Deficits in sensory prediction are related to delusional ideation in healthy individuals.

Motor control strongly relies on neural processes that predict the sensory consequences of self-generated actions. Previous research has demonstrated deficits in such sensory-predictive processes in schizophrenic patients and these low-level deficits are thought to contribute to the emergence of delusions of control. Here, we examined the extent to which individual differences in sensory prediction are associated with a tendency towards delusional ideation in healthy participants. We used a force-matching task to quantify sensory-predictive processes, and administered questionnaires to assess schizotypy and delusion-like thinking. Individuals with higher levels of delusional ideation showed more accurate force matching suggesting that such thinking is associated with a reduced tendency to predict and attenuate the sensory consequences of self-generated actions. These results suggest that deficits in sensory prediction in schizophrenia are not simply consequences of the deluded state and are not related to neuroleptic medication. Rather they appear to be stable, trait-like characteristics of an individual, a finding that has important implications for our understanding of the neurocognitive basis of delusions.

Prediction of structural dynamic plastic shear failure by Johnson's damage number

It is proved that Johnson's damage number is the sole similarity parameter for dynamic plastic shear failure of structures loaded impulsively, therefore, dynamic plastic shear failure can be understood when damage number reaches a critical value. It is suggested that the damage number be generally used to predict the dynamic plastic shear failure of structures under various kinds of dynamic loads (impulsive loading, rectangular pressure pulse, exponential pressure pulse, etc.,). One of the advantages for using the damage number to predict such kind of failure is that it is conveniently used for dissimilar material modeling.

Nd65Al10Fe25-xCox (x=0,5,10) bulk metallic glasses with wide supercooled liquid regions

Bulk metallic glasses of Nd65Al10Fe25-xCox (x=0,5,10) have been prepared in the form of 3 mm diam rods. Results of differential scanning calrimetry, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), and x-ray diffraction are presented for these alloys. It is shown that the glass transition and crystallization have been observed by DMTA. The reduced glass transition temperature of these glasses, defined as the ratio between the glass transition temperature T-g and the melting temperature T-l is in the range from 0.55 to 0.62. All these glasses have a large supercooled liquid region (SLR), ranging from 80 to 130 K. The high value of reduced glass transition temperature and wide SLR agree with their good glass formation ability.

Large eddy simulations for fan-OGV broadband noise prediction

The work in this paper forms part of a project on the use of large eddy simulation (LES) for broadband rotor-stator interaction noise prediction. Here we focus on LES of the flow field near a fan blade trailing edge. The first part of the paper aims to evaluate LES suitability for predicting the near-field velocity field for a blunt NACA-0012 airfoil at moderate Reynolds numbers (2× 10 5 and 4× 10 5). Preliminary computations of turbulent mean and root-mean-square velocities, as well as energy spectra at the trailing edge, are compared with those from a recent experiment.1 The second part of the paper describes preliminary progress on an LES calculation of the fan wakes on a fan rig. 2 The CFD code uses a mixed element unstructured mesh with a median dual control volume. A wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity sub-grid scale model is employed. A very small amount of numerical dissipation is added in the numerical scheme to keep the compressible solver stable. Further results for the fan turbulentmean and RMS velocity, and especially the aeroacoustics field will be presented at a later stage. Copyright © 2008 by Qinling LI, Nigel Peake & Mark Savill.

Rotor - Stator broadband noise prediction

In this paper a semi analytic model for rotor - stator broadband noise is presented. The work can be split into two sections. The first examines the distortion of the rotor wake in mean swirling flow, downstream of the fan. Previous work by Cooper and Peake4 is extended to include dissipative effects. In the second section we consider the interaction of this gust with the downstream stator row. We examine the way in which an unsteady pressure field is generated by the interaction of this wake flow with the stator blades and obtain estimates for the radiated noise. A new method is presented to extend the well known LINSUB code to the third dimension to capture the effect of the spanwise wavenumber and stator lean and sweep. Copyright © 2008 by Adrian Lloyd and Nigel Peake.

Fabrication of 25nm wide gold lines using nanometer scale lithography and ionized cluster beam deposition

It becomes increasingly difficult to make continuous metal lines with well defined thickness and edges by the lift-off technique as the line width is decreased. We describe in this paper a technique in which the combination of high resolution electron beam lithography and ionized cluster beam (ICB) deposition has enabled very high quality gold lines ({all equal to}25nm wide) to be obtained on thick single crystal silicon substrates. © 1990.

A Semi-Empirical Equation of Penetration Depth on Concrete Target Impacted by Ogive-Nose Projectiles

In this paper, the penetration process of ogive-nose projectiles into the semi-infinite concrete target is investigated by the dimensional analysis method and FEM simulation. With the dimensional analysis, main non-dimensional parameters which control the penetration depth are obtained with some reasonable hypothesis. Then, a new semi-empirical equation is present based on the original work of Forrestal et al., has only two non-dimensional combined variables with definite physical meanings. To verify this equation, prediction results are compared with experiments in a wide variation region of velocity. Then, a commercial FEM code, LS-DYNA, is used to simulate the complex penetration process, that also show the novel semi-empirical equation is reasonable for determining the penetration depth in a concrete target.

High Aspect Ratio (L/D) Riser Viv Prediction Using Wake Oscillator Model

A two-dimensional (2-D) vortex-induced vibration (VIV) prediction model for high aspect ratio (LID) riser subjected to uniform and sheared flow is studied in this paper. The nonlinear structure equations are considered. The near wake dynamics describing the fluctuating nature of vortex shedding is modeled using classical van der Pol equation. A new approach was applied to calibrate the empirical parameters in the wake oscillator model. Compared the predicted results with the experimental data and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) results. Good agreements are observed. It can be concluded that the present model can be used as simple computational tool in predicting some aspects of VIV of long flexible structures. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental Investigation Of Influence Of Interfacial Tension On Convection Of Two-Layer Immiscible Liquid

Benard-Marangoni convections of two-layer fluids heated from the bottom are investigated experimentally with a particle imagine velocimetry. The flows are visualized from the side, and various velocity fields near the onset of convection, such as three-layer vortex convective patterns, are observed when the depth ratio varies in a wide range. A new classification of the convective patterns is proposed with more detail than in previous studies. The analysis of the results indicates that the interface tension greatly influences the motion intensities of the bottom and top layers. The dimensionless wave number increases with the Bond number when the motion in the top layer is not more intense than that in the bottom layer, which agrees with the theoretical prediction.

Fast Computing For Lurr Of Earthquake Prediction

The LURR theory is a new approach for earthquake prediction, which achieves good results in earthquake prediction within the China mainland and regions in America, Japan and Australia. However, the expansion of the prediction region leads to the refinement of its longitude and latitude, and the increase of the time period. This requires increasingly more computations, and the volume of data reaches the order of GB, which will be very difficult for a single CPU. In this paper, a new method was introduced to solve this problem. Adopting the technology of domain decomposition and parallelizing using MPI, we developed a new parallel tempo-spatial scanning program.