near-wake is generated using a lifting-line free vortex wake method, which is strongly coupled to a finite element solver for kinematically nonlinear blade deformations. A synthetic time series of relatively high-amplitude/high-frequency representative of above-rated conditions of the NREL 5MW referece wind turbine is imposed on the rotor structure. To evaluate the impact of these above-rated conditions, a linear stability analysis is first performed on the near wake generated by a fixed-tower wind turbine configuration at above-rated inflow conditions. The platform motion is then introduced via synthetic time series, and a stability analysis is performed on the wake generated by the floating offshore wind turbine at the same above-rated inflow conditions. The stability trends (disturbance modes versus the divergence rate of vortex structures) of the two analyses are compared to identify the impact that above-rated wave-induced structural motions have on the stability of the floating offshore wind turbine wake.

  3. Neck proprioception shapes body orientation and perception of motion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vito Enrico Pettorossi

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This review article deals with some effects of neck muscle proprioception on human balance, gait trajectory, subjective straight-ahead, and self-motion perception. These effects are easily observed during neck muscle vibration, a strong stimulus for the spindle primary afferent fibers.We first remind the early findings on human balance, gait trajectory, subjective straight-ahead, induced by limb and neck muscle vibration. Then, more recent findings on self-motion perception of vestibular origin are described. The use of a vestibular asymmetric yaw-rotation stimulus for emphasizing the proprioceptive modulation of motion perception from the neck is mentioned. In addition, an attempt has been made to conjointly discuss the effects of unilateral neck proprioception on motion perception, subjective straight-ahead and walking trajectory.Neck vibration also induces persistent aftereffects on the subjective straight-ahead and on self-motion perception of vestibular origin. These perceptive effects depend on intensity, duration, side of the conditioning vibratory stimulation, and on muscle status. These effects can be maintained for hours when prolonged high-frequency vibration is superimposed on muscle contraction. Overall, this brief outline emphasizes the contribution of neck muscle inflow to the construction and fine-tuning of perception of body orientation and motion. Furthermore, it indicates that tonic neck proprioceptive input may induce persistent influences on the subject's mental representation of space. These plastic changes might adapt motion sensitiveness to lasting or permanent head positional or motor changes.

  4. Direct observation of current-induced motion of a 3D vortex domain wall in cylindrical nanowires

    KAUST Repository

    Ivanov, Yurii P.

    2017-05-08

    The current-induced dynamics of 3D magnetic vortex domain walls in cylindrical Co/Ni nanowires are revealed experimentally using Lorentz microscopy and theoretically using micromagnetic simulations. We demonstrate that a spin-polarized electric current can control the reversible motion of 3D vortex domain walls, which travel with a velocity of a few hundred meters per second. This finding is a key step in establishing fast, high-density memory devices based on vertical arrays of cylindrical magnetic nanowires.

  5. Direct observation of current-induced motion of a 3D vortex domain wall in cylindrical nanowires

    KAUST Repository

    Ivanov, Yurii P.; Chuvilin, Andrey; Lopatin, Sergei; Mohammed, Hanan; Kosel, Jü rgen

    2017-01-01

    The current-induced dynamics of 3D magnetic vortex domain walls in cylindrical Co/Ni nanowires are revealed experimentally using Lorentz microscopy and theoretically using micromagnetic simulations. We demonstrate that a spin-polarized electric current can control the reversible motion of 3D vortex domain walls, which travel with a velocity of a few hundred meters per second. This finding is a key step in establishing fast, high-density memory devices based on vertical arrays of cylindrical magnetic nanowires.

  6. Characterizing spatiotemporal information loss in sparse-sampling-based dynamic MRI for monitoring respiration-induced tumor motion in radiotherapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arai, Tatsuya J. [Department of Radiation Oncology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390 (United States); Nofiele, Joris; Yuan, Qing [Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390 (United States); Madhuranthakam, Ananth J.; Pedrosa, Ivan; Chopra, Rajiv [Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390 (United States); Advanced Imaging Research Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390 (United States); Sawant, Amit, E-mail: amit.sawant@utsouthwestern.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390 (United States); Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390 (United States); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21201 (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: Sparse-sampling and reconstruction techniques represent an attractive strategy to achieve faster image acquisition speeds, while maintaining adequate spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio in rapid magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The authors investigate the use of one such sequence, broad-use linear acquisition speed-up technique (k-t BLAST) in monitoring tumor motion for thoracic and abdominal radiotherapy and examine the potential trade-off between increased sparsification (to increase imaging speed) and the potential loss of “true” information due to greater reliance on a priori information. Methods: Lung tumor motion trajectories in the superior–inferior direction, previously recorded from ten lung cancer patients, were replayed using a motion phantom module driven by an MRI-compatible motion platform. Eppendorf test tubes filled with water which serve as fiducial markers were placed in the phantom. The modeled rigid and deformable motions were collected in a coronal image slice using balanced fast field echo in conjunction with k-t BLAST. Root mean square (RMS) error was used as a metric of spatial accuracy as measured trajectories were compared to input data. The loss of spatial information was characterized for progressively increasing acceleration factor from 1 to 16; the resultant sampling frequency was increased approximately from 2.5 to 19 Hz when the principal direction of the motion was set along frequency encoding direction. In addition to the phantom study, respiration-induced tumor motions were captured from two patients (kidney tumor and lung tumor) at 13 Hz over 49 s to demonstrate the impact of high speed motion monitoring over multiple breathing cycles. For each subject, the authors compared the tumor centroid trajectory as well as the deformable motion during free breathing. Results: In the rigid and deformable phantom studies, the RMS error of target tracking at the acquisition speed of 19 Hz was approximately 0.3–0

  7. Large scale vibration tests on pile-group effects using blast-induced ground motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katsuichirou Hijikata; Hideo Tanaka; Takayuki Hashimoto; Kazushige Fujiwara; Yuji Miyamoto; Osamu Kontani

    2005-01-01

    Extensive vibration tests have been performed on pile-supported structures at a large-scale mining site. Ground motions induced by large-scale blasting operations were used as excitation forces for vibration tests. The main objective of this research is to investigate the dynamic behavior of pile-supported structures, in particular, pile-group effects. Two test structures were constructed in an excavated 4 m deep pit. Their test-structures were exactly the same. One structure had 25 steel piles and the other had 4 piles. The test pit was backfilled with sand of appropriate grain size distributions to obtain good compaction, especially between the 25 piles. Accelerations were measured at the structures, in the test pit and in the adjacent free field, and pile strains were measured. Dynamic modal tests of the pile-supported structures and PS measurements of the test pit were performed before and after the vibration tests to detect changes in the natural frequencies of the soil-pile-structure systems and the soil stiffness. The vibration tests were performed six times with different levels of input motions. The maximum horizontal acceleration recorded at the adjacent ground surface varied from 57 cm/s 2 to 1,683 cm/s 2 according to the distances between the test site and the blast areas. (authors)

  8. Electrophysiological correlates of learning-induced modulation of visual motion processing in humans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Viktor Gál

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Training on a visual task leads to increased perceptual and neural responses to visual features that were attended during training as well as decreased responses to neglected distractor features. However, the time course of these attention-based modulations of neural sensitivity for visual features has not been investigated before. Here we measured event related potentials (ERP in response to motion stimuli with different coherence levels before and after training on a speed discrimination task requiring object-based attentional selection of one of the two competing motion stimuli. We found that two peaks on the ERP waveform were modulated by the strength of the coherent motion signal; the response amplitude associated with motion directions that were neglected during training was smaller than the response amplitude associated with motion directions that were attended during training. The first peak of motion coherence-dependent modulation of the ERP responses was at 300 ms after stimulus onset and it was most pronounced over the occipitotemporal cortex. The second peak was around 500 ms and was focused over the parietal cortex. A control experiment suggests that the earlier motion coherence-related response modulation reflects the extraction of the coherent motion signal whereas the later peak might index accumulation and readout of motion signals by parietal decision mechanisms. These findings suggest that attention-based learning affects neural responses both at the sensory and decision processing stages.

  9. Ground motion and its effects in accelerator design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischer, G.E.

    1985-07-01

    The effects of ground motion on accelerator design are discussed. The limitations on performance are discussed for various categories of motion. For example, effects due to ground settlement, tides, seismic disturbances and man-induced disturbances are included in this discussion. 42 figs., 7 tabs

  10. You can't stop the music: reduced auditory alpha power and coupling between auditory and memory regions facilitate the illusory perception of music during noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, Nadia; Keil, Julian; Obleser, Jonas; Schulz, Hannah; Grunwald, Thomas; Bernays, René-Ludwig; Huppertz, Hans-Jürgen; Weisz, Nathan

    2013-10-01

    Our brain has the capacity of providing an experience of hearing even in the absence of auditory stimulation. This can be seen as illusory conscious perception. While increasing evidence postulates that conscious perception requires specific brain states that systematically relate to specific patterns of oscillatory activity, the relationship between auditory illusions and oscillatory activity remains mostly unexplained. To investigate this we recorded brain activity with magnetoencephalography and collected intracranial data from epilepsy patients while participants listened to familiar as well as unknown music that was partly replaced by sections of pink noise. We hypothesized that participants have a stronger experience of hearing music throughout noise when the noise sections are embedded in familiar compared to unfamiliar music. This was supported by the behavioral results showing that participants rated the perception of music during noise as stronger when noise was presented in a familiar context. Time-frequency data show that the illusory perception of music is associated with a decrease in auditory alpha power pointing to increased auditory cortex excitability. Furthermore, the right auditory cortex is concurrently synchronized with the medial temporal lobe, putatively mediating memory aspects associated with the music illusion. We thus assume that neuronal activity in the highly excitable auditory cortex is shaped through extensive communication between the auditory cortex and the medial temporal lobe, thereby generating the illusion of hearing music during noise. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Topological dynamics and current-induced motion in a skyrmion lattice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinez, J. C.; Jalil, M. B. A.

    2016-03-01

    We study the Thiele equation for current-induced motion in a skyrmion lattice through two soluble models of the pinning potential. Comprised by a Magnus term, a dissipative term and a pinning force, Thiele’s equation resembles Newton’s law but in virtue of the topological character to the first, it differs significantly from Newtonian mechanics and because the Magnus force is dominant, unlike its mechanical counterpart—the Coriolis force—skyrmion trajectories do not necessarily have mechanical counterparts. This is important if we are to understand skyrmion dynamics and tap into its potential for data-storage technology. We identify a pinning threshold velocity for the one-dimensional pinning potential and for a two-dimensional attractive potential we find a pinning point and the skyrmion trajectories toward that point are spirals whose frequency (compare Kepler’s second law) and amplitude-decay depend only on the Gilbert constant and potential at the pinning point. Other scenarios, e.g. other choices of initial spin velocity, a repulsive potential, etc are also investigated.

  12. Topological dynamics and current-induced motion in a skyrmion lattice

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martinez, J C; Jalil, M B A

    2016-01-01

    We study the Thiele equation for current-induced motion in a skyrmion lattice through two soluble models of the pinning potential. Comprised by a Magnus term, a dissipative term and a pinning force, Thiele’s equation resembles Newton’s law but in virtue of the topological character to the first, it differs significantly from Newtonian mechanics and because the Magnus force is dominant, unlike its mechanical counterpart—the Coriolis force—skyrmion trajectories do not necessarily have mechanical counterparts. This is important if we are to understand skyrmion dynamics and tap into its potential for data-storage technology. We identify a pinning threshold velocity for the one-dimensional pinning potential and for a two-dimensional attractive potential we find a pinning point and the skyrmion trajectories toward that point are spirals whose frequency (compare Kepler’s second law) and amplitude-decay depend only on the Gilbert constant and potential at the pinning point. Other scenarios, e.g. other choices of initial spin velocity, a repulsive potential, etc are also investigated. (paper)

  13. Simple motion correction strategy reduces respiratory-induced motion artifacts for k-t accelerated and compressed-sensing cardiovascular magnetic resonance perfusion imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Ruixi; Huang, Wei; Yang, Yang; Chen, Xiao; Weller, Daniel S; Kramer, Christopher M; Kozerke, Sebastian; Salerno, Michael

    2018-02-01

    Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) stress perfusion imaging provides important diagnostic and prognostic information in coronary artery disease (CAD). Current clinical sequences have limited temporal and/or spatial resolution, and incomplete heart coverage. Techniques such as k-t principal component analysis (PCA) or k-t sparcity and low rank structure (SLR), which rely on the high degree of spatiotemporal correlation in first-pass perfusion data, can significantly accelerate image acquisition mitigating these problems. However, in the presence of respiratory motion, these techniques can suffer from significant degradation of image quality. A number of techniques based on non-rigid registration have been developed. However, to first approximation, breathing motion predominantly results in rigid motion of the heart. To this end, a simple robust motion correction strategy is proposed for k-t accelerated and compressed sensing (CS) perfusion imaging. A simple respiratory motion compensation (MC) strategy for k-t accelerated and compressed-sensing CMR perfusion imaging to selectively correct respiratory motion of the heart was implemented based on linear k-space phase shifts derived from rigid motion registration of a region-of-interest (ROI) encompassing the heart. A variable density Poisson disk acquisition strategy was used to minimize coherent aliasing in the presence of respiratory motion, and images were reconstructed using k-t PCA and k-t SLR with or without motion correction. The strategy was evaluated in a CMR-extended cardiac torso digital (XCAT) phantom and in prospectively acquired first-pass perfusion studies in 12 subjects undergoing clinically ordered CMR studies. Phantom studies were assessed using the Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). In patient studies, image quality was scored in a blinded fashion by two experienced cardiologists. In the phantom experiments, images reconstructed with the MC strategy had higher

  14. Discontinuity Preserving Image Registration through Motion Segmentation: A Primal-Dual Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silja Kiriyanthan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Image registration is a powerful tool in medical image analysis and facilitates the clinical routine in several aspects. There are many well established elastic registration methods, but none of them can so far preserve discontinuities in the displacement field. These discontinuities appear in particular at organ boundaries during the breathing induced organ motion. In this paper, we exploit the fact that motion segmentation could play a guiding role during discontinuity preserving registration. The motion segmentation is embedded in a continuous cut framework guaranteeing convexity for motion segmentation. Furthermore we show that a primal-dual method can be used to estimate a solution to this challenging variational problem. Experimental results are presented for MR images with apparent breathing induced sliding motion of the liver along the abdominal wall.

  15. p-n Junction Dynamics Induced in a Graphene Channel by Ferroelectric-Domain Motion in the Substrate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurchak, Anatolii I.; Eliseev, Eugene A.; Kalinin, Sergei V.; Strikha, Maksym V.; Morozovska, Anna N.

    2017-01-01

    The p - n junction dynamics induced in a graphene channel by stripe-domain nucleation, motion, and reversal in a ferroelectric substrate is explored using a self-consistent approach based on Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire phenomenology combined with classical electrostatics. Relatively low gate voltages are required to induce the hysteresis of ferroelectric polarization and graphene charge in response to the periodic gate voltage. Pronounced nonlinear hysteresis of graphene conductance with a wide memory window corresponds to high amplitudes of gate voltage. Also, we reveal the extrinsic size effect in the dependence of the graphene-channel conductivity on its length. We predict that the top-gate–dielectric-layer–graphene-channel–ferroelectric-substrate nanostructure considered here can be a promising candidate for the fabrication of the next generation of modulators and rectifiers based on the graphene p - n junctions.

  16. Ground motion input in seismic evaluation studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sewell, R.T.; Wu, S.C.

    1996-07-01

    This report documents research pertaining to conservatism and variability in seismic risk estimates. Specifically, it examines whether or not artificial motions produce unrealistic evaluation demands, i.e., demands significantly inconsistent with those expected from real earthquake motions. To study these issues, two types of artificial motions are considered: (a) motions with smooth response spectra, and (b) motions with realistic variations in spectral amplitude across vibration frequency. For both types of artificial motion, time histories are generated to match target spectral shapes. For comparison, empirical motions representative of those that might result from strong earthquakes in the Eastern U.S. are also considered. The study findings suggest that artificial motions resulting from typical simulation approaches (aimed at matching a given target spectrum) are generally adequate and appropriate in representing the peak-response demands that may be induced in linear structures and equipment responding to real earthquake motions. Also, given similar input Fourier energies at high-frequencies, levels of input Fourier energy at low frequencies observed for artificial motions are substantially similar to those levels noted in real earthquake motions. In addition, the study reveals specific problems resulting from the application of Western U.S. type motions for seismic evaluation of Eastern U.S. nuclear power plants

  17. The Illusory Beliefs Inventory: a new measure of magical thinking and its relationship with obsessive compulsive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kingdon, Bianca L; Egan, Sarah J; Rees, Clare S

    2012-01-01

    Magical thinking has been proposed to have an aetiological role in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). To address the limitations of existing measures of magical thinking we developed and validated a new 24-item measure of magical thinking, the Illusory Beliefs Inventory (IBI). The validation sample comprised a total of 1194 individuals across two samples recruited via an Internet based survey. Factor analysis identified three subscales representing domains relevant to the construct of magical thinking: Magical Beliefs, Spirituality, and Internal State and Thought Action Fusion. The scale had excellent internal consistency and evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. Evidence of criterion-related concurrent validity confirmed that magical thinking is a cognitive domain associated with OCD and is largely relevant to neutralizing, obsessing and hoarding symptoms. It is important for future studies to extend the evidence of the psychometric properties of the IBI in new populations and to conduct longitudinal studies to examine the aetiological role of magical thinking.

  18. Pharmacological and neurophysiological aspects of space/motion sickness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucot, James B.; Crampton, George H.

    1991-01-01

    A motorized motion testing device modeled after a Ferris wheel was constructed to perform motion sickness tests on cats. Details of the testing are presented, and some of the topics covered include the following: xylazine-induced emesis; analysis of the constituents of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during motion sickness; evaluation of serotonin-1A (5-HT sub 1A) agonists; other 5HT receptors; antimuscarinic mechanisms; and antihistaminergic mechanisms. The ability of the following drugs to reduce motion sickness in the cats was examined: amphetamines, adenosinergic drugs, opioid antagonists, peptides, cannabinoids, cognitive enhancers (nootropics), dextromethorphan/sigma ligands, scopolamine, and diphenhydramine.

  19. Concurrent correction of geometric distortion and motion using the map-slice-to-volume method in EPI

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeo, Desmond T. B.; Fessler, Jeffrey A.; Kim, Boklye

    2014-01-01

    The accuracy of measuring voxel intensity changes between stimulus and rest images in fMRI echo-planar imaging (EPI) data is severely degraded in the presence of head motion. In addition, EPI is sensitive to susceptibility-induced geometric distortions. Head motion causes image shifts and associated field map changes that induce different geometric distortion at different time points. Conventionally, geometric distortion is “corrected” with a static field map independently of image registration. That approach ignores all field map changes induced by head motion. This work evaluates the improved motion correction capability of mapping slice to volume (MSV) registration with concurrent iterative field corrected reconstruction using updated field maps derived from an initial static field map that has been spatially transformed and resampled. It accounts for motion-induced field map changes for translational and in-plane rotation motion. The results from simulated EPI time series data, in which motion, image intensity and activation ground truths are available, show improved accuracy in image registration, field corrected image reconstruction and activation detection. PMID:18280077

  20. Superluminal motion (review)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malykin, G. B.; Romanets, E. A.

    2012-06-01

    Prior to the development of Special Relativity, no restrictions were imposed on the velocity of the motion of particles and material bodies, as well as on energy transfer and signal propagation. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, it was shown that a charge that moves at a velocity faster than the speed of light in an optical medium, in particular, in vacuum, gives rise to impact radiation, which later was termed the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation. Shortly after the development of Special Relativity, some researchers considered the possibility of superluminal motion. In 1923, the Soviet physicist L.Ya. Strum suggested the existence of tachyons, which, however, have not been discovered yet. Superluminal motions can occur only for images, e.g., for so-called "light spots," which were considered in 1972 by V.L. Ginzburg and B.M. Bolotovskii. These spots can move with a superluminal phase velocity but are incapable of transferring energy and information. Nevertheless, these light spots may induce quite real generation of microwave radiation in closed waveguides and create the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation in vacuum. In this work, we consider various paradoxes, illusions, and artifacts associated with superluminal motion.

  1. Driven motion of vortices in superconductors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crabtree, G.W.; Leaf, G.K.; Kaper, H.G.; Vinokur, V.M.; Koshelev, A.E.; Braun, D.W.; Levine, D.M.

    1995-09-01

    The driven motion of vortices in the solid vortex state is analyzed with the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations. In large-scale numerical simulations, carried out on the IBM Scalable POWERparallel (SP) system at Argonne National Laboratory, many hundreds of vortices are followed as they move under the influence of a Lorentz force induced by a transport current in the presence of a planar defect (similar to a twin boundary in YBa 2 CU 3 O 7 ). Correlations in the positions and velocities of the vortices in plastic and elastic motion are identified and compared. Two types of plastic motion are observed. Organized plastic motion displaying long-range orientational correlation and shorter-range velocity correlation occurs when the driving forces are small compared to the pinning forces in the twin boundary. Disorganized plastic motion displaying no significant correlation in either the velocities or orientation of the vortex system occurs when the driving and pinning forces axe of the same order

  2. Stroboscopic Goggles for Reduction of Motion Sickness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reschke, M. F.; Somers, Jeffrey T.

    2005-01-01

    A device built around a pair of electronic shutters has been demonstrated to be effective as a prototype of stroboscopic goggles or eyeglasses for preventing or reducing motion sickness. The momentary opening of the shutters helps to suppress a phenomenon that is known in the art as retinal slip and is described more fully below. While a number of different environmental factors can induce motion sickness, a common factor associated with every known motion environment is sensory confusion or sensory mismatch. Motion sickness is a product of misinformation arriving at a central point in the nervous system from the senses from which one determines one s spatial orientation. When information from the eyes, ears, joints, and pressure receptors are all in agreement as to one s orientation, there is no motion sickness. When one or more sensory input(s) to the brain is not expected, or conflicts with what is anticipated, the end product is motion sickness. Normally, an observer s eye moves, compensating for the anticipated effect of motion, in such a manner that the image of an object moving relatively to an observer is held stationary on the retina. In almost every known environment that induces motion sickness, a change in the gain (in the signal-processing sense of gain ) of the vestibular system causes the motion of the eye to fail to hold images stationary on the retina, and the resulting motion of the images is termed retinal slip. The present concept of stroboscopic goggles or eyeglasses (see figure) is based on the proposition that prevention of retinal slip, and hence, the prevention of sensory mismatch, can be expected to reduce the tendency toward motion sickness. A device according to this concept helps to prevent retinal slip by providing snapshots of the visual environment through electronic shutters that are brief enough that each snapshot freezes the image on each retina. The exposure time for each snapshot is less than 5 ms. In the event that a higher

  3. Ground-based transmission line conductor motion sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jacobs, M.L.; Milano, U.

    1988-01-01

    A ground-based-conductor motion-sensing apparatus is provided for remotely sensing movement of electric-power transmission lines, particularly as would occur during the wind-induced condition known as galloping. The apparatus is comprised of a motion sensor and signal-generating means which are placed underneath a transmission line and will sense changes in the electric field around the line due to excessive line motion. The detector then signals a remote station when a conditioning of galloping is sensed. The apparatus of the present invention is advantageous over the line-mounted sensors of the prior art in that it is easier and less hazardous to install. The system can also be modified so that a signal will only be given when particular conditions, such as specific temperature range, large-amplitude line motion, or excessive duration of the line motion, are occurring

  4. Concurrent correction of geometric distortion and motion using the map-slice-to-volume method in echo-planar imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeo, Desmond T B; Fessler, Jeffrey A; Kim, Boklye

    2008-06-01

    The accuracy of measuring voxel intensity changes between stimulus and rest images in fMRI echo-planar imaging (EPI) data is severely degraded in the presence of head motion. In addition, EPI is sensitive to susceptibility-induced geometric distortions. Head motion causes image shifts and associated field map changes that induce different geometric distortion at different time points. Conventionally, geometric distortion is "corrected" with a static field map independently of image registration. That approach ignores all field map changes induced by head motion. This work evaluates the improved motion correction capability of mapping slice to volume with concurrent iterative field corrected reconstruction using updated field maps derived from an initial static field map that has been spatially transformed and resampled. It accounts for motion-induced field map changes for translational and in-plane rotation motion. The results from simulated EPI time series data, in which motion, image intensity and activation ground truths are available, show improved accuracy in image registration, field corrected image reconstruction and activation detection.

  5. Reassessment of area postrema's role in motion sickness and conditioned taste aversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daunton, Nancy G.; Brizzee, Kenneth R.; Corcoran, Meryl Lee; Crampton, G. H.; Damelio, F.; Elfar, S.; Fox, Robert A.

    1991-01-01

    On the basis of classical studies on the role of the area psotrema (AP) in motion-induced emesis it was generally accepted that the AP is an essential structure for the production of vomiting in response to motion. However, in more recent studies it has been demonstrated that vomiting induced by motion can still occur in animals in which the AP has been destroyed bilaterally. It was inferred from some of these more recent studies that the AP plays no role in motion-induced emesis. From the standpoint of the current understanding of central nervous system (CNS) plasticity, redundancy, remodeling, unmasking, regeneration, and recovery of function, however, it is important to realize the limitations of using ablation procedures to determine the functional role of a given neural structure in a highly integrated, adaptable central nervous system (CNS). For example, the results of our recent investigations in cat and squirrel monkey on the role of the AP in emesis and conditioned taste aversion induced by motion indicate that while AP lesions do not prevent motion-induced emesis when animals are tested 30 days or more after surgery, the lesions do change the latency to emesis. Thus, contradictory findings from lesion studies must be evaluated not only in terms of species difference, differences in lesioning techniques and extent of lesions, and in stimulus parameters, but also in terms of duration of the recovery period, during which significant recovery of function may take place. In our judgment, inadequate consideration of the foregoing factors could lead to erroneous inferences about given structure's role in the behavior of the intact, nonablated animal.

  6. Ground Motion Relations While TBM Drilling in Unconsolidated Sediments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grund, Michael; Ritter, Joachim R. R.; Gehrig, Manuel

    2016-05-01

    The induced ground motions due to the tunnel boring machine (TBM), which has been used for the drilling of the urban metro tunnel in Karlsruhe (SW Germany), has been studied using the continuous recordings of seven seismological monitoring stations. The drilling has been undertaken in unconsolidated sediments of the Rhine River system, relatively close to the surface at 6-20 m depth and in the vicinity of many historic buildings. Compared to the reference values of DIN 4150-3 (1-80 Hz), no exceedance of the recommended peak ground velocity (PGV) limits (3-5 mm/s) was observed at the single recording site locations on building basements during the observation period between October 2014 and February 2015. Detailed analyses in the time and frequency domains helped with the detection of the sources of several specific shaking signals in the recorded time series and with the comparison of the aforementioned TBM-induced signals. The amplitude analysis allowed for the determination of a PGV attenuation relation (quality factor Q ~ 30-50) and the comparison of the TBM-induced ground motion with other artificially induced and natural ground motions of similar amplitudes.

  7. Motion of a drop driven by substrate vibrations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunet, P.; Eggers, J.; Deegan, R. D.

    2009-01-01

    We report an experimental study of liquid drops moving against gravity, when placed on a vertically vibrating inclined plate, which is partially wet by the drop. Frequency of vibrations ranges from 30 to 200 Hz, and above a threshold in vibration acceleration, drops experience an upward motion. We attribute this surprising motion to the deformations of the drop, as a consequence of an up/down symmetry-breaking induced by the presence of the substrate. We relate the direction of motion to contact angle measurements.

  8. The interaction between liquid motion and mass transfer induced by single rising bubble via PIV/LIE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshimoto, Kenjo; Yamamoto, Manabu; Sone, Daiji; Saito, Takayuki

    2009-01-01

    Deep understanding of gas-liquid two phase flows is essential for safe operation and high efficiency of nuclear reactors, chemical reactors and so on. In this study, we focus on the process of mass transfer induced by a single rising bubble. The mass transfer process of a zigzag ascending single bubble is investigated via LIF (Laser Induced Fluorescence) and PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry). From these results, we discuss the relationship between the mass transfer and the surrounding liquid motion of the single bubble. We examined single CO 2 -bubbles of 2-3 mm in equivalent diameter, which shows zigzagging motion in rest water. To directly visualize the dynamic mass transfer of CO 2 from the bubble surface to the surrounding liquid, HPTS (8-hydroxypyrene-1, 3, 6-trisulfonic acid) was used as a fluorescent substance for LIF. From LIF results, it was observed that the CO 2 -rich regions were spread by advective flow in the rest water as horseshoe-like vortices. From LIF results combined with the PIV results, it was observed that the horseshoe-like vortices were transported by the fast upward flow (buoyancy driven flow). Especially, in the case of a larger-diameter bubble with large shape oscillations, the high turbulence intensity (in a strict sense, fluctuation intensity of the liquid-phase velocity) was observed. The CO 2 -rich regions spread over a wide range by the strong flow. As a result, it is considered that the high turbulence intensity which was caused by the shape oscillations enhances the mass transportation from the bubble to the surrounding liquid. (author)

  9. Does 3D produce more symptoms of visually induced motion sickness?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naqvi, Syed Ali Arsalan; Badruddin, Nasreen; Malik, Aamir Saeed; Hazabbah, Wan; Abdullah, Baharudin

    2013-01-01

    3D stereoscopy technology with high quality images and depth perception provides entertainment to its viewers. However, the technology is not mature yet and sometimes may have adverse effects on viewers. Some viewers have reported discomfort in watching videos with 3D technology. In this research we performed an experiment showing a movie in 2D and 3D environments to participants. Subjective and objective data are recorded and compared in both conditions. Results from subjective reporting shows that Visually Induced Motion Sickness (VIMS) is significantly higher in 3D condition. For objective measurement, ECG data is recorded to find the Heart Rate Variability (HRV), where the LF/HF ratio, which is the index of sympathetic nerve activity, is analyzed to find the changes in the participants' feelings over time. The average scores of nausea, disorientation and total score of SSQ show that there is a significant difference in the 3D condition from 2D. However, LF/HF ratio is not showing significant difference throughout the experiment.

  10. Auditory motion-specific mechanisms in the primate brain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colline Poirier

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This work examined the mechanisms underlying auditory motion processing in the auditory cortex of awake monkeys using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. We tested to what extent auditory motion analysis can be explained by the linear combination of static spatial mechanisms, spectrotemporal processes, and their interaction. We found that the posterior auditory cortex, including A1 and the surrounding caudal belt and parabelt, is involved in auditory motion analysis. Static spatial and spectrotemporal processes were able to fully explain motion-induced activation in most parts of the auditory cortex, including A1, but not in circumscribed regions of the posterior belt and parabelt cortex. We show that in these regions motion-specific processes contribute to the activation, providing the first demonstration that auditory motion is not simply deduced from changes in static spatial location. These results demonstrate that parallel mechanisms for motion and static spatial analysis coexist within the auditory dorsal stream.

  11. Validation of the dyspnea index in adolescents with exercise-induced paradoxical vocal fold motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Guzman, Vanessa; Ballif, Catherine L; Maurer, Rie; Hartnick, Christopher J; Raol, Nikhila

    2014-09-01

    Paradoxical vocal fold motion (PVFM) affects almost 1 million adolescents in the United States. However, to date, no disease-specific objective measure exists to assess symptom severity and response to treatment in adolescents with exercise-induced PVFM. To validate the Dyspnea Index (DI) quality-of-life instrument (previously validated for adults with breathing disorders) in children aged 12 to 18 years with exercise-induced PVFM and to determine the minimum significant DI change corresponding to patient-reported or caregiver-reported improvement or worsening of symptoms. A longitudinal study of 56 patients (age range, 12-18 years) diagnosed as having exercise-induced PVFM and their caregivers from February 1, 2013, to September 30, 2013, in an outpatient pediatric otolaryngology office practice. The DI was administered to patients and caregivers, with items modified to reflect the perspective of caregivers. Appropriate DI change was measured to reflect improvement or worsening of symptoms. Test-retest reliability was accomplished by having a subset of patients and caregivers complete the instrument twice within 2 weeks before therapy. Internal consistency was assessed by calculation of Cronbach α. Discriminant validity and convergent validity were determined by comparing DIs with assessment of global change in symptoms. The patient and caregiver mean (SD) DI changes were -12.9 (9.6) and -14.7 (9.3), respectively (P therapy.

  12. Contrast configuration influences grouping in apparent motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma-Wyatt, Anna; Clifford, Colin W G; Wenderoth, Peter

    2005-01-01

    We investigated whether the same principles that influence grouping in static displays also influence grouping in apparent motion. Using the Ternus display, we found that the proportion of group motion reports was influenced by changes in contrast configuration. Subjects made judgments of completion of these same configurations in a static display. Generally, contrast configurations that induced a high proportion of group motion responses were judged as more 'complete' in static displays. Using a stereo display, we then tested whether stereo information and T-junction information were critical for this increase in group motion. Perceived grouping was consistently higher for same contrast polarity configurations than for opposite contrast polarity configurations, regardless of the presence of stereo information or explicit T-junctions. Thus, while grouping in static and moving displays showed a similar dependence on contrast configuration, motion grouping showed little dependence on stereo or T-junction information.

  13. 4D modeling and estimation of respiratory motion for radiation therapy

    CERN Document Server

    Lorenz, Cristian

    2013-01-01

    Respiratory motion causes an important uncertainty in radiotherapy planning of the thorax and upper abdomen. The main objective of radiation therapy is to eradicate or shrink tumor cells without damaging the surrounding tissue by delivering a high radiation dose to the tumor region and a dose as low as possible to healthy organ tissues. Meeting this demand remains a challenge especially in case of lung tumors due to breathing-induced tumor and organ motion where motion amplitudes can measure up to several centimeters. Therefore, modeling of respiratory motion has become increasingly important in radiation therapy. With 4D imaging techniques spatiotemporal image sequences can be acquired to investigate dynamic processes in the patient’s body. Furthermore, image registration enables the estimation of the breathing-induced motion and the description of the temporal change in position and shape of the structures of interest by establishing the correspondence between images acquired at different phases of the br...

  14. Decision-level adaptation in motion perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mather, George; Sharman, Rebecca J

    2015-12-01

    Prolonged exposure to visual stimuli causes a bias in observers' responses to subsequent stimuli. Such adaptation-induced biases are usually explained in terms of changes in the relative activity of sensory neurons in the visual system which respond selectively to the properties of visual stimuli. However, the bias could also be due to a shift in the observer's criterion for selecting one response rather than the alternative; adaptation at the decision level of processing rather than the sensory level. We investigated whether adaptation to implied motion is best attributed to sensory-level or decision-level bias. Three experiments sought to isolate decision factors by changing the nature of the participants' task while keeping the sensory stimulus unchanged. Results showed that adaptation-induced bias in reported stimulus direction only occurred when the participants' task involved a directional judgement, and disappeared when adaptation was measured using a non-directional task (reporting where motion was present in the display, regardless of its direction). We conclude that adaptation to implied motion is due to decision-level bias, and that a propensity towards such biases may be widespread in sensory decision-making.

  15. Simulation analyses of vibration tests on pile-group effects using blast-induced ground motions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takayuki Hashimoto; Kazushige Fujiwara; Katsuichirou Hijikata; Hideo Tanaka; Kohji Koyamada; Atsushi Suzuki; Osamu Kontani

    2005-01-01

    Extensive vibration tests have been performed on pile-supported structures at a large-scale mining site to promote better understanding of the dynamic behavior of pile-supported structures, especially pile-group effects. Two test structures were constructed in an excavated pit. One structure was supported on 25 tubular steel piles and the other on 4. The test pit was backfilled with sand of an appropriate grain size distribution to ensure good compaction. Ground motions induced by large-scale blasting operations were used as excitation forces for the tests. The 3D Finite Element Method (3D FEM)and a Genetic Algorithm (GA) were employed to identify the shear wave velocities and damping factors of the compacted sand, especially of the surface layer. A beam-interaction spring model was employed to simulate the test results of the piles and the pile-supported structures. The superstructure and pile foundation were modeled by a one-stick model comprising lumped masses and beam elements. The pile foundations were modeled just as they were, with lumped masses and beam elements to simulate the test results showing that, for the 25-pile structure, piles at different locations showed different responses. It was confirmed that the analysis methods employed were very useful for evaluating the nonlinear behavior of the soil-pile-structure system, even under severe ground motions. (authors)

  16. Bunch motion in the presence of the self-induced voltage due to a reactive impedance with RF off

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shaposhnikova, E [European Organization for Nuclear Research, Geneva (Switzerland)

    1996-08-01

    Analytic self-consistent solutions have been found for the nonlinear Vlasov equation describing different types of behaviour with time of an intense bunch under the influence of voltage induced due to a reactive part of broad band impedance. The problem is solved for the particular type of the initial distribution function in longitudinal phase space which is elliptic and corresponds to parabolic line density. This paper is devoted to the consideration of the effects in the machine with RF off. In this case the induced voltage is changing with time and can significantly affect bunch motion. The same method applied in the case with RF on allows the time dependent effects of potential well distortion to be analysed. Numerical estimations for the CERN SPS show that effect of induced voltage is important for beam manipulations with RF off. Measurements of the change in the rate of debunching with intensity can be used to estimate the value of the reactive impedance. (author)

  17. Ship motion-based wave estimation using a spectral residual-calculation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Ulrik D.; H. Brodtkorb, Astrid

    2018-01-01

    This paper presents a study focused on a newly developed procedure for wave spectrum estimation using wave-induced motion recordings from a ship. The particular procedure stands out from other existing, similar ship motion-based pro-cedures by its computational efficiency and - at the same time- ...

  18. Rectified motion in an asymmetrically structured channel due to induced-charge electrokinetic and thermo-kinetic phenomena

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugioka, Hideyuki

    2016-01-01

    It would be advantageous to move fluid by the gradient of random thermal noises that are omnipresent in the natural world. To achieve this motion, we propose a rectifier that uses a thermal noise along with induced-charge electroosmosis and electrophoresis (ICEO and ICEP) around a metal post cylinder in an asymmetrically structured channel and numerically examine its rectification performance. By the boundary element method combined with the thin double layer approximation, we find that rectified motion occurs in the asymmetrically structured channel due to ICEO and ICEP. Further, by thermodynamical and equivalent circuit methods, we discuss a thermal voltage that drives a rectifier consisting of a fluidic channel of an electrolyte and an impedance as a noise source. Our calculations show that fluid can be moved in the asymmetrically structured channel by the fluctuation of electric fields due to a thermal noise only when there is a temperature difference. In addition, our simple noise argument provides a different perspective for the thermo-kinetic phenomena (around a metal post) which was predicted based on the electrolyte Seebeck effect in our previous paper [H. Sugioka, “Nonlinear thermokinetic phenomena due to the Seebeck effect,” Langmuir 30, 8621 (2014)

  19. Rectified motion in an asymmetrically structured channel due to induced-charge electrokinetic and thermo-kinetic phenomena

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sugioka, Hideyuki, E-mail: hsugioka@shinshu-u.ac.jp [Frontier Research Center, Canon Inc. 30-2, Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ohta-ku, Tokyo 146-8501, Japan and Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Shinshu University 4-17-1 Wakasato, Nagano 380-8553 (Japan)

    2016-02-15

    It would be advantageous to move fluid by the gradient of random thermal noises that are omnipresent in the natural world. To achieve this motion, we propose a rectifier that uses a thermal noise along with induced-charge electroosmosis and electrophoresis (ICEO and ICEP) around a metal post cylinder in an asymmetrically structured channel and numerically examine its rectification performance. By the boundary element method combined with the thin double layer approximation, we find that rectified motion occurs in the asymmetrically structured channel due to ICEO and ICEP. Further, by thermodynamical and equivalent circuit methods, we discuss a thermal voltage that drives a rectifier consisting of a fluidic channel of an electrolyte and an impedance as a noise source. Our calculations show that fluid can be moved in the asymmetrically structured channel by the fluctuation of electric fields due to a thermal noise only when there is a temperature difference. In addition, our simple noise argument provides a different perspective for the thermo-kinetic phenomena (around a metal post) which was predicted based on the electrolyte Seebeck effect in our previous paper [H. Sugioka, “Nonlinear thermokinetic phenomena due to the Seebeck effect,” Langmuir 30, 8621 (2014)].

  20. The influence of sleep deprivation and oscillating motion on sleepiness, motion sickness, and cognitive and motor performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, Janna; Ventura, Joel; Bakshi, Avijit; Pierobon, Alberto; Lackner, James R; DiZio, Paul

    2017-01-01

    Our goal was to determine how sleep deprivation, nauseogenic motion, and a combination of motion and sleep deprivation affect cognitive vigilance, visual-spatial perception, motor learning and retention, and balance. We exposed four groups of subjects to different combinations of normal 8h sleep or 4h sleep for two nights combined with testing under stationary conditions or during 0.28Hz horizontal linear oscillation. On the two days following controlled sleep, all subjects underwent four test sessions per day that included evaluations of fatigue, motion sickness, vigilance, perceptual discrimination, perceptual learning, motor performance and learning, and balance. Sleep loss and exposure to linear oscillation had additive or multiplicative relationships to sleepiness, motion sickness severity, decreases in vigilance and in perceptual discrimination and learning. Sleep loss also decelerated the rate of adaptation to motion sickness over repeated sessions. Sleep loss degraded the capacity to compensate for novel robotically induced perturbations of reaching movements but did not adversely affect adaptive recovery of accurate reaching. Overall, tasks requiring substantial attention to cognitive and motor demands were degraded more than tasks that were more automatic. Our findings indicate that predicting performance needs to take into account in addition to sleep loss, the attentional demands and novelty of tasks, the motion environment in which individuals will be performing and their prior susceptibility to motion sickness during exposure to provocative motion stimulation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Current induced domain wall motion and tilting in Pt/Co/Ta structures with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in the presence of the Dyzaloshinskii–Moriya interaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yun, Jijun; Li, Dong; Cui, Baoshan; Guo, Xiaobin; Wu, Kai; Zhang, Xu; Wang, Yupei; Mao, Jian; Zuo, Yalu; Xi, Li

    2018-04-01

    Current induced domain wall motion (CIDWM) was studied in Pt/Co/Ta structures with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and the Dyzaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) by the spin-orbit torque (SOT). We measured the strength of DMI and SOT efficiency in Pt/Co/Ta with the variation of the thickness of Ta using a current induced hysteresis loop shift method. The results indicate that the DMI stabilizes a chiral Néel-type domain wall (DW), and the DW motion can be driven by the enhanced large SOT generated from Pt and Ta with opposite signs of spin Hall angle in Pt/Co/Ta stacks. The CIDWM velocity, which is 104 times larger than the field driven DW velocity, obeys a creep law, and reaches around tens of meters per second with current density of ~106 A cm‑2. We also found that the Joule heating accompanied with current also accelerates the DW motion. Meanwhile, a domain wall tilting was observed, which increases with current density increasing. These results can be explained by the spin Hall effect generated from both heavy metals Pt and Ta, inherent DMI, and the current accompanying Joule heating effect. Our results could provide some new designing prospects to move multiple DWs by SOT for achieving racetrack memories.

  2. Bubble Driven Quasioscillatory Translational Motion of Catalytic Micromotors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manjare, Manoj; Yang, Bo; Zhao, Y.-P.

    2012-09-01

    A new quasioscillatory translational motion has been observed for big Janus catalytic micromotors with a fast CCD camera. Such motional behavior is found to coincide with both the bubble growth and burst processes resulting from the catalytic reaction, and the competition of the two processes generates a net forward motion. Detailed physical models have been proposed to describe the above processes. It is suggested that the bubble growth process imposes a growth force moving the micromotor forward, while the burst process induces an instantaneous local pressure depression pulling the micromotor backward. The theoretic predictions are consistent with the experimental data.

  3. Looking at Op Art: Gaze stability and motion illusions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hermens, Frouke; Zanker, Johannes

    2012-01-01

    Various Op artists have used simple geometrical patterns to create the illusion of motion in their artwork. One explanation for the observed illusion involves retinal shifts caused by small involuntary eye movements that observers make while they try to maintain fixation. Earlier studies have suggested a prominent role of the most conspicuous of these eye movements, small rapid position shifts called microsaccades. Here, we present data that could expand this view with a different interpretation. In three experiments, we recorded participants' eye movements while they tried to maintain visual fixation when being presented with variants of Bridget Riley's Fall, which were manipulated such as to vary the strength of induced motion. In the first two experiments, we investigated the properties of microsaccades for a set of stimuli with known motion strengths. In agreement with earlier observations, microsaccade rates were unaffected by the stimulus pattern and, consequently, the strength of induced motion illusion. In the third experiment, we varied the stimulus pattern across a larger range of parameters and asked participants to rate the perceived motion illusion. The results revealed that motion illusions in patterns resembling Riley's Fall are perceived even in the absence of microsaccades, and that the reported strength of the illusion decreased with the number of microsaccades in the trial. Together, the three experiments suggest that other sources of retinal image instability than microsaccades, such as slow oculomotor drift, should be considered as possible factors contributing to the illusion.

  4. Artificial horizon effects on motion sickness and performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tal, Dror; Gonen, Adi; Wiener, Guy; Bar, Ronen; Gil, Amnon; Nachum, Zohar; Shupak, Avi

    2012-07-01

    To investigate whether the projection of Earth-referenced scenes during provocative motion can alleviate motion sickness severity and prevent motion sickness-induced degradation of performance. Exposure to unfamiliar motion patterns commonly results in motion sickness and decreased performance. Thirty subjects with moderate-to-severe motion sickness susceptibility were exposed to the recorded motion profile of a missile boat under moderate sea conditions in a 3-degrees-of-freedom ship motion simulator. During a 120-minute simulated voyage, the study participants were repeatedly put through a performance test battery and completed a motion sickness susceptibility questionnaire, while self-referenced and Earth-referenced visual scenes were projected inside the closed simulator cabin. A significant decrease was found in the maximal motion sickness severity score, from 9.83 ± 9.77 (mean ± standard deviation) to 7.23 ± 7.14 (p pitch, and heave movements of the simulator. Although there was a significant decrease in sickness severity, substantial symptoms still persisted. Decision making, vision, concentration, memory, simple reasoning, and psychomotor skills all deteriorated under the motion conditions. However, no significant differences between the projection conditions could be found in the scores of any of the performance tests. Visual information regarding the vessel's movement provided by an artificial horizon device might decrease motion sickness symptoms. However, although this device might be suitable for passive transportation, the continued deterioration in performance measures indicates that it provides no significant advantage for personnel engaged in the active operation of modern vessels.

  5. The perception of object versus objectless motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hock, Howard S; Nichols, David F

    2013-05-01

    Wertheimer, M. (Zeitschrift für Psychologie und Physiologie der Sinnesorgane, 61:161-265, 1912) classical distinction between beta (object) and phi (objectless) motion is elaborated here in a series of experiments concerning competition between two qualitatively different motion percepts, induced by sequential changes in luminance for two-dimensional geometric objects composed of rectangular surfaces. One of these percepts is of spreading-luminance motion that continuously sweeps across the entire object; it exhibits shape invariance and is perceived most strongly for fast speeds. Significantly for the characterization of phi as objectless motion, the spreading luminance does not involve surface boundaries or any other feature; the percept is driven solely by spatiotemporal changes in luminance. Alternatively, and for relatively slow speeds, a discrete series of edge motions can be perceived in the direction opposite to spreading-luminance motion. Akin to beta motion, the edges appear to move through intermediate positions within the object's changing surfaces. Significantly for the characterization of beta as object motion, edge motion exhibits shape dependence and is based on the detection of oppositely signed changes in contrast (i.e., counterchange) for features essential to the determination of an object's shape, the boundaries separating its surfaces. These results are consistent with area MT neurons that differ with respect to speed preference Newsome et al (Journal of Neurophysiology, 55:1340-1351, 1986) and shape dependence Zeki (Journal of Physiology, 236:549-573, 1974).

  6. First online real-time evaluation of motion-induced 4D dose errors during radiotherapy delivery

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ravkilde, Thomas; Skouboe, Simon; Hansen, Rune

    2018-01-01

    PURPOSE: In radiotherapy, dose deficits caused by tumor motion often far outweigh the discrepancies typically allowed in plan-specific quality assurance (QA). Yet, tumor motion is not usually included in present QA. We here present a novel method for online treatment verification by real......-time motion-including 4D dose reconstruction and dose evaluation and demonstrate its use during stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) delivery with and without MLC tracking. METHODS: Five volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans were delivered with and without MLC tracking to a motion stage carrying...... a Delta4 dosimeter. The VMAT plans have previously been used for (non-tracking) liver SBRT with intra-treatment tumor motion recorded by kilovoltage intrafraction monitoring (KIM). The motion stage reproduced the KIM-measured tumor motions in 3D while optical monitoring guided the MLC tracking. Linac...

  7. Using visuo-kinetic virtual reality to induce illusory spinal movement: the MoOVi Illusion

    OpenAIRE

    Harvie, Daniel S.; Smith, Ross T.; Hunter, Estin V.; Davis, Miles G.; Sterling, Michele; Moseley, G. Lorimer

    2017-01-01

    Background Illusions that alter perception of the body provide novel opportunities to target brain-based contributions to problems such as persistent pain. One example of this, mirror therapy, uses vision to augment perceived movement of a painful limb to treat pain. Since mirrors can’t be used to induce augmented neck or other spinal movement, we aimed to test whether such an illusion could be achieved using virtual reality, in advance of testing its potential therapeutic benefit. We hypothe...

  8. Annotated Bibliography on Relative Motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-03-01

    displace the sheave, and motive means operating the power ram. Preferably, the power run is subjected to i constant upward pneumatic force to provide...NCIEI- Report N- 1187 (Oct 1971). The theory is de\\ eloped for the swinging rmotion induced in a wire suspended load due to the hori7zontal motion of a

  9. Tracking without perceiving: a dissociation between eye movements and motion perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spering, Miriam; Pomplun, Marc; Carrasco, Marisa

    2011-02-01

    Can people react to objects in their visual field that they do not consciously perceive? We investigated how visual perception and motor action respond to moving objects whose visibility is reduced, and we found a dissociation between motion processing for perception and for action. We compared motion perception and eye movements evoked by two orthogonally drifting gratings, each presented separately to a different eye. The strength of each monocular grating was manipulated by inducing adaptation to one grating prior to the presentation of both gratings. Reflexive eye movements tracked the vector average of both gratings (pattern motion) even though perceptual responses followed one motion direction exclusively (component motion). Observers almost never perceived pattern motion. This dissociation implies the existence of visual-motion signals that guide eye movements in the absence of a corresponding conscious percept.

  10. Radiotherapy of tumors under respiratory motion. Estimation of the motional velocity field and dose accumulation based on 4D image data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Werner, Rene

    2013-01-01

    Respiratory motion represents a major challenge in radiation therapy in general, and especially for the therapy of lung tumors. In recent years and due to the introduction of modern techniques to 'acquire temporally resolved computed tomography images (4D CT images), different approaches have been developed to explicitly account for breathing motion during treatment. An integral component of such approaches is the concept of motion field estimation, which aims at a mathematical description and the computation of the motion sequences represented by the patient's images. As part of a 4D dose calculation/dose accumulation, the resulting vector fields are applied for assessing and accounting for breathing-induced effects on the dose distribution to be delivered. The reliability of related 4D treatment planning concepts is therefore directly tailored to the precision of the underlying motion field estimation process. Taking this into account, the thesis aims at developing optimized methods for the estimation of motion fields using 4D CT images and applying the resulting methods for the analysis of breathing induced dosimetric effects in radiation therapy. The thesis is subdivided into three parts that thematically build upon each other. The first part of the thesis is about the implementation, evaluation and optimization of methods for motion field estimation with the goal of precisely assessing respiratory motion of anatomical and pathological structures represented in a patient's 4D er image sequence; this step is the basis of subsequent developments and analysis parts. Especially non-linear registration techniques prove to be well suited to this purpose. After being optimized for the particular problem at hand, it is shown as part of an extensive multi-criteria evaluation study and additionally taking into account publicly accessible evaluation platforms that such methods allow estimating motion fields with subvoxel accuracy - which means that the developed methods

  11. Spatial design and control of graphene flake motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghorbanfekr-Kalashami, H.; Peeters, F. M.; Novoselov, K. S.; Neek-Amal, M.

    2017-08-01

    The force between a sharp scanning probe tip and a surface can drive a graphene flake over crystalline substrates. The recent design of particular patterns of structural defects on a graphene surface allows us to propose an alternative approach for controlling the motion of a graphene flake over a graphene substrate. The thermally induced motion of a graphene flake is controlled by engineering topological defects in the substrate. Such defect regions lead to an inhomogeneous energy landscape and are energetically unfavorable for the motion of the flake, and will invert and scatter graphene flakes when they are moving toward the defect line. Engineering the distribution of these energy barriers results in a controllable trajectory for the thermal motion of the flake without using any external force. We predict superlubricity of the graphene flake for motion along and between particular defect lines. This Rapid Communication provides insights into the frictional forces of interfaces and opens a route to the engineering of the stochastic motion of a graphene flake over any crystalline substrate.

  12. Motion Cues in Flight Simulation and Simulator Induced Sickness

    Science.gov (United States)

    1988-06-01

    military F7 .. vehicles, surface excavation equipment, underground mining devices, railway locomotives, .A space vehicles, shiv bridges, and submarines. Of...Evaluatort Rleference to Fukuda is: Fukuda, T. Postural behavior and motion sickness. Acca Otolaryngol. (Stockholm), 1976, B1:37-241.) %kI RTD-5

  13. The moving rubber hand illusion revisited: comparing movements and visuotactile stimulation to induce illusory ownership.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalckert, Andreas; Ehrsson, H Henrik

    2014-05-01

    The rubber hand illusion is a perceptual illusion in which a model hand is experienced as part of one's own body. In the present study we directly compared the classical illusion, based on visuotactile stimulation, with a rubber hand illusion based on active and passive movements. We examined the question of which combinations of sensory and motor cues are the most potent in inducing the illusion by subjective ratings and an objective measure (proprioceptive drift). In particular, we were interested in whether the combination of afferent and efferent signals in active movements results in the same illusion as in the purely passive modes. Our results show that the illusion is equally strong in all three cases. This demonstrates that different combinations of sensory input can lead to a very similar phenomenological experience and indicates that the illusion can be induced by any combination of multisensory information. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. The effect of high-frequency ground motion on the MAPLE-X10 reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhan, S.; Dunbar, S.

    1989-06-01

    The effect of high-frequency ground motion on structures and equipment in nuclear reactors is examined by subjecting simple linear models to selected recorded ground motions which exhibit low and high frequencies. Computed damage measures indicate that high-frequency short-duration ground motion, such as that observed in eastern North America, have a minimal effect on structures with low natural frequencies. Response spectra of high-frequency ground motion indicate that higher forces are induced in structures with high natural frequencies as compared to those induced by low-frequency ground motion. However, reported observations of earthquake damage in eastern North America suggest that high-frequency ground motion causes little of no damage to structures. This may be due to the energy absorption capability of structures. It is concluded that the response spectrum representative of ground motion observed in eastern North America may give an over-conservative measure of the response of structures with high natural frequencies, since it does not account for the typically observed short duration of high-frequency ground motion and for the energy absorption capability of structures. Detailed nonlinear analysis of specific structures with high natural frequencies should be performed to better predict the actual response. Recommendations for a nonlinear analysis of typical structures with high natural frequencies are made

  15. The effect of spinal manipulative therapy on spinal range of motion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Millan, Mario; Leboeuf-Yde, Charlotte; Budgell, Brian

    2012-01-01

    Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) has been shown to have an effect on spine-related pain, both clinically and in experimentally induced pain. However, it is unclear if it has an immediate noticeable biomechanical effect on spinal motion that can be measured in terms of an increased range of motion...

  16. Illusory spreading of watercolor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devinck, Frédéric; Hardy, Joseph L; Delahunt, Peter B; Spillmann, Lothar; Werner, John S

    2006-05-04

    The watercolor effect (WCE) is a phenomenon of long-range color assimilation occurring when a dark chromatic contour delineating a figure is flanked on the inside by a brighter chromatic contour; the brighter color spreads into the entire enclosed area. Here, we determined the optimal chromatic parameters and the cone signals supporting the WCE. To that end, we quantified the effect of color assimilation using hue cancellation as a function of hue, colorimetric purity, and cone modulation of inducing contours. When the inner and outer contours had chromaticities that were in opposite directions in color space, a stronger WCE was obtained as compared with other color directions. Additionally, equal colorimetric purity between the outer and inner contours was necessary to obtain a large effect compared with conditions in which the contours differed in colorimetric purity. However, there was no further increase in the magnitude of the effect when the colorimetric purity increased beyond a value corresponding to an equal vector length between the inner and outer contours. Finally, L-M-cone-modulated WCE was perceptually stronger than S-cone-modulated WCE for our conditions. This last result demonstrates that both L-M-cone and S-cone pathways are important for watercolor spreading. Our data suggest that the WCE depends critically upon the particular spatiochromatic arrangement in the display, with the relative chromatic contrast between the inducing contours being particularly important.

  17. Effect of respiratory motion on internal radiation dosimetry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xie, Tianwu [Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva 4 CH-1211 (Switzerland); Zaidi, Habib, E-mail: habib.zaidi@hcuge.ch [Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva 4 CH-1211 (Switzerland); Geneva Neuroscience Center, Geneva University, Geneva CH-1205 (Switzerland); Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9700 RB (Netherlands)

    2014-11-01

    Purpose: Estimation of the radiation dose to internal organs is essential for the assessment of radiation risks and benefits to patients undergoing diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures including PET. Respiratory motion induces notable internal organ displacement, which influences the absorbed dose for external exposure to radiation. However, to their knowledge, the effect of respiratory motion on internal radiation dosimetry has never been reported before. Methods: Thirteen computational models representing the adult male at different respiratory phases corresponding to the normal respiratory cycle were generated from the 4D dynamic XCAT phantom. Monte Carlo calculations were performed using the MCNP transport code to estimate the specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) of monoenergetic photons/electrons, the S-values of common positron-emitting radionuclides (C-11, N-13, O-15, F-18, Cu-64, Ga-68, Rb-82, Y-86, and I-124), and the absorbed dose of {sup 18}F-fluorodeoxyglucose ({sup 18}F-FDG) in 28 target regions for both the static (average of dynamic frames) and dynamic phantoms. Results: The self-absorbed dose for most organs/tissues is only slightly influenced by respiratory motion. However, for the lung, the self-absorbed SAF is about 11.5% higher at the peak exhale phase than the peak inhale phase for photon energies above 50 keV. The cross-absorbed dose is obviously affected by respiratory motion for many combinations of source-target pairs. The cross-absorbed S-values for the heart contents irradiating the lung are about 7.5% higher in the peak exhale phase than the peak inhale phase for different positron-emitting radionuclides. For {sup 18}F-FDG, organ absorbed doses are less influenced by respiratory motion. Conclusions: Respiration-induced volume variations of the lungs and the repositioning of internal organs affect the self-absorbed dose of the lungs and cross-absorbed dose between organs in internal radiation dosimetry. The dynamic

  18. Respiration-correlated spiral CT: A method of measuring respiratory-induced anatomic motion for radiation treatment planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ford, E.C.; Mageras, G.S.; Yorke, E.; Ling, C.C.

    2003-01-01

    We describe a method for generating CT images at multiple respiratory phases with a single spiral CT scan, referred to as respiratory-correlated spiral CT (RCCT). RCCT relies on a respiration wave form supplied by an external patient monitor. During acquisition this wave form is recorded along with the initiation time of the CT scan, so as to 'time stamp' each reconstructed slice with the phase of the respiratory cycle. By selecting the appropriate slices, a full CT image set is generated at several phases, typically 7-11 per cycle. The CT parameters are chosen to optimize the temporal resolution while minimizing the spatial gap between slices at successive respiratory cycles. Using a pitch of 0.5, a gantry rotation period of 1.5 s, and a 180 degree sign reconstruction algorithm results in ∼5 mm slice spacing at a given phase for typical respiration periods, and a respiratory motion within each slice that is acceptably small, particularly near end expiration or end inspiration where gated radiotherapy is to occur. We have performed validation measurements on a phantom with a moving sphere designed to simulate respiration-induced tumor motion. RCCT scans of the phantom at respiratory periods of 4, 5, and 6 s show good agreement of the sphere's motion with that observed under fluoroscopic imaging. The positional deviations in the sphere's centroid between RCCT and fluoroscopy are 1.1±0.9 mm in the transaxial direction (average over all scans at all phases ±1 s.d.) and 1.2±1.0 mm in the longitudinal direction. Reconstructed volumes match those expected on the basis of stationary-phantom scans to within 5% in all cases. The surface distortions of the reconstructed sphere, as quantified by deviations from a mathematical reference sphere, are similar to those from a stationary phantom scan and are correlated with the speed of the phantom. A RCCT scan of the phantom undergoing irregular motion, demonstrates that successful reconstruction can be achieved even with

  19. Ambiguity in Tactile Apparent Motion Perception.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emanuela Liaci

    Full Text Available In von Schiller's Stroboscopic Alternative Motion (SAM stimulus two visually presented diagonal dot pairs, located on the corners of an imaginary rectangle, alternate with each other and induce either horizontal, vertical or, rarely, rotational motion percepts. SAM motion perception can be described by a psychometric function of the dot aspect ratio ("AR", i.e. the relation between vertical and horizontal dot distances. Further, with equal horizontal and vertical dot distances (AR = 1 perception is biased towards vertical motion. In a series of five experiments, we presented tactile SAM versions and studied the role of AR and of different reference frames for the perception of tactile apparent motion.We presented tactile SAM stimuli and varied the ARs, while participants reported the perceived motion directions. Pairs of vibration stimulators were attached to the participants' forearms and stimulator distances were varied within and between forearms. We compared straight and rotated forearm conditions with each other in order to disentangle the roles of exogenous and endogenous reference frames.Increasing the tactile SAM's AR biased perception towards vertical motion, but the effect was weak compared to the visual modality. We found no horizontal disambiguation, even for very small tactile ARs. A forearm rotation by 90° kept the vertical bias, even though it was now coupled with small ARs. A 45° rotation condition with crossed forearms, however, evoked a strong horizontal motion bias.Existing approaches to explain the visual SAM bias fail to explain the current tactile results. Particularly puzzling is the strong horizontal bias in the crossed-forearm conditions. In the case of tactile apparent motion, there seem to be no fixed priority rule for perceptual disambiguation. Rather the weighting of available evidence seems to depend on the degree of stimulus ambiguity, the current situation and on the perceptual strategy of the individual

  20. Self versus environment motion in postural control.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kalpana Dokka

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available To stabilize our position in space we use visual information as well as non-visual physical motion cues. However, visual cues can be ambiguous: visually perceived motion may be caused by self-movement, movement of the environment, or both. The nervous system must combine the ambiguous visual cues with noisy physical motion cues to resolve this ambiguity and control our body posture. Here we have developed a Bayesian model that formalizes how the nervous system could solve this problem. In this model, the nervous system combines the sensory cues to estimate the movement of the body. We analytically demonstrate that, as long as visual stimulation is fast in comparison to the uncertainty in our perception of body movement, the optimal strategy is to weight visually perceived movement velocities proportional to a power law. We find that this model accounts for the nonlinear influence of experimentally induced visual motion on human postural behavior both in our data and in previously published results.

  1. Shape matters: Near-field fluid mechanics dominate the collective motions of ellipsoidal squirmers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kyoya, K; Matsunaga, D; Imai, Y; Omori, T; Ishikawa, T

    2015-12-01

    Microswimmers show a variety of collective motions. Despite extensive study, questions remain regarding the role of near-field fluid mechanics in collective motion. In this paper, we describe precisely the Stokes flow around hydrodynamically interacting ellipsoidal squirmers in a monolayer suspension. The results showed that various collective motions, such as ordering, aggregation, and whirls, are dominated by the swimming mode and the aspect ratio. The collective motions are mainly induced by near-field fluid mechanics, despite Stokes flow propagation over a long range. These results emphasize the importance of particle shape in collective motion.

  2. Knowledge about infertility risk factors, fertility myths and illusory benefits of healthy habits in young people.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bunting, Laura; Boivin, Jacky

    2008-08-01

    Previous research has highlighted a lack of fertility awareness in the general population especially in relation to the optimal fertile period during the menstrual cycle, incidence of infertility and duration of the reproductive life span. The current study assessed fertility knowledge more broadly in young people and investigated three areas of knowledge, namely risk factors associated with female infertility (e.g. smoking), beliefs in false fertility myths (e.g. benefits of rural living) and beliefs in the illusory benefits of healthy habits (e.g. exercising regularly) on female fertility. The sample (n = 149) consisted of 110 female and 39 male postgraduate and undergraduate university students (average age 24.01, SD = 7.81). Knowledge scores were based on a simple task requiring the participants to estimate the effect a factor would have on a group of 100 women trying to get pregnant. Items (n = 21) were grouped according to three categories: risk factors (e.g. smoking; 7 items), myths (e.g. living in countryside; 7 items) and healthy habits (e.g. being normal weight; 7 items). An analysis of variance showed a significant main effect of factor (P healthy habits (P healthy habits. We suggest that the public education campaigns should be directed to erroneous beliefs about pseudo protective factors.

  3. Residual effects of ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) on low level visual processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, Elizabeth; Bruno, Raimondo; Brown, John

    2012-03-01

    'Ecstasy' (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) induces impaired functioning in the serotonergic system, including the occipital lobe. This study employed the 'tilt aftereffect' paradigm to operationalise the function of orientation-selective neurons among ecstasy consumers and controls as a means of investigating the role of reduced serotonin on visual orientation processing. The magnitude of the tilt aftereffect reflects the extent of lateral inhibition between orientation-selective neurons and is elicited to both 'real' contours, processed in visual cortex area V1, and illusory contours, processed in V2. The magnitude of tilt aftereffect to both contour types was examined among 19 ecstasy users (6 ecstasy only; 13 ecstasy-plus-cannabis users) and 23 matched controls (9 cannabis-only users; 14 drug-naive). Ecstasy users had a significantly greater tilt magnitude than non-users for real contours (Hedge's g = 0.63) but not for illusory contours (g = 0.20). These findings provide support for literature suggesting that residual effects of ecstasy (and reduced serotonin) impairs lateral inhibition between orientation-selective neurons in V1, which however suggests that ecstasy may not substantially affect this process in V2. Multiple studies have now demonstrated ecstasy-related deficits on basic visual functions, including orientation and motion processing. Such low-level effects may contribute to the impact of ecstasy use on neuropsychological tests of visuospatial function. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. Investigation of the motion of a viscous fluid in the vitreous cavity induced by eye rotations and implications for drug delivery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bonfiglio, Andrea; Repetto, Rodolfo; Stocchino, Alessandro; Siggers, Jennifer H

    2013-01-01

    Intravitreal drug delivery is a commonly used treatment for several retinal diseases. The objective of this research is to characterize and quantify the role of the vitreous humor motion, induced by saccadic movements, on drug transport processes in the vitreous chamber. A Perspex model of the human vitreous chamber was created, and filled with a purely viscous fluid, representing eyes with a liquefied vitreous humor or those containing viscous tamponade fluids. Periodic movements were applied to the model and the resulting three-dimensional (3D) flow fields were measured. Drug delivery within the vitreous chamber was investigated by calculating particle trajectories using integration over time of the experimental velocity fields. The motion of the vitreous humor generated by saccadic eye movements is intrinsically 3D. Advective mass transport largely overcomes molecular diffusive transport and is significantly anisotropic, leading to a much faster drug dispersion than in the case of stationary vitreous humor. Disregarding the effects of vitreous humor motion due to eye movements when predicting the efficiency of drug delivery treatments leads to significant underestimation of the drug transport coefficients, and this, in turn, will lead to significantly erroneous predictions of the concentration levels on the retina. (paper)

  5. Illusory conjunctions in the time domain and the resulting time-course of the attentional blink.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botella, Juan; Arend, Isabel; Suero, Manuel

    2004-05-01

    Illusory conjunctions in the time domain are errors made in binding stimulus features presented In the same spatial position in Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) conditions. Botella, Barriopedro, and Suero (2001) devised a model to explain how the distribution of responses originating from stimuli around the target in the series is generated. They proposed two routes consisting of two sequential attempts to make a response. The second attempt (sophisticated guessing) is only employed if the first one (focal attention) fails in producing an integrated perception. This general outline enables specific predictions to be made and tested related to the efficiency of focal attention in generating responses in the first attempt. Participants had to report the single letter in an RSVP stream of letters that was presented in a previously specified color (first target, T1) and then report whether an X (second target, T2) was or was not presented. Performance on T2 showed the typical U-shaped function across the T1-T2 lag that reflects the attentional blink phenomenon. However, as was predicted by Botella, Barriopedro, and Suero's model, the time-course of the interference was shorter for trials with a correct response to T1 than for trials with a T1 error. Furthermore, longer time-courses of interference associated with pre-target and post-target errors to the first target were indistinguishable.

  6. A margin model to account for respiration-induced tumour motion and its variability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coolens, Catherine; Webb, Steve; Evans, Phil M; Shirato, H; Nishioka, K

    2008-01-01

    In order to reduce the sensitivity of radiotherapy treatments to organ motion, compensation methods are being investigated such as gating of treatment delivery, tracking of tumour position, 4D scanning and planning of the treatment, etc. An outstanding problem that would occur with all these methods is the assumption that breathing motion is reproducible throughout the planning and delivery process of treatment. This is obviously not a realistic assumption and is one that will introduce errors. A dynamic internal margin model (DIM) is presented that is designed to follow the tumour trajectory and account for the variability in respiratory motion. The model statistically describes the variation of the breathing cycle over time, i.e. the uncertainty in motion amplitude and phase reproducibility, in a polar coordinate system from which margins can be derived. This allows accounting for an additional gating window parameter for gated treatment delivery as well as minimizing the area of normal tissue irradiated. The model was illustrated with abdominal motion for a patient with liver cancer and tested with internal 3D lung tumour trajectories. The results confirm that the respiratory phases around exhale are most reproducible and have the smallest variation in motion amplitude and phase (approximately 2 mm). More importantly, the margin area covering normal tissue is significantly reduced by using trajectory-specific margins (as opposed to conventional margins) as the angular component is by far the largest contributor to the margin area. The statistical approach to margin calculation, in addition, offers the possibility for advanced online verification and updating of breathing variation as more data become available

  7. Fast motion-including dose error reconstruction for VMAT with and without MLC tracking

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ravkilde, Thomas; Keall, Paul J.; Grau, Cai

    2014-01-01

    of the algorithm for reconstruction of dose and motion-induced dose errors throughout the tracking and non-tracking beam deliveries was quantified. Doses were reconstructed with a mean dose difference relative to the measurements of -0.5% (5.5% standard deviation) for cumulative dose. More importantly, the root...... validate a simple model for fast motion-including dose error reconstruction applicable to intrafractional QA of MLC tracking treatments of moving targets. MLC tracking experiments were performed on a standard linear accelerator with prototype MLC tracking software guided by an electromagnetic transponder......-mean-square deviation between reconstructed and measured motion-induced 3%/3 mm γ failure rates (dose error) was 2.6%. The mean computation time for each calculation of dose and dose error was 295 ms. The motion-including dose reconstruction allows accurate temporal and spatial pinpointing of errors in absorbed dose...

  8. The effects of structural setting on the azimuthal velocities of blast induced ground motion in perlite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beattie, Susan G. [New Mexico Inst. of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM (United States)

    1995-02-01

    A series of small scale explosive tests were performed during the spring of 1994 at a perlite mine located near Socorro, NM. The tests were designed to investigate the azimuthal or directional relationship between small scale geologic structures such as joints and the propagation of explosively induced ground motion. Three shots were initiated within a single borehole located at ground zero (gz) at depths varying from the deepest at 83 m (272 ft) to the shallowest at 10 m (32 ft). The intermediate shot was initiated at a depth of 63 m (208 ft). An array of three component velocity and acceleration transducers were placed in two concentric rings entirely surrounding the single shot hole at 150 and 300 azimuths as measured from ground zero. Data from the transducers was then used to determine the average propagation velocity of the blast vibration through the rock mass at the various azimuths. The rock mass was mapped to determine the prominent joint orientations (strike and dip) and the average propagation velocities were correlated with this geologic information. The data from these experiments shows that there is a correlation between the orientation of prominent joints and the average velocity of ground motion. It is theorized that this relationship is due to the relative path the ground wave follows when encountering a joint or structure within the rock mass. The more prominent structures allow the wave to follow along their strike thereby forming a sort of channel or path of least resistance and in turn increasing the propagation velocity. Secondary joints or structures may act in concert with more prominent features to form a network of channels along which the wave moves more freely than it may travel against the structure. The amplitudes of the ground motion was also shown to vary azimuthally with the direction of the most prominent structures.

  9. Cohesive motion in one-dimensional flocking

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dossetti, V

    2012-01-01

    A one-dimensional rule-based model for flocking, which combines velocity alignment and long-range centering interactions, is presented and studied. The induced cohesion in the collective motion of the self-propelled agents leads to unique group behavior that contrasts with previous studies. Our results show that the largest cluster of particles, in the condensed states, develops a mean velocity slower than the preferred one in the absence of noise. For strong noise, the system also develops a non-vanishing mean velocity, alternating its direction of motion stochastically. This allows us to address the directional switching phenomenon. The effects of different sources of stochasticity on the system are also discussed. (paper)

  10. A flatfile of ground motion intensity measurements from induced earthquakes in Oklahoma and Kansas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rennolet, Steven B.; Moschetti, Morgan P.; Thompson, Eric M.; Yeck, William

    2018-01-01

    We have produced a uniformly processed database of orientation-independent (RotD50, RotD100) ground motion intensity measurements containing peak horizontal ground motions (accelerations and velocities) and 5-percent-damped pseudospectral accelerations (0.1–10 s) from more than 3,800 M ≥ 3 earthquakes in Oklahoma and Kansas that occurred between January 2009 and December 2016. Ground motion time series were collected from regional, national, and temporary seismic arrays out to 500 km. We relocated the majority of the earthquake hypocenters using a multiple-event relocation algorithm to produce a set of near-uniformly processed hypocentral locations. Ground motion processing followed standard methods, with the primary objective of reducing the effects of noise on the measurements. Regional wave-propagation features and the high seismicity rate required careful selection of signal windows to ensure that we captured the entire ground motion record and that contaminating signals from extraneous earthquakes did not contribute to the database. Processing was carried out with an automated scheme and resulted in a database comprising more than 174,000 records (https://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F73B5X8N). We anticipate that these results will be useful for improved understanding of earthquake ground motions and for seismic hazard applications.

  11. Residual Motion and Duty Time in Respiratory Gating Radiotherapy Using Individualized or Population-Based Windows

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuji, Hiroshi; Asada, Yoshihiro; Numano, Masumi; Yamashita, Haruo; Nishimura, Tetsuo; Hashimoto, Takayuki; Harada, Hideyuki; Asakura, Hirofumi; Murayama, Shigeyuki

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The efficiency and precision of respiratory gated radiation therapy for tumors is affected by variations in respiration-induced tumor motion. We evaluated the use of individualized and population-based parameters for such treatment. Methods and Materials: External respiratory signal records and images of respiration-induced tumor motion were obtained from 42 patients undergoing respiratory gated radiation therapy for liver tumors. Gating window widths were calculated for each patient, with 2, 4, and 10 mm of residual motion, and the mean was defined as the population-based window width. Residual motions based on population-based and predefined window widths were compared. Duty times based on whole treatment sessions, at various window levels, were calculated. The window level giving the longest duty time was defined as the individualized most efficient level (MEL). MELs were also calculated based on the first 10 breathing cycles. The duty times for population-based MELs (defined as mean MELs) and individualized MELs were compared. Results: Tracks of respiration-induced tumor motion ranged from 3 to 50 mm. Half of the patients had larger actual residual motions than the assigned residual motions. Duty times were greater when based on individualized, rather than population-based, window widths. The MELs established during whole treatment sessions for 2 mm and 4 mm of residual motion gave significantly increased duty times, whereas those calculated using the first 10 breathing cycles showed only marginal increases. Conclusions: Using individualized window widths and levels provided more precise and efficient respiratory gated radiation therapy. However, methods for predicting individualized window levels before treatment remain to be explored.

  12. Motion of Adsorbed Nano-Particles on Azobenzene Containing Polymer Films

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah Loebner

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available We demonstrate in situ recorded motion of nano-objects adsorbed on a photosensitive polymer film. The motion is induced by a mass transport of the underlying photoresponsive polymer material occurring during irradiation with interference pattern. The polymer film contains azobenzene molecules that undergo reversible photoisomerization reaction from trans- to cis-conformation. Through a multi-scale chain of physico-chemical processes, this finally results in the macro-deformations of the film due to the changing elastic properties of polymer. The topographical deformation of the polymer surface is sensitive to a local distribution of the electrical field vector that allows for the generation of dynamic changes in the surface topography during irradiation with different light interference patterns. Polymer film deformation together with the motion of the adsorbed nano-particles are recorded using a homemade set-up combining an optical part for the generation of interference patterns and an atomic force microscope for acquiring the surface deformation. The particles undergo either translational or rotational motion. The direction of particle motion is towards the topography minima and opposite to the mass transport within the polymer film. The ability to relocate particles by photo-induced dynamic topography fluctuation offers a way for a non-contact simultaneous manipulation of a large number of adsorbed particles just in air at ambient conditions.

  13. Action Recognition by Joint Spatial-Temporal Motion Feature

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weihua Zhang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper introduces a method for human action recognition based on optical flow motion features extraction. Automatic spatial and temporal alignments are combined together in order to encourage the temporal consistence on each action by an enhanced dynamic time warping (DTW algorithm. At the same time, a fast method based on coarse-to-fine DTW constraint to improve computational performance without reducing accuracy is induced. The main contributions of this study include (1 a joint spatial-temporal multiresolution optical flow computation method which can keep encoding more informative motion information than recent proposed methods, (2 an enhanced DTW method to improve temporal consistence of motion in action recognition, and (3 coarse-to-fine DTW constraint on motion features pyramids to speed up recognition performance. Using this method, high recognition accuracy is achieved on different action databases like Weizmann database and KTH database.

  14. Role of spin diffusion in current-induced domain wall motion for disordered ferromagnets

    KAUST Repository

    Akosa, Collins Ashu; Kim, Won-Seok; Bisig, André ; Klä ui, Mathias; Lee, Kyung-Jin; Manchon, Aurelien

    2015-01-01

    Current-induced spin transfer torque and magnetization dynamics in the presence of spin diffusion in disordered magnetic textures is studied theoretically. We demonstrate using tight-binding calculations that weak, spin-conserving impurity scattering dramatically enhances the nonadiabaticity. To further explore this mechanism, a phenomenological drift-diffusion model for incoherent spin transport is investigated. We show that incoherent spin diffusion indeed produces an additional spatially dependent torque of the form ∼∇2[m×(u⋅∇)m]+ξ∇2[(u⋅∇)m], where m is the local magnetization direction, u is the direction of injected current, and ξ is a parameter characterizing the spin dynamics (precession, dephasing, and spin-flip). This torque, which scales as the inverse square of the domain wall width, only weakly enhances the longitudinal velocity of a transverse domain wall but significantly enhances the transverse velocity of vortex walls. The spatial-dependent spin transfer torque uncovered in this study is expected to have significant impact on the current-driven motion of abrupt two-dimensional textures such as vortices, skyrmions, and merons.

  15. Role of spin diffusion in current-induced domain wall motion for disordered ferromagnets

    KAUST Repository

    Akosa, Collins Ashu

    2015-03-12

    Current-induced spin transfer torque and magnetization dynamics in the presence of spin diffusion in disordered magnetic textures is studied theoretically. We demonstrate using tight-binding calculations that weak, spin-conserving impurity scattering dramatically enhances the nonadiabaticity. To further explore this mechanism, a phenomenological drift-diffusion model for incoherent spin transport is investigated. We show that incoherent spin diffusion indeed produces an additional spatially dependent torque of the form ∼∇2[m×(u⋅∇)m]+ξ∇2[(u⋅∇)m], where m is the local magnetization direction, u is the direction of injected current, and ξ is a parameter characterizing the spin dynamics (precession, dephasing, and spin-flip). This torque, which scales as the inverse square of the domain wall width, only weakly enhances the longitudinal velocity of a transverse domain wall but significantly enhances the transverse velocity of vortex walls. The spatial-dependent spin transfer torque uncovered in this study is expected to have significant impact on the current-driven motion of abrupt two-dimensional textures such as vortices, skyrmions, and merons.

  16. Seismic Excitation of the Polar Motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Benjamin Fong; Gross, Richard S.; Han, Yan-Ben

    1996-01-01

    The mass redistribution in the earth as a result of an earthquake faulting changes the earth's inertia tensor, and hence its rotation. Using the complete formulae developed by Chao and Gross (1987) based on the normal mode theory, we calculated the earthquake-induced polar motion excitation for the largest 11,015 earthquakes that occurred during 1977.0-1993.6. The seismic excitations in this period are found to be two orders of magnitude below the detection threshold even with today's high precision earth rotation measurements. However, it was calculated that an earthquake of only one tenth the size of the great 1960 Chile event, if happened today, could be comfortably detected in polar motion observations. Furthermore, collectively these seismic excitations have a strong statistical tendency to nudge the pole towards approx. 140 deg E, away from the actually observed polar drift direction. This non-random behavior, similarly found in other earthquake-induced changes in earth rotation and low-degree gravitational field by Chao and Gross (1987), manifests some geodynamic behavior yet to be explored.

  17. Perceived state of self during motion can differentially modulate numerical magnitude allocation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arshad, Q; Nigmatullina, Y; Roberts, R E; Goga, U; Pikovsky, M; Khan, S; Lobo, R; Flury, A-S; Pettorossi, V E; Cohen-Kadosh, R; Malhotra, P A; Bronstein, A M

    2016-09-01

    Although a direct relationship between numerical allocation and spatial attention has been proposed, recent research suggests that these processes are not directly coupled. In keeping with this, spatial attention shifts induced either via visual or vestibular motion can modulate numerical allocation in some circumstances but not in others. In addition to shifting spatial attention, visual or vestibular motion paradigms also (i) elicit compensatory eye movements which themselves can influence numerical processing and (ii) alter the perceptual state of 'self', inducing changes in bodily self-consciousness impacting upon cognitive mechanisms. Thus, the precise mechanism by which motion modulates numerical allocation remains unknown. We sought to investigate the influence that different perceptual experiences of motion have upon numerical magnitude allocation while controlling for both eye movements and task-related effects. We first used optokinetic visual motion stimulation (OKS) to elicit the perceptual experience of either 'visual world' or 'self'-motion during which eye movements were identical. In a second experiment, we used a vestibular protocol examining the effects of perceived and subliminal angular rotations in darkness, which also provoked identical eye movements. We observed that during the perceptual experience of 'visual world' motion, rightward OKS-biased judgments towards smaller numbers, whereas leftward OKS-biased judgments towards larger numbers. During the perceptual experience of 'self-motion', judgments were biased towards larger numbers irrespective of the OKS direction. Contrastingly, vestibular motion perception was found not to modulate numerical magnitude allocation, nor was there any differential modulation when comparing 'perceived' vs. 'subliminal' rotations. We provide a novel demonstration that numerical magnitude allocation can be differentially modulated by the perceptual state of self during visual but not vestibular mediated motion

  18. Cross-modal prediction changes the timing of conscious access during the motion-induced blindness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Acer Y C; Kanai, Ryota; Seth, Anil K

    2015-01-01

    Despite accumulating evidence that perceptual predictions influence perceptual content, the relations between these predictions and conscious contents remain unclear, especially for cross-modal predictions. We examined whether predictions of visual events by auditory cues can facilitate conscious access to the visual stimuli. We trained participants to learn associations between auditory cues and colour changes. We then asked whether congruency between auditory cues and target colours would speed access to consciousness. We did this by rendering a visual target subjectively invisible using motion-induced blindness and then gradually changing its colour while presenting congruent or incongruent auditory cues. Results showed that the visual target gained access to consciousness faster in congruent than in incongruent trials; control experiments excluded potentially confounding effects of attention and motor response. The expectation effect was gradually established over blocks suggesting a role for extensive training. Overall, our findings show that predictions learned through cross-modal training can facilitate conscious access to visual stimuli. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Motion of the esophagus due to cardiac motion.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacob Palmer

    Full Text Available When imaging studies (e.g. CT are used to quantify morphological changes in an anatomical structure, it is necessary to understand the extent and source of motion which can give imaging artifacts (e.g. blurring or local distortion. The objective of this study was to assess the magnitude of esophageal motion due to cardiac motion. We used retrospective electrocardiogram-gated contrast-enhanced computed tomography angiography images for this study. The anatomic region from the carina to the bottom of the heart was taken at deep-inspiration breath hold with the patients' arms raised above their shoulders, in a position similar to that used for radiation therapy. The esophagus was delineated on the diastolic phase of cardiac motion, and deformable registration was used to sequentially deform the images in nearest-neighbor phases among the 10 cardiac phases, starting from the diastolic phase. Using the 10 deformation fields generated from the deformable registration, the magnitude of the extreme displacements was then calculated for each voxel, and the mean and maximum displacement was calculated for each computed tomography slice for each patient. The average maximum esophageal displacement due to cardiac motion for all patients was 5.8 mm (standard deviation: 1.6 mm, maximum: 10.0 mm in the transverse direction. For 21 of 26 patients, the largest esophageal motion was found in the inferior region of the heart; for the other patients, esophageal motion was approximately independent of superior-inferior position. The esophagus motion was larger at cardiac phases where the electrocardiogram R-wave occurs. In conclusion, the magnitude of esophageal motion near the heart due to cardiac motion is similar to that due to other sources of motion, including respiratory motion and intra-fraction motion. A larger cardiac motion will result into larger esophagus motion in a cardiac cycle.

  20. Effect of respiratory motion on internal radiation dosimetry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Xie, Tianwu; Zaidi, Habib

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: Estimation of the radiation dose to internal organs is essential for the assessment of radiation risks and benefits to patients undergoing diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures including PET. Respiratory motion induces notable internal organ displacement, which influences

  1. Psilocybin impairs high-level but not low-level motion perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carter, Olivia L; Pettigrew, John D; Burr, David C; Alais, David; Hasler, Felix; Vollenweider, Franz X

    2004-08-26

    The hallucinogenic serotonin(1A&2A) agonist psilocybin is known for its ability to induce illusions of motion in otherwise stationary objects or textured surfaces. This study investigated the effect of psilocybin on local and global motion processing in nine human volunteers. Using a forced choice direction of motion discrimination task we show that psilocybin selectively impairs coherence sensitivity for random dot patterns, likely mediated by high-level global motion detectors, but not contrast sensitivity for drifting gratings, believed to be mediated by low-level detectors. These results are in line with those observed within schizophrenic populations and are discussed in respect to the proposition that psilocybin may provide a model to investigate clinical psychosis and the pharmacological underpinnings of visual perception in normal populations.

  2. Motion sickness, stress and the endocannabinoid system.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Choukèr

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: A substantial number of individuals are at risk for the development of motion sickness induced nausea and vomiting (N&V during road, air or sea travel. Motion sickness can be extremely stressful but the neurobiologic mechanisms leading to motion sickness are not clear. The endocannabinoid system (ECS represents an important neuromodulator of stress and N&V. Inhibitory effects of the ECS on N&V are mediated by endocannabinoid-receptor activation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We studied the activity of the ECS in human volunteers (n = 21 during parabolic flight maneuvers (PFs. During PFs, microgravity conditions (<10(-2 g are generated for approximately 22 s which results in a profound kinetic stimulus. Blood endocannabinoids (anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, 2-AG were measured from blood samples taken in-flight before start of the parabolic maneuvers, after 10, 20, and 30 parabolas, in-flight after termination of PFs and 24 h later. Volunteers who developed acute motion sickness (n = 7 showed significantly higher stress scores but lower endocannabinoid levels during PFs. After 20 parabolas, blood anandamide levels had dropped significantly in volunteers with motion sickness (from 0.39+/-0.40 to 0.22+/-0.25 ng/ml but increased in participants without the condition (from 0.43+/-0.23 to 0.60+/-0.38 ng/ml resulting in significantly higher anandamide levels in participants without motion sickness (p = 0.02. 2-AG levels in individuals with motion sickness were low and almost unchanged throughout the experiment but showed a robust increase in participants without motion sickness. Cannabinoid-receptor 1 (CB1 but not cannabinoid-receptor 2 (CB2 mRNA expression in leucocytes 4 h after the experiment was significantly lower in volunteers with motion sickness than in participants without N&V. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings demonstrate that stress and motion sickness in humans are associated with impaired endocannabinoid

  3. Analysis on Flow Induced Motion of Cylinders with Different Cross Sections and the Potential Capacity of Energy Transference from the Flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jijian Lian

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The energy in flow induced motion (FIM was harnessed in recent years. In this study, the energy transfer ratio was derived to estimate the energy transference from the flow to the FIM. Then the FIM characteristics and energy transference of cylinders with different cross sections were experimentally investigated. The main findings are listed as follows. (a Circular cylinders and diamond prisms both present a self-limited motion. The maximum amplitude ratio of circular cylinder is around 1~1.2 which is higher than that of diamond prism (0.4~0.5. (b Triangle prisms and right square prisms present a self-unlimited motion. For triangle prism, amplitude ratio increases over 1.8; for right square prisms, amplitude ratio reaches 1.2. (c The maximum transfer ratios of circular cylinder and triangle prism are 80% and 57%, respectively, which are much higher than those of other prisms, indicating that circular cylinder and triangle prism have better performances in energy transference. (d The transfer ratio is strongly dependent on the damping and mass; higher damping or mass will promote a higher transfer ratio. (e Beyond the critical transfer ratios, amplitude variation coefficients are around 10%~30% resulting in a better performance in stationarity.

  4. Investigating the influence of respiratory motion on the radiation induced bystander effect in modulated radiotherapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Aidan J.; McGarry, Conor K.; Butterworth, Karl T.; McMahon, Stephen J.; Hounsell, Alan R.; Prise, Kevin M.; O'Sullivan, Joe M.

    2013-12-01

    Respiratory motion introduces complex spatio-temporal variations in the dosimetry of radiotherapy and may contribute towards uncertainties in radiotherapy planning. This study investigates the potential radiobiological implications occurring due to tumour motion in areas of geometric miss in lung cancer radiotherapy. A bespoke phantom and motor-driven platform to replicate respiratory motion and study the consequences on tumour cell survival in vitro was constructed. Human non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines H460 and H1299 were irradiated in modulated radiotherapy configurations in the presence and absence of respiratory motion. Clonogenic survival was calculated for irradiated and shielded regions. Direction of motion, replication of dosimetry by multi-leaf collimator (MLC) manipulation and oscillating lead shielding were investigated to confirm differences in cell survival. Respiratory motion was shown to significantly increase survival for out-of-field regions for H460/H1299 cell lines when compared with static irradiation (p < 0.001). Significantly higher survival was found in the in-field region for the H460 cell line (p < 0.030). Oscillating lead shielding also produced these significant differences. Respiratory motion and oscillatory delivery of radiation dose to human tumour cells has a significant impact on in- and out-of-field survival in the presence of non-uniform irradiation in this in vitro set-up. This may have important radiobiological consequences for modulated radiotherapy in lung cancer.

  5. Coupled motions direct electrons along human microsomal P450 Chains.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher R Pudney

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Protein domain motion is often implicated in biological electron transfer, but the general significance of motion is not clear. Motion has been implicated in the transfer of electrons from human cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR to all microsomal cytochrome P450s (CYPs. Our hypothesis is that tight coupling of motion with enzyme chemistry can signal "ready and waiting" states for electron transfer from CPR to downstream CYPs and support vectorial electron transfer across complex redox chains. We developed a novel approach to study the time-dependence of dynamical change during catalysis that reports on the changing conformational states of CPR. FRET was linked to stopped-flow studies of electron transfer in CPR that contains donor-acceptor fluorophores on the enzyme surface. Open and closed states of CPR were correlated with key steps in the catalytic cycle which demonstrated how redox chemistry and NADPH binding drive successive opening and closing of the enzyme. Specifically, we provide evidence that reduction of the flavin moieties in CPR induces CPR opening, whereas ligand binding induces CPR closing. A dynamic reaction cycle was created in which CPR optimizes internal electron transfer between flavin cofactors by adopting closed states and signals "ready and waiting" conformations to partner CYP enzymes by adopting more open states. This complex, temporal control of enzyme motion is used to catalyze directional electron transfer from NADPH→FAD→FMN→heme, thereby facilitating all microsomal P450-catalysed reactions. Motions critical to the broader biological functions of CPR are tightly coupled to enzyme chemistry in the human NADPH-CPR-CYP redox chain. That redox chemistry alone is sufficient to drive functionally necessary, large-scale conformational change is remarkable. Rather than relying on stochastic conformational sampling, our study highlights a need for tight coupling of motion to enzyme chemistry to give vectorial electron

  6. Biological Motion Cues Trigger Reflexive Attentional Orienting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Jinfu; Weng, Xuchu; He, Sheng; Jiang, Yi

    2010-01-01

    The human visual system is extremely sensitive to biological signals around us. In the current study, we demonstrate that biological motion walking direction can induce robust reflexive attentional orienting. Following a brief presentation of a central point-light walker walking towards either the left or right direction, observers' performance…

  7. Exciton induced directed motion of unconstrained atoms in an ultracold gas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leonhardt, K.; Wüster, S.; Rost, J. M.

    2017-03-01

    We demonstrate that through localised Rydberg excitation in a three-dimensional cold atom cloud atomic motion can be rendered directed and nearly confined to a plane, without spatial constraints for the motion of individual atoms. This enables creation and observation of non-adiabatic electronic Rydberg dynamics in atoms accelerated by dipole-dipole interactions under natural conditions. Using the full l = 0, 1 m=0,+/- 1 angular momentum state space, our simulations show that conical intersection crossings are clearly evident, both in atomic position information and excited state spectra of the Rydberg system. Hence, flexible Rydberg aggregates suggest themselves for probing quantum chemical effects in experiments on length scales much inflated as compared to a standard molecular situation.

  8. Analytic model for surface ground motion with spall induced by underground nuclear tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MacQueen, D.H.

    1982-04-01

    This report provides a detailed presentation and critique of a model used to characterize the surface ground motion following a contained, spalling underground nuclear explosion intended for calculation of the resulting atmospheric acoustic pulse. Some examples of its use are included. Some discussion of the general approach of ground motion model parameter extraction, not dependent on the specific model, is also presented

  9. Sleep dissolves illusion: sleep withstands learning of visuo-tactile-proprioceptive integration induced by repeated days of rubber hand illusion training.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Motoyasu Honma

    Full Text Available Multisensory integration is a key factor in establishing bodily self-consciousness and in adapting humans to novel environments. The rubber hand illusion paradigm, in which humans can immediately perceive illusory ownership to an artificial hand, is a traditional technique for investigating multisensory integration and the feeling of illusory ownership. However, the long-term learning properties of the rubber hand illusion have not been previously investigated. Moreover, although sleep contributes to various aspects of cognition, including learning and memory, its influence on illusory learning of the artificial hand has not yet been assessed. We determined the effects of daily repetitive training and sleep on learning visuo-tactile-proprioceptive sensory integration and illusory ownership in healthy adult participants by using the traditional rubber hand illusion paradigm. Subjective ownership of the rubber hand, proprioceptive drift, and galvanic skin response were measured to assess learning indexes. Subjective ownership was maintained and proprioceptive drift increased with daily training. Proprioceptive drift, but not subjective ownership, was significantly attenuated after sleep. A significantly greater reduction in galvanic skin response was observed after wakefulness compared to after sleep. Our results suggest that although repetitive rubber hand illusion training facilitates multisensory integration and physiological habituation of a multisensory incongruent environment, sleep corrects illusional integration and habituation based on experiences in a multisensory incongruent environment. These findings may increase our understanding of adaptive neural processes to novel environments, specifically, bodily self-consciousness and sleep-dependent neuroplasticity.

  10. Sleep dissolves illusion: sleep withstands learning of visuo-tactile-proprioceptive integration induced by repeated days of rubber hand illusion training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honma, Motoyasu; Yoshiike, Takuya; Ikeda, Hiroki; Kim, Yoshiharu; Kuriyama, Kenichi

    2014-01-01

    Multisensory integration is a key factor in establishing bodily self-consciousness and in adapting humans to novel environments. The rubber hand illusion paradigm, in which humans can immediately perceive illusory ownership to an artificial hand, is a traditional technique for investigating multisensory integration and the feeling of illusory ownership. However, the long-term learning properties of the rubber hand illusion have not been previously investigated. Moreover, although sleep contributes to various aspects of cognition, including learning and memory, its influence on illusory learning of the artificial hand has not yet been assessed. We determined the effects of daily repetitive training and sleep on learning visuo-tactile-proprioceptive sensory integration and illusory ownership in healthy adult participants by using the traditional rubber hand illusion paradigm. Subjective ownership of the rubber hand, proprioceptive drift, and galvanic skin response were measured to assess learning indexes. Subjective ownership was maintained and proprioceptive drift increased with daily training. Proprioceptive drift, but not subjective ownership, was significantly attenuated after sleep. A significantly greater reduction in galvanic skin response was observed after wakefulness compared to after sleep. Our results suggest that although repetitive rubber hand illusion training facilitates multisensory integration and physiological habituation of a multisensory incongruent environment, sleep corrects illusional integration and habituation based on experiences in a multisensory incongruent environment. These findings may increase our understanding of adaptive neural processes to novel environments, specifically, bodily self-consciousness and sleep-dependent neuroplasticity.

  11. Motion and gravity effects in the precision of quantum clocks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindkvist, Joel; Sabín, Carlos; Johansson, Göran; Fuentes, Ivette

    2015-05-19

    We show that motion and gravity affect the precision of quantum clocks. We consider a localised quantum field as a fundamental model of a quantum clock moving in spacetime and show that its state is modified due to changes in acceleration. By computing the quantum Fisher information we determine how relativistic motion modifies the ultimate bound in the precision of the measurement of time. While in the absence of motion the squeezed vacuum is the ideal state for time estimation, we find that it is highly sensitive to the motion-induced degradation of the quantum Fisher information. We show that coherent states are generally more resilient to this degradation and that in the case of very low initial number of photons, the optimal precision can be even increased by motion. These results can be tested with current technology by using superconducting resonators with tunable boundary conditions.

  12. On transcending the impasse of respiratory motion correction applications in routine clinical imaging - a consideration of a fully automated data driven motion control framework

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kesner, Adam L; Schleyer, Paul J; Büther, Florian; Walter, Martin A; Schäfers, Klaus P; Koo, Phillip J

    2014-01-01

    Positron emission tomography (PET) is increasingly used for the detection, characterization, and follow-up of tumors located in the thorax. However, patient respiratory motion presents a unique limitation that hinders the application of high-resolution PET technology for this type of imaging. Efforts to transcend this limitation have been underway for more than a decade, yet PET remains for practical considerations a modality vulnerable to motion-induced image degradation. Respiratory motion control is not employed in routine clinical operations. In this article, we take an opportunity to highlight some of the recent advancements in data-driven motion control strategies and how they may form an underpinning for what we are presenting as a fully automated data-driven motion control framework. This framework represents an alternative direction for future endeavors in motion control and can conceptually connect individual focused studies with a strategy for addressing big picture challenges and goals. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2197-7364-1-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

  13. Autorotation motions of a turbine coursed by the Magnus effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishkhanyan, M. V.; Klimina, L. A.; Privalova, O. G.

    2018-05-01

    The motion of the turbine in the flow is studied. Each blade of the main turbine is represented by a Savonius rotor. Self-induced rotation of Savonius rotors produces the Magnus force that courses the rotation of the main turbine. Existence and stability of the self-induced rotation are discussed. Parametrical analysis is carried out.

  14. Beam-induced motion correction for sub-megadalton cryo-EM particles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheres, Sjors Hw

    2014-08-13

    In electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM), the electron beam that is used for imaging also causes the sample to move. This motion blurs the images and limits the resolution attainable by single-particle analysis. In a previous Research article (Bai et al., 2013) we showed that correcting for this motion by processing movies from fast direct-electron detectors allowed structure determination to near-atomic resolution from 35,000 ribosome particles. In this Research advance article, we show that an improved movie processing algorithm is applicable to a much wider range of specimens. The new algorithm estimates straight movement tracks by considering multiple particles that are close to each other in the field of view, and models the fall-off of high-resolution information content by radiation damage in a dose-dependent manner. Application of the new algorithm to four data sets illustrates its potential for significantly improving cryo-EM structures, even for particles that are smaller than 200 kDa. Copyright © 2014, Scheres.

  15. Investigation of wire motion in superconducting magnets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogitsu, T.; Tsuchiya, K.; Devred, A.

    1990-09-01

    The large Lorentz forces occuring during the excitation of superconducting magnets can provoke sudden motions of wire, which eventually release enough energy to trigger a quench. These wire motions are accompanied by two electromagnetic effects: an induced emf along the moved wire, and a local change in flux caused by the minute dislocation of current. Both effects cause spikes in the coil voltage. Voltage data recorded during the excitation of a superconducting quadrupole magnet which early exhibit such events are here reported. Interpretations of the voltage spikes in terms of energy release are also presented, leading to insights on the spectrum of the disturbances which occur in real magnets. 15 refs

  16. Domain wall motions in perpendicularly magnetized CoFe/Pd multilayer nanowire

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Meng, Zhaoliang; Kumar, Manoj; Qiu, Jinjun

    2014-01-01

    Current-induced domain wall (DW) motion is investigated in a 600nm wide nanowire using multilayer film with a structure of Ta(5nm)/Pd(5nm)/[CoFe(0.4nm)/Pd(1.2nm)]15/Ta(5nm) in terms of anomalous Hall effect measurements. It is found that motion of DWs can be driven by a current density as low as 1...

  17. Localized motion in random matrix decomposition of complex financial systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Xiong-Fei; Zheng, Bo; Ren, Fei; Qiu, Tian

    2017-04-01

    With the random matrix theory, we decompose the multi-dimensional time series of complex financial systems into a set of orthogonal eigenmode functions, which are classified into the market mode, sector mode, and random mode. In particular, the localized motion generated by the business sectors, plays an important role in financial systems. Both the business sectors and their impact on the stock market are identified from the localized motion. We clarify that the localized motion induces different characteristics of the time correlations for the stock-market index and individual stocks. With a variation of a two-factor model, we reproduce the return-volatility correlations of the eigenmodes.

  18. Induction and separation of motion artifacts in EEG data using a mobile phantom head device.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira, Anderson S; Schlink, Bryan R; Hairston, W David; König, Peter; Ferris, Daniel P

    2016-06-01

    Electroencephalography (EEG) can assess brain activity during whole-body motion in humans but head motion can induce artifacts that obfuscate electrocortical signals. Definitive solutions for removing motion artifact from EEG have yet to be found, so creating methods to assess signal processing routines for removing motion artifact are needed. We present a novel method for investigating the influence of head motion on EEG recordings as well as for assessing the efficacy of signal processing approaches intended to remove motion artifact. We used a phantom head device to mimic electrical properties of the human head with three controlled dipolar sources of electrical activity embedded in the phantom. We induced sinusoidal vertical motions on the phantom head using a custom-built platform and recorded EEG signals with three different acquisition systems while the head was both stationary and in varied motion conditions. Recordings showed up to 80% reductions in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and up to 3600% increases in the power spectrum as a function of motion amplitude and frequency. Independent component analysis (ICA) successfully isolated the three dipolar sources across all conditions and systems. There was a high correlation (r > 0.85) and marginal increase in the independent components' (ICs) power spectrum (∼15%) when comparing stationary and motion parameters. The SNR of the IC activation was 400%-700% higher in comparison to the channel data SNR, attenuating the effects of motion on SNR. Our results suggest that the phantom head and motion platform can be used to assess motion artifact removal algorithms and compare different EEG systems for motion artifact sensitivity. In addition, ICA is effective in isolating target electrocortical events and marginally improving SNR in relation to stationary recordings.

  19. Magnetosheath density fluctuations and magnetopause motion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sibeck, D.G. [Johns Hopkins Univ. Applied Physics Lab., Laurel, MD (United States); Gosling, J.T. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)

    1996-01-01

    The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation controls foreshock densities and modulates the fraction of the solar wind dynamic pressure applied to the magnetosphere. Such pressure variations produce bow shock and magnetopause motion and cause the radial profiles for various magnetosheath parameters to sweep inward and outward past nearly stationary satellites. The authors report ISEE 2 observations of correlated density and speed fluctuations, and anticorrelated density and temperature fluctuations, on an outbound pass through the northern dawnside magnetosheath. Densities decreased when the magnetic field rotated southward and draped about the magnetopause. In the absence of any significant solar wind density or dynamic pressure variations, they interpret the magnetosheath fluctuations as evidence for radial magnetosheath motion induced by variations in the IMF orientation. 41 refs., 8 figs.

  20. Estimation of Ship Motions Using Closed-Form Expressions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jørgen Juncher; Mansour, A.E.; Olsen, Anders Smærup

    2004-01-01

    A semi-analytical approach is used to derive frequency response functions for the wave-induced motions for monohull ships. The results are given as closed-form expressions and the required input information for the procedure is restricted to the main dimensions: Length, breadth, draught, block...

  1. Exploring the effect of East Antarctic ice mass loss on GIA-induced horizontal bedrock motions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konfal, S. A.; Whitehouse, P. L.; Hermans, T.; van der Wal, W.; Wilson, T. J.; Bevis, M. G.; Kendrick, E. C.; Dalziel, I.; Smalley, R., Jr.

    2017-12-01

    Ice history inputs used in Antarctic models of GIA include major centers of ice mass loss in West Antarctica. In the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) region spanning the boundary between East and West Antarctica, horizontal crustal motions derived from GPS observations from the Antarctic Network (ANET) component of the Polar Earth Observing Network (POLENET) are towards these West Antarctic ice mass centers, opposite to the pattern of radial crustal motion expected in an unloading scenario. We investigate alternative ice history and earth structure inputs to GIA models in an attempt to reproduce observed crustal motions in the region. The W12 ice history model is altered to create scenarios including ice unloading in the Wilkes Subglacial Basin based on available glaciological records. These altered ice history models, along with the unmodified W12 ice history model, are coupled with 60 radially varying (1D) earth model combinations, including approximations of optimal earth profiles identified in published GIA models. The resulting model-predicted motions utilizing both the modified and unmodified ice history models fit ANET GPS-derived crustal motions in the northern TAM region for a suite of earth model combinations. Further south, where the influence of simulated Wilkes unloading is weakest and West Antarctic unloading is strongest, observed and predicted motions do not agree. The influence of simulated Wilkes ice unloading coupled with laterally heterogeneous earth models is also investigated. The resulting model-predicted motions do not differ significantly between the original W12 and W12 with simulated Wilkes unloading ice histories.

  2. Fetal motion estimation from noninvasive cardiac signal recordings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biglari, Hadis; Sameni, Reza

    2016-11-01

    Fetal motility is a widely accepted indicator of the well-being of a fetus. In previous research, it has be shown that fetal motion (FM) is coherent with fetal heart rate accelerations and an indicator for active/rest cycles of the fetus. The most common approach for FM and fetal heart rate (FHR) assessment is by Doppler ultrasound (DUS). While DUS is the most common approach for studying the mechanical activities of the heart, noninvasive fetal electrocardiogram (ECG) and magnetocardiogram (MCG) recording and processing techniques have been considered as a possible competitor (or complement) for the DUS. In this study, a fully automatic and robust framework is proposed for the extraction, ranking and alignment of fetal QRS-complexes from noninvasive fetal ECG/MCG. Using notions from subspace tracking, two measures, namely the actogram and rotatogram, are defined for fetal motion tracking. The method is applied to four fetal ECG/MCG databases, including twin MCG recordings. By defining a novel measure of causality, it is shown that there is significant coherency and causal relationship between the actogram/rotatogram and FHR accelerations/decelerations. Using this measure, it is shown that in many cases, the actogram and rotatogram precede the FHR variations, which supports the idea of motion-induced FHR accelerations/decelerations for these cases and raises attention for the non-motion-induced FHR variations, which can be associated to the fetal central nervous system developments. The results of this study can lead to novel perspectives of the fetal sympathetic and parasympathetic brain systems and future requirements of fetal cardiac monitoring.

  3. The Role of Motion Concepts in Understanding Non-Motion Concepts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Omid Khatin-Zadeh

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This article discusses a specific type of metaphor in which an abstract non-motion domain is described in terms of a motion event. Abstract non-motion domains are inherently different from concrete motion domains. However, motion domains are used to describe abstract non-motion domains in many metaphors. Three main reasons are suggested for the suitability of motion events in such metaphorical descriptions. Firstly, motion events usually have high degrees of concreteness. Secondly, motion events are highly imageable. Thirdly, components of any motion event can be imagined almost simultaneously within a three-dimensional space. These three characteristics make motion events suitable domains for describing abstract non-motion domains, and facilitate the process of online comprehension throughout language processing. Extending the main point into the field of mathematics, this article discusses the process of transforming abstract mathematical problems into imageable geometric representations within the three-dimensional space. This strategy is widely used by mathematicians to solve highly abstract and complex problems.

  4. Thermally induced micro-motion by inflection in optical potential

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Šiler, Martin; Jákl, Petr; Brzobohatý, Oto; Ryabov, A.; Filip, R.; Zemánek, Pavel

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 7, MAY (2017), s. 1-8, č. článku 1697. ISSN 2045-2322 R&D Projects: GA ČR GB14-36681G; GA MŠk(CZ) LO1212; GA MŠk ED0017/01/01 Institutional support: RVO:68081731 Keywords : molecular motors * brownian-motion * manipulation * efficiency * tweezers Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers OBOR OECD: Optics (including laser optics and quantum optics) Impact factor: 4.259, year: 2016

  5. Schedule and complex motion of shuttle bus induced by periodic inflow of passengers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagatani, Takashi; Naito, Yuichi

    2011-09-01

    We have studied the dynamic behavior of a bus in the shuttle bus transportation with a periodic inflow. A bus schedule is closely related to the dynamics. We present the modified circle map model for the dynamics of the shuttle bus. The motion of the shuttle bus depends on the loading parameter and the inflow period. The shuttle bus displays the periodic, quasi-periodic, and chaotic motions with varying both loading parameter and inflow rate.

  6. The role of roughness-induced damping in the oscillatory motion of bilayer graphene

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye, Zhijiang; Martini, Ashlie; Otero-de-la-Roza, Alberto; Johnson, Erin R

    2014-01-01

    A multi-scale theoretical model is presented that is the first to offer quantitative agreement with experimental measurements of self-retraction and oscillation of bilayer graphene. The model integrates density-functional theory calculations of the energetics driving flake retraction and molecular-dynamics simulations capturing the dynamic response of laterally-offset rough surfaces. We demonstrate that nanoscale roughness explains self-retraction motion and propose a recipe for tuning that motion by controlling friction. (paper)

  7. Sensory training with vibration-induced kinesthetic illusions improves proprioceptive integration in patients with Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ribot-Ciscar, Edith; Aimonetti, Jean-Marc; Azulay, Jean-Philippe

    2017-12-15

    The present study investigates whether proprioceptive training, based on kinesthetic illusions, can help in re-educating the processing of muscle proprioceptive input, which is impaired in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The processing of proprioceptive input before and after training was evaluated by determining the error in the amplitude of voluntary dorsiflexion ankle movement (20°), induced by applying a vibration on the tendon of the gastrocnemius-soleus muscle (a vibration-induced movement error). The training consisted of the subjects focusing their attention upon a series of illusory movements of the ankle. Eleven PD patients and eleven age-matched control subjects were tested. Before training, vibration reduced dorsiflexion amplitude in controls by 4.3° (Pkinesthetic illusions, is a simple means for re-educating the processing of muscle proprioceptive input in PD patients. Such complementary training should be included in rehabilitation programs that presently focus on improving balance and motor performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Retrieval-Induced Inhibition in Short-Term Memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Min-Suk; Choi, Joongrul

    2015-07-01

    We used a visual illusion called motion repulsion as a model system for investigating competition between two mental representations. Subjects were asked to remember two random-dot-motion displays presented in sequence and then to report the motion directions for each. Remembered motion directions were shifted away from the actual motion directions, an effect similar to the motion repulsion observed during perception. More important, the item retrieved second showed greater repulsion than the item retrieved first. This suggests that earlier retrieval exerted greater inhibition on the other item being held in short-term memory. This retrieval-induced motion repulsion could be explained neither by reduced cognitive resources for maintaining short-term memory nor by continued inhibition between short-term memory representations. These results indicate that retrieval of memory representations inhibits other representations in short-term memory. We discuss mechanisms of retrieval-induced inhibition and their implications for the structure of memory. © The Author(s) 2015.

  9. Bunch motion in the presence of the self-induced voltage due to a reactive impedance; 1, RF off

    CERN Document Server

    Shaposhnikova, Elena

    1995-01-01

    Analytic self-consistent solutions have been found for the nonlinear Vlasov equation describing different types of behaviour with time of an intense bunch under the influence of voltage induced due to a reactive part of broad band impedance. The problem is solved for the particular type of the initial distribution function in longitudinal phase space which is elliptic and corresponds to parabolic line density. The first part of the paper is devoted to the consideration of the effects in the machine with RF off. In this case induced voltage is changing with time and, as in the case with RF on, can have a significant effect on bunch motion. Numerical estimations for the SPS show that this effect can be important for manipulations with beam at 26GeV. Measurements of the change in the rate of debunching with intensity can also be used to estimate the value of the impedance. The same method is applied in the second part of the paper to analyse time dependent effects of potential well distortion when RF is on.

  10. Development of motion image prediction method using principal component analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chhatkuli, Ritu Bhusal; Demachi, Kazuyuki; Kawai, Masaki; Sakakibara, Hiroshi; Kamiaka, Kazuma

    2012-01-01

    Respiratory motion can induce the limit in the accuracy of area irradiated during lung cancer radiation therapy. Many methods have been introduced to minimize the impact of healthy tissue irradiation due to the lung tumor motion. The purpose of this research is to develop an algorithm for the improvement of image guided radiation therapy by the prediction of motion images. We predict the motion images by using principal component analysis (PCA) and multi-channel singular spectral analysis (MSSA) method. The images/movies were successfully predicted and verified using the developed algorithm. With the proposed prediction method it is possible to forecast the tumor images over the next breathing period. The implementation of this method in real time is believed to be significant for higher level of tumor tracking including the detection of sudden abdominal changes during radiation therapy. (author)

  11. On a PCA-based lung motion model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li Ruijiang; Lewis, John H; Jia Xun; Jiang, Steve B [Department of Radiation Oncology and Center for Advanced Radiotherapy Technologies, University of California San Diego, 3855 Health Sciences Dr, La Jolla, CA 92037-0843 (United States); Zhao Tianyu; Wuenschel, Sara; Lamb, James; Yang Deshan; Low, Daniel A [Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, 4921 Parkview Pl, St. Louis, MO 63110-1093 (United States); Liu Weifeng, E-mail: sbjiang@ucsd.edu [Amazon.com Inc., 701 5th Ave. Seattle, WA 98104 (United States)

    2011-09-21

    Respiration-induced organ motion is one of the major uncertainties in lung cancer radiotherapy and is crucial to be able to accurately model the lung motion. Most work so far has focused on the study of the motion of a single point (usually the tumor center of mass), and much less work has been done to model the motion of the entire lung. Inspired by the work of Zhang et al (2007 Med. Phys. 34 4772-81), we believe that the spatiotemporal relationship of the entire lung motion can be accurately modeled based on principle component analysis (PCA) and then a sparse subset of the entire lung, such as an implanted marker, can be used to drive the motion of the entire lung (including the tumor). The goal of this work is twofold. First, we aim to understand the underlying reason why PCA is effective for modeling lung motion and find the optimal number of PCA coefficients for accurate lung motion modeling. We attempt to address the above important problems both in a theoretical framework and in the context of real clinical data. Second, we propose a new method to derive the entire lung motion using a single internal marker based on the PCA model. The main results of this work are as follows. We derived an important property which reveals the implicit regularization imposed by the PCA model. We then studied the model using two mathematical respiratory phantoms and 11 clinical 4DCT scans for eight lung cancer patients. For the mathematical phantoms with cosine and an even power (2n) of cosine motion, we proved that 2 and 2n PCA coefficients and eigenvectors will completely represent the lung motion, respectively. Moreover, for the cosine phantom, we derived the equivalence conditions for the PCA motion model and the physiological 5D lung motion model (Low et al 2005 Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 63 921-9). For the clinical 4DCT data, we demonstrated the modeling power and generalization performance of the PCA model. The average 3D modeling error using PCA was within 1

  12. On a PCA-based lung motion model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ruijiang; Lewis, John H; Jia, Xun; Zhao, Tianyu; Liu, Weifeng; Wuenschel, Sara; Lamb, James; Yang, Deshan; Low, Daniel A; Jiang, Steve B

    2011-09-21

    Respiration-induced organ motion is one of the major uncertainties in lung cancer radiotherapy and is crucial to be able to accurately model the lung motion. Most work so far has focused on the study of the motion of a single point (usually the tumor center of mass), and much less work has been done to model the motion of the entire lung. Inspired by the work of Zhang et al (2007 Med. Phys. 34 4772-81), we believe that the spatiotemporal relationship of the entire lung motion can be accurately modeled based on principle component analysis (PCA) and then a sparse subset of the entire lung, such as an implanted marker, can be used to drive the motion of the entire lung (including the tumor). The goal of this work is twofold. First, we aim to understand the underlying reason why PCA is effective for modeling lung motion and find the optimal number of PCA coefficients for accurate lung motion modeling. We attempt to address the above important problems both in a theoretical framework and in the context of real clinical data. Second, we propose a new method to derive the entire lung motion using a single internal marker based on the PCA model. The main results of this work are as follows. We derived an important property which reveals the implicit regularization imposed by the PCA model. We then studied the model using two mathematical respiratory phantoms and 11 clinical 4DCT scans for eight lung cancer patients. For the mathematical phantoms with cosine and an even power (2n) of cosine motion, we proved that 2 and 2n PCA coefficients and eigenvectors will completely represent the lung motion, respectively. Moreover, for the cosine phantom, we derived the equivalence conditions for the PCA motion model and the physiological 5D lung motion model (Low et al 2005 Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 63 921-9). For the clinical 4DCT data, we demonstrated the modeling power and generalization performance of the PCA model. The average 3D modeling error using PCA was within 1

  13. On a PCA-based lung motion model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Ruijiang; Lewis, John H; Jia Xun; Jiang, Steve B; Zhao Tianyu; Wuenschel, Sara; Lamb, James; Yang Deshan; Low, Daniel A; Liu Weifeng

    2011-01-01

    Respiration-induced organ motion is one of the major uncertainties in lung cancer radiotherapy and is crucial to be able to accurately model the lung motion. Most work so far has focused on the study of the motion of a single point (usually the tumor center of mass), and much less work has been done to model the motion of the entire lung. Inspired by the work of Zhang et al (2007 Med. Phys. 34 4772-81), we believe that the spatiotemporal relationship of the entire lung motion can be accurately modeled based on principle component analysis (PCA) and then a sparse subset of the entire lung, such as an implanted marker, can be used to drive the motion of the entire lung (including the tumor). The goal of this work is twofold. First, we aim to understand the underlying reason why PCA is effective for modeling lung motion and find the optimal number of PCA coefficients for accurate lung motion modeling. We attempt to address the above important problems both in a theoretical framework and in the context of real clinical data. Second, we propose a new method to derive the entire lung motion using a single internal marker based on the PCA model. The main results of this work are as follows. We derived an important property which reveals the implicit regularization imposed by the PCA model. We then studied the model using two mathematical respiratory phantoms and 11 clinical 4DCT scans for eight lung cancer patients. For the mathematical phantoms with cosine and an even power (2n) of cosine motion, we proved that 2 and 2n PCA coefficients and eigenvectors will completely represent the lung motion, respectively. Moreover, for the cosine phantom, we derived the equivalence conditions for the PCA motion model and the physiological 5D lung motion model (Low et al 2005 Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 63 921-9). For the clinical 4DCT data, we demonstrated the modeling power and generalization performance of the PCA model. The average 3D modeling error using PCA was within 1

  14. MRI-Based Nonrigid Motion Correction in Simultaneous PET/MRI

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chun, Se Young; Reese, Timothy G.; Ouyang, Jinsong; Guerin, Bastien; Catana, Ciprian; Zhu, Xuping; Alpert, Nathaniel M.; El Fakhri, Georges

    2014-01-01

    Respiratory and cardiac motion is the most serious limitation to whole-body PET, resulting in spatial resolution close to 1 cm. Furthermore, motion-induced inconsistencies in the attenuation measurements often lead to significant artifacts in the reconstructed images. Gating can remove motion artifacts at the cost of increased noise. This paper presents an approach to respiratory motion correction using simultaneous PET/MRI to demonstrate initial results in phantoms, rabbits, and nonhuman primates and discusses the prospects for clinical application. Methods Studies with a deformable phantom, a free-breathing primate, and rabbits implanted with radioactive beads were performed with simultaneous PET/MRI. Motion fields were estimated from concurrently acquired tagged MR images using 2 B-spline nonrigid image registration methods and incorporated into a PET list-mode ordered-subsets expectation maximization algorithm. Using the measured motion fields to transform both the emission data and the attenuation data, we could use all the coincidence data to reconstruct any phase of the respiratory cycle. We compared the resulting SNR and the channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) detection signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the motion-corrected reconstruction with the results obtained from standard gating and uncorrected studies. Results Motion correction virtually eliminated motion blur without reducing SNR, yielding images with SNR comparable to those obtained by gating with 5–8 times longer acquisitions in all studies. The CHO study in dynamic phantoms demonstrated a significant improvement (166%–276%) in lesion detection SNR with MRI-based motion correction as compared with gating (P < 0.001). This improvement was 43%–92% for large motion compared with lesion detection without motion correction (P < 0.001). CHO SNR in the rabbit studies confirmed these results. Conclusion Tagged MRI motion correction in simultaneous PET/MRI significantly improves lesion detection

  15. Near-Field Ground Motion Modal versus Wave Propagation Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Artur Cichowicz

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The response spectrum generally provides a good estimate of the global displacement and acceleration demand of far-field ground motion on a structure. However, it does not provide accurate information on the local shape or internal deformation of the response of the structure. Near-field pulse-like ground motion will propagate through the structure as waves, causing large, localized deformation. Therefore, the response spectrum alone is not a sufficient representation of near-field ground motion features. Results show that the drift-response technique based on a continuous shear-beam model has to be employed here to estimate structure-demand parameters when structure is exposed to the pulse like ground motion. Conduced modeling shows limited applicability of the drift spectrum based on the SDOF approximation. The SDOF drift spectrum approximation can only be applied to structures with smaller natural periods than the dominant period of the ground motion. For periods larger than the dominant period of ground motion the SDOF drift spectra model significantly underestimates maximum deformation. Strong pulse-type motions are observed in the near-source region of large earthquakes; however, there is a lack of waveforms collected from small earthquakes at very close distances that were recorded underground in mines. The results presented in this paper are relevant for structures with a height of a few meters, placed in an underground excavation. The strong ground motion sensors recorded mine-induced earthquakes in a deep gold mine, South Africa. The strongest monitored horizontal ground motion was caused by an event of magnitude 2 at a distance of 90 m with PGA 123 m/s2, causing drifts of 0.25%–0.35%. The weak underground motion has spectral characteristics similar to the strong ground motion observed on the earth's surface; the drift spectrum has a maximum value less than 0.02%.

  16. Experimental study on vortex-induced motions of a semi-submersible with square columns and pontoons at different draft conditions and current incidences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mingyue Liu

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The Vortex-induced Motions (VIM phenomenon of semi-submersibles is relevant for the fatigue life of moorings and risers. Model tests regarding the VIM behavior of a semi-submersible with four square columns were conducted in order to investigate the effects of the current incidence and the aspect ratio of the immerged column. The experimental results show that the largest transverse amplitudes are around 70% of the column width at 30° and 45° incidences in a range of reduced velocities from 5 to 8 when the aspect ratio of the immerged column is 1.90. The largest yaw motion occurs at 0° incidence with the peak value around 4.5°. Similar characteristics of the VIM response are observed for the semi-submersible with aspect ratios of 1.90 and 1.73. When the aspect ratio decreases 50% to 0.87, 30% decrease in the peak transverse amplitudes can be seen.

  17. Analysis of target volume motion followed by induced abdominal compression in tomotherapy for prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oh, Jeong Hun; Jung, Geon A; Jung, Won Seok; Jo, Jung Young; Kim, Gi Chul; Choi, Tae Kyu

    2014-01-01

    To evaluate the changes of the motion of abdominal cavity between interfraction and intrafraction by using abdominal compression for reducing abdominal motion. 60 MVCT images were obtained before and after tomotherapy from 10 prostate cancer patients over the whole radiotherapy period. Shift values ( X -lateral Y -longitudinal Z -vertical and Roll ) were measured and from it, the correlation of between interfraction set up change and intrafraction target motion was analyzed when applying abdominal compression. The motion changes of interfraction were X- average 0.65±2.32mm, Y-average 1.41±4.83mm, Z-average 0.73± 0.52mm and Roll-average 0.96±0.21mm. The motion changes of intrafraction were X-average 0.15±0.44mm, Y-average 0.13 ±0.44mm, Z-average 0.24±0.64mm and Roll- average 0.1±0.9mm. The average PTV maximum dose difference was minimum for 10% phase and maximum for 70% phase. The average Spain cord maximum dose difference was minimum for 0% phase and maximum for 50% phase. The average difference of V 20 , V 10 , V 5 of Lung show bo certain trend. Abdominal compression can minimize the motion of internal organs and patients. So it is considered to be able to get more ideal dose volume without damage of normal structures from generating margin in small in producing PTV

  18. fMRI evidence for the role of recollection in suppressing misattribution errors: the illusory truth effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Jason P; Dodson, Chad S; Schacter, Daniel L

    2005-05-01

    Misattribution refers to the act of attributing a memory or idea to an incorrect source, such as successfully remembering a bit of information but linking it to an inappropriate person or time [Jacoby, L. L., Kelley, C., Brown, J., & Jasechko, J. (1989). Becoming famous overnight: Limits on the ability to avoid unconscious influences of the past. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 326-338; Schacter, D. L. (1999). The seven sins of memory: Insights from psychology and cognitive neuroscience. American Psychologist, 54, 182-203; Schacter, D. L. (2001). The seven sins of memory: How the mind forgets and remembers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin]. Cognitive studies have suggested that misattribution errors may occur in the absence of recollection for the details of an initial encounter with a stimulus, but little is known about the neural basis of this memory phenomenon. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the hypothesized role of recollection in counteracting the illusory truth effect, a misattribution error whereby perceivers systematically overrate the truth of previously presented information. Imaging was conducted during the encoding and subsequent judgment of unfamiliar statements that were presented as true or false. Event-related fMRI analyses were conditionalized as a function of subsequent performance. Results demonstrated that encoding activation in regions previously associated with successful recollection--including the hippocampus and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC)--correlated with the successful avoidance of misattribution errors, providing initial neuroimaging support for earlier cognitive accounts of misattribution.

  19. New human-centered linear and nonlinear motion cueing algorithms for control of simulator motion systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Telban, Robert J.

    While the performance of flight simulator motion system hardware has advanced substantially, the development of the motion cueing algorithm, the software that transforms simulated aircraft dynamics into realizable motion commands, has not kept pace. To address this, new human-centered motion cueing algorithms were developed. A revised "optimal algorithm" uses time-invariant filters developed by optimal control, incorporating human vestibular system models. The "nonlinear algorithm" is a novel approach that is also formulated by optimal control, but can also be updated in real time. It incorporates a new integrated visual-vestibular perception model that includes both visual and vestibular sensation and the interaction between the stimuli. A time-varying control law requires the matrix Riccati equation to be solved in real time by a neurocomputing approach. Preliminary pilot testing resulted in the optimal algorithm incorporating a new otolith model, producing improved motion cues. The nonlinear algorithm vertical mode produced a motion cue with a time-varying washout, sustaining small cues for longer durations and washing out large cues more quickly compared to the optimal algorithm. The inclusion of the integrated perception model improved the responses to longitudinal and lateral cues. False cues observed with the NASA adaptive algorithm were absent. As a result of unsatisfactory sensation, an augmented turbulence cue was added to the vertical mode for both the optimal and nonlinear algorithms. The relative effectiveness of the algorithms, in simulating aircraft maneuvers, was assessed with an eleven-subject piloted performance test conducted on the NASA Langley Visual Motion Simulator (VMS). Two methods, the quasi-objective NASA Task Load Index (TLX), and power spectral density analysis of pilot control, were used to assess pilot workload. TLX analysis reveals, in most cases, less workload and variation among pilots with the nonlinear algorithm. Control input

  20. Tracking Without Perceiving: A Dissociation Between Eye Movements and Motion Perception

    OpenAIRE

    Spering, Miriam; Pomplun, Marc; Carrasco, Marisa

    2010-01-01

    Can people react to objects in their visual field that they do not consciously perceive? We investigated how visual perception and motor action respond to moving objects whose visibility is reduced, and we found a dissociation between motion processing for perception and for action. We compared motion perception and eye movements evoked by two orthogonally drifting gratings, each presented separately to a different eye. The strength of each monocular grating was manipulated by inducing adapta...

  1. Dynamic Mesh CFD Simulations of Orion Parachute Pendulum Motion During Atmospheric Entry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halstrom, Logan D.; Schwing, Alan M.; Robinson, Stephen K.

    2016-01-01

    This paper demonstrates the usage of computational fluid dynamics to study the effects of pendulum motion dynamics of the NASAs Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle parachute system on the stability of the vehicles atmospheric entry and decent. Significant computational fluid dynamics testing has already been performed at NASAs Johnson Space Center, but this study sought to investigate the effect of bulk motion of the parachute, such as pitching, on the induced aerodynamic forces. Simulations were performed with a moving grid geometry oscillating according to the parameters observed in flight tests. As with the previous simulations, OVERFLOW computational fluid dynamics tool is used with the assumption of rigid, non-permeable geometry. Comparison to parachute wind tunnel tests is included for a preliminary validation of the dynamic mesh model. Results show qualitative differences in the flow fields of the static and dynamic simulations and quantitative differences in the induced aerodynamic forces, suggesting that dynamic mesh modeling of the parachute pendulum motion may uncover additional dynamic effects.

  2. Correlation of photon beam motion with vacuum chamber cooling on the NSLS x-ray ring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, E.D.; Fauchet, A.M.; Zhang, Xiaohao.

    1991-01-01

    The NSLS X-ray ring exhibits a direct correlation between photon beam motion, and distortion of the ring vacuum chamber induced by fluctuations in the cooling system. We have made long term measurements of photon beam vertical position, accelerator vacuum chamber motion, process water temperatures, and angular motions of the magnets around one superperiod of the NSLS x-ray ring. Short term transients in water temperature cause deflection of the ring vacuum chamber which have in turn been shown to induce very small angular rotations of the magnets, on the order of 10 micro-radians. A larger and more difficult to correct effect is the drift in beam position over the course of a fill. This problem has been shown to be related to the thermal gradients that develop across the vacuum chamber which, as a consequence of the configuration of the chamber cooling, depend upon stored current. Orbit simulations based upon the measured rotations are in agreement with the observed beam motions, and reveal that certain patterns of correlated motions of the magnets can produce much larger errors than random motion or concerted motion of all the magnets. During the course of these measurements global orbit feedback was installed, and found to significantly reduce the orbit errors which could not be corrected at their source

  3. A Dynamic Model for Roll Motion of Ships due to Flooding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xia, Jinzhu; Jensen, Jørgen Juncher; Pedersen, Preben Terndrup

    1999-01-01

    Because of the large undivided deck spaces, RoRo vessels are often sensitive to rapid capsizing due to sudden ingress of water. Following a high-energy damage, a rapidly increasing heeling moment is induced by the ingress of water, which generates a roll motion of the damaged vessel. If, addition......Because of the large undivided deck spaces, RoRo vessels are often sensitive to rapid capsizing due to sudden ingress of water. Following a high-energy damage, a rapidly increasing heeling moment is induced by the ingress of water, which generates a roll motion of the damaged vessel. If......, additionally, the car deck is flooded and/or the cargo is shifted, the heeling moment may exceed the residual restoring moment, which results in capsizing....

  4. Acute ECG changes and chest pain induced by neck motion in patients with cervical hernia--a case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Güler, N; Bilge, M; Eryonucu, B; Cirak, B

    2000-10-01

    We report two cases of acute cervical angina and ECG changes induced by anteflexion of the head. Cervical angina is defined as chest pain that resembles true cardiac angina but originates from cervical discopathy with nerve root compression. In these patients, Prinzmetal's angina, valvular heart disease, congenital heart disease, left ventricular aneurysm, and cardiomyopathy were excluded. After all, the patient's chest pain was reproduced by anteflexion of head, at this time, their ECGs showed nonspecific ST-T changes in the inferior and anterior leads different from the basal ECG. ECG changes returned to normal when the patient's neck moved to the neutral position. To our knowledge, these are the first cases of cervical angina associated with acute ECG changes by neck motion.

  5. EEG based time and frequency dynamics analysis of visually induced motion sickness (VIMS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arsalan Naqvi, Syed Ali; Badruddin, Nasreen; Jatoi, Munsif Ali; Malik, Aamir Saeed; Hazabbah, Wan; Abdullah, Baharudin

    2015-12-01

    3D movies are attracting the viewers as they can see the objects flying out of the screen. However, many viewers have reported various problems which are usually faced after watching 3D movies. These problems include visual fatigue, eye strain, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision or collectively may be termed as visually induced motion sickness (VIMS). This research focuses on the comparison between 3D passive technology with a conventional 2D technology to find that whether 3D is causing trouble in the viewers or not. For this purpose, an experiment was designed in which participants were randomly assigned to watch 2D or a 3D movie. The movie was specially designed to induce VIMS. The movie was shown for the duration of 10 min to every participant. The electroencephalogram (EEG) data was recorded throughout the session. At the end of the session, participants rated their feelings using simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ). The SSQ data was analyzed and the ratings of 2D and 3D participants were compared statistically by using a two tailed t test. From the SSQ results, it was found that participants watching 3D movies reported significantly higher symptoms of VIMS (p value EEG data was analyzed by using MATLAB and topographic plots are created from the data. A significant difference has been observed in the frontal-theta power which increases with the passage of time in 2D condition while decreases with time in 3D condition. Also, a decrease in beta power has been found in the temporal lobe of 3D group. Therefore, it is concluded that there are negative effects of 3D movies causing significant changes in the brain activity in terms of band powers. This condition leads to produce symptoms of VIMS in the viewers.

  6. Perception and the strongest sensory memory trace of multi-stable displays both form shortly after the stimulus onset.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pastukhov, Alexander

    2016-02-01

    We investigated the relation between perception and sensory memory of multi-stable structure-from-motion displays. The latter is an implicit visual memory that reflects a recent history of perceptual dominance and influences only the initial perception of multi-stable displays. First, we established the earliest time point when the direction of an illusory rotation can be reversed after the display onset (29-114 ms). Because our display manipulation did not bias perception towards a specific direction of illusory rotation but only signaled the change in motion, this means that the perceptual dominance was established no later than 29-114 ms after the stimulus onset. Second, we used orientation-selectivity of sensory memory to establish which display orientation produced the strongest memory trace and when this orientation was presented during the preceding prime interval (80-140 ms). Surprisingly, both estimates point towards the time interval immediately after the display onset, indicating that both perception and sensory memory form at approximately the same time. This suggests a tighter integration between perception and sensory memory than previously thought, warrants a reconsideration of its role in visual perception, and indicates that sensory memory could be a unique behavioral correlate of the earlier perceptual inference that can be studied post hoc.

  7. WE-AB-303-05: Breathing Motion of Liver Segments From Fiducial Tracking During Robotic Radiosurgery and Comparison with 4D-CT-Derived Fiducial Motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sutherland, J; Pantarotto, J; Nair, V; Cook, G; Plourde, M; Vandervoort, E

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: To quantify respiratory-induced motion of liver segments using the positions of implanted fiducials during robotic radiosurgery. This study also compared fiducial motion derived from four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) maximum intensity projections (MIP) with motion derived from imaging during treatment. Methods: Forty-two consecutive liver patients treated with liver ablative radiotherapy were accrued to an ethics approved retrospective study. The liver segment in which each fiducial resided was identified. Fiducial positions throughout each treatment fraction were determined using orthogonal kilovoltage images. Any data due to patient repositioning or motion was removed. Mean fiducial positions were calculated. Fiducial positions beyond two standard deviations of the mean were discarded and remaining positions were fit to a line segment using least squares minimization (LSM). For eight patients, fiducial motion was derived from 4D-CT MIPs by calculating the CT number weighted mean position of the fiducial on each slice and fitting a line segment to these points using LSM. Treatment derived fiducial trajectories were corrected for patient rotation and compared to MIP derived trajectories. Results: The mean total magnitude of fiducial motion across all liver segments in left-right, anteroposterior, and superoinferior (SI) directions were 3.0 ± 0.2 mm, 9.3 ± 0.4 mm, and 20.5 ± 0.5 mm, respectively. Differences in per-segment mean fiducial motion were found with SI motion ranging from 12.6 ± 0.8 mm to 22.6 ± 0.9 mm for segments 3 and 8, respectively. Large, varied differences between treatment and MIP derived motion at simulation were found with the mean difference for SI motion being 2.6 mm (10.8 mm standard deviation). Conclusion: The magnitude of liver fiducial motion was found to differ by liver segment. MIP derived liver fiducial motion differed from motion observed during treatment, implying that 4D-CTs may not accurately capture the

  8. WE-AB-303-05: Breathing Motion of Liver Segments From Fiducial Tracking During Robotic Radiosurgery and Comparison with 4D-CT-Derived Fiducial Motion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sutherland, J; Pantarotto, J; Nair, V; Cook, G; Plourde, M; Vandervoort, E [The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: To quantify respiratory-induced motion of liver segments using the positions of implanted fiducials during robotic radiosurgery. This study also compared fiducial motion derived from four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) maximum intensity projections (MIP) with motion derived from imaging during treatment. Methods: Forty-two consecutive liver patients treated with liver ablative radiotherapy were accrued to an ethics approved retrospective study. The liver segment in which each fiducial resided was identified. Fiducial positions throughout each treatment fraction were determined using orthogonal kilovoltage images. Any data due to patient repositioning or motion was removed. Mean fiducial positions were calculated. Fiducial positions beyond two standard deviations of the mean were discarded and remaining positions were fit to a line segment using least squares minimization (LSM). For eight patients, fiducial motion was derived from 4D-CT MIPs by calculating the CT number weighted mean position of the fiducial on each slice and fitting a line segment to these points using LSM. Treatment derived fiducial trajectories were corrected for patient rotation and compared to MIP derived trajectories. Results: The mean total magnitude of fiducial motion across all liver segments in left-right, anteroposterior, and superoinferior (SI) directions were 3.0 ± 0.2 mm, 9.3 ± 0.4 mm, and 20.5 ± 0.5 mm, respectively. Differences in per-segment mean fiducial motion were found with SI motion ranging from 12.6 ± 0.8 mm to 22.6 ± 0.9 mm for segments 3 and 8, respectively. Large, varied differences between treatment and MIP derived motion at simulation were found with the mean difference for SI motion being 2.6 mm (10.8 mm standard deviation). Conclusion: The magnitude of liver fiducial motion was found to differ by liver segment. MIP derived liver fiducial motion differed from motion observed during treatment, implying that 4D-CTs may not accurately capture the

  9. Deficient Biological Motion Perception in Schizophrenia: Results from a Motion Noise Paradigm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jejoong eKim

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Schizophrenia patients exhibit deficient processing of perceptual and cognitive information. However, it is not well understood how basic perceptual deficits contribute to higher level cognitive problems in this mental disorder. Perception of biological motion, a motion-based cognitive recognition task, relies on both basic visual motion processing and social cognitive processing, thus providing a useful paradigm to evaluate the potentially hierarchical relationship between these two levels of information processing. Methods: In this study, we designed a biological motion paradigm in which basic visual motion signals were manipulated systematically by incorporating different levels of motion noise. We measured the performances of schizophrenia patients (n=21 and healthy controls (n=22 in this biological motion perception task, as well as in coherent motion detection, theory of mind, and a widely used biological motion recognition task. Results: Schizophrenia patients performed the biological motion perception task with significantly lower accuracy than healthy controls when perceptual signals were moderately degraded by noise. A more substantial degradation of perceptual signals, through using additional noise, impaired biological motion perception in both groups. Performance levels on biological motion recognition, coherent motion detection and theory of mind tasks were also reduced in patients. Conclusion: The results from the motion-noise biological motion paradigm indicate that in the presence of visual motion noise, the processing of biological motion information in schizophrenia is deficient. Combined with the results of poor basic visual motion perception (coherent motion task and biological motion recognition, the association between basic motion signals and biological motion perception suggests a need to incorporate the improvement of visual motion perception in social cognitive remediation.

  10. Perceived state of self during motion can differentially modulate numerical magnitude allocation.

    OpenAIRE

    Arshad, Q; Nigmatullina, Y; Roberts, RE; Goga, U; Pikovsky, M; Khan, S; Lobo, R; Flury, AS; Pettorossi, VE; Cohen-Kadosh, R; Malhotra, PA; Bronstein, AM

    2016-01-01

    Although a direct relationship between numerical-allocation and spatial-attention has been proposed, recent research suggests these processes are not directly coupled. In keeping with this, spatial attention shifts induced either via visual or vestibular motion can modulate numerical allocation in some circumstances but not in others. In addition to shifting spatial attention, visual or vestibular motion-paradigms also (i) elicit compensatory eye-movements which themselves can influence numer...

  11. Control of trunk motion following sudden stop perturbations during cart pushing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yun-Ju; Hoozemans, Marco J M; van Dieën, Jaap H

    2011-01-04

    External perturbations during pushing tasks have been suggested to be a risk factor for low-back symptoms. An experiment was designed to investigate whether self-induced and externally induced sudden stops while pushing a high inertia cart influence trunk motions, and how flexor and extensor muscles counteract these perturbations. Twelve healthy male participants pushed a 200 kg cart at shoulder height and hip height. Pushing while walking was compared to situations in which participants had to stop the cart suddenly (self-induced stop) or in which the wheels of the cart were unexpectedly blocked (externally induced stop). For the perturbed conditions, the peak values and the maximum changes from the reference condition (pushing while walking) of the external moment at L5/S1, trunk inclination and electromyographic amplitudes of trunk muscles were determined. In the self-induced stop, a voluntary trunk extension occurred. Initial responses in both stops consisted of flexor and extensor muscle cocontraction. In self-induced stops this was followed by sustained extensor activity. In the externally induced stops, an external extension moment caused a decrease in trunk inclination. The opposite directions of the internal moment and trunk motion in the externally induced stop while pushing at shoulder height may indicate insufficient active control of trunk posture. Consequently, sudden blocking of the wheels in pushing at shoulder height may put the low back at risk of mechanical injury. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Measurement of shoulder motion fraction and motion ratio

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Yeong Han

    2006-01-01

    This study was to understand about the measurement of shoulder motion fraction and motion ratio. We proposed the radiological criterior of glenohumeral and scapulothoracic movement ratio. We measured the motion fraction of the glenohumeral and scapulothoracic movement using CR (computed radiological system) of arm elevation at neutral, 90 degree, full elevation. Central ray was 15 .deg., 19 .deg., 22 .deg. to the cephald for the parallel scapular spine, and the tilting of torso was external oblique 40 .deg., 36 .deg., 22 .deg. for perpendicular to glenohumeral surface. Healthful donor of 100 was divided 5 groups by age (20, 30, 40, 50, 60). The angle of glenohumeral motion and scapulothoracic motion could be taken from gross arm angle and radiological arm angle. We acquired 3 images at neutral, 90 .deg. and full elevation position and measured radiographic angle of glenoheumeral, scapulothoracic movement respectively. While the arm elevation was 90 .deg., the shoulder motion fraction was 1.22 (M), 1.70 (W) in right arm and 1.31, 1.54 in left. In full elevation, Right arm fraction was 1.63, 1.84 and left was 1.57, 1.32. In right dominant arm (78%), 90 .deg. and Full motion fraction was 1.58, 1.43, in left (22%) 1.82, 1.94. In generation 20, 90 .deg. and Full motion fraction was 1.56, 1.52, 30' was 1.82, 1.43, 40' was 1.23, 1.16, 50' was 1.80, 1.28,60' was 1.24, 1.75. There was not significantly by gender, dominant arm and age. The criteria of motion fraction was useful reference for clinical diagnosis the shoulder instability

  13. Temporal coupling due to illusory movements in bimanual actions: evidence from anosognosia for hemiplegia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pia, Lorenzo; Spinazzola, Lucia; Rabuffetti, Marco; Ferrarin, Maurizio; Garbarini, Francesca; Piedimonte, Alessandro; Driver, Jon; Berti, Anna

    2013-06-01

    In anosognosia for hemiplegia, patients may claim having performed willed actions with the paralyzed limb despite unambiguous evidence to the contrary. Does this false belief of having moved reflect the functioning of the same mechanisms that govern normal motor performance? Here, we examined whether anosognosics show the same temporal constraints known to exist during bimanual movements in healthy subjects. In these paradigms, when participants simultaneously reach for two targets of different difficulties, the motor programs of one hand affect the execution of the other. In detail, the movement time of the hand going to an easy target (i.e., near and large), while the other is going to a difficult target (i.e., far and small), is slowed with respect to unimanual movements (temporal coupling effect). One right-brain-damaged patient with left hemiplegia and anosognosia, six right-brain-damaged patients with left hemiplegia without anosognosia, and twenty healthy subjects were administered such a bimanual task. We recorded the movement times for easy and difficult targets, both in unimanual (one target) and bimanual (two targets) conditions. We found that, as healthy subjects, the anosognosic patient showed coupling effect. In bimanual asymmetric conditions (when one hand went to the easy target and the other went to the difficult target), the movement time of the non-paralyzed hand going to the easy target was slowed by the 'pretended' movement of the paralyzed hand going to the difficult target. This effect was not present in patients without anosognosia. We concluded that in anosognosic patients, the illusory movements of the paralyzed hand impose to the non-paralyzed hand the same motor constraints that emerge during the actual movements. Our data also support the view that coupling relies on central operations (i.e., activation of intention/programming system), rather than on online information from the periphery. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

  14. Effects of cholesterol or gramicidin on slow and fast motions of phospholipids in oriented bilayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, Z.Y.; Simplaceanu, V.; Dowd, S.R.; Ho, C.

    1989-01-01

    Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation both in the rotating frame and in the laboratory frame is used to investigate the slow and fast molecular motions of phospholipids in oriented bilayers in the liquid crystalline phase. The bilayers are prepared from a perdeuterated phospholipid labeled with a pair of 19 F atoms at the 7 position of the 2-sn acyl chain. Phospholipid-cholesterol or phospholipid-gramicidin interactions are characterized by measuring the relaxation rates as a function of the bilayer orientation, the locking field, and the temperature. These studies show that cholesterol or gramicidin can specifically enhance the relaxation due to slow motions in phospholipid bilayers with correlation times τ s longer than 10 -8 sec. The perturbations of the geometry of the slow motions induced by cholesterol are qualitatively different from those induced by gramicidin. In contrast, the presence of cholesterol or gramicidin slightly suppresses the fast motions with correlation times τ f = 10 -9 to 10 -10 sec without significantly affecting their geometry. Weak locking-field and temperature dependences are observed for both pure lipid bilayers and bilayers containing either cholesterol or gramicidin, suggesting that the motions of phospholipid acyl chains may have dispersed correlation times

  15. Markerless motion estimation for motion-compensated clinical brain imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kyme, Andre Z.; Se, Stephen; Meikle, Steven R.; Fulton, Roger R.

    2018-05-01

    Motion-compensated brain imaging can dramatically reduce the artifacts and quantitative degradation associated with voluntary and involuntary subject head motion during positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and computed tomography (CT). However, motion-compensated imaging protocols are not in widespread clinical use for these modalities. A key reason for this seems to be the lack of a practical motion tracking technology that allows for smooth and reliable integration of motion-compensated imaging protocols in the clinical setting. We seek to address this problem by investigating the feasibility of a highly versatile optical motion tracking method for PET, SPECT and CT geometries. The method requires no attached markers, relying exclusively on the detection and matching of distinctive facial features. We studied the accuracy of this method in 16 volunteers in a mock imaging scenario by comparing the estimated motion with an accurate marker-based method used in applications such as image guided surgery. A range of techniques to optimize performance of the method were also studied. Our results show that the markerless motion tracking method is highly accurate (brain imaging and holds good promise for a practical implementation in clinical PET, SPECT and CT systems.

  16. PET motion correction using PRESTO with ITK motion estimation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Botelho, Melissa [Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Science Faculty of University of Lisbon (Portugal); Caldeira, Liliana; Scheins, Juergen [Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-4), Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany); Matela, Nuno [Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, Science Faculty of University of Lisbon (Portugal); Kops, Elena Rota; Shah, N Jon [Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-4), Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany)

    2014-07-29

    The Siemens BrainPET scanner is a hybrid MRI/PET system. PET images are prone to motion artefacts which degrade the image quality. Therefore, motion correction is essential. The library PRESTO converts motion-corrected LORs into highly accurate generic projection data [1], providing high-resolution PET images. ITK is an open-source software used for registering multidimensional data []. ITK provides motion estimation necessary to PRESTO.

  17. PET motion correction using PRESTO with ITK motion estimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Botelho, Melissa; Caldeira, Liliana; Scheins, Juergen; Matela, Nuno; Kops, Elena Rota; Shah, N Jon

    2014-01-01

    The Siemens BrainPET scanner is a hybrid MRI/PET system. PET images are prone to motion artefacts which degrade the image quality. Therefore, motion correction is essential. The library PRESTO converts motion-corrected LORs into highly accurate generic projection data [1], providing high-resolution PET images. ITK is an open-source software used for registering multidimensional data []. ITK provides motion estimation necessary to PRESTO.

  18. Motion-Dependent Filling-In of Spatiotemporal Information at the Blind Spot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maus, Gerrit W; Whitney, David

    2016-01-01

    We usually do not notice the blind spot, a receptor-free region on the retina. Stimuli extending through the blind spot appear filled in. However, if an object does not reach through but ends in the blind spot, it is perceived as "cut off" at the boundary. Here we show that even when there is no corresponding stimulation at opposing edges of the blind spot, well known motion-induced position shifts also extend into the blind spot and elicit a dynamic filling-in process that allows spatial structure to be extrapolated into the blind spot. We presented observers with sinusoidal gratings that drifted into or out of the blind spot, or flickered in counterphase. Gratings moving into the blind spot were perceived to be longer than those moving out of the blind spot or flickering, revealing motion-dependent filling-in. Further, observers could perceive more of a grating's spatial structure inside the blind spot than would be predicted from simple filling-in of luminance information from the blind spot edge. This is evidence for a dynamic filling-in process that uses spatiotemporal information from the motion system to extrapolate visual percepts into the scotoma of the blind spot. Our findings also provide further support for the notion that an explicit spatial shift of topographic representations contributes to motion-induced position illusions.

  19. Understanding motion of twin boundary - a key to magnetic shape memory effect

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Heczko, Oleg

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 50, č. 11 (2014), s. 2505807 ISSN 0018-9464 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP107/11/0391 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : magnetic field-induced strain * magnetic field-induced twin boundary motion * magnetoelasticity * magnetomechanical effects * martensitic transformation Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 1.386, year: 2014

  20. Motion perception during tilt and translation after space flight

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clément, Gilles; Wood, Scott J.

    2013-11-01

    Preliminary results of an ongoing study examining the effects of space flight on astronauts' motion perception induced by independent tilt and translation motions are presented. This experiment used a sled and a variable radius centrifuge that translated the subjects forward-backward or laterally, and simultaneously tilted them in pitch or roll, respectively. Tests were performed on the ground prior to and immediately after landing. The astronauts were asked to report about their perceived motion in response to different combinations of body tilt and translation in darkness. Their ability to manually control their own orientation was also evaluated using a joystick with which they nulled out the perceived tilt while the sled and centrifuge were in motion. Preliminary results confirm that the magnitude of perceived tilt increased during static tilt in roll after space flight. A deterioration in the crewmember to control tilt using non-visual inertial cues was also observed post-flight. However, the use of a tactile prosthesis indicating the direction of down on the subject's trunk improved manual control performance both before and after space flight.

  1. Thought Speed, Mood, and the Experience of Mental Motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pronin, Emily; Jacobs, Elana

    2008-11-01

    This article presents a theoretical account relating thought speed to mood and psychological experience. Thought sequences that occur at a fast speed generally induce more positive affect than do those that occur slowly. Thought speed constitutes one aspect of mental motion. Another aspect involves thought variability, or the degree to which thoughts in a sequence either vary widely from or revolve closely around a theme. Thought sequences possessing more motion (occurring fast and varying widely) generally produce more positive affect than do sequences possessing little motion (occurring slowly and repetitively). When speed and variability oppose each other, such that one is low and the other is high, predictable psychological states also emerge. For example, whereas slow, repetitive thinking can prompt dejection, fast, repetitive thinking can prompt anxiety. This distinction is related to the fact that fast thinking involves greater actual and felt energy than slow thinking does. Effects of mental motion occur independent of the specific content of thought. Their consequences for mood and energy hold psychotherapeutic relevance. © 2008 Association for Psychological Science.

  2. Motion control report

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    Please note this is a short discount publication. In today's manufacturing environment, Motion Control plays a major role in virtually every project.The Motion Control Report provides a comprehensive overview of the technology of Motion Control:* Design Considerations* Technologies* Methods to Control Motion* Examples of Motion Control in Systems* A Detailed Vendors List

  3. Seismic Excitation of the Polar Motion, 1977-1993

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Benjamin Fong; Gross, Richard S.; Han, Yan-Ben

    1996-01-01

    The mass redistribution in the earth as a result of an earthquake faulting changes the earth's inertia tensor, and hence its rotation. Using the complete formulae developed by CHAO and GROSS (1987) based on the normal mode theory, we calculated the earthquake-induced polar motion excitation for the largest 11,015 earthquakes that occurred during 1977.0-1993.6. The seismic excitations in this period are found to be two orders of magnitude below the detection threshold even with today's high precision earth rotation measurements. However, it was calculated that an earthquake of only one tenth the size of the great 1960 Chile event, if happened today, could be comfortably detected in polar motion observations. Furthermore, collectively these seismic excitations have a strong statistical tendency to nudge the pole towards approximately 140deg E, away from the actual observed polar drift direction. This non-random behavior, similarly found in other earthquake-induced changes in earth rotation and low-degree gravitational field by CHAO and GROSS (1987), manifests some geodynamic behavior yet to be explored.

  4. Seismic excitation of the polar motion, 1977 1993

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Benjamin Fong; Gross, Richard S.; Han, Yan-Ben

    1996-09-01

    The mass redistribution in the earth as a result of an earthquake faulting changes the earth's inertia tensor, and hence its rotation. Using the complete formulae developed by Chao and Gross (1987) based on the normal mode theory, we calculated the earthquake-induced polar motion excitation for the largest 11,015 earthquakes that occurred during 1977.0 1993.6. The seismic excitations in this period are found to be two orders of magnitude below the detection threshold even with today's high precision earth rotation measurements. However, it was calculated that an earthquake of only one tenth the size of the great 1960 Chile event, if happened today, could be comfortably detected in polar motion observations. Furthermore, collectively these seismic excitations have a strong statistical tendency to nudge the pole towards ˜140°E, away from the actually observed polar drift direction. This non-random behavior, similarly found in other earthquake-induced changes in earth rotation and low-degree gravitational field by Chao and Gross (1987), manifests some geodynamic behavior yet to be explored.

  5. Anthropomorphic thorax phantom for cardio-respiratory motion simulation in tomographic imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolwin, Konstantin; Czekalla, Björn; Frohwein, Lynn J.; Büther, Florian; Schäfers, Klaus P.

    2018-02-01

    Patient motion during medical imaging using techniques such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), or single emission computed tomography (SPECT) is well known to degrade images, leading to blurring effects or severe artifacts. Motion correction methods try to overcome these degrading effects. However, they need to be validated under realistic conditions. In this work, a sophisticated anthropomorphic thorax phantom is presented that combines several aspects of a simulator for cardio-respiratory motion. The phantom allows us to simulate various types of cardio-respiratory motions inside a human-like thorax, including features such as inflatable lungs, beating left ventricular myocardium, respiration-induced motion of the left ventricle, moving lung lesions, and moving coronary artery plaques. The phantom is constructed to be MR-compatible. This means that we can not only perform studies in PET, SPECT and CT, but also inside an MRI system. The technical features of the anthropomorphic thorax phantom Wilhelm are presented with regard to simulating motion effects in hybrid emission tomography and radiotherapy. This is supplemented by a study on the detectability of small coronary plaque lesions in PET/CT under the influence of cardio-respiratory motion, and a study on the accuracy of left ventricular blood volumes.

  6. Integration of sensory information precedes the sensation of vection: a combined behavioral and event-related brain potential (ERP) study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keshavarz, Behrang; Berti, Stefan

    2014-02-01

    Illusory self-motion (known as vection) describes the sensation of ego-motion in the absence of physical movement. Vection typically occurs in stationary observers being exposed to visual information that suggest self-motion (e.g. simulators, virtual reality). In the present study, we tested whether sensory integration of visual information triggers vection: participants (N=13) perceived patterns of moving altered black-and-white vertical stripes on a screen that was divided into a central and a surrounding peripheral visual field. In both fields the pattern was either moving or stationary, resulting in four combinations of central and peripheral motions: (1) central and peripheral stripes moved into the same direction, (2) central and peripheral stripes moved in opposite directions, or (3) either the central or (4) the peripheral stripes were stable while the other stripes were in motion. This stimulation induced vection: Results showed significantly higher vection ratings when the stationary center of the pattern was surrounded by a moving periphery. Event-related potentials mirrored this finding: The occipital N2 was largest with stationary central and moving peripheral stripes. Our findings suggest that sensory integration of peripheral and central visual information triggers the perception of vection. Furthermore, we found evidence that neural processes precede the subjective perception of vection strength prior to the actual onset of vection. We will discuss our findings with respect to the role of stimulus eccentricity, stimulus' depth, and neural correlates involved during the genesis of vection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Respiratory-induced prostate motion: quantification and characterization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malone, Shawn; Crook, Juanita M.; Kendal, Wayne S.; Zanto, Janos S.

    2000-01-01

    Purpose: The precise localization of the prostate is critical for dose-escalated conformal radiotherapy. This study identifies and characterizes a potential cause of inaccurate prostatic localization--respiratory-induced movement. Methods and Materials: Prostate movement during respiration was measured fluoroscopically using implanted gold fiducial markers. Twenty sequential patients with CT 1 -T 3 N 0 M 0 prostate carcinoma were evaluated prone, immobilized in customized thermoplastic shells. A second 20 patients were evaluated both prone (with and without their thermoplastic shells) and supine (without their shells). Results: When the patients were immobilized prone in thermoplastic shells, the prostate moved synchronously with respiration. In the study the prostate was displaced a mean distance of 3.3 ± 1.8 (SD) mm (range, 1-10.2 mm), with 23% (9/40) of the displacements being 4 mm or greater. The respiratory-associated prostate movement decreased significantly when the thermoplastic shells were removed. Conclusion: Significant prostate movement can be induced by respiration when patients are immobilized in thermoplastic shells. This movement presumably is related to transmitted intraabdominal pressure within the confined space of the shells. Careful attention to the details of immobilization and to the possibility of respiratory-induced prostate movements is important when employing small field margins in prostatic radiotherapy

  8. Good lamps are the best police: darkness increases dishonesty and self-interested behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Chen-Bo; Bohns, Vanessa K; Gino, Francesca

    2010-03-01

    Darkness can conceal identity and encourage moral transgressions; it may also induce a psychological feeling of illusory anonymity that disinhibits dishonest and self-interested behavior regardless of actual anonymity. Three experiments provided empirical evidence supporting this prediction. In Experiment 1, participants in a room with slightly dimmed lighting cheated more and thus earned more undeserved money than those in a well-lit room. In Experiment 2, participants wearing sunglasses behaved more selfishly than those wearing clear glasses. Finally, in Experiment 3, an illusory sense of anonymity mediated the relationship between darkness and self-interested behaviors. Across all three experiments, darkness had no bearing on actual anonymity, yet it still increased morally questionable behaviors. We suggest that the experience of darkness, even when subtle, may induce a sense of anonymity that is not proportionate to actual anonymity in a given situation.

  9. The robot hand illusion: inducing proprioceptive drift through visuo-motor congruency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romano, Daniele; Caffa, Elisa; Hernandez-Arieta, Alejandro; Brugger, Peter; Maravita, Angelo

    2015-04-01

    The representation of one's own body sets the border of the self, but also shapes the space where we interact with external objects. Under particular conditions, such as in the rubber hand illusion external objects can be incorporated in one's own body representation, following congruent visuo-tactile stroking of one's own and a fake hand. This procedure induces an illusory sense of ownership for the fake hand and a shift of proprioceptive localization of the own hand towards the fake hand. Here we investigated whether pure visuo-motor, instead of visuo-tactile, congruency between one's own hand and a detached myoelectric-controlled robotic hand can induce similar embodiment effects. We found a shift of proprioceptive hand localization toward the robot hand, only following synchronized real hand/robot hand movements. Notably, no modulation was found of the sense of ownership following either synchronous or asynchronous-movement training. Our findings suggest that visuo-motor synchrony can drive the localization of one's own body parts in space, even when somatosensory input is kept constant and the experience of body ownership is maintained. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Measurements of ground motion and magnet vibrations at the APS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiltsev, V.

    1996-01-01

    This article presents results of ground motion and magnet vibrations measurements at the Advanced Photon Source. The experiments were done over a wide, frequency range (0-05-100 Hz) with the use of SM-3KV-type seismic probes from the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (Russia). Spectral power densities of vertical and horizontal motions of the APS hall floor and quadrupoles on regular supports were obtained. Also investigated were magnet vibrations induced by designed cooling water flow and spectral characteristics of spatial correlation of the quadrupole vibrations at different sectors of the ring. The influence of personnel activity in the hall and traffic under the ring on the slow motion of storage ring elements were observed. Amplitudes of vibrations at the APS are compared with results of seismic measurements at some other accelerators

  11. Redox control of molecular motion in switchable artificial nanoscale devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Credi, Alberto; Semeraro, Monica; Silvi, Serena; Venturi, Margherita

    2011-03-15

    The design, synthesis, and operation of molecular-scale systems that exhibit controllable motions of their component parts is a topic of great interest in nanoscience and a fascinating challenge of nanotechnology. The development of this kind of species constitutes the premise to the construction of molecular machines and motors, which in a not-too-distant future could find applications in fields such as materials science, information technology, energy conversion, diagnostics, and medicine. In the past 25 years the development of supramolecular chemistry has enabled the construction of an interesting variety of artificial molecular machines. These devices operate via electronic and molecular rearrangements and, like the macroscopic counterparts, they need energy to work as well as signals to communicate with the operator. Here we outline the design principles at the basis of redox switching of molecular motion in artificial nanodevices. Redox processes, chemically, electrically, or photochemically induced, can indeed supply the energy to bring about molecular motions. Moreover, in the case of electrically and photochemically induced processes, electrochemical and photochemical techniques can be used to read the state of the system, and thus to control and monitor the operation of the device. Some selected examples are also reported to describe the most representative achievements in this research area.

  12. The effect of autogenic training and biofeedback on motion sickness tolerance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jozsvai, E E; Pigeau, R A

    1996-10-01

    Motion sickness is characterized by symptoms of vomiting, drowsiness, fatigue and idiosyncratic changes in autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses such as heart rate (HR) and skin temperature (ST). Previous studies found that symptoms of motion sickness are controllable through self-regulation of ANS responses and the best method to teach such control is autogenic-feedback (biofeedback) training. Recent experiments indicated that biofeedback training is ineffective in reducing symptoms of motion sickness or in increasing tolerance to motion. If biofeedback facilitates learning of ANS self-regulation then autogenic training with true feedback (TFB) should lead to better control over ANS responses and better motion tolerance than autogenic training with false feedback (FFB). If there is a relationship between ANS self-regulation and coping with motion stress, a significant correlation should be found between amounts of control over ANS responses and measures of motion tolerance and/or symptoms of motion sickness. There were 3 groups of 6 subjects exposed for 6 weeks to weekly sessions of Coriolis stimulation to induce motion sickness. Between the first and second Coriolis sessions, subjects in the experimental groups received five episodes of autogenic training with either true (group TFB) or false (group FFB) feedback on their HR and ST. The control group (CTL) received no treatment. Subjects learned to control their HR and ST independent of whether they received true or false feedback. Learned control of ST and HR was not related to severity of motion sickness or subject's ability to withstand Coriolis stimulation following treatment. A lack of significant correlation between these variables suggested that subjects were not able to apply their skills of ANS self-regulation in the motion environment, and/ or such skills had little value in reducing symptoms of motion sickness or enhancing their ability to withstand rotations.

  13. Non-invasive brain stimulation of motor cortex induces embodiment when integrated with virtual reality feedback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bassolino, M; Franza, M; Bello Ruiz, J; Pinardi, M; Schmidlin, T; Stephan, M A; Solcà, M; Serino, A; Blanke, O

    2018-04-01

    Previous evidence highlighted the multisensory-motor origin of embodiment - that is, the experience of having a body and of being in control of it - and the possibility of experimentally manipulating it. For instance, an illusory feeling of embodiment towards a fake hand can be triggered by providing synchronous visuo-tactile stimulation to the hand of participants and to a fake hand or by asking participants to move their hand and observe a fake hand moving accordingly (rubber hand illusion). Here, we tested whether it is possible to manipulate embodiment not through stimulation of the participant's hand, but by directly tapping into the brain's hand representation via non-invasive brain stimulation. To this aim, we combined transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), to activate the hand corticospinal representation, with virtual reality (VR), to provide matching (as contrasted to non-matching) visual feedback, mimicking involuntary hand movements evoked by TMS. We show that the illusory embodiment occurred when TMS pulses were temporally matched with VR feedback, but not when TMS was administered outside primary motor cortex, (over the vertex) or when stimulating motor cortex at a lower intensity (that did not activate peripheral muscles). Behavioural (questionnaires) and neurophysiological (motor-evoked-potentials, TMS-evoked-movements) measures further indicated that embodiment was not explained by stimulation per se, but depended on the temporal coherence between TMS-induced activation of hand corticospinal representation and the virtual bodily feedback. This reveals that non-invasive brain stimulation may replace the application of external tactile hand cues and motor components related to volition, planning and anticipation. © 2018 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience published by Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Digital tomosynthesis using a 35 mm X-ray cinematogram during an isocentric rotational motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maeda, Hirofumi; Aikawa, Hisayuki; Maeda, Tohru; Miyake, Hidetoshi; Sugahara, Tetsuo.

    1988-01-01

    Digital tomosynthesis is performed using a 35 mm X-ray cinematogram obtained during an isocentric rotational motion of the cineangiographic apparatus. Formula of image shift for digital tomosynthesis using an isocentric rotational motion is induced by perspective projection and affine transformation. Images of desired layer are aligned at the same point in the image processor and summed. Resultant final image is displayed in sharp focus. We can set tomosynthetic factors on any desired projection, sweep angle and depth as concerns digital tomosynthesis using an isocentric rotational motion. Especially we emphasize that tomosynthesis tilted for central axis of isocentric rotational motion can be obtained, using shear transformation of image in the image processor. (author)

  15. A synchronous surround increases the motion strength gain of motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linares, Daniel; Nishida, Shin'ya

    2013-11-12

    Coherent motion detection is greatly enhanced by the synchronous presentation of a static surround (Linares, Motoyoshi, & Nishida, 2012). To further understand this contextual enhancement, here we measured the sensitivity to discriminate motion strength for several pedestal strengths with and without a surround. We found that the surround improved discrimination of low and medium motion strengths, but did not improve or even impaired discrimination of high motion strengths. We used motion strength discriminability to estimate the perceptual response function assuming additive noise and found that the surround increased the motion strength gain, rather than the response gain. Given that eye and body movements continuously introduce transients in the retinal image, it is possible that this strength gain occurs in natural vision.

  16. Measurements with magnetic field in the National Spherical Torus Experiment using the motional Stark effect with laser induced fluorescence diagnostic

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Foley, E. L.; Levinton, F. M. [Nova Photonics, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States)

    2013-04-15

    The motional Stark effect with laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic (MSE-LIF) has been installed and tested on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. The MSE-LIF diagnostic will be capable of measuring radially resolved profiles of magnetic field magnitude or pitch angle in NSTX plasmas. The system includes a diagnostic neutral hydrogen beam and a laser which excites the n = 2 to n = 3 transition. A viewing system has been implemented which will support up to 38 channels from the plasma edge to past the magnetic axis. First measurements of MSE-LIF signals in the presence of small applied magnetic fields in neutral gas are reported.

  17. Measurements with magnetic field in the National Spherical Torus Experiment using the motional Stark effect with laser induced fluorescence diagnostic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foley, E. L.; Levinton, F. M.

    2013-04-01

    The motional Stark effect with laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic (MSE-LIF) has been installed and tested on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. The MSE-LIF diagnostic will be capable of measuring radially resolved profiles of magnetic field magnitude or pitch angle in NSTX plasmas. The system includes a diagnostic neutral hydrogen beam and a laser which excites the n = 2 to n = 3 transition. A viewing system has been implemented which will support up to 38 channels from the plasma edge to past the magnetic axis. First measurements of MSE-LIF signals in the presence of small applied magnetic fields in neutral gas are reported.

  18. A Unifying model of perfusion and motion applied to reconstruction of sparsely sampled free-breathing myocardial perfusion MRI

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Henrik; Ólafsdóttir, Hildur; Larsen, Rasmus

    2010-01-01

    The clinical potential of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is currently limited by respiratory induced motion of the heart. This paper presents a unifying model of perfusion and motion in which respiratory motion becomes an integral part of myocardial perfusion...... quantification. Hence, the need for tedious manual motion correction prior to perfusion quantification is avoided. In addition, we demonstrate that the proposed framework facilitates the process of reconstructing DCEMRI from sparsely sampled data in the presence of respiratory motion. The paper focuses primarily...... on the underlying theory of the proposed framework, but shows in vivo results of respiratory motion correction and simulation results of reconstructing sparsely sampled data....

  19. A multistage motion vector processing method for motion-compensated frame interpolation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Ai- Mei; Nguyen, Truong Q

    2008-05-01

    In this paper, a novel, low-complexity motion vector processing algorithm at the decoder is proposed for motion-compensated frame interpolation or frame rate up-conversion. We address the problems of having broken edges and deformed structures in an interpolated frame by hierarchically refining motion vectors on different block sizes. Our method explicitly considers the reliability of each received motion vector and has the capability of preserving the structure information. This is achieved by analyzing the distribution of residual energies and effectively merging blocks that have unreliable motion vectors. The motion vector reliability information is also used as a prior knowledge in motion vector refinement using a constrained vector median filter to avoid choosing identical unreliable one. We also propose using chrominance information in our method. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme has better visual quality and is also robust, even in video sequences with complex scenes and fast motion.

  20. Motion in radiotherapy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Korreman, Stine Sofia

    2012-01-01

    This review considers the management of motion in photon radiation therapy. An overview is given of magnitudes and variability of motion of various structures and organs, and how the motion affects images by producing artifacts and blurring. Imaging of motion is described, including 4DCT and 4DPE...

  1. Autogenic-feedback training - A treatment for motion and space sickness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowings, Patricia S.

    1990-01-01

    A training method for preventing the occurrence of motion sickness in humans, called autogenic-feedback training (AFT), is described. AFT is based on a combination of biofeedback and autogenic therapy which involves training physiological self-regulation as an alternative to pharmacological management. AFT was used to reliably increase tolerance to motion-sickness-inducing tests in both men and women ranging in age from 18 to 54 years. The effectiveness of AFT is found to be significantly higher than that of protective adaptation training. Data obtained show that there is no apparent effect from AFT on measures of vestibular perception and no side effects.

  2. Internal friction due to domain-wall motion in martensitically transformed A15 compounds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Snead, C.L. Jr.; Welch, D.O.

    1985-01-01

    A lattice instability in A15 materials in some cases leads to a cubic-to-tetragonal martensitic transformation at low temperatures. The transformed material orients in lamellae with c axes alternately aligned along the directions producing domain walls between the lamellae. An internal-friction (delta) feature below T/sub m/ is attributed to stress-induced domain-wall motion. The magnitude of the friction increases as temperature is lowered below T/sub m/ as (1-c/a) increases, and behaves as (1-c/a) 2 from T/sub m/ down to the superconducting critical temperature where the increasing tetragonality is inhibited. The effect of strain in the lattice is to decrease the domain-wall internal friction, but not affect T/sub m/. Neutron-induced disorder and the addition of some third-elements in alloying decrease both delta and T/sub m/, with some elements reducing only the former. Less than 1 at. % H is seen to completely suppress both delta and T/sub m. Martensitically transformed V 2 Zr demonstrates low-temperature internal-friction and modulus behavior consists with easy β/m wall motion relative to the easy m/m motion of the A15's. For the V 2 Zr, a peak in delta is observed, qualitatively in agreement with expected β/m wall motion

  3. New principle for measuring arterial blood oxygenation, enabling motion-robust remote monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Gastel, Mark; Stuijk, Sander; de Haan, Gerard

    2016-12-07

    Finger-oximeters are ubiquitously used for patient monitoring in hospitals worldwide. Recently, remote measurement of arterial blood oxygenation (SpO 2 ) with a camera has been demonstrated. Both contact and remote measurements, however, require the subject to remain static for accurate SpO 2 values. This is due to the use of the common ratio-of-ratios measurement principle that measures the relative pulsatility at different wavelengths. Since the amplitudes are small, they are easily corrupted by motion-induced variations. We introduce a new principle that allows accurate remote measurements even during significant subject motion. We demonstrate the main advantage of the principle, i.e. that the optimal signature remains the same even when the SNR of the PPG signal drops significantly due to motion or limited measurement area. The evaluation uses recordings with breath-holding events, which induce hypoxemia in healthy moving subjects. The events lead to clinically relevant SpO 2 levels in the range 80-100%. The new principle is shown to greatly outperform current remote ratio-of-ratios based methods. The mean-absolute SpO 2 -error (MAE) is about 2 percentage-points during head movements, where the benchmark method shows a MAE of 24 percentage-points. Consequently, we claim ours to be the first method to reliably measure SpO 2 remotely during significant subject motion.

  4. Using finite-difference waveform modeling to better understand rupture kinematics and path effects in ground motion modeling: an induced seismicity case study at the Groningen Gas field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zurek, B.; Burnett, W. A.; deMartin, B.

    2017-12-01

    Ground motion models (GMMs) have historically been used as input in the development of probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) and as an engineering tool to assess risk in building design. Generally these equations are developed from empirical analysis of observations that come from fairly complete catalogs of seismic events. One of the challenges when doing a PSHA analysis in a region where earthquakes are anthropogenically induced is that the catalog of observations is not complete enough to come up with a set of equations to cover all expected outcomes. For example, PSHA analysis at the Groningen gas field, an area of known induced seismicity, requires estimates of ground motions from tremors up to a maximum magnitude of 6.5 ML. Of the roughly 1300 recordable earthquakes the maximum observed magnitude to date has been 3.6ML. This paper is part of a broader study where we use a deterministic finite-difference wave-form modeling tool to compliment the traditional development of GMMs. Of particular interest is the sensitivity of the GMM's to uncertainty in the rupture process and how this scales to larger magnitude events that have not been observed. A kinematic fault rupture model is introduced to our waveform simulations to test the sensitivity of the GMMs to variability in the fault rupture process that is physically consistent with observations. These tests will aid in constraining the degree of variability in modeled ground motions due to a realistic range of fault parameters and properties. From this study it is our conclusion that in order to properly capture the uncertainty of the GMMs with magnitude up-scaling one needs to address the impact of uncertainty in the near field (risk. Further, by investigating and constraining the range of fault rupture scenarios and earthquake magnitudes on ground motion models, hazard and risk analysis in regions with incomplete earthquake catalogs, such as the Groningen gas field, can be better understood.

  5. Vertical motion and elastic light-scattering of a laser-levitated water droplet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chan, C. W.; Lee, W. K.

    2001-01-01

    We report the vertical motion and elastic scattered light of a single laser-levitated water microdroplet as it slowly evaporated. The vertical displacement as a function of time exhibited peaks of a variety of widths. Morphology-dependent resonances (MDRs) that induced the displacement peaks were identified. We found that the Stokes equation is adequate to describe the vertical motions driven by broad MDRs. For motions driven by relatively narrow MDRs, significant deviations from results predicted by the Stokes equation were found. The elastic scattered light intensity as a function of the size of the droplet showed sudden increases attributable to deformations of the droplet as its size parameter scanned through narrow MDRs. Copyright 2001 Optical Society of America

  6. Schedule and complex motion of shuttle bus induced by periodic inflow of passengers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagatani, Takashi; Naito, Yuichi

    2011-01-01

    We have studied the dynamic behavior of a bus in the shuttle bus transportation with a periodic inflow. A bus schedule is closely related to the dynamics. We present the modified circle map model for the dynamics of the shuttle bus. The motion of the shuttle bus depends on the loading parameter and the inflow period. The shuttle bus displays the periodic, quasi-periodic, and chaotic motions with varying both loading parameter and inflow rate. -- Highlights: → We studied the dynamic behavior of a bus in the shuttle bus transportation. → We presented the modified circle map model for the bus schedule. → We clarified the dependence of the tour time on both loading parameter and inflow period.

  7. Smoothing Motion Estimates for Radar Motion Compensation.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Doerry, Armin W. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2017-07-01

    Simple motion models for complex motion environments are often not adequate for keeping radar data coherent. Eve n perfect motion samples appli ed to imperfect models may lead to interim calculations e xhibiting errors that lead to degraded processing results. Herein we discuss a specific i ssue involving calculating motion for groups of pulses, with measurements only available at pulse-group boundaries. - 4 - Acknowledgements This report was funded by General A tomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) Mission Systems under Cooperative Re search and Development Agre ement (CRADA) SC08/01749 between Sandia National Laboratories and GA-ASI. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affilia te of privately-held General Atomics, is a leading manufacturer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and rel ated mission systems, includin g the Predator(r)/Gray Eagle(r)-series and Lynx(r) Multi-mode Radar.

  8. Demonstrating the potential for dynamic auditory stimulation to contribute to motion sickness.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Behrang Keshavarz

    Full Text Available Auditory cues can create the illusion of self-motion (vection in the absence of visual or physical stimulation. The present study aimed to determine whether auditory cues alone can also elicit motion sickness and how auditory cues contribute to motion sickness when added to visual motion stimuli. Twenty participants were seated in front of a curved projection display and were exposed to a virtual scene that constantly rotated around the participant's vertical axis. The virtual scene contained either visual-only, auditory-only, or a combination of corresponding visual and auditory cues. All participants performed all three conditions in a counterbalanced order. Participants tilted their heads alternately towards the right or left shoulder in all conditions during stimulus exposure in order to create pseudo-Coriolis effects and to maximize the likelihood for motion sickness. Measurements of motion sickness (onset, severity, vection (latency, strength, duration, and postural steadiness (center of pressure were recorded. Results showed that adding auditory cues to the visual stimuli did not, on average, affect motion sickness and postural steadiness, but it did reduce vection onset times and increased vection strength compared to pure visual or pure auditory stimulation. Eighteen of the 20 participants reported at least slight motion sickness in the two conditions including visual stimuli. More interestingly, six participants also reported slight motion sickness during pure auditory stimulation and two of the six participants stopped the pure auditory test session due to motion sickness. The present study is the first to demonstrate that motion sickness may be caused by pure auditory stimulation, which we refer to as "auditorily induced motion sickness".

  9. Measurements of ground motion and magnets vibrations at the APS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shil'tsev, V.D.

    1994-01-01

    This article presents results of ground motion and magnets vibrations measurements at the Advanced Photon Source. The experiments were done over wide frequency range 0.05-100 Hz with use of SM-3KV type seismic probes from Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (Russia). Spectral power densities of vertical and horizontal motions of the APS hall floor and quadrupoles on regular supports were obtained. There were also investigated magnets vibrations induced by designed cooling water flow and spectral characteristics of spatial correlation of the quads vibration at different sectors of the ring. Influence of personnel activity in the hall and traffic under the ring on slow motion of storage ring elements were observed. Amplitudes of vibrations at the APS are compared with results of seismic measurements at some other accelerators. 9 refs.; 10 figs.; 1 tab

  10. Optically induced rotation of Rayleigh particles by vortex beams with different states of polarization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Manman; Yan, Shaohui; Yao, Baoli; Liang, Yansheng; Lei, Ming; Yang, Yanlong

    2016-01-01

    Optical vortex beams carry optical orbital angular momentum (OAM) and can induce an orbital motion of trapped particles in optical trapping. We show that the state of polarization (SOP) of vortex beams will affect the details of this optically induced orbital motion to some extent. Numerical results demonstrate that focusing the vortex beams with circular, radial or azimuthal polarizations can induce a uniform orbital motion on a trapped Rayleigh particle, while in the focal field of the vortex beam with linear polarization the particle experiences a non-uniform orbital motion. Among the formers, the vortex beam with circular polarization induces a maximum optical torque on the particle. Furthermore, by varying the topological charge of the vortex beams, the vortex beam with circular polarization gives rise to an optimum torque superior to those given by the other three vortex beams. These facts suggest that the circularly polarized vortex beam is more suitable for rotating particles. - Highlights: • States of polarization of vortex beams affect the optically induced orbital motion of particles. • The dependences of the force and orbital torque on the topological charge, the size and the absorptivity of particles were calculated. • Focused vortex beams with circular, radial or azimuthal polarizations induce a uniform orbital motion on particles. • Particles experience a non-uniform orbital motion in the focused linearly polarized vortex beam. • The circularly polarized vortex beam is a superior candidate for rotating particles.

  11. PROMO – Real-time Prospective Motion Correction in MRI using Image-based Tracking

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Nathan; Roddey, Cooper; Shankaranarayanan, Ajit; Han, Eric; Rettmann, Dan; Santos, Juan; Kuperman, Josh; Dale, Anders

    2010-01-01

    Artifacts caused by patient motion during scanning remain a serious problem in most MRI applications. The prospective motion correction technique attempts to address this problem at its source by keeping the measurement coordinate system fixed with respect to the patient throughout the entire scan process. In this study, a new image-based approach for prospective motion correction is described, which utilizes three orthogonal 2D spiral navigator acquisitions (SP-Navs) along with a flexible image-based tracking method based on the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) algorithm for online motion measurement. The SP-Nav/EKF framework offers the advantages of image-domain tracking within patient-specific regions-of-interest and reduced sensitivity to off-resonance-induced corruption of rigid-body motion estimates. The performance of the method was tested using offline computer simulations and online in vivo head motion experiments. In vivo validation results covering a broad range of staged head motions indicate a steady-state error of the SP-Nav/EKF motion estimates of less than 10 % of the motion magnitude, even for large compound motions that included rotations over 15 degrees. A preliminary in vivo application in 3D inversion recovery spoiled gradient echo (IR-SPGR) and 3D fast spin echo (FSE) sequences demonstrates the effectiveness of the SP-Nav/EKF framework for correcting 3D rigid-body head motion artifacts prospectively in high-resolution 3D MRI scans. PMID:20027635

  12. Directional Limits on Motion Transparency Assessed Through Colour-Motion Binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maloney, Ryan T; Clifford, Colin W G; Mareschal, Isabelle

    2018-03-01

    Motion-defined transparency is the perception of two or more distinct moving surfaces at the same retinal location. We explored the limits of motion transparency using superimposed surfaces of randomly positioned dots defined by differences in motion direction and colour. In one experiment, dots were red or green and we varied the proportion of dots of a single colour that moved in a single direction ('colour-motion coherence') and measured the threshold direction difference for discriminating between two directions. When colour-motion coherences were high (e.g., 90% of red dots moving in one direction), a smaller direction difference was required to correctly bind colour with direction than at low coherences. In another experiment, we varied the direction difference between the surfaces and measured the threshold colour-motion coherence required to discriminate between them. Generally, colour-motion coherence thresholds decreased with increasing direction differences, stabilising at direction differences around 45°. Different stimulus durations were compared, and thresholds were higher at the shortest (150 ms) compared with the longest (1,000 ms) duration. These results highlight different yet interrelated aspects of the task and the fundamental limits of the mechanisms involved: the resolution of narrowly separated directions in motion processing and the local sampling of dot colours from each surface.

  13. MotionExplorer: exploratory search in human motion capture data based on hierarchical aggregation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernard, Jürgen; Wilhelm, Nils; Krüger, Björn; May, Thorsten; Schreck, Tobias; Kohlhammer, Jörn

    2013-12-01

    We present MotionExplorer, an exploratory search and analysis system for sequences of human motion in large motion capture data collections. This special type of multivariate time series data is relevant in many research fields including medicine, sports and animation. Key tasks in working with motion data include analysis of motion states and transitions, and synthesis of motion vectors by interpolation and combination. In the practice of research and application of human motion data, challenges exist in providing visual summaries and drill-down functionality for handling large motion data collections. We find that this domain can benefit from appropriate visual retrieval and analysis support to handle these tasks in presence of large motion data. To address this need, we developed MotionExplorer together with domain experts as an exploratory search system based on interactive aggregation and visualization of motion states as a basis for data navigation, exploration, and search. Based on an overview-first type visualization, users are able to search for interesting sub-sequences of motion based on a query-by-example metaphor, and explore search results by details on demand. We developed MotionExplorer in close collaboration with the targeted users who are researchers working on human motion synthesis and analysis, including a summative field study. Additionally, we conducted a laboratory design study to substantially improve MotionExplorer towards an intuitive, usable and robust design. MotionExplorer enables the search in human motion capture data with only a few mouse clicks. The researchers unanimously confirm that the system can efficiently support their work.

  14. Spatial correlation of probabilistic earthquake ground motion and loss

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wesson, R.L.; Perkins, D.M.

    2001-01-01

    Spatial correlation of annual earthquake ground motions and losses can be used to estimate the variance of annual losses to a portfolio of properties exposed to earthquakes A direct method is described for the calculations of the spatial correlation of earthquake ground motions and losses. Calculations for the direct method can be carried out using either numerical quadrature or a discrete, matrix-based approach. Numerical results for this method are compared with those calculated from a simple Monte Carlo simulation. Spatial correlation of ground motion and loss is induced by the systematic attenuation of ground motion with distance from the source, by common site conditions, and by the finite length of fault ruptures. Spatial correlation is also strongly dependent on the partitioning of the variability, given an event, into interevent and intraevent components. Intraevent variability reduces the spatial correlation of losses. Interevent variability increases spatial correlation of losses. The higher the spatial correlation, the larger the variance in losses to a port-folio, and the more likely extreme values become. This result underscores the importance of accurately determining the relative magnitudes of intraevent and interevent variability in ground-motion studies, because of the strong impact in estimating earthquake losses to a portfolio. The direct method offers an alternative to simulation for calculating the variance of losses to a portfolio, which may reduce the amount of calculation required.

  15. A programmable motion phantom for quality assurance of motion management in radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dunn, L.; Franich, R.D.; Kron, T.; Taylor, M.L.; Johnston, P.N.; McDermott, L.N.; Callahan, J.

    2012-01-01

    A commercially available motion phantom (QUASAR, Modus Medical) was modified for programmable motion control with the aim of reproducing patient respiratory motion in one dimension in both the anterior–posterior and superior–inferior directions, as well as, providing controllable breath-hold and sinusoidal patterns for the testing of radiotherapy gating systems. In order to simulate realistic patient motion, the DC motor was replaced by a stepper motor. A separate 'chest-wall' motion platform was also designed to accommodate a variety of surrogate marker systems. The platform employs a second stepper motor that allows for the decoupling of the chest-wall and insert motion. The platform's accuracy was tested by replicating patient traces recorded with the Varian real-time position management (RPM) system and comparing the motion platform's recorded motion trace with the original patient data. Six lung cancer patient traces recorded with the RPM system were uploaded to the motion platform's in-house control software and subsequently replicated through the phantom motion platform. The phantom's motion profile was recorded with the RPM system and compared to the original patient data. Sinusoidal and breath-hold patterns were simulated with the motion platform and recorded with the RPM system to verify the systems potential for routine quality assurance of commercial radiotherapy gating systems. There was good correlation between replicated and actual patient data (P 0.003). Mean differences between the location of maxima in replicated and patient data-sets for six patients amounted to 0.034 cm with the corresponding minima mean equal to 0.010 cm. The upgraded motion phantom was found to replicate patient motion accurately as well as provide useful test patterns to aid in the quality assurance of motion management methods and technologies.

  16. Measurement of pulsatile motion with millisecond resolution by MRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Souchon, Rémi; Gennisson, Jean-Luc; Tanter, Mickael; Salomir, Rares; Chapelon, Jean-Yves; Rouvière, Olivier

    2012-06-01

    We investigated a technique based on phase-contrast cine MRI combined with deconvolution of the phase shift waveforms to measure rapidly varying pulsatile motion waveforms. The technique does not require steady-state displacement during motion encoding. Simulations and experiments were performed in porcine liver samples in view of a specific application, namely the observation of transient displacements induced by acoustic radiation force. Simulations illustrate the advantages and shortcomings of the methods. For experimental validation, the waveforms were acquired with an ultrafast ultrasound scanner (Supersonic Imagine Aixplorer), and the rates of decay of the waveforms (relaxation time) were compared. With bipolar motion-encoding gradient of 8.4 ms, the method was able to measure displacement waveforms with a temporal resolution of 1 ms over a time course of 40 ms. Reasonable agreement was found between the rate of decay of the waveforms measured in ultrasound (2.8 ms) and in MRI (2.7-3.3 ms). Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  17. SU-D-207A-05: Investigating Sparse-Sampled MRI for Motion Management in Thoracic Radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabouri, P; Sawant, A; Arai, T

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Sparse sampling and reconstruction-based MRI techniques represent an attractive strategy to achieve sufficiently high image acquisition speed while maintaining image quality for the task of radiotherapy guidance. In this study, we examine rapid dynamic MRI using a sparse sampling sequence k-t BLAST in capturing motion-induced, cycle-to-cycle variations in tumor position. We investigate the utility of long-term MRI-based motion monitoring as a means of better characterizing respiration-induced tumor motion compared to a single-cycle 4DCT. Methods: An MRI-compatible, programmable, deformable lung motion phantom with eleven 1.5 ml water marker tubes was placed inside a 3.0 T whole-body MR scanner (Philips Ingenia). The phantom was programmed with 10 lung tumor motion traces previously recorded using the Synchrony system. 2D+t image sequences of a coronal slice were acquired using a balanced-SSFP sequence combined with k-t BLAST (accn=3, resolution=0.66×0.66×5 mm3; acquisition time = 110 ms/slice). kV fluoroscopic (ground truth) and 4DCT imaging was performed with the same phantom setup and motion trajectories. Marker positions in all three modalities were segmented and tracked using an opensource deformable image registration package, NiftyReg. Results: Marker trajectories obtained from rapid MRI exhibited <1 mm error compared to kv Fluoro trajectories in the presence of complex motion including baseline shifts and changes in respiratory amplitude, indicating the ability of MRI to monitor motion with adequate geometric fidelity for the purpose of radiotherapy guidance. In contrast, the trajectory derived from 4DCT exhibited significant errors up to 6 mm due to cycle-to-cycle variations and baseline shifts. Consequently, 4DCT was found to underestimate the range of marker motion by as much as 50%. Conclusion: Dynamic MRI is a promising tool for radiotherapy motion management as it permits for longterm, dose-free, soft-tissue-based monitoring of motion

  18. SU-D-207A-05: Investigating Sparse-Sampled MRI for Motion Management in Thoracic Radiotherapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sabouri, P; Sawant, A [University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (United States); Arai, T [University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: Sparse sampling and reconstruction-based MRI techniques represent an attractive strategy to achieve sufficiently high image acquisition speed while maintaining image quality for the task of radiotherapy guidance. In this study, we examine rapid dynamic MRI using a sparse sampling sequence k-t BLAST in capturing motion-induced, cycle-to-cycle variations in tumor position. We investigate the utility of long-term MRI-based motion monitoring as a means of better characterizing respiration-induced tumor motion compared to a single-cycle 4DCT. Methods: An MRI-compatible, programmable, deformable lung motion phantom with eleven 1.5 ml water marker tubes was placed inside a 3.0 T whole-body MR scanner (Philips Ingenia). The phantom was programmed with 10 lung tumor motion traces previously recorded using the Synchrony system. 2D+t image sequences of a coronal slice were acquired using a balanced-SSFP sequence combined with k-t BLAST (accn=3, resolution=0.66×0.66×5 mm3; acquisition time = 110 ms/slice). kV fluoroscopic (ground truth) and 4DCT imaging was performed with the same phantom setup and motion trajectories. Marker positions in all three modalities were segmented and tracked using an opensource deformable image registration package, NiftyReg. Results: Marker trajectories obtained from rapid MRI exhibited <1 mm error compared to kv Fluoro trajectories in the presence of complex motion including baseline shifts and changes in respiratory amplitude, indicating the ability of MRI to monitor motion with adequate geometric fidelity for the purpose of radiotherapy guidance. In contrast, the trajectory derived from 4DCT exhibited significant errors up to 6 mm due to cycle-to-cycle variations and baseline shifts. Consequently, 4DCT was found to underestimate the range of marker motion by as much as 50%. Conclusion: Dynamic MRI is a promising tool for radiotherapy motion management as it permits for longterm, dose-free, soft-tissue-based monitoring of motion

  19. Numerical simulation of bubble motion about a grid spacer in a rod bundle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Zheng; Hosokawa, Shigeo; Hayashi, Kosuke; Tomiyama, Akio

    2009-01-01

    Numerical simulations based on a three-dimensional two-way bubble tracking method are carried out to predict bubble motions in a square duct with an obstacle and in a two-by-three rod bundle with a grid spacer. Comparisons between measured and predicted bubble motions demonstrate that the two-way bubble tracking method gives good predictions for trajectories of small bubbles in the upstream side of the grid spacer in the rod bundle geometry. The predicted bubble trajectories clearly show that bubbles are apt to migrate toward the rod surface in the vicinity of the bottom of the grid spacer. Analysis of forces acting on the bubbles confirms that pressure gradient force induced by the presence of the spacer is the main cause of the bubble lateral migration toward the rod surface. Motions of steam bubbles at a nominal operating condition of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) are also predicted by using the bubble tracking method, which indicates that steam bubbles also migrate toward the rod surface at the upstream side of the spacer due to the spacer-induced pressure gradient force. (author)

  20. Various anti-motion sickness drugs and core body temperature changes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheung, Bob; Nakashima, Ann M; Hofer, Kevin D

    2011-04-01

    Blood flow changes and inactivity associated with motion sickness appear to exacerbate the rate of core temperature decrease during subsequent body cooling. We investigated the effects of various classes of anti-motion sickness drugs on core temperature changes. There were 12 healthy male and female subjects (20-35 yr old) who were given selected classes of anti-motion sickness drugs prior to vestibular Coriolis cross coupling induced by graded yaw rotation and periodic pitch-forward head movements in the sagittal plane. All subjects were then immersed in water at 18 degrees C for a maximum of 90 min or until their core temperature reached 35 degrees C. Double-blind randomized trials were administered, including a placebo, a non-immersion control with no drug, and six anti-motion sickness drugs: meclizine, dimenhydrinate, chlorpheniramine, promethazine + dexamphetamine, promethazine + caffeine, and scopolamine + dexamphetamine. A 7-d washout period was observed between trials. Core temperature and the severity of sickness were monitored throughout each trial. A repeated measures design was performed on the severity of sickness and core temperature changes prior to motion provocation, immediately after the motion sickness end point, and throughout the period of cold-water immersion. The most effective anti-motion sickness drugs, promethazine + dexamphetamine (with a sickness score/duration of 0.65 +/- 0.17) and scopolamine + dexamphetamine (with a sickness score/duration of 0.79 +/- 0.17), significantly attenuated the decrease in core temperature. The effect of this attenuation was lower in less effective drugs. Our results suggest that the two most effective anti-motion sickness drugs are also the most effective in attenuating the rate of core temperature decrease.

  1. Structure-specific selection of earthquake ground motions for the reliable design and assessment of structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Katsanos, E. I.; Sextos, A. G.

    2018-01-01

    A decision support process is presented to accommodate selecting and scaling of earthquake motions as required for the time domain analysis of structures. Code-compatible suites of seismic motions are provided being, at the same time, prequalified through a multi-criterion approach to induce...... was subjected to numerous suites of motions that were highly ranked according to both the proposed approach (δsv–sc) and the conventional one (δconv), that is commonly used for earthquake records selection and scaling. The findings from numerous linear response history analyses reveal the superiority...

  2. Nonlinear seismic behavior of a CANDU containment building subjected to near-field ground motions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, In Kil; Ahn, Seong Moon; Choun, Young Sun; Seo, Jeong Moon

    2004-01-01

    The standard response spectrum proposed by US NRC has been used as a design earthquake for the design of Korean nuclear power plant structures. A survey on some of the Quaternary fault segments near Korean nuclear power plants is ongoing. It is likely that these faults will be identified as active ones. If the faults are confirmed as active ones, it will be necessary to reevaluate the seismic safety of the nuclear power plants located near the fault. Near-fault ground motions are the ground motions that occur near an earthquake fault. In general, the near-fault ground motion records exhibit a distinctive long period pulse like time history with very high peak velocities. These features are induced by the slip of the earthquake fault. Near-fault ground motions, which have caused much of the damage in recent major earthquakes, can be characterized by a pulse-like motion that exposes the structure to a high input energy at the beginning of the motion. In this study, nonlinear dynamic time-history analyses were performed to investigate the seismic behavior of a CANDU containment structure subjected to various earthquake ground motions including the near-field ground motions

  3. Analysis of cantilever pipes in transverse fluid flow with motion limiting stopper at the free end

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiyavan, R.

    1983-01-01

    Flow-induced vibration in heat exchanger tubes can result in impact with the baffle plates and subsequent tube failure through fatigue, fracture and fretting wear. As a step towards the correlation between the random flow excitations and the rate of wear, this paper presents a general theory for predicting the tube motion and the tube baffle impact forces through a case of cantilever pipe with motion limiting stopper at the free end and simultaneously subjected to transverse fluid flow. The mathematical model has been developed using the theory of fluid-structure interactions with model superposition technique. The pipe displacement induced by lift forces is evaluated by numerical integration. When displacement increases to greater than the pipe-stopper clearance, the pipe impacts on stopper. Assuming semielastic impact, the equation of pipe motion during impact is developed using extended Hertz's theory to include the vibration of one of the colliding bodies. The stopper is assumed to be at rest before and after the impact. The constraint imposed on pipe motion, at the free end due to impact of the pipe on stopper, is considered as one of the boundary conditions and is used to evaluate the pipe natural frequencies. The nonlinear equations are solved numerically. The response of the pipe due to wake induced lift forces superposed by the impact response is evaluated. (orig./GL)

  4. Compensation of Wave-Induced Motion and Force Phenomena for Ship-Based High Performance Robotic and Human Amplifying Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Love, LJL

    2003-09-24

    The decrease in manpower and increase in material handling needs on many Naval vessels provides the motivation to explore the modeling and control of Naval robotic and robotic assistive devices. This report addresses the design, modeling, control and analysis of position and force controlled robotic systems operating on the deck of a moving ship. First we provide background information that quantifies the motion of the ship, both in terms of frequency and amplitude. We then formulate the motion of the ship in terms of homogeneous transforms. This transformation provides a link between the motion of the ship and the base of a manipulator. We model the kinematics of a manipulator as a serial extension of the ship motion. We then show how to use these transforms to formulate the kinetic and potential energy of a general, multi-degree of freedom manipulator moving on a ship. As a demonstration, we consider two examples: a one degree-of-freedom system experiencing three sea states operating in a plane to verify the methodology and a 3 degree of freedom system experiencing all six degrees of ship motion to illustrate the ease of computation and complexity of the solution. The first series of simulations explore the impact wave motion has on tracking performance of a position controlled robot. We provide a preliminary comparison between conventional linear control and Repetitive Learning Control (RLC) and show how fixed time delay RLC breaks down due to the varying nature wave disturbance frequency. Next, we explore the impact wave motion disturbances have on Human Amplification Technology (HAT). We begin with a description of the traditional HAT control methodology. Simulations show that the motion of the base of the robot, due to ship motion, generates disturbances forces reflected to the operator that significantly degrade the positioning accuracy and resolution at higher sea states. As with position-controlled manipulators, augmenting the control with a Repetitive

  5. Structural motion engineering

    CERN Document Server

    Connor, Jerome

    2014-01-01

    This innovative volume provides a systematic treatment of the basic concepts and computational procedures for structural motion design and engineering for civil installations. The authors illustrate the application of motion control to a wide spectrum of buildings through many examples. Topics covered include optimal stiffness distributions for building-type structures, the role of damping in controlling motion, tuned mass dampers, base isolation systems, linear control, and nonlinear control. The book's primary objective is the satisfaction of motion-related design requirements, such as restrictions on displacement and acceleration. The book is ideal for practicing engineers and graduate students. This book also: ·         Broadens practitioners' understanding of structural motion control, the enabling technology for motion-based design ·         Provides readers the tools to satisfy requirements of modern, ultra-high strength materials that lack corresponding stiffness, where the motion re...

  6. Measuring Motion-Induced B0-Fluctuations in the Brain Using Field Probes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Mads; Hanson, Lars G.; Madsen, Kristoffer Hougaard

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Fluctuations of the background magnetic field (B0) due to body and breathing motion can lead to significant artifacts in brain imaging at ultrahigh field. Corrections based on real-time sensing using external field probes show great potential. This study evaluates different aspects of fi...

  7. That's not quite me: limb ownership encoding in the brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Limanowski, Jakub; Blankenburg, Felix

    2016-07-01

    With congruent stimulation of one's limb together with a fake counterpart, an illusory self-attribution of the fake limb can be induced. Such illusions have brought profound insights into the cognitive and neuronal mechanisms underlying temporary changes in body representation, but to put them in perspective, they need to be compared with ownership as experienced for one's real body. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the neuronal correlates of touch under different degrees of body ownership. Participants' left and right arms were stimulated either alone or together with a fake counterpart while this stimulation was synchronous, ambiguous or asynchronous. Synchronous stimulation induced illusory fake arm ownership, but the brain still differentiated between touch to one's real arm and to an illusory 'owned' arm: the degree of arm ownership was encoded positively by activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and lateral occipitotemporal cortex and negatively in the temporoparietal cortex. Conversely, the ventral premotor cortex responded more strongly to synchronous stimulation compared with asynchronous stimulation and with real arm only stimulation. These results offer new insights into the differential representation of the real body vs a body that is temporarily self-attributed following the resolution of multisensory conflict. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  8. Stronger vection in junior high school children than in adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shirai, Nobu; Imura, Tomoko; Tamura, Rio; Seno, Takeharu

    2014-01-01

    Previous studies have shown that even elementary school-aged children (7 and 11 years old) experience visually induced perception of illusory self-motion (vection) (Lepecq et al., 1995, Perception, 24, 435-449) and that children of a similar age (mean age = 9.2 years) experience more rapid and stronger vection than do adults (Shirai et al., 2012, Perception, 41, 1399-1402). These findings imply that although elementary school-aged children experience vection, this ability is subject to further development. To examine the subsequent development of vection, we compared junior high school students' (N = 11, mean age = 14.4 years) and adults' (N = 10, mean age = 22.2 years) experiences of vection. Junior high school students reported significantly stronger vection than did adults, suggesting that the perceptual experience of junior high school students differs from that of adults with regard to vection and that this ability undergoes gradual changes over a relatively long period of development.

  9. NAK WP-cave project: Thermally induced convective motion in groundwater in the near field of the WP-cave after filling and closure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hopkirk, R.J.

    1989-04-01

    The thermal convective motion induced in groundwater due to the decay heat generated by the high-level waste in the WP-Cave has been studied by means of coupled thermo-hydraulic numerical models. The WPC concept is proposed as an alternative to the KBS-3 repository concept for construction in crystalline rock. However, in the absence of specific site fissure data, the rock mass has been modelled as a quasi-porous medium. The repository was assumed to be filled 40 years after unloading of the spent fuel. For a further 100 years the whole repository is cooled, before being backfilled and sealed off. Maximum waste temperatures and the fluid fluxes crossing the backfilled bentonite diffusion barrier were monitored to 3000 years after fuel unloading. At the same time, the effects of the hydraulic cage and of a highly permeable rock zone beneath the central storage volume on the induced fluid flows have been assessed. (orig.)

  10. Interlayer magnetoresistance in multilayer Dirac electron systems: motion and merging of Dirac cones

    OpenAIRE

    Assili, Mohamed; Haddad, Sonia

    2013-01-01

    We theoretically study the effect of the motion and the merging of Dirac cone on the interlayer magnetoresistance in multilayer graphene like systems. This merging, which could be induced by a uniaxial strain, gives rise in monolayer Dirac electron system to a topological transition from a semi-metallic phase to an insulating phase where Dirac points disappear. Based on a universal Hamiltonian proposed to describe the motion and the merging of Dirac points in two dimensional Dirac electron cr...

  11. An analysis of respiratory induced kidney motion on four-dimensional computed tomography and its implications for stereotactic kidney radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siva, Shankar; Pham, Daniel; Gill, Suki; Bressel, Mathias; Dang, Kim; Devereux, Thomas; Kron, Tomas; Foroudi, Farshad

    2013-01-01

    Stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) is an emerging treatment modality for primary renal cell carcinoma. To account for respiratory-induced target motion, an internal target volume (ITV) concept is often used in treatment planning of SABR. The purpose of this study is to assess patterns of kidney motion and investigate potential surrogates of kidney displacement with the view of ITV verification during treatment. Datasets from 71 consecutive patients with free breathing four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) planning scans were included in this study. The displacement of the left and right hemi-diaphragm, liver dome and abdominal wall were measured and tested for correlation with the displacement of the both kidneys and patient breathing frequency. Nine patients were excluded due to severe banding artifact. Of 62 evaluable patients, the median age was 68 years, with 41 male patients and 21 female patients. The mean (range) of the maximum, minimum and average breathing frequency throughout the 4DCTs were 20.1 (11–38), 15.1 (9–24) and 17.3 (9–27.5) breaths per minute, respectively. The mean (interquartile range) displacement of the left and right kidneys was 0.74 cm (0.45-0.98 cm) and 0.75 cm (0.49-0.97) respectively. The amplitude of liver-dome motion was correlated with right kidney displacement (r=0.52, p<0.001), but not with left kidney displacement (p=0.796). There was a statistically significant correlation between the magnitude of right kidney displacement and that of abdominal displacement (r=0.36, p=0.004), but not the left kidney (r=0.24, p=0.056). Hemi-diaphragm displacements were correlated with kidney displacements respectively, with a weaker correlation for the left kidney/left diaphragm (r=0.45, [95% CI 0.22 to 0.63], p=<0.001) than for the right kidney/right diaphragm (r=0.57, [95% CI 0.37 to 0.72], p=<0.001). For the majority of patients, maximal left and right kidney displacement is subcentimeter in magnitude. The magnitude of

  12. Radiotherapy of tumors under respiratory motion. Estimation of the motional velocity field and dose accumulation based on 4D image data; Strahlentherapie atmungsbewegter Tumoren. Bewegungsfeldschaetzung und Dosisakkumulation anhand von 4D-Bilddaten

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Werner, Rene

    2013-07-01

    Respiratory motion represents a major challenge in radiation therapy in general, and especially for the therapy of lung tumors. In recent years and due to the introduction of modern techniques to 'acquire temporally resolved computed tomography images (4D CT images), different approaches have been developed to explicitly account for breathing motion during treatment. An integral component of such approaches is the concept of motion field estimation, which aims at a mathematical description and the computation of the motion sequences represented by the patient's images. As part of a 4D dose calculation/dose accumulation, the resulting vector fields are applied for assessing and accounting for breathing-induced effects on the dose distribution to be delivered. The reliability of related 4D treatment planning concepts is therefore directly tailored to the precision of the underlying motion field estimation process. Taking this into account, the thesis aims at developing optimized methods for the estimation of motion fields using 4D CT images and applying the resulting methods for the analysis of breathing induced dosimetric effects in radiation therapy. The thesis is subdivided into three parts that thematically build upon each other. The first part of the thesis is about the implementation, evaluation and optimization of methods for motion field estimation with the goal of precisely assessing respiratory motion of anatomical and pathological structures represented in a patient's 4D er image sequence; this step is the basis of subsequent developments and analysis parts. Especially non-linear registration techniques prove to be well suited to this purpose. After being optimized for the particular problem at hand, it is shown as part of an extensive multi-criteria evaluation study and additionally taking into account publicly accessible evaluation platforms that such methods allow estimating motion fields with subvoxel accuracy - which means that the

  13. SU-D-207A-06: Pediatric Abdominal Organ Motion Quantified Via a Novel 4D MRI Method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Uh, J; Krasin, MJ; Lucas, JT; Tinkle, C; Merchant, TE; Hua, C [St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: To develop a 4D MRI method for assessing respiration-induced abdominal organ motion in children receiving radiation therapy. Methods: A 4D MRI using internal image-based respiratory surrogate has been developed and implemented on a clinical scanner (1.5T Siemens Avanto). Ten patients (younger group: N=6, 2–5 years, anesthetized; older group: N=4, 11–15 years) with neuroblastoma, Wilm’s tumor rhabdomyosarcoma, or desmoplastic small round cell tumor received free breathing 4D MRI scans for treatment planning. Coronal image slices of the entire abdomen were retrospectively constructed in 10 respiratory phases. A B-spline deformable registration (Metz et al. 2011) was performed on 4D datasets to automatically derive motion trajectories of selected anatomical landmarks, including the dome and the center of the liver, and the superior edges of kidneys and spleen. The extents of the motion in three dimensions (anteroposterior, AP; mediolateral, ML; superoinferior, SI) and the correlations between organ motion trajectories were quantified. Results: The 4D MRI scans were successfully performed in <20 minutes for all patients without the use of any external device. Organ motion extents were larger in adolescents (kidneys: 3–13 mm SI, liver and spleen: 6–18 mm SI) than in younger children (kidneys:<3mm in all directions; liver and spleen: 1–8 mm SI, 1–5 mm ML and AP). The magnitude of respiratory motion in some adolescents may warrant special motion management. Motion trajectories were not synchronized across selected anatomical landmarks, particularly in the ML and AP directions, indicating inter- and intra-organ variations of the respiratory-induced motion. Conclusion: The developed 4D MRI acquisition and motion analysis methods provide a non-ionizing, non-invasive approach to automatically measure the organ motion trajectory in the pediatric abdomen. It is useful for defining ITV and PRV, monitoring changes in target motion patterns during the

  14. Effectiveness of external respiratory surrogates for in vivo liver motion estimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Kai-Hsiang; Ho, Ming-Chih; Yeh, Chi-Chuan; Chen, Yu-Chien; Lian, Feng-Li; Lin, Win-Li; Yen, Jia-Yush; Chen, Yung-Yaw

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: Due to low frame rate of MRI and high radiation damage from fluoroscopy and CT, liver motion estimation using external respiratory surrogate signals seems to be a better approach to track liver motion in real-time for liver tumor treatments in radiotherapy and thermotherapy. This work proposes a liver motion estimation method based on external respiratory surrogate signals. Animal experiments are also conducted to investigate related issues, such as the sensor arrangement, multisensor fusion, and the effective time period. Methods: Liver motion and abdominal motion are both induced by respiration and are proved to be highly correlated. Contrary to the difficult direct measurement of the liver motion, the abdominal motion can be easily accessed. Based on this idea, our study is split into the model-fitting stage and the motion estimation stage. In the first stage, the correlation between the surrogates and the liver motion is studied and established via linear regression method. In the second stage, the liver motion is estimated by the surrogate signals with the correlation model. Animal experiments on cases of single surrogate signal, multisurrogate signals, and long-term surrogate signals are conducted and discussed to verify the practical use of this approach. Results: The results show that the best single sensor location is at the middle of the upper abdomen, while multisurrogate models are generally better than the single ones. The estimation error is reduced from 0.6 mm for the single surrogate models to 0.4 mm for the multisurrogate models. The long-term validity of the estimation models is quite satisfactory within the period of 10 min with the estimation error less than 1.4 mm. Conclusions: External respiratory surrogate signals from the abdomen motion produces good performance for liver motion estimation in real-time. Multisurrogate signals enhance estimation accuracy, and the estimation model can maintain its accuracy for at least 10 min. This

  15. Is Diaphragm Motion a Good Surrogate for Liver Tumor Motion?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Juan [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States); School of Information Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong (China); Cai, Jing [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Wang, Hongjun [School of Information Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong (China); Chang, Zheng; Czito, Brian G. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Bashir, Mustafa R. [Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Palta, Manisha [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States); Yin, Fang-Fang, E-mail: fangfang.yin@duke.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina (United States)

    2014-11-15

    Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between liver tumor motion and diaphragm motion. Methods and Materials: Fourteen patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (10 of 14) or liver metastases (4 of 14) undergoing radiation therapy were included in this study. All patients underwent single-slice cine–magnetic resonance imaging simulations across the center of the tumor in 3 orthogonal planes. Tumor and diaphragm motion trajectories in the superior–inferior (SI), anterior–posterior (AP), and medial–lateral (ML) directions were obtained using an in-house-developed normalized cross-correlation–based tracking technique. Agreement between the tumor and diaphragm motion was assessed by calculating phase difference percentage, intraclass correlation coefficient, and Bland-Altman analysis (Diff). The distance between the tumor and tracked diaphragm area was analyzed to understand its impact on the correlation between the 2 motions. Results: Of all patients, the mean (±standard deviation) phase difference percentage values were 7.1% ± 1.1%, 4.5% ± 0.5%, and 17.5% ± 4.5% in the SI, AP, and ML directions, respectively. The mean intraclass correlation coefficient values were 0.98 ± 0.02, 0.97 ± 0.02, and 0.08 ± 0.06 in the SI, AP, and ML directions, respectively. The mean Diff values were 2.8 ± 1.4 mm, 2.4 ± 1.1 mm, and 2.2 ± 0.5 mm in the SI, AP, and ML directions, respectively. Tumor and diaphragm motions had high concordance when the distance between the tumor and tracked diaphragm area was small. Conclusions: This study showed that liver tumor motion had good correlation with diaphragm motion in the SI and AP directions, indicating diaphragm motion in the SI and AP directions could potentially be used as a reliable surrogate for liver tumor motion.

  16. Motionally-induced electromagnetic fields generated by idealized ocean currents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tyler, R. H.; Mysak, L. A.

    Using the induction equation, we investigate the generation of electromagnetic fields by the motional electromagnetic induction due to ocean currents. In this paper, solutions are presented for a linear induction equation for the magnetic flux density vector which contains prescribed time-independent ocean current and conductivity fields. Once the magnetic flux density is known, the electric field and electric current density are easily obtained by differentiation. Solutions are given for several examples of idealized flow which include: 1) Vertically and horizontally sheared plane-parallel flow with depth-dependent conductivity; 2) A simple Stommel circulation gyre; and 3) Symmetric gyres. The results indicate that typical ocean current features induce magnetic fields with magnitudes reaching 100's of nT within the water and about 1-10 outside of the water. For the case of a field of gyres, the ocean-induced magnetic fields decay away from the ocean on spatial scales set by the horizontal scale of the ocean feature. At the altitudes of magnetic field satellite surveys, ocean-induced magnetic fields may retain values of a few nT, which are strong enough to be detected. Thus it is concluded that satellite observations of the earth's main magnetic field and, in particular, the observed temporal variations, could be affected by the ocean circulation. Summary and discussion In Section 3, we found exact solutions to the induction equation for idealized flows. The results gave magnitudes of about tens to hundreds of nT for the magnetic fields bH, about 10-5 V/m for the electric fields E, and about 10-5 A/m2 for the electric current density J induced by the ocean currents. These figures are in general agreement with the calculations of Lilley et al. (1993). In Section 4.2 we obtained solutions for the magnetic field above the ocean surface for the case of a Stommel gyre and a field of symmetric gyres. It was found in the last case that ocean gyres with a total transport

  17. Motion in the north Iceland volcanic rift zone accommodated by bookshelf faulting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Robert G.; White, Robert S.; Greenfield, Tim

    2014-01-01

    Along mid-ocean ridges the extending crust is segmented on length scales of 10-1,000km. Where rift segments are offset from one another, motion between segments is accommodated by transform faults that are oriented orthogonally to the main rift axis. Where segments overlap, non-transform offsets with a variety of geometries accommodate shear motions. Here we use micro-seismic data to analyse the geometries of faults at two overlapping rift segments exposed on land in north Iceland. Between the rift segments, we identify a series of faults that are aligned sub-parallel to the orientation of the main rift. These faults slip through left-lateral strike-slip motion. Yet, movement between the overlapping rift segments is through right-lateral motion. Together, these motions induce a clockwise rotation of the faults and intervening crustal blocks in a motion that is consistent with a bookshelf-faulting mechanism, named after its resemblance to a tilting row of books on a shelf. The faults probably reactivated existing crustal weaknesses, such as dyke intrusions, that were originally oriented parallel to the main rift and have since rotated about 15° clockwise. Reactivation of pre-existing, rift-parallel weaknesses contrasts with typical mid-ocean ridge transform faults and is an important illustration of a non-transform offset accommodating shear motion between overlapping rift segments.

  18. Muon zero point motion and the hyperfine field in nickel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elzain, M.E.

    1984-09-01

    It is argued that the effect of zero point motion of muons in Ni is to induce local vibrations of the neighbouring Ni atoms. This local vibration reduces the Hubbard correlation and hence decreases the net spin per atom. This acts back to reduce the hyperfine field at the muon site. (author)

  19. Curves from Motion, Motion from Curves

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-01-01

    De linearum curvarum cum lineis rectis comparatione dissertatio geometrica - an appendix to a treatise by de Lalouv~re (this was the only publication... correct solution to the problem of motion in the gravity of a permeable rotating Earth, considered by Torricelli (see §3). If the Earth is a homogeneous...in 1686, which contains the correct solution as part of a remarkably comprehensive theory of orbital motions under centripetal forces. It is a

  20. Optimizing 4-Dimensional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data Sampling for Respiratory Motion Analysis of Pancreatic Tumors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stemkens, Bjorn, E-mail: b.stemkens@umcutrecht.nl [Department of Radiotherapy, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht (Netherlands); Tijssen, Rob H.N. [Department of Radiotherapy, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht (Netherlands); Senneville, Baudouin D. de [Imaging Division, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht (Netherlands); L' Institut de Mathématiques de Bordeaux, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5251, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux (France); Heerkens, Hanne D.; Vulpen, Marco van; Lagendijk, Jan J.W.; Berg, Cornelis A.T. van den [Department of Radiotherapy, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht (Netherlands)

    2015-03-01

    Purpose: To determine the optimum sampling strategy for retrospective reconstruction of 4-dimensional (4D) MR data for nonrigid motion characterization of tumor and organs at risk for radiation therapy purposes. Methods and Materials: For optimization, we compared 2 surrogate signals (external respiratory bellows and internal MRI navigators) and 2 MR sampling strategies (Cartesian and radial) in terms of image quality and robustness. Using the optimized protocol, 6 pancreatic cancer patients were scanned to calculate the 4D motion. Region of interest analysis was performed to characterize the respiratory-induced motion of the tumor and organs at risk simultaneously. Results: The MRI navigator was found to be a more reliable surrogate for pancreatic motion than the respiratory bellows signal. Radial sampling is most benign for undersampling artifacts and intraview motion. Motion characterization revealed interorgan and interpatient variation, as well as heterogeneity within the tumor. Conclusions: A robust 4D-MRI method, based on clinically available protocols, is presented and successfully applied to characterize the abdominal motion in a small number of pancreatic cancer patients.

  1. Domain-walls motion in glass-coated CoFeSiB amorphous microwires

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Antonov, A.S. E-mail: as.antonov@mtu-net.ru; Buznikov, N.A.; Granovsky, A.B.; Joura, A.V.; Rakhmanov, A.L.; Yakunin, A.M

    2002-08-01

    A method for observation of domain-walls motion in amorphous microwires with circular magnetic anisotropy is proposed. Using the method, the magnetization reversal of glass-coated Co-based microwires induced by current pulses of high amplitude is studied. The magnetization reversal is shown to occur due to the nucleation of the domain walls at the sample ends and their subsequent motion along the microwire. The dependencies of the domain-wall velocity on the current pulse amplitude and a longitudinal DC magnetic field are measured. A model describing main features of experimental data is presented.

  2. Domain-walls motion in glass-coated CoFeSiB amorphous microwires

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Antonov, A.S.; Buznikov, N.A.; Granovsky, A.B.; Joura, A.V.; Rakhmanov, A.L.; Yakunin, A.M.

    2002-01-01

    A method for observation of domain-walls motion in amorphous microwires with circular magnetic anisotropy is proposed. Using the method, the magnetization reversal of glass-coated Co-based microwires induced by current pulses of high amplitude is studied. The magnetization reversal is shown to occur due to the nucleation of the domain walls at the sample ends and their subsequent motion along the microwire. The dependencies of the domain-wall velocity on the current pulse amplitude and a longitudinal DC magnetic field are measured. A model describing main features of experimental data is presented

  3. Visual motion influences the contingent auditory motion aftereffect

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vroomen, J.; de Gelder, B.

    2003-01-01

    In this study, we show that the contingent auditory motion aftereffect is strongly influenced by visual motion information. During an induction phase, participants listened to rightward-moving sounds with falling pitch alternated with leftward-moving sounds with rising pitch (or vice versa).

  4. Sensory conflict in motion sickness: An observer theory approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oman, Charles M.

    1989-01-01

    Motion sickness is the general term describing a group of common nausea syndromes originally attributed to motion-induced cerebral ischemia, stimulation of abdominal organ afferent, or overstimulation of the vestibular organs of the inner ear. Sea-, car-, and airsicknesses are the most commonly experienced examples. However, the discovery of other variants such as Cinerama-, flight simulator-, spectacle-, and space sickness in which the physical motion of the head and body is normal or absent has led to a succession of sensory conflict theories which offer a more comprehensive etiologic perspective. Implicit in the conflict theory is the hypothesis that neutral and/or humoral signals originate in regions of the brain subversing spatial orientation, and that these signals somehow traverse to other centers mediating sickness symptoms. Unfortunately, the present understanding of the neurophysiological basis of motion sickness is far from complete. No sensory conflict neuron or process has yet been physiologically identified. To what extent can the existing theory be reconciled with current knowledge of the physiology and pharmacology of nausea and vomiting. The stimuli which causes sickness, synthesizes a contemporary Observer Theory view of the Sensory Conflict hypothesis are reviewed, and a revised model for the dynamic coupling between the putative conflict signals and nausea magnitude estimates is presented. The use of quantitative models for sensory conflict offers a possible new approach to improving the design of visual and motion systems for flight simulators and other virtual environment display systems.

  5. Flapping motion and force generation in a viscoelastic fluid

    Science.gov (United States)

    Normand, Thibaud; Lauga, Eric

    2008-12-01

    In a variety of biological situations, swimming cells have to move through complex fluids. Similarly, mucociliary clearance involves the transport of polymeric fluids by beating cilia. Here, we consider the extent to which complex fluids could be exploited for force generation on small scales. We consider a prototypical reciprocal motion (i.e., identical under time-reversal symmetry): the periodic flapping of a tethered semi-infinite plane. In the Newtonian limit, such motion cannot be used for force generation according to Purcell’s scallop theorem. In a polymeric fluid (Oldroyd-B, and its generalization), we show that this is not the case and calculate explicitly the forces on the flapper for small-amplitude sinusoidal motion. Three setups are considered: a flapper near a wall, a flapper in a wedge, and a two-dimensional scalloplike flapper. In all cases, we show that at quadratic order in the oscillation amplitude, the tethered flapping motion induces net forces, but no average flow. Our results demonstrate therefore that the scallop theorem is not valid in polymeric fluids. The reciprocal component of the movement of biological appendages such as cilia can thus generate nontrivial forces in polymeric fluid such as mucus, and normal-stress differences can be exploited as a pure viscoelastic force generation and propulsion method.

  6. Motion control, motion sickness, and the postural dynamics of mobile devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoffregen, Thomas A; Chen, Yi-Chou; Koslucher, Frank C

    2014-04-01

    Drivers are less likely than passengers to experience motion sickness, an effect that is important for any theoretical account of motion sickness etiology. We asked whether different types of control would affect the incidence of motion sickness, and whether any such effects would be related to participants' control of their own bodies. Participants played a video game on a tablet computer. In the Touch condition, the device was stationary and participants controlled the game exclusively through fingertip inputs via the device's touch screen. In the Tilt condition, participants held the device in their hands and moved the device to control some game functions. Results revealed that the incidence of motion sickness was greater in the Touch condition than in the Tilt condition. During game play, movement of the head and torso differed as a function of the type of game control. Before the onset of subjective symptoms of motion sickness, movement of the head and torso differed between participants who later reported motion sickness and those that did not. We discuss implications of these results for theories of motion sickness etiology.

  7. First general solutions for unidirectional motions of rate type fluids over an infinite plate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Constantin Fetecau

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Based on a simple but important remark regarding the governing equation for the non-trivial shear stress corresponding to the motion of a fluid over an infinite plate, exact solutions are established for the motion of Oldroyd-B fluids due to the plate that applies an arbitrary time-dependent shear stress to the fluid. These solutions, that allow us to provide the first exact solutions for motions of rate type fluids produced by an infinite plate that applies constant, constantly accelerating or oscillating shears stresses to the fluid, can easily be reduced to the similar solutions for Maxwell, second grade or Newtonian fluids performing the same motion. Furthermore, the obtained solutions are used to develop general solutions for the motion induced by a moving plate and to correct or recover as special cases different known results from the existing literature. Consequently, the motion problem of such fluids over an infinite plate that is moving in its plane or applies a shear stress to the fluid is completely solved.

  8. Apparent diffusion coefficient measurement in a moving phantom simulating linear respiratory motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwee, Thomas C; Takahara, Taro; Muro, Isao; Van Cauteren, Marc; Imai, Yutaka; Nievelstein, Rutger A J; Mali, Willem P T M; Luijten, Peter R

    2010-10-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the effect of simulated linear respiratory motion on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements. Six rectangular test tubes (14 × 92 mm) filled with either water, tomato ketchup, or mayonnaise were positioned in a box containing agarose gel. This box was connected to a double-acting pneumatic cylinder, capable of inducing periodic linear motion in the long-axis direction of the magnetic bore (23-mm stroke). Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was performed for both the static and moving phantoms, and ADC measurements were made in the six test tubes in both situations. In the three test tubes whose long axes were parallel to the direction of motion, ADCs agreed well between the moving and static phantom situations. However, in two test tubes that were filled with fluids that had a considerably lower diffusion coefficient than the surrounding agarose gel, and whose long axes were perpendicular to the direction of motion, the ADCs agreed poorly between the moving and static phantom situations. ADC measurements of large homogeneous structures are not affected by linear respiratory motion. However, ADC measurements of inhomogeneous or small structures are affected by linear respiratory motion due to partial volume effects.

  9. Apparent diffusion coefficient measurement in a moving phantom simulating linear respiratory motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwee, T.C.; Takahara, Taro; Nievelstein, R.A.J.; Mali, W.P.T.M.; Luijten, P.R.; Muro, Isao; Imai, Yutaka; Cauteren, M. Van

    2010-01-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the effect of simulated linear respiratory motion on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements. Six rectangular test tubes (14 x 92 mm) filled with either water, tomato ketchup, or mayonnaise were positioned in a box containing agarose gel. This box was connected to a double-acting pneumatic cylinder, capable of inducing periodic linear motion in the long-axis direction of the magnetic bore (23-mm stroke). Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was performed for both the static and moving phantoms, and ADC measurements were made in the six test tubes in both situations. In the three test tubes whose long axes were parallel to the direction of motion, ADCs agreed well between the moving and static phantom situations. However, in two test tubes that were filled with fluids that had a considerably lower diffusion coefficient than the surrounding agarose gel, and whose long axes were perpendicular to the direction of motion, the ADCs agreed poorly between the moving and static phantom situations. ADC measurements of large homogeneous structures are not affected by linear respiratory motion. However, ADC measurements of inhomogeneous or small structures are affected by linear respiratory motion due to partial volume effects. (author)

  10. PET motion correction in context of integrated PET/MR: Current techniques, limitations, and future projections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillman, Ashley; Smith, Jye; Thomas, Paul; Rose, Stephen; Dowson, Nicholas

    2017-12-01

    Patient motion is an important consideration in modern PET image reconstruction. Advances in PET technology mean motion has an increasingly important influence on resulting image quality. Motion-induced artifacts can have adverse effects on clinical outcomes, including missed diagnoses and oversized radiotherapy treatment volumes. This review aims to summarize the wide variety of motion correction techniques available in PET and combined PET/CT and PET/MR, with a focus on the latter. A general framework for the motion correction of PET images is presented, consisting of acquisition, modeling, and correction stages. Methods for measuring, modeling, and correcting motion and associated artifacts, both in literature and commercially available, are presented, and their relative merits are contrasted. Identified limitations of current methods include modeling of aperiodic and/or unpredictable motion, attaining adequate temporal resolution for motion correction in dynamic kinetic modeling acquisitions, and maintaining availability of the MR in PET/MR scans for diagnostic acquisitions. Finally, avenues for future investigation are discussed, with a focus on improvements that could improve PET image quality, and that are practical in the clinical environment. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

  11. Attention and apparent motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horowitz, T; Treisman, A

    1994-01-01

    Two dissociations between short- and long-range motion in visual search are reported. Previous research has shown parallel processing for short-range motion and apparently serial processing for long-range motion. This finding has been replicated and it has also been found that search for short-range targets can be impaired both by using bicontrast stimuli, and by prior adaptation to the target direction of motion. Neither factor impaired search in long-range motion displays. Adaptation actually facilitated search with long-range displays, which is attributed to response-level effects. A feature-integration account of apparent motion is proposed. In this theory, short-range motion depends on specialized motion feature detectors operating in parallel across the display, but subject to selective adaptation, whereas attention is needed to link successive elements when they appear at greater separations, or across opposite contrasts.

  12. Example-based human motion denoising.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lou, Hui; Chai, Jinxiang

    2010-01-01

    With the proliferation of motion capture data, interest in removing noise and outliers from motion capture data has increased. In this paper, we introduce an efficient human motion denoising technique for the simultaneous removal of noise and outliers from input human motion data. The key idea of our approach is to learn a series of filter bases from precaptured motion data and use them along with robust statistics techniques to filter noisy motion data. Mathematically, we formulate the motion denoising process in a nonlinear optimization framework. The objective function measures the distance between the noisy input and the filtered motion in addition to how well the filtered motion preserves spatial-temporal patterns embedded in captured human motion data. Optimizing the objective function produces an optimal filtered motion that keeps spatial-temporal patterns in captured motion data. We also extend the algorithm to fill in the missing values in input motion data. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our system by experimenting with both real and simulated motion data. We also show the superior performance of our algorithm by comparing it with three baseline algorithms and to those in state-of-art motion capture data processing software such as Vicon Blade.

  13. Strong ground motion of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aoi, S.; Kunugi, T.; Suzuki, W.; Kubo, H.; Morikawa, N.; Fujiwara, H.

    2016-12-01

    The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake that is composed of Mw 6.1 and Mw 7.1 earthquakes respectively occurred in the Kumamoto region at 21:26 on April 14 and 28 hours later at 1:25 on April 16, 2016 (JST). These earthquakes are considered to rupture mainly the Hinagu fault zone for the Mw 6.1 event and the Futagawa fault zone for the Mw 7.1 event, respectively, where the Headquarter for Earthquake Research Promotion performed the long-term evaluation as well as seismic hazard assessment prior to the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake. Strong shakings with seismic intensity 7 in the JMA scale were observed at four times in total: Mashiki town for the Mw 6.1 and Mw 7.1 events, Nishihara village for the Mw 7.1 event, and NIED/KiK-net Mashiki (KMMH16) for the Mw 7.1 event. KiK-net Mashiki (KMMH16) recorded peak ground acceleration more than 1000 cm/s/s, and Nishihara village recorded peak ground velocity more than 250 cm/s. Ground motions were observed wider area for the Mw 7.1 event than the Mw 6.1 event. Peak ground accelerations and peak ground velocities of K-NET/KiK-net stations are consistent with the ground motion prediction equations by Si and Midorikawa (1999). Peak ground velocities at longer distance than 200 km attenuate slowly, which can be attributed to the large Love wave with a dominant period around 10 seconds. 5%-damped pseudo spectral velocity of the Mashiki town shows a peak at period of 1-2 s that exceeds ground motion response of JR Takatori of the 1995 Kobe earthquake and the Kawaguchi town of the 2004 Chuetsu earthquake. 5%-damped pseudo spectral velocity of the Nishihara village shows 350 cm/s peak at period of 3-4 s that is similar to the several stations in Kathmandu basin by Takai et al. (2016) during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal. Ground motions at several stations in Oita exceed the ground motion prediction equations due to an earthquake induced by the Mw 7.1 event. Peak ground accelerations of K-NET Yufuin (OIT009) records 90 cm/s/s for the Mw 7

  14. A Motion-Adaptive Deinterlacer via Hybrid Motion Detection and Edge-Pattern Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    He-Yuan Lin

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available A novel motion-adaptive deinterlacing algorithm with edge-pattern recognition and hybrid motion detection is introduced. The great variety of video contents makes the processing of assorted motion, edges, textures, and the combination of them very difficult with a single algorithm. The edge-pattern recognition algorithm introduced in this paper exhibits the flexibility in processing both textures and edges which need to be separately accomplished by line average and edge-based line average before. Moreover, predicting the neighboring pixels for pattern analysis and interpolation further enhances the adaptability of the edge-pattern recognition unit when motion detection is incorporated. Our hybrid motion detection features accurate detection of fast and slow motion in interlaced video and also the motion with edges. Using only three fields for detection also renders higher temporal correlation for interpolation. The better performance of our deinterlacing algorithm with higher content-adaptability and less memory cost than the state-of-the-art 4-field motion detection algorithms can be seen from the subjective and objective experimental results of the CIF and PAL video sequences.

  15. A Motion-Adaptive Deinterlacer via Hybrid Motion Detection and Edge-Pattern Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Hsin-Te

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract A novel motion-adaptive deinterlacing algorithm with edge-pattern recognition and hybrid motion detection is introduced. The great variety of video contents makes the processing of assorted motion, edges, textures, and the combination of them very difficult with a single algorithm. The edge-pattern recognition algorithm introduced in this paper exhibits the flexibility in processing both textures and edges which need to be separately accomplished by line average and edge-based line average before. Moreover, predicting the neighboring pixels for pattern analysis and interpolation further enhances the adaptability of the edge-pattern recognition unit when motion detection is incorporated. Our hybrid motion detection features accurate detection of fast and slow motion in interlaced video and also the motion with edges. Using only three fields for detection also renders higher temporal correlation for interpolation. The better performance of our deinterlacing algorithm with higher content-adaptability and less memory cost than the state-of-the-art 4-field motion detection algorithms can be seen from the subjective and objective experimental results of the CIF and PAL video sequences.

  16. Alpha motion based on a motion detector, but not on the Müller-Lyer illusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Masahiro

    2014-07-01

    This study examined the mechanism of alpha motion, the apparent motion of the Müller-Lyer figure's shaft that occurs when the arrowheads and arrow tails are alternately presented. The following facts were found: (a) reduced exposure duration decreased the amount of alpha motion, and this phenomenon was not explainable by the amount of the Müller-Lyer illusion; (b) the motion aftereffect occurred after adaptation to alpha motion; (c) occurrence of alpha motion became difficult when the temporal frequency increased, and this characteristic of alpha motion was similar to the characteristic of a motion detector that motion detection became difficult when the temporal frequency increased from the optimal frequency. These findings indicated that alpha motion occurs on the basis of a motion detector but not on the Müller-Lyer illusion, and that the mechanism of alpha motion is the same as that of general motion perception.

  17. MotionFlow: Visual Abstraction and Aggregation of Sequential Patterns in Human Motion Tracking Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, Sujin; Elmqvist, Niklas; Ramani, Karthik

    2016-01-01

    Pattern analysis of human motions, which is useful in many research areas, requires understanding and comparison of different styles of motion patterns. However, working with human motion tracking data to support such analysis poses great challenges. In this paper, we propose MotionFlow, a visual analytics system that provides an effective overview of various motion patterns based on an interactive flow visualization. This visualization formulates a motion sequence as transitions between static poses, and aggregates these sequences into a tree diagram to construct a set of motion patterns. The system also allows the users to directly reflect the context of data and their perception of pose similarities in generating representative pose states. We provide local and global controls over the partition-based clustering process. To support the users in organizing unstructured motion data into pattern groups, we designed a set of interactions that enables searching for similar motion sequences from the data, detailed exploration of data subsets, and creating and modifying the group of motion patterns. To evaluate the usability of MotionFlow, we conducted a user study with six researchers with expertise in gesture-based interaction design. They used MotionFlow to explore and organize unstructured motion tracking data. Results show that the researchers were able to easily learn how to use MotionFlow, and the system effectively supported their pattern analysis activities, including leveraging their perception and domain knowledge.

  18. Learning Motion Features for Example-Based Finger Motion Estimation for Virtual Characters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mousas, Christos; Anagnostopoulos, Christos-Nikolaos

    2017-09-01

    This paper presents a methodology for estimating the motion of a character's fingers based on the use of motion features provided by a virtual character's hand. In the presented methodology, firstly, the motion data is segmented into discrete phases. Then, a number of motion features are computed for each motion segment of a character's hand. The motion features are pre-processed using restricted Boltzmann machines, and by using the different variations of semantically similar finger gestures in a support vector machine learning mechanism, the optimal weights for each feature assigned to a metric are computed. The advantages of the presented methodology in comparison to previous solutions are the following: First, we automate the computation of optimal weights that are assigned to each motion feature counted in our metric. Second, the presented methodology achieves an increase (about 17%) in correctly estimated finger gestures in comparison to a previous method.

  19. Impact of extraneous mispositioned events on motion-corrected brain SPECT images of freely moving animals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Angelis, Georgios I.; Ryder, William J.; Bashar, Rezaul; Meikle, Steven R.; Fulton, Roger R.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) brain imaging of freely moving small animals would allow a wide range of important neurological processes and behaviors to be studied, which are normally inhibited by anesthetic drugs or precluded due to the animal being restrained. While rigid body motion of the head can be tracked and accounted for in the reconstruction, activity in the torso may confound brain measurements, especially since motion of the torso is more complex (i.e., nonrigid) and not well correlated with that of the head. The authors investigated the impact of mispositioned events and attenuation due to the torso on the accuracy of motion corrected brain images of freely moving mice. Methods: Monte Carlo simulations of a realistic voxelized mouse phantom and a dual compartment phantom were performed. Each phantom comprised a target and an extraneous compartment which were able to move independently of each other. Motion correction was performed based on the known motion of the target compartment only. Two SPECT camera geometries were investigated: a rotating single head detector and a stationary full ring detector. The effects of motion, detector geometry, and energy of the emitted photons (hence, attenuation) on bias and noise in reconstructed brain regions were evaluated. Results: The authors observed two main sources of bias: (a) motion-related inconsistencies in the projection data and (b) the mismatch between attenuation and emission. Both effects are caused by the assumption that the orientation of the torso is difficult to track and model, and therefore cannot be conveniently corrected for. The motion induced bias in some regions was up to 12% when no attenuation effects were considered, while it reached 40% when also combined with attenuation related inconsistencies. The detector geometry (i.e., rotating vs full ring) has a big impact on the accuracy of the reconstructed images, with the full ring detector being more

  20. The quantum mechanical measuring process as a scattering phenomenon inducing a collective coherent motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Requardt, M.

    1984-01-01

    In this paper we want to discuss the quantum mechanical measuring process within the realm of many body quantum theory. Our starting point is to consider this process as a special scattering phenomenon where within one of the partners, i.e. the many body measuring device, a collective coherent motion is induced by the interaction with the microobject. We start our investigation with the many body system having a large but finite number N of degrees of freedom which is the real situation. We then study in detail what will happen in the limit N->infinite, however emphasizing that this transition is actually only performed in the mind of the observer. This implies that certain tail events together with their phase correlations have to be truncated. We show that the dichotomy 'pure state' versus 'mixture' as outgoing scattering states will vanish in this limit in so far as it has no observable consequences provided one is only interested in the state of the microobject. Furthermore, we discuss the role of the observer, the notion of 'event', the relation between single preparation and ensemble picture, and the so-called 'reduction of the wave function' in the light of our approach, i.e. explaining the phenomena accompanying the measuring process in terms of many body quantum theory. (orig.)

  1. Structural Motion Grammar for Universal Use of Leap Motion: Amusement and Functional Contents Focused

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Byungseok Lee

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Motions using Leap Motion controller are not standardized while the use of it is spreading in media contents. Each content defines its own motions, thereby creating confusion for users. Therefore, to alleviate user inconvenience, this study categorized the commonly used motion by Amusement and Functional Contents and defined the Structural Motion Grammar that can be universally used based on the classification. To this end, the Motion Lexicon was defined, which is a fundamental motion vocabulary, and an algorithm that enables real-time recognition of Structural Motion Grammar was developed. Moreover, the proposed method was verified by user evaluation and quantitative comparison tests.

  2. Lagrangian Description of Nonadiabatic Particle Motion in Spherical Tori

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    R.B. White; Yu.V. Yakovenko; Ya.I. Kolesnichenko

    2002-06-21

    The ability of a device to provide adiabatic motion of charged particles is crucial for magnetic confinement. As the magnetic field in the present-day spherical tori, e.g., MAST and NSTX, is much lower than in the conventional tokamaks, effects of the finite Larmor radius (FLR) on the motion of fast ions are of importance in these devices, affecting the stochasticity threshold for the interaction of the ions with electromagnetic perturbations. In addition, FLR by itself may result in non-conservation (jumps) of the magnetic moment of particles [4]. In this work we propose a Lagrangian approach to description of the resonant collisionless motion of charged particles under a perturbation, allowing for FLR. The work generalizes results of Ref. [1], where only time-independent perturbations were considered. The approach is used to find the stochasticity thresholds for the Goldston-White-Boozer (GWB) diffusion [2] and the cyclotron-resonance-induced (CRI) diffusion (for the case of the firs t cyclotron resonance, the latter was discovered in Ref. [3]). In addition, a new expression for the magnetic moment variation caused by FLR is found.

  3. Lagrangian Description of Nonadiabatic Particle Motion in Spherical Tori

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    White, R.B.; Yakovenko, Yu.V.; Kolesnichenko, Ya.I.

    2002-01-01

    The ability of a device to provide adiabatic motion of charged particles is crucial for magnetic confinement. As the magnetic field in the present-day spherical tori, e.g., MAST and NSTX, is much lower than in the conventional tokamaks, effects of the finite Larmor radius (FLR) on the motion of fast ions are of importance in these devices, affecting the stochasticity threshold for the interaction of the ions with electromagnetic perturbations. In addition, FLR by itself may result in non-conservation (jumps) of the magnetic moment of particles [4]. In this work we propose a Lagrangian approach to description of the resonant collisionless motion of charged particles under a perturbation, allowing for FLR. The work generalizes results of Ref. [1], where only time-independent perturbations were considered. The approach is used to find the stochasticity thresholds for the Goldston-White-Boozer (GWB) diffusion [2] and the cyclotron-resonance-induced (CRI) diffusion (for the case of the first cyclotron resonance, the latter was discovered in Ref. [3]). In addition, a new expression for the magnetic moment variation caused by FLR is found

  4. Correlation-based motion vector processing with adaptive interpolation scheme for motion-compensated frame interpolation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Ai-Mei; Nguyen, Truong

    2009-04-01

    In this paper, we address the problems of unreliable motion vectors that cause visual artifacts but cannot be detected by high residual energy or bidirectional prediction difference in motion-compensated frame interpolation. A correlation-based motion vector processing method is proposed to detect and correct those unreliable motion vectors by explicitly considering motion vector correlation in the motion vector reliability classification, motion vector correction, and frame interpolation stages. Since our method gradually corrects unreliable motion vectors based on their reliability, we can effectively discover the areas where no motion is reliable to be used, such as occlusions and deformed structures. We also propose an adaptive frame interpolation scheme for the occlusion areas based on the analysis of their surrounding motion distribution. As a result, the interpolated frames using the proposed scheme have clearer structure edges and ghost artifacts are also greatly reduced. Experimental results show that our interpolated results have better visual quality than other methods. In addition, the proposed scheme is robust even for those video sequences that contain multiple and fast motions.

  5. A Method of Calculating Motion Error in a Linear Motion Bearing Stage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gyungho Khim

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We report a method of calculating the motion error of a linear motion bearing stage. The transfer function method, which exploits reaction forces of individual bearings, is effective for estimating motion errors; however, it requires the rail-form errors. This is not suitable for a linear motion bearing stage because obtaining the rail-form errors is not straightforward. In the method described here, we use the straightness errors of a bearing block to calculate the reaction forces on the bearing block. The reaction forces were compared with those of the transfer function method. Parallelism errors between two rails were considered, and the motion errors of the linear motion bearing stage were measured and compared with the results of the calculations, revealing good agreement.

  6. A Method of Calculating Motion Error in a Linear Motion Bearing Stage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khim, Gyungho; Park, Chun Hong; Oh, Jeong Seok

    2015-01-01

    We report a method of calculating the motion error of a linear motion bearing stage. The transfer function method, which exploits reaction forces of individual bearings, is effective for estimating motion errors; however, it requires the rail-form errors. This is not suitable for a linear motion bearing stage because obtaining the rail-form errors is not straightforward. In the method described here, we use the straightness errors of a bearing block to calculate the reaction forces on the bearing block. The reaction forces were compared with those of the transfer function method. Parallelism errors between two rails were considered, and the motion errors of the linear motion bearing stage were measured and compared with the results of the calculations, revealing good agreement. PMID:25705715

  7. An In Vitro Comparative Study of Intracanal Fluid Motion and Wall Shear Stress Induced by Ultrasonic and Polymer Rotary Finishing Files in a Simulated Root Canal Model

    OpenAIRE

    Koch, Jon; Borg, John; Mattson, Abby; Olsen, Kris; Bahcall, James

    2012-01-01

    Objective. This in vitro study compared the flow pattern and shear stress of an irrigant induced by ultrasonic and polymer rotary finishing file activation in an acrylic root canal model. Flow visualization analysis was performed using an acrylic canal filled with a mixture of distilled water and rheoscopic fluid. The ultrasonic and polymer rotary finishing file were separately tested in the canal and activated in a static position and in a cyclical axial motion (up and down). Particle moveme...

  8. Motion perception in motion : how we perceive object motion during smooth pursuit eye movements

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Souman, J.L.

    2005-01-01

    Eye movements change the retinal image motion of objects in the visual field. When we make an eye movement, the image of a stationary object will move across the retinae, while the retinal image of an object that we follow with the eyes is approximately stationary. To enable us to perceive motion in

  9. Assessment of statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cabalin, L.M.; Gonzalez, A. [Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Malaga, E-29071 Malaga (Spain); Ruiz, J. [Department of Applied Physics I, University of Malaga, E-29071 Malaga (Spain); Laserna, J.J., E-mail: laserna@uma.e [Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Malaga, E-29071 Malaga (Spain)

    2010-08-15

    Statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been assessed. For this purpose, a LIBS demonstrator was designed and constructed in our laboratory. The LIBS system consisted of a laboratory-scale conveyor belt, a compact optical module and a Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 nm. The speed of the conveyor belt was variable and could be adjusted up to a maximum speed of 2 m s{sup -1}. Statistical uncertainty in the analytical measurements was estimated in terms of precision (reproducibility and repeatability) and accuracy. The results obtained by LIBS on shredded scrap samples under real conditions have demonstrated that the analytical precision and accuracy of LIBS is dependent on the sample geometry, position on the conveyor belt and surface cleanliness. Flat, relatively clean scrap samples exhibited acceptable reproducibility and repeatability; by contrast, samples with an irregular shape or a dirty surface exhibited a poor relative standard deviation.

  10. Assessment of statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabalín, L. M.; González, A.; Ruiz, J.; Laserna, J. J.

    2010-08-01

    Statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been assessed. For this purpose, a LIBS demonstrator was designed and constructed in our laboratory. The LIBS system consisted of a laboratory-scale conveyor belt, a compact optical module and a Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 nm. The speed of the conveyor belt was variable and could be adjusted up to a maximum speed of 2 m s - 1 . Statistical uncertainty in the analytical measurements was estimated in terms of precision (reproducibility and repeatability) and accuracy. The results obtained by LIBS on shredded scrap samples under real conditions have demonstrated that the analytical precision and accuracy of LIBS is dependent on the sample geometry, position on the conveyor belt and surface cleanliness. Flat, relatively clean scrap samples exhibited acceptable reproducibility and repeatability; by contrast, samples with an irregular shape or a dirty surface exhibited a poor relative standard deviation.

  11. Assessment of statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cabalin, L.M.; Gonzalez, A.; Ruiz, J.; Laserna, J.J.

    2010-01-01

    Statistical uncertainty in the quantitative analysis of solid samples in motion by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been assessed. For this purpose, a LIBS demonstrator was designed and constructed in our laboratory. The LIBS system consisted of a laboratory-scale conveyor belt, a compact optical module and a Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 nm. The speed of the conveyor belt was variable and could be adjusted up to a maximum speed of 2 m s -1 . Statistical uncertainty in the analytical measurements was estimated in terms of precision (reproducibility and repeatability) and accuracy. The results obtained by LIBS on shredded scrap samples under real conditions have demonstrated that the analytical precision and accuracy of LIBS is dependent on the sample geometry, position on the conveyor belt and surface cleanliness. Flat, relatively clean scrap samples exhibited acceptable reproducibility and repeatability; by contrast, samples with an irregular shape or a dirty surface exhibited a poor relative standard deviation.

  12. Motion and relativity

    CERN Document Server

    Infeld, Leopold

    1960-01-01

    Motion and Relativity focuses on the methodologies, solutions, and approaches involved in the study of motion and relativity, including the general relativity theory, gravitation, and approximation.The publication first offers information on notation and gravitational interaction and the general theory of motion. Discussions focus on the notation of the general relativity theory, field values on the world-lines, general statement of the physical problem, Newton's theory of gravitation, and forms for the equation of motion of the second kind. The text then takes a look at the approximation meth

  13. The Importance of Spatiotemporal Information in Biological Motion Perception: White Noise Presented with a Step-like Motion Activates the Biological Motion Area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callan, Akiko; Callan, Daniel; Ando, Hiroshi

    2017-02-01

    Humans can easily recognize the motion of living creatures using only a handful of point-lights that describe the motion of the main joints (biological motion perception). This special ability to perceive the motion of animate objects signifies the importance of the spatiotemporal information in perceiving biological motion. The posterior STS (pSTS) and posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) region have been established by many functional neuroimaging studies as a locus for biological motion perception. Because listening to a walking human also activates the pSTS/pMTG region, the region has been proposed to be supramodal in nature. In this study, we investigated whether the spatiotemporal information from simple auditory stimuli is sufficient to activate this biological motion area. We compared spatially moving white noise, having a running-like tempo that was consistent with biological motion, with stationary white noise. The moving-minus-stationary contrast showed significant differences in activation of the pSTS/pMTG region. Our results suggest that the spatiotemporal information of the auditory stimuli is sufficient to activate the biological motion area.

  14. Autogenic-Feedback Training (AFT) as a preventive method for space motion sickness: Background and experimental design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cowings, Patricia S.; Toscano, William B.

    1993-01-01

    Finding an effective treatment for the motion sickness-like symptoms that occur in space has become a high priority for NASA. The background research is reviewed and the experimental design of a formal life sciences shuttle flight experiment designed to prevent space motion sickness in shuttle crew members is presented. This experiment utilizes a behavioral medicine approach to solving this problem. This method, Autogenic-Feedback Training (AFT), involves training subjects to voluntarily control several of their own physiological responses to environmental stressors. AFT has been used reliably to increase tolerance to motion sickness during ground-based tests in over 200 men and women under a variety of conditions that induce motion sickness, and preliminary evidence from space suggests that AFT may be an effective treatment for space motion sickness as well. Proposed changes to this experiment for future manifests are included.

  15. Clomiphene citrate-induced visual hallucinations: a case report

    OpenAIRE

    Venkatesh, Ramesh; Gujral, Gaganjeet Singh; Gurav, Prachi; Tibrewal, Shailja; Mathur, Umang

    2017-01-01

    Background Polycystic ovary syndrome is a common cause of chronic anovulation and infertility in otherwise healthy fertile couples. Clomiphene citrate is used as a first-line ovulation induction therapy in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. Clomiphene citrate can cause both systemic and ocular side effects. We report a rare side effect of illusory palinopsias in a patient with polycystic ovary syndrome treated with ovulation induction therapy with clomiphene citrate, and emphasize the n...

  16. Current-induced runaway vibrations in dehydrogenated graphene nanoribbons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rasmus Bjerregaard Christensen

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We employ a semi-classical Langevin approach to study current-induced atomic dynamics in a partially dehydrogenated armchair graphene nanoribbon. All parameters are obtained from density functional theory. The dehydrogenated carbon dimers behave as effective impurities, whose motion decouples from the rest of carbon atoms. The electrical current can couple the dimer motion in a coherent fashion. The coupling, which is mediated by nonconservative and pseudo-magnetic current-induced forces, change the atomic dynamics, and thereby show their signature in this simple system. We study the atomic dynamics and current-induced vibrational instabilities using a simplified eigen-mode analysis. Our study illustrates how armchair nanoribbons can serve as a possible testbed for probing the current-induced forces.

  17. Lattice Boltzmann method used to simulate particle motion in a conduit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dolanský Jindřich

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available A three-dimensional numerical simulation of particle motion in a pipe with a rough bed is presented. The simulation based on the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM employs the hybrid diffuse bounce-back approach to model moving boundaries. The bed of the pipe is formed by stationary spherical particles of the same size as the moving particles. Particle movements are induced by gravitational and hydrodynamic forces. To evaluate the hydrodynamic forces, the Momentum Exchange Algorithm is used. The LBM unified computational frame makes it possible to simulate both the particle motion and the fluid flow and to study mutual interactions of the carrier liquid flow and particles and the particle–bed and particle–particle collisions. The trajectories of simulated and experimental particles are compared. The Particle Tracking method is used to track particle motion. The correctness of the applied approach is assessed.

  18. Randomness control of vehicular motion through a sequence of traffic signals at irregular intervals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagatani, Takashi

    2010-01-01

    We study the regularization of irregular motion of a vehicle moving through the sequence of traffic signals with a disordered configuration. Each traffic signal is controlled by both cycle time and phase shift. The cycle time is the same for all signals, while the phase shift varies from signal to signal by synchronizing with intervals between a signal and the next signal. The nonlinear dynamic model of the vehicular motion is presented by the stochastic nonlinear map. The vehicle exhibits the very complex behavior with varying both cycle time and strength of irregular intervals. The irregular motion induced by the disordered configuration is regularized by adjusting the phase shift within the regularization regions.

  19. Strain-encoded cardiac MRI as an adjunct for dobutamine stress testing: incremental value to conventional wall motion analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korosoglou, Grigorios; Lossnitzer, Dirk; Schellberg, Dieter; Lewien, Antje; Wochele, Angela; Schaeufele, Tim; Neizel, Mirja; Steen, Henning; Giannitsis, Evangelos; Katus, Hugo A; Osman, Nael F

    2009-03-01

    High-dose dobutamine stress MRI is safe and feasible for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) in humans. However, the assessment of cine scans relies on the visual interpretation of regional wall motion, which is subjective. Recently, strain-encoded MRI (SENC) has been proposed for the direct color-coded visualization of myocardial strain. The purpose of our study was to compare the diagnostic value of SENC with that provided by conventional wall motion analysis for the detection of inducible ischemia during dobutamine stress MRI. Stress-induced ischemia was assessed by wall motion analysis and by SENC in 101 patients with suspected or known CAD and in 17 healthy volunteers who underwent dobutamine stress MRI in a clinical 1.5-T scanner. Quantitative coronary angiography deemed as the standard reference for the presence or absence of significant CAD (> or =50% diameter stenosis). On a coronary vessel level, SENC detected inducible ischemia in 86 of 101 versus 71 of 101 diseased coronary vessels (P or =50% stenosis (area under the curve, 0.96; SE, 0.01; 95% CI, 0.94 to 0.98; P<0.001). The direct color-coded visualization of strain on MR images is a useful adjunct for dobutamine stress MRI, which provides incremental value for the detection of CAD compared with conventional wall motion readings on cine images.

  20. Motion Transplantation Techniques: A Survey

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Basten, Ben; Egges, Arjan

    2012-01-01

    During the past decade, researchers have developed several techniques for transplanting motions. These techniques transplant a partial auxiliary motion, possibly defined for a small set of degrees of freedom, on a base motion. Motion transplantation improves motion databases' expressiveness and

  1. Dynamic Network Communication in the Human Functional Connectome Predicts Perceptual Variability in Visual Illusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhiwei; Zeljic, Kristina; Jiang, Qinying; Gu, Yong; Wang, Wei; Wang, Zheng

    2018-01-01

    Ubiquitous variability between individuals in visual perception is difficult to standardize and has thus essentially been ignored. Here we construct a quantitative psychophysical measure of illusory rotary motion based on the Pinna-Brelstaff figure (PBF) in 73 healthy volunteers and investigate the neural circuit mechanisms underlying perceptual variation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We acquired fMRI data from a subset of 42 subjects during spontaneous and 3 stimulus conditions: expanding PBF, expanding modified-PBF (illusion-free) and expanding modified-PBF with physical rotation. Brain-wide graph analysis of stimulus-evoked functional connectivity patterns yielded a functionally segregated architecture containing 3 discrete hierarchical networks, commonly shared between rest and stimulation conditions. Strikingly, communication efficiency and strength between 2 networks predominantly located in visual areas robustly predicted individual perceptual differences solely in the illusory stimulus condition. These unprecedented findings demonstrate that stimulus-dependent, not spontaneous, dynamic functional integration between distributed brain networks contributes to perceptual variability in humans. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Uncertainty in visual processes predicts geometrical optical illusions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fermüller, Cornelia; Malm, Henrik

    2004-03-01

    It is proposed in this paper that many geometrical optical illusions, as well as illusory patterns due to motion signals in line drawings, are due to the statistics of visual computations. The interpretation of image patterns is preceded by a step where image features such as lines, intersections of lines, or local image movement must be derived. However, there are many sources of noise or uncertainty in the formation and processing of images, and they cause problems in the estimation of these features; in particular, they cause bias. As a result, the locations of features are perceived erroneously and the appearance of the patterns is altered. The bias occurs with any visual processing of line features; under average conditions it is not large enough to be noticeable, but illusory patterns are such that the bias is highly pronounced. Thus, the broader message of this paper is that there is a general uncertainty principle which governs the workings of vision systems, and optical illusions are an artifact of this principle.

  3. Discrimination of animate and inanimate motion in 9-month-old infants: an ERP study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaduk, Katharina; Elsner, Birgit; Reid, Vincent M

    2013-10-01

    Simple geometric shapes moving in a self-propelled manner, and violating Newtonian laws of motion by acting against gravitational forces tend to induce a judgement that an object is animate. Objects that change their motion only due to external causes are more likely judged as inanimate. How the developing brain is employed in the perception of animacy in early ontogeny is currently unknown. The aim of this study was to use ERP techniques to determine if the negative central component (Nc), a waveform related to attention allocation, was differentially affected when an infant observed animate or inanimate motion. Short animated movies comprising a marble moving along a marble run either in an animate or an inanimate manner were presented to 15 infants who were 9 months of age. The ERPs were time-locked to a still frame representing animate or inanimate motion that was displayed following each movie. We found that 9-month-olds are able to discriminate between animate and inanimate motion based on motion cues alone and most likely allocate more attentional resources to the inanimate motion. The present data contribute to our understanding of the animate-inanimate distinction and the Nc as a correlate of infant cognitive processing. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Behavioral methods of alleviating motion sickness: effectiveness of controlled breathing and a music audiotape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yen Pik Sang, Fleur D; Billar, Jessica P; Golding, John F; Gresty, Michael A

    2003-01-01

    Behavioral countermeasures for motion sickness would be advantageous because of the side effects of antiemetic drugs, but few alternative treatments are available. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of controlling breathing and listening to a music audiotape designed to reduce motion sickness symptoms, on increasing tolerance to motion-induced nausea. Twenty-four healthy subjects were exposed to nauseogenic Coriolis stimulation on a rotating turntable under three conditions: whilst focusing on controlling breathing; listening to a music audiotape; or without intervention (control). The three conditions were performed by each subject according to a replicated factorial design at 1-week intervals at the same time of day. Ratings of motion sickness were obtained every 30 seconds. Once a level of mild nausea was reached subjects commenced controlling breathing or listened to the music audiotape. Motion was stopped after the onset of moderate nausea. Mean (+/- SD) motion exposure time in minutes tolerated before the onset of moderate nausea was significantly longer (p music (10.4 +/- 5.6 min) compared with control (9.2 +/- 5.9 min). Both controlling breathing and the music audiotape provided significant protection against motion sickness and with similar effectiveness. These nonpharmacologic countermeasures are only half as effective as standard doses of anti-motion sickness drugs, such as oral scopolamine; however, they are easy to implement and free of side effects.

  5. Current-induced domain wall motion in nanoscale ferromagnetic elements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Malinowski, G [Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, CNRS, Universite Paris-sud 11, 91405 Orsay Cedex (France); Boulle, O [SPINTEC, CEA/CNRS/UJF/GINP, INAC, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France); Klaeui, M, E-mail: Klaeui@uni-mainz.de [SwissFEL, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Laboratory of Nanomagnetism and Spin Dynamics, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)

    2011-09-28

    We review the details of domain wall (DW) propagation due to spin-polarized currents that could potentially be used in magnetic data storage devices based on domains and DWs. We discuss briefly the basics of the underlying spin torque effect and show how the two torques arising from the interaction between the spin-polarized charge carriers and the magnetization lead to complex dynamics of a spin texture such as a DW. By direct imaging we show how confined DWs in nanowires can be displaced using currents in in-plane soft-magnetic materials, and that when using short pulses, fast velocities can be attained. For high-anisotropy out-of-plane magnetized wires with narrow DWs we present approaches to deducing the torque terms and show that in these materials potentially more efficient domain wall motion could be achieved.

  6. Response spectra for differential motion of structures supports during earthquakes in Egypt

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed I.S. Elmasry

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Differential motions of ground supports of stiff structures with large plan dimensions and separate foundations under earthquakes were studied by researchers during the last few decades. Such a type of structural response was previously underestimated. The importance of studying such a response comes up from the fact that usually the structures affected are of strategic importance such as bridges. During their expected life, structures may experience vibrations excited by ground waves of short wavelengths during near-source earthquakes, or during amplified earthquake signals, during explosions, or during vibrations induced from nearby strong vibration sources. This is the case when the differential motion of supports becomes considerable. This paper aims to review the effects of seismic signal variations along the structures dimensions with emphasis on Egypt as a case study. The paper shows some patterns of the damage imposed by such differential motion. A replication of the differential motion in the longitudinal direction is applied on a frame bridge model. The resulting straining actions show the necessity for considering the differential motion of supports in the design of special structures in Egypt. Finally, response spectra for the differential motion of supports, based on the available data from previous earthquakes in Egypt, is derived and proposed for designers to include in the design procedure when accounting for such type of structural response, and especially in long-span bridges.

  7. Design of a linear-motion dual-stage actuation system for precision control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dong, W; Tang, J; ElDeeb, Y

    2009-01-01

    Actuators with high linear-motion speed, high positioning resolution and a long motion stroke are needed in many precision machining systems. In some current systems, voice coil motors (VCMs) are implemented for servo control. While the voice coil motors may provide the long motion stroke needed in many applications, the main obstacle that hinders the improvement of the machining accuracy and efficiency is their limited bandwidth. To fundamentally solve this issue, we propose to develop a dual-stage actuation system that consists of a voice coil motor that covers the coarse motion, and a piezoelectric stack actuator that induces the fine motion, thus enhancing the positioning accuracy. The focus of this present research is the mechatronics design and synthesis of the new actuation system. In particular, a flexure hinge based mechanism is developed to provide a motion guide and preload to the piezoelectric stack actuator that is serially connected to the voice coil motor. This mechanism is built upon parallel plane flexure hinges. A series of numerical and experimental studies are carried out to facilitate the system design and the model identification. The effectiveness of the proposed system is demonstrated through open-loop studies and preliminary closed-loop control practice. While the primary goal of this particular design is aimed at enhancing optical lens machining, the concept and approach outlined are generic and can be extended to a variety of applications

  8. Rapid and coordinated processing of global motion images by local clusters of retinal ganglion cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsumoto, Akihiro; Tachibana, Masao

    2017-01-01

    Even when the body is stationary, the whole retinal image is always in motion by fixational eye movements and saccades that move the eye between fixation points. Accumulating evidence indicates that the brain is equipped with specific mechanisms for compensating for the global motion induced by these eye movements. However, it is not yet fully understood how the retina processes global motion images during eye movements. Here we show that global motion images evoke novel coordinated firing in retinal ganglion cells (GCs). We simultaneously recorded the firing of GCs in the goldfish isolated retina using a multi-electrode array, and classified each GC based on the temporal profile of its receptive field (RF). A moving target that accompanied the global motion (simulating a saccade following a period of fixational eye movements) modulated the RF properties and evoked synchronized and correlated firing among local clusters of the specific GCs. Our findings provide a novel concept for retinal information processing during eye movements.

  9. Objects in Motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damonte, Kathleen

    2004-01-01

    One thing scientists study is how objects move. A famous scientist named Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) spent a lot of time observing objects in motion and came up with three laws that describe how things move. This explanation only deals with the first of his three laws of motion. Newton's First Law of Motion says that moving objects will continue…

  10. Surface motion induced by nuclear explosions beneath Pahute Mesa. Part I. Halfbreak, Greeley, Scotch, Boxcar events

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perret, W.R.

    1976-10-01

    Results of surface motion studies conducted by Sandia Laboratories during seven underground nuclear explosions detonated beneath Pahute Mesa, Areas 19 and 20 of the Nevada Test Site, between 1966 and 1973 are reported. The report is divided into two parts of which this, Part I, includes (1) descriptions of the Pahute Mesa geological environment and of the purposes and instrumentation used in these programs (Chapter 1), and (2) description of four events, the data derived from each, and analysis of these data. These Part I events are HALFBEAK (Chapter 2), GREELEY (Chapter 3), SCOTCH (Chapter 4), and BOXCAR (Chapter 5) for all of which a nominally radial array of gage stations yielded data as a function of distance primarily, although in a few cases data were derived from stations at widely separated azimuths from the explosion. Results of the analysis indicate that average propagation velocity through the geologic column between the explosions and mesa surface was about 8800 ft/sec and that for horizontal distances greater than shot depth, refraction occurred within rhyolite flows with characteristic velocity of about 12,300 ft/sec. There is evidence which suggests possible deeper refraction at a velocity between 18,000 and 21,000 ft/sec. Only the verticle motion peaks follow a pattern amenable to regression analysis because geometrical effects influence horizontal motion amplitudes differently as horizontal distances increase. Particle velocities vary roughly as the inverse square of slant or radial range with exponent values ranging from -3.9 to -1.3. Displacements follow a similar pattern with exponents ranging from about -6 to -2. Displacement profiles at various times during the motion and displacement hodographs in the vertical-radial plane aid in understanding several local phenomena implied by individual motion records

  11. Proprioceptive body illusions modulate the visual perception of reaching distance.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agustin Petroni

    Full Text Available The neurobiology of reaching has been extensively studied in human and non-human primates. However, the mechanisms that allow a subject to decide-without engaging in explicit action-whether an object is reachable are not fully understood. Some studies conclude that decisions near the reach limit depend on motor simulations of the reaching movement. Others have shown that the body schema plays a role in explicit and implicit distance estimation, especially after motor practice with a tool. In this study we evaluate the causal role of multisensory body representations in the perception of reachable space. We reasoned that if body schema is used to estimate reach, an illusion of the finger size induced by proprioceptive stimulation should propagate to the perception of reaching distances. To test this hypothesis we induced a proprioceptive illusion of extension or shrinkage of the right index finger while participants judged a series of LEDs as reachable or non-reachable without actual movement. Our results show that reach distance estimation depends on the illusory perceived size of the finger: illusory elongation produced a shift of reaching distance away from the body whereas illusory shrinkage produced the opposite effect. Combining these results with previous findings, we suggest that deciding if a target is reachable requires an integration of body inputs in high order multisensory parietal areas that engage in movement simulations through connections with frontal premotor areas.

  12. Periodic Boundary Motion in Thermal Turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Jun; Libchaber, Albert

    2000-01-01

    A free-floating plate is introduced in a Benard convection cell with an open surface. It partially covers the cell and distorts the local heat flux, inducing a coherent flow that in turn moves the plate. Remarkably, the plate can be driven to a periodic motion even under the action of a turbulent fluid. The period of the oscillation depends on the coverage ratio, and on the Rayleigh number of the convective system. The plate oscillatory behavior observed in this experiment may be related to a geological model, in which continents drift in a quasiperiodic fashion. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society

  13. Impact of patient motion on myocardial perfusion SPECT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Kemin; Feng Yanlin; He Xiaohong; Wen Guanghua; Yu Fengwen; Liu Shusheng; Liu Dejun; Yuan Jianwei; Yang Ming

    2008-01-01

    Objective: It is well known that patient motion may cause artifacts in myocardial SPECT images and affect clinical diagnosis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of motion on quality and semi-quantitative results of myocardial perfusion images. Methods: Six healthy volunteers un- derwent myocardial perfusion SPECT. The raw data in each case was manually shifted 1-6 frames and 1 4 pixels, respectively by using the motion correction software. The shifted raw data were then reconstructed. A semi-quantitative software was used to assess the myocardial perfusion of left ventricle. The quality and semi-quantitative results of the tomographic images reconstructed from the raw data with and without motion were compared and analyzed. SPSS 12.0 was used for data analysis. Results: There was no visible artifact and semi-quantitative difference on the data with 1 frame and (or) 1 pixel shift when compared with the original data without shift. The image artifacts became significantly deteriorated when the number of flame and (or) pixel shift was increased. In general, the image artifact of inferior and posterior wall was related to the upward shift, and that of anterior and infero-posterior wall was related to the downward shift, that of septal, anterior, infero-postefior wall and apex was related to right-ward shift, and the septal and infero-posterior wall was related to the left-ward shift. The differences along the x-axis shift were more prominent than that of the y-axis (t=2.848, P<0.01), and the differences in the downward and rightward shift were more severe than the upward and leftward shift (t=2.941, 6.598; all P<0.01), respectively. Conclusions: Image artifacts became significant when there was motion induced by manual shift of more than one flame and (or) one pixel. Different motion directions were closely related to different segments of left ventricle. (authors)

  14. Marker-Free Human Motion Capture

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grest, Daniel

    Human Motion Capture is a widely used technique to obtain motion data for animation of virtual characters. Commercial optical motion capture systems are marker-based. This book is about marker-free motion capture and its possibilities to acquire motion from a single viewing direction. The focus...

  15. Simulation of respiratory motion during IMRT dose delivery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohn, Silje; Wasboe, Ellen

    2011-01-01

    Background. When intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is realised with dynamic multi-leaf collimators (MLC) and given under respiratory motion, dosimetric errors may occur. These errors are a consequence of the dose blurring and the interplay between the organ motion and the leaf motion. In the present study, a model for evaluating these dosimetric effects for patient-specific cases has been developed and tested. Material and methods. In the purpose written software, three dimensional (3D) dose distributions can be calculated both with and without a generated breathing cycle. To validate the presented model and illustrate its application, periodic breathing cycles were generated, where the starting phase was set randomly for each field during the calculations. Respiration in the anterior-posterior (AP), superior-inferior (SI) and left-right (LR) direction was tested and verified. To illustrate the application of the presented model, two 5-fields IMRT plans with different complexity were calculated with a 2 cm peak-to-peak motion in the AP direction for one fraction and for 25 fractions. Results. The results showed that the calculation method is of good accuracy, in particular for IMRT plans consisting of several fields, where 97% of the pixels within the body fulfilled a tolerance set to 4% dose difference and 4 mm distance to agreement (DTA). For the two IMRT plans with different complexity, pronounced respiratory induced dose errors, which increased with increasing complexity, were found for both one fraction and 25 fractions, but due to the random stating phase the interplay effect was considerably reduced for the plans consisting of 25 fractions. This illustrates how the dosimetric effects will vary depending on the dose plan and on the number of fractions investigated. Conclusion. For patient specific cases, the model can with good accuracy calculate 3D dose distributions both with and without respiratory motion, and evaluate the dosimetric effects

  16. Empirical recurrence rates for ground motion signals on planetary surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorenz, Ralph D.; Panning, Mark

    2018-03-01

    We determine the recurrence rates of ground motion events as a function of sensed velocity amplitude at several terrestrial locations, and make a first interplanetary comparison with measurements on the Moon, Mars, Venus and Titan. This empirical approach gives an intuitive order-of-magnitude guide to the observed ground motion (including both tectonic and ocean- and atmosphere-forced signals) of these locations as a guide to instrument expectations on future missions, without invoking interior models and specific sources: for example a Venera-14 observation of possible ground motion indicates a microseismic environment mid-way between noisy and quiet terrestrial locations. Quiet terrestrial regions see a peak velocity amplitude in mm/s roughly equal to 0.3*N(-0.7), where N is the number of "events" (half-hour intervals in which a given peak ground motion is exceeded) observed per year. The Apollo data show endogenous seismic signals for a given recurrence rate that are typically about 10,000 times smaller in amplitude than a quiet site on Earth, although local thermally-induced moonquakes are much more common. Viking data masked for low-wind periods appear comparable with a quiet terrestrial site, whereas a Venera observation of microseisms suggests ground motion more similar to a more active terrestrial location. Recurrence rate plots from in-situ measurements provide a context for seismic instrumentation on future planetary missions, e.g. to guide formulation of data compression schemes. While even small geophones can discriminate terrestrial activity rates, observations with guidance accelerometers are typically too insensitive to provide meaningful constraints (i.e. a non-zero number of "events") on actual ground motion observations unless operated for very long periods.

  17. Changes in sitting posture induce multiplanar changes in chest wall shape and motion with breathing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Linda-Joy; Chang, Angela T; Coppieters, Michel W; Hodges, Paul W

    2010-03-31

    This study examined the effect of sitting posture on regional chest wall shape in three dimensions, chest wall motion (measured with electromagnetic motion analysis system), and relative contributions of the ribcage and abdomen to tidal volume (%RC/V(t)) (measured with inductance plethysmography) in 7 healthy volunteers. In seven seated postures, increased dead space breathing automatically increased V(t) (to 1.5 V(t)) to match volume between conditions and study the effects of posture independent of volume changes. %RC/V(t) (pplane changes in sitting posture alter three-dimensional ribcage configuration and chest wall kinematics during breathing, while maintaining constant respiratory function. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. What motion is: William Neile and the laws of motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemeny, Max

    2017-07-01

    In 1668-1669 William Neile and John Wallis engaged in a protracted correspondence regarding the nature of motion. Neile was unhappy with the laws of motion that had been established by the Royal Society in three papers published in 1668, deeming them not explanations of motion at all, but mere descriptions. Neile insisted that science could not be informative without a discussion of causes, meaning that Wallis's purely kinematic account of collision could not be complete. Wallis, however, did not consider Neile's objections to his work to be serious. Rather than engage in a discussion of the proper place of natural philosophy in science, Wallis decided to show how Neile's preferred treatment of motion lead to absurd conclusions. This dispute is offered as a case study of dispute resolution within the early Royal Society.

  19. Early Improper Motion Detection in Golf Swings Using Wearable Motion Sensors: The First Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stančin, Sara; Tomažič, Sašo

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents an analysis of a golf swing to detect improper motion in the early phase of the swing. Led by the desire to achieve a consistent shot outcome, a particular golfer would (in multiple trials) prefer to perform completely identical golf swings. In reality, some deviations from the desired motion are always present due to the comprehensive nature of the swing motion. Swing motion deviations that are not detrimental to performance are acceptable. This analysis is conducted using a golfer's leading arm kinematic data, which are obtained from a golfer wearing a motion sensor that is comprised of gyroscopes and accelerometers. Applying the principal component analysis (PCA) to the reference observations of properly performed swings, the PCA components of acceptable swing motion deviations are established. Using these components, the motion deviations in the observations of other swings are examined. Any unacceptable deviations that are detected indicate an improper swing motion. Arbitrarily long observations of an individual player's swing sequences can be included in the analysis. The results obtained for the considered example show an improper swing motion in early phase of the swing, i.e., the first part of the backswing. An early detection method for improper swing motions that is conducted on an individual basis provides assistance for performance improvement. PMID:23752563

  20. Disparity, motion, and color information improve gloss constancy performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wendt, Gunnar; Faul, Franz; Ekroll, Vebjørn; Mausfeld, Rainer

    2010-09-01

    S. Nishida and M. Shinya (1998) found that observers have only a limited ability to recover surface-reflectance properties under changes in surface shape. Our aim in the present study was to investigate how the degree of surface-reflectance constancy depends on the availability of information that may help to infer the reflectance and shape properties of surfaces. To this end, we manipulated the availability of (i) motion-induced information (static vs. dynamic presentation), (ii) disparity information (with the levels "monocular," "surface disparity," and "surface + highlight disparity"), and (iii) color information (grayscale stimuli vs. hue differences between diffuse and specular reflections). The task of the subjects was to match the perceived lightness and glossiness between two surfaces with different spatial frequency and amplitude by manipulating the diffuse component and the exponent of the Phong lighting model in one of the surfaces. Our results indicate that all three types of information improve the constancy of glossiness matches--both in isolation and in combination. The lightness matching data only revealed an influence of motion and color information. Our results indicate, somewhat counterintuitively, that motion information has a detrimental effect on lightness constancy.