Calculation of turbulence effects on acoustic remote-sensing system

Summary A mathematical tool for the calculation of the effects of turbulence on acoustic remote-sensing systems is described. The systems taken into account are sodar, which operates in air, and underwater acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP). Included in the modelling are echo spectrum broadening and the contribution of turbulence to the scattering cross-section. A method for the measurement of the transverse velocity with a single beam is also suggested.     

Acoustic analysis of voice in multiple sclerosis patients

The objective is to investigate the presence of dysphonic symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and to compare quantitative acoustic parameters in multiple sclerosis patients and normal individuals. The method of study was an 8-month controlled cross-sectional that was carried out with 106 individuals (30 MS, 76 controls). Both groups included males and females from 20 to 55 years. Exclusion criteria were prior vocal disorder, laryngeal microsurgery, recent endotracheal intubation, tumors, laryngeal, lung or mediastinal metastases, respiratory disease, and other associated neurological diagnoses. For dysphonic symptoms (qualitative variables), associations were assessed using Mantel-Haenszel's chi2 test, with Yates correction or the Fisher exact test when necessary. Statistical significance was set at p< or =0.05. Dysphonia was observed in 70% of MS individuals versus 33% of controls (p=0.01). Association was found between MS and dysphonia (OR: 2.2, CI 95%: 1.13-4.25). Fundamental frequency was higher among MS patients (p=0.01). Fundamental frequency deviation was significantly higher in MS women (but not men) than controls (p=0.00). Jitter was higher in MS men than in all other groups (p=0.00). Results suggest that evaluation and treatment of MS patients should be revised, evaluating voice alterations in relation to other signs. MS seems to intensify gender effect on fundamental frequency deviation, noise, and jitter, with MS women presenting fewer voice variations than men.     

Gaussian Hückel model

One set of non-linear equations of the modified Hückel model is obtained.     

Spectral line inversion as a diagnostic tool

A general technique for inverting spectral line profiles to obtain physical information about a semi-infinite plasma is described. The technique allows for distinct line and continuum source functions, the presence of both stochastic and systematic velocity fields, and permits all spectral lines in a multiplet to be inverted simultaneously.     

Sulle connessioni proiettive

Sunto Esame delle connessioni infinitesimali nello spazio fibrato dei riferimenti proiettivi di una V_n. Definizione di connessione proiettiva regolare Geodetiche di una V_n secondo una connessione proiettiva con speciale riguardo alle connessioni regolari. Ad Antonio Signorini nel suo 70^mo compleanno.     

Reactivity of α-acylated β-enamino ketones and esters: Synthesis of pyrazoles

The reactivity of the enamino compounds 4-amino-3-phenylamino(thio)carbonyl-3-penten-2-one 1 and 2 and ethyl 3-amino-2-phenylamino(thio)carbonyl-2-butyrate 7 and 8 was studied using the reaction with hydrazine hydrate and hydrazine hydrochloride to evaluate the 1,3 electrophilic center of the compounds by the formation of the pyrazole rings. The pyrazoles 3, 4, 5, 9, 11 and 13 were obtained depending on the reaction conditions employed.     

The hydrogen atom as a projection of an homogeneous space

The Kustaanheimo-Stiefel transformation as applied to the nonrelativistic hydrogen atom provides one of the rare examples of a free particle moving on a four-dimensional homogeneous space.     

Changes in cerebral activity after decreased upper-limb hypertonus: an EMG-fMRI study

Objective

Whereas several studies have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate motor recovery, whether therapy to decrease post-stroke hypertonus alters central motor patterns remains unclear. In this study, we used continuous electromyography (EMG)-fMRI to investigate possible changes in movement-related brain activation in patients receiving Botulinum toxin (BoNT-A) for hand-muscle hypertonus after chronic stroke.

Methods

We studied eight stroke patients all of whom had hemiparesis and associated upper-limb hypertonus. All patients underwent an fMRI-EMG recording and clinical-neurological assessment before BoNT-A and 5 weeks thereafter. The handgrip motor task during imaging was fixed across both patients and controls. The movements were metronome paced, movement amplitude and force were controlled with a plastic orthosis, dynamometer and EMG recording. An age-matched control group was recruited from among healthy volunteers underwent the same fMRI-EMG recording.

Results

Before BoNT-A, while patients moved the paretic hand, fMRI detected wide bilateral activation in the sensorymotor areas (SM1), in the supplementary motor area (SMA) and cerebellum. After BoNT-A blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) activation decreased in ipsilateral and contralateral motor areas and became more lateralized. BOLD activation decreased also in ipsilateral cerebellar regions and in the SMA.

Conclusion

Changes in peripheral upper-limb hypertonus after BoNT-A were associated to an improvement in active movements and more lateralized and focalized activation of motor areas. The clinical and EMG-fMRI coregistration technique we used to study hand-muscle hypertonus in patients receiving BoNT-A after chronic stroke should be useful in future studies seeking improved strategies for post-stroke neurorehabilitation.     

Integrating Algebra and Proof in High School: Students' Work with Multiple Variables and a Single Parameter in a Proof Context

In the United States, researchers argue that proof is largely concentrated in the domain of high school geometry, thus providing students a distorted image of what proof entails, which is at odds with the central role that proof plays in mathematics. Despite the centrality of proof, there is a lack of studies addressing how to integrate proof into other mathematical domains. In this article, we discuss a teaching experiment designed to integrate algebra and proof in the high school curriculum. Algebraic proof was envisioned as the vehicle that would provide high school students the opportunity to learn not only about proof in a context other than geometry but also about aspects of algebra. Results from the experiment indicate that students meaningfully learned about aspects of both algebra and proof in that they produced algebraic proofs involving multiple variables and a single parameter, based on conjectures they themselves generated.     

Shear band formation and ductility in bulk metallic glass

The variations in the chemical compositions of the metallic glasses reported in the literature, as well as the overall lack of experimental data concerning the inhomogeneous deformation behaviour of metallic glass, make the evaluation of the effects of shear band/fracture behaviour on the mechanical properties of metallic glasses difficult. Isolating the effect of local shear band formation on bulk inhomogeneous flow would appear to be a first step in approaching this problem. The mechanical behaviour of Vitreloy metallic glass at room temperature and at various strain rates in tension and compression was investigated. The formation of multiple shear bands was observed at high strain rates. An increase in strain rate leads to enhanced ductility in tension and compression. Some aspects of the deformation processes in tension and compression are discussed.