Perceptual mapping of practical ethics along the value chain: A multiple correspondence analysis with industry and cultural indices as supplementary variables

This paper presents findings from a study investigating a firm s ethical practices along the value chain. In so doing we attempt to better understand potential relationships between a firm s ethical stance with its customers and those of its suppliers within a supply chain and identify particular sectoral and cultural influences that might impinge on this. Drawing upon a database comprising of 667 industrial firms from 27 different countries, we found that ethical practices begin with the firm s relationship with its customers, the characteristics of which then influence the ethical stance with the firm s suppliers within the supply chain. Importantly, market structure along with some key cultural characteristics were also found to exert significant influence on the implementation of ethical policies in these firms.

Report on a special investigation of the Engineering Communications and Marketing Department (ECM) of Iowa State University of Science and Technology for the period January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2007

Report on a special investigation of the Engineering Communications and Marketing Department (ECM) of Iowa State University of Science and Technology for the period January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2007

Theimpact of industry collaboration on research: Evidence from engineering academics in the UK

We study the impact of university-industry research collaborations on academicoutput, in terms of productivity and direction of research. We report findings froma longitudinal dataset on all the researchers from the engineering departments inthe UK in the last 20 years. We control for the endogeneity caused by the dynamicnature of research and the existence of reverse causality. Our results indicate thatresearchers with industrial links publish significantly more. Productivity, though,is higher for low levels of industry involvement. Moreover, growing ties with theindustry skew research towards a more applied approach.

Méthodologie intégrée de microgravimétrie en milieu urbain : test d'application au génie civil sur le métro M2 de Lausanne

RESUME Dès le printemps 2004, la construction d'une 2ème ligne de métro est entreprise dans la ville de Lausanne en Suisse. En reliant Ouchy, au bord du lac Léman (alt. 373 m) à Epalinges (alt. 711 m), le nouveau métro "M2" traversera dès 2008 l'agglomération lausannoise du Sud au Nord sur une distance de 6 km. Depuis l'avant-projet, en 1999, une grande quantité de données géologiques a été récolté et de nombreux forages exécutés sur le site. Ceci nous a donné une occasion unique d'entreprendre une étude de microgravimétrique urbaine de détail. Le mode de creusement du tunnel dépend fortement des matériaux à excaver et il est classiquement du domaine du géologue, avec ses connaissances de la géologie régionale et de la stratigraphie des forages, de fournir à l'ingénieur un modèle géologique. Ce modèle indiquera dans ce cas l'épaisseur des terrains meubles qui recouvrent le soubassement rocheux. La représentativité spatiale d'une information très localisée, comme celle d'un forage, est d'autant plus compliquée que le détail recherché est petit. C'est à ce moment là que la prospection géophysique, plus spécialement gravimétrique, peut apporter des informations complémentaires déterminantes pour régionaliser les données ponctuelles des forages. La microgravimétrie en milieu urbain implique de corriger avec soin les perturbations gravifiques sur la mesure de la pesanteur dues aux effets de la topographie, des bâtiments et des caves afin d'isoler l'effet gravifique dû exclusivement à l'épaisseur du remplissage des terrains meubles. Tenant compte de l'intensité des corrections topographiques en milieu urbain, nous avons donné une grande importance aux sous-sols, leurs effets gravifiques pouvant atteindre l'ordre du dixième de mGal. Nous avons donc intégré ces corrections celle de topographie et traité les effets des bâtiments de manière indépendante. Nous avons inclus dans le modèle numérique de terrain (MNT) la chaussée et les sous-sols afin de construire un modèle numérique de terrain urbain. Nous utiliserons un nouvel acronyme « MNTU »pour décrire ce modèle. Nous proposons d'établir des cartes de corrections topographiques préalables, basées sur les données à disposition fournies par le cadastre en faisant des hypothèses sur la profondeur des sous-sols et la hauteur des bâtiments. Les deux zones de test choisies sont caractéristiques des différents types d'urbanisation présente à Lausanne et se révèlent par conséquent très intéressantes pour élaborer une méthodologie globale de la microgravimétrie urbaine. Le but était d'évaluer l'épaisseur du remplissage morainique sur un fond rocheux molassique se situant à une profondeur variable de quelques mètres à une trentaine de mètres et d'en établir une coupe dans l'axe du futur tracé du métro. Les résultats des modélisations se sont révélés très convaincants en détectant des zones qui diffèrent sensiblement du modèle géologique d'avant projet. Nous avons également démontré que l'application de cette méthode géophysique, non destructive, est à même de limiter le nombre de sondages mécaniques lors de l'avant-projet et du projet définitif, ce qui peut limiter à la fois les coûts et le dérangement engendré par ces travaux de surface. L'adaptabilité de la technique gravimétrique permet d'intervenir dans toutes les différentes phases d'un projet de génie civil comme celui de la construction d'un métro en souterrain. KURZFASSUNG Seit dem Frühling 2004 ist in der Stadt Lausanne (Schweiz) die neue U-Bahn "M2" in Konstruktion. Diese soll auf 6 km Länge die Lausanner Agglomeration von Süd nach Nord durchqueren. Die dem Projekt zu Grunde liegende technische Planung sieht vor, daß die Bahnlinie hauptsächlich in der Molasse angesiedelt sein wird. Seit dem Vorentwurf (1999) ist eine große Anzahl geologischer Angaben gesammelt worden. Daraus ergab sich die einmalige Gelegenheit, die Informationen aus den damit verbundenen zahlreichen Bohrungen zu einer detaillierten mikrogravimetrischen Studie der Stadt Lausanne zu erweitern und zu vervollständigen. Das Ziel bestand darin, die Mächtigkeit der die Molasseüberdeckenden Moräneablagerung abzuschätzen, um eine entsprechendes geologisches Profile entlang der künftigen Bahnlinie zu erstellen. Weiterhin sollte gezeigt werden, daß die Anwendung dieser nicht-invasiven geophysikalischen Methode es ermöglicht, die Anzahl der benötigten Bohrungen sowohl in der Pilotphase wie auch im endgültigen Projekt zu reduzieren, was zu wesentlichen finanziellen Einsparungen in der Ausführung des Werkes beitragen würde. Die beiden in dieser Studie bearbeiteten Testzonen befinden sich im Nordteil und im Stadtzentrum von Lausanne und sind durch eine unterschiedliche Urbanisierung charakterisiert. Das anstehende Gestein liegt in verschiedenen Tiefen: von einigen Metern bis zu etwa dreißig Metern. Diese Zonen weisen alle Schwierigkeiten einer urbanen Bebauung mit hoher Verkehrsdichte auf und waren daher massgebend bei der Ausarbeitung einer globalen mikrogravimetrischen Methodologie für die Stadt Lausanne. Die so entwickelte Technik ermöglicht, die störenden Auswirkungen der Topographie, der Gebäude, der Keller und der Öffentlichen Infrastrukturen sorgfältig zu korrigieren, um so die ausschließlich auf die Mächtigkeit des Lockergesteins zurückzuführenden Effekte zu isolieren. In Bezug auf die Intensität der Auswirkungen der topographischen Korrekturen im Stadtgebiet wurde den Untergeschossen eine besonders grosse Bedeutung zugemessen da die entsprechenden Schwerkrafteffekte eine Grösse von rund einem Zehntel mGal erreichen können. Wir schlagen deshalb vor, vorläufige Karten der topographischen Korrekturen zu erstellen. Diese Korrekturen basieren auf den uns vom Katasterplan gelieferten Daten und einigen Hypothesen bezüglich der Tiefe der Untergeschosse und der Höhe der Gebäude. Die Verfügbarkeit einer derartigen Karte vor der eigentlichen gravimetrischen Messkampagne würde uns erlauben, die Position der Meßstationen besser zu wählen. Wir sahen zudem, daß ein entsprechenden a priori Filter benutzt werden kann, wenn die Form und die Intensität der Anomalie offensichtlich dem entsprechenden Gebäude zugeordnet werden können. Diese Strategie muß jedoch mit Vorsicht angewandt werden, denn falls weitere Anomalien dazukommen, können bedeutende Verschiebungen durch Übèrlagerungen der Schwerewirkung verschiedener Strukturen entstehen. Die Ergebnisse der Modellierung haben sich als sehr überzeugend erwiesen, da sie im Voraus unbekannte sensible Zonen korrekt identifiziert haben. Die Anwendbarkeit der in dieser Arbeit entwickelten gravimetrischen Technik ermöglicht es, während allen Phasen eines Grossbauprojekts, wie zum Beispiel bei der Konstruktion einer unterirdischen U-Bahn, einzugreifen. ABSTRACT Since Spring of 2004 a new metro line has been under construction in the city of Lausanne in Switzerland. The new line, the M2, will be 6 km long and will traverse the city from south to north. The civil engineering project determined that the line would be located primarily in the Molasse. Since the preparatory project in 1999, a great quantity of geological data has been collected, and the many drillings made on the site have proved to be a unique opportunity to undertake a study of urban microgravimetry. The goal was to evaluate the thickness of the morainic filling over the molassic bedrock, and to establish a section along the axis of the future line. It then had to be shown that the application of this nondestructive geophysical method could reduce the number of mechanical surveys required both for a preparatory and a definitive project, which would lead to real savings in the realization of a civil engineering project. The two test zones chosen, one in the northern part of the city and one in the city centre, are characterised by various types of urbanisation. Bedrock is at a depth varying from a few metres to about thirty metres. These zones well exemplify the various difficulties encountered in an urban environment and are therefore very interesting for the development of an overall methodology of urban microgravimetry. Microgravimetry in an urban environment requires careful corrections for gravific disturbances due to the effects of topography, buildings, cellars, and the infrastructure of distribution networks, in order to isolate the gravific effect due exclusively to the thickness of loose soil filling. Bearing in mind the intensity of the topographic corrections in an urban environment, we gave particular importance to basements. Their gravific effects can reach the order of one tenth of one meal, and can influence above all the precision of the Bouguer anomaly. We propose to establish preliminary topographic correction charts based on data provided to us by the land register, by making assumptions on the depths of basements and the heights of buildings. Availability of this chart previous to a gravimetry campaign would enable us to choose optimum measuring sites. We have also seen that an a priori filter can be used when the form and the intensity of the anomaly correspond visually to the corresponding building. This strategy must be used with caution because if other anomalies are to be associated, important shifts can be generated by the superposition of the effects of different structures. The results of the model have proved to be very convincing in detecting previously unknown sensitive zones. The adaptability of the gravimetry technique allows for application in all phases of a civil engineering project such as the construction of an underground metro line. RIASSUNTO Dalla primavera 2004 una nuova linea metropolitana é in costruzione nella città di Losanna in Svizzera. La nuova metropolitana "M2" traverserà per la lunghezza di 6 km il centro urbano di Losanna da sud a nord. II progetto d'ingegneria civile prevedeva un tracciato situato essenzialmente nel fondo roccioso arenaceo terziario (molassa). Dalla redazione del progetto preliminare, avvenuta nel 1999, una grande quantità di dati geologici sono stati raccolti e sono stati eseguiti numerosi sondaggi. Questo sì é presentato come un'occasione unica per mettere a punto uno studio microgravimetrico in ambiente urbano con lo scopo di valutare lo spessore dei terreni sciolti di origine glaciale che ricoprono il fondo roccioso di molassa e di mettere in evidenza come l'applicazione di questo metodo geofisico non distruttivo possa limitare il numero di sondaggi meccanici nella fase di progetto preliminare ed esecutivo con conseguente reale risparmio economico nella realizzazione di una tale opera. Le due zone di test sono situate una nella zona nord e la seconda nel centro storico di Losanna e sono caratterizzate da stili architettonici differenti. II fondo roccioso é situato ad una profondità variabile da qualche metro ad una trentina. Queste due zone sembrano ben rappresentare tutte le difficoltà di un ambiente urbano e ben si prestano per elaborare una metodologia globale per la microgravimetria in ambiente urbano. L'applicazione di questa tecnica nell'ambiente suddetto implica la correzione attenta delle perturbazioni sulla misura dell'accelerazione gravitazionale, causate dalla topografia, gli edifici, le cantine e le infrastrutture dei sottoservizi, per ben isolare il segnale esclusivamente causato dallo spessore dei terreni sciolti. Tenuto conto, dell'intensità delle correzioni topografiche, abbiamo dato grande importanza alle cantine, poiché il loro effetto sulle misure può raggiungere il decimo di mGal. Proponiamo quindi di redigere una carta delle correzioni topografiche preliminare all'acquisizione, facendo delle ipotesi sulla profondità delle cantine e sull'altezza degli edifici, sulla base delle planimetrie catastali. L'analisi di questa carta permetterà di scegliere le posizioni più adatte per le stazioni gravimetriche. Abbiamo anche osservato che un filtro a priori, qualora la forma e l'intensità dell'anomalia fosse facilmente riconducibile in maniera visuale ad un edificio, possa essere efficace. Tuttavia questa strategia deve essere utilizzata con precauzione, poiché può introdurre uno scarto, qualora più anomalie, dovute a differenti strutture, si sovrappongano. I risultati delle modellizzazioni si sono rivelati convincenti, evidenziando zone sensibili non conosciute preventivamente. L'adattabilità della tecnica gravimetrica ha mostrato di poter intervenire in differenti fasi di un progetto di ingegneria civile, quale è quella di un'opera in sotterraneo.

Continuous arterial spin labeling of mouse cerebral blood flow using an actively-detuned two-coil system at 9.4T.

Among numerous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, perfusion MRI provides insight into the passage of blood through the brain's vascular network non-invasively. Studying disease models and transgenic mice would intrinsically help understanding the underlying brain functions, cerebrovascular disease and brain disorders. This study evaluates the feasibility of performing continuous arterial spin labeling (CASL) on all cranial arteries for mapping murine cerebral blood flow at 9.4 T. We showed that with an active-detuned two-coil system, a labeling efficiency of 0.82 ± 0.03 was achieved with minimal magnetization transfer residuals in brain. The resulting cerebral blood flow of healthy mouse was 99 ± 26 mL/100g/min, in excellent agreement with other techniques. In conclusion, high magnetic fields deliver high sensitivity and allowing not only CASL but also other MR techniques, i.e. (1)H MRS and diffusion MRI etc, in studying murine brains.

Restoration of a lost geological reference point: the loggingstone of Pedralta (Girona, Spain)

The Pedralta is a loggingstone formed of monzonitic leucogranites, which has a volume of about 38 m3 and weighs 101 tons. After its fall in December 1996, a public subscription was opened to meet the expenses of the restoration work, which was completed in May 1999

Of housing and politics : mapping political opportunities for mobilising in Bangalore, India

Quelles sont les conditions pour l'émergence d'une mobilisation sociale en faveur du logement convenable dans la métropole de Bangalore (Inde)? Cette question, qui est au coeur de cette thèse, est particulièrement pertinente dans le contexte d'une ville où 1,7 million de personnes, soit un cinquième de la population, vit dans des bidonvilles. L'absence d'un mouvement mettant en cause l'échec des politiques publiques du logement est intéressante dans la mesure où l'Inde a hérité un système de gouvernance colonial et d'une tradition de mouvements sociaux. Pour répondre à ce questionnement, un cadre théorique issu de la littérature sur les mouvements sociaux est développé. Il s'articule autour des liens entre les opportunités politiques au niveau macro et les répertoires d'action des organisations de mouvement social (OMS) au niveau méso, de la tension entre la formalité de la loi et des politiques publiques et l'informalité des circuits d'échange, de la corruption et du clientélisme, et enfin, se focalise sur les systèmes de discours de caste et de la citoyenneté et de leur concrétisation dans des systèmes d'organisations et de réseaux sociaux. Ce cadre théorique permet d'étudier empiriquement la question à travers quatre OMS dans la ville de Bangalore. Les résultats mettent en avant l'existence de mécanismes complexes. Les opportunités politiques formelles n'étant ouvertes que sur le plan rhétorique, elles ne peuvent être véritablement utilisées que par des moyens légaux ou contentieux, ce qui nécessite des compétences sociales dont la plupart des habitants des bidonvilles sont dépourvus. L'inadéquation entre les ressources à disposition pour les logements sociaux et les besoins très importants des pauvres, donne un poids politique considérable aux acteurs en charge de l'attribution de ces ressources rares. Cet état de fait a des répercussions sur la politique électorale. Les habitants des bidonvilles représentant un poids électoral important, ils sont mobilisés à travers de pratiques clientélistes. La corruption et le clientélisme se nourrissent mutuellement pour maintenir une certaine dépendance des habitants. Les OMS qui développent un répertoire discursif remettant en cause le système de caste et qui encouragent une conscience citoyenne, se sont avérées les plus durables pour résister à la cooptation des forces politiques. Cette recherche empirique met en lumière l'inadéquation entre les prescriptions formelles dans le domaine de la gouvernance des besoins humains, tels que le logement, et les pratiques réelles sur le terrain. Cette recherche appelle à réfléchir au-delà de la diffusion du discours sur la « bonne gouvernance » vers des formes de « gouvernance vernaculaire » qui prendrait au sérieux l'informalité en développant une compréhension des avantages à court terme pour les personnes marginalisées dans la ville et les effets à long terme sur la pratique démocratique. - What are the conditions for the emergence of a social movement on the issue of adequate housing in the metropolitan city of Bangalore (India)? This question is at the heart of this dissertation and is particularly pertinent against the background that an estimated 1.7 million or about 20% of the city's population lives in slums. The absence of a movement addressing the failure of public housing policy despite India having inherited colonial systems of governance and traditions of movement is noteworthy. Answers are sought within a theoretical framework stemming from social movement theories that incorporates three linkages articulating around: Macro-level political opportunities and meso-level action repertoires of social movement organisations (SMOs), tensions between the formality of law, policy and the informality of exchange circuits of corruption and clientelism and finally around systems of discourses of caste and citizenship and their instantiation in concrete systems of social organisations and networks. This thesis is empirically investigated through a qualitative case study research design involving four sampled social movement organisations. The results bring complex mechanisms to the fore. Formal political opportunities are only rhetorically open and have to be cracked through legal weaponry or contentious escalation, which requires considerable social skills that slum-dwellers often lack. The inadequacy between the few housing resources and the vast number of slum-dwellers transform housing benefits and urban service provisions into political currency. Such a state of affairs has serious repercussions on conditions for mobilisation. They become imbricated with electoral logic, in which slum-dwellers represent large vote-banks and where corruption and clientelism feed each other to maintain a certain dependency of the poor. SMOs deploying a discursive repertoire that questioned the caste system and encouraged a pursuit of citizenship proved to be the most sustainable to resist co-option from political forces. This empirical investigation brings to light the mismatch between the formal prescriptions in the domain of the governance of basic human needs such as housing and the real practices on the ground. This research calls to reflect beyond the inadequacy of the diffused « good governance » discourse towards forms of « vernacular governance » that take informality seriously in understanding the short-term benefits for the marginalised in the city and the long-term effects on democratic practice.

Journal and country rankings in instrumentation and ocean engineering

The purpose of this paper is to highlight scientific information resources that list journal and country rankings. These databases usually focus on the use of citation counts and number of publications to evaluate the interest, visibility and impact of research performance. The exposed resources are platforms that provide added value to authors improving their knowledge about research trends and also where to submit their papers.

Hand-in-hand advances in biomedical engineering and sensorimotor restoration.

BACKGROUND: Living in a multisensory world entails the continuous sensory processing of environmental information in order to enact appropriate motor routines. The interaction between our body and our brain is the crucial factor for achieving such sensorimotor integration ability. Several clinical conditions dramatically affect the constant body-brain exchange, but the latest developments in biomedical engineering provide promising solutions for overcoming this communication breakdown. NEW METHOD: The ultimate technological developments succeeded in transforming neuronal electrical activity into computational input for robotic devices, giving birth to the era of the so-called brain-machine interfaces. Combining rehabilitation robotics and experimental neuroscience the rise of brain-machine interfaces into clinical protocols provided the technological solution for bypassing the neural disconnection and restore sensorimotor function. RESULTS: Based on these advances, the recovery of sensorimotor functionality is progressively becoming a concrete reality. However, despite the success of several recent techniques, some open issues still need to be addressed. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S): Typical interventions for sensorimotor deficits include pharmaceutical treatments and manual/robotic assistance in passive movements. These procedures achieve symptoms relief but their applicability to more severe disconnection pathologies is limited (e.g. spinal cord injury or amputation). CONCLUSIONS: Here we review how state-of-the-art solutions in biomedical engineering are continuously increasing expectances in sensorimotor rehabilitation, as well as the current challenges especially with regards to the translation of the signals from brain-machine interfaces into sensory feedback and the incorporation of brain-machine interfaces into daily activities.

In vivo fate mapping with SCL regulatory elements identifies progenitors for primitive and definitive hematopoiesis in mice.

One of the principal issues facing biomedical research is to elucidate developmental pathways and to establish the fate of stem and progenitor cells in vivo. Hematopoiesis, the process of blood cell formation, provides a powerful experimental system for investigating this process. Here, we employ transcriptional regulatory elements from the stem cell leukemia (SCL) gene to selectively label primitive and definitive hematopoiesis. We report that SCL-labelled cells arising in the mid to late streak embryo give rise to primitive red blood cells but fail to contribute to the vascular system of the developing embryo. Restricting SCL-marking to different stages of foetal development, we identify a second population of multilineage progenitors, proficient in contributing to adult erythroid, myeloid and lymphoid cells. The distinct lineage-restricted potential of SCL-labelled early progenitors demonstrates that primitive erythroid cell fate specification is initiated during mid gastrulation. Our data also suggest that the transition from a hemangioblastic precursors with endothelial and blood forming potential to a committed hematopoietic progenitor must have occurred prior to SCL-marking of definitive multilineage blood precursors.

Single Subject Finger Somatotopy Mapping at 7T.

Introduction: The primary somatosensory cortex (SI) contains Brodmann areas (BA) 1, 2, 3a, and 3b. Research in non-human primates showed that BAs 3b, 1, and 2 each contain one full representation of the hand with separate representations for each finger. This research also showed that the finger representation in BA3b has larger and clearer finger somatotopy than BA1 and 2. Although several efforts to map finger somatotopy in SI by fMRI have been made at 1.5 and 3T these studies have yielded variable results and were not able to detect single subject finger somatotopy, probably due to the limited spatial extent of the cortical areas representing a digit (close to the resolution in most fMRI experiments), complications due to acquisition of consistent maps for individual subjects (Schweizer et al 2008), or inter-individual variability in sulcal anatomy impeding group studies. Here, we used 7T fMRI to investigate finger somatotopy in SI, some of its functional characteristics, and its reproducibility. Methods: Eight right-handed male subjects were scanned on a 7T scanner (Siemens Medical, Germany) with an 8-channel Tx/Rx rf-coil (Rapid Biomedical, Germany). 1.3x1.3x1.3mm3 resolution fMRI data were acquired using a sinusoidal readout EPI sequence (Speck et al, 2008) and FOV=210mm, TE/TR=27ms/2.5s, GRAPPA=2. Each volume contained 28 transverse slices covering SI. A single EPI volume with 64 slices was acquired to aid coregistration. 1x1x1mm3 anatomical data were acquire using the MP2RAGE sequence (Marques et al, 2009; TE/TR/TI1,2/TRmprage=2.63ms/7.2ms/0.9,3.2s/5s). Subjects were positioned supine in the scanner with their right arm comfortably against the magnet bore. An experimenter was positioned at the entrance of the bore where he could easily reach and stroke successively the two distal phalanxes of each digit. The order of stroked digit was D1 (thumb)-D3-D5-D2-D4, with 20s ON, 10s OFF alternated. This sequence was repeated four times per run and two functional runs were acquired per subject. Realignment, smoothing (FWHM 2 mm), coregistration of the anatomical to the fMRI data and calculation of t-statistics were done using SPM8. An SI mask was obtained via an F-contrast (p<0.001) over all digits. Within the mask, voxels were labeled with the number of the digit demonstrating the highest t-value for that particular voxel. Results: For all subjects, areas corresponding to the five digits were identified in contralateral SI. BA3b showed the most consistent somatotopic finger representation (see an example in Fig.1). The five digits were localized in a consecutive order in the cortex, with D1 most anterior, inferior and distal and D5, most posterior, superior and medial (mean distance between centres of mass of digit representations ±stderr: 4.2±0.7mm; see Fig. 2). The analysis of average beta values within each finger representation region revealed the specificity of the somatotopic region to the tactile input for each tested finger (except digit 4 and 5). Five of these subjects also presented an orderly and consecutive representation of the five digits in BA1 and 2. Conclusions: Our data reveal that the increased BOLD sensitivity at 7T and the high spatial resolution used in this study allow consistent somatotopic mapping using human touch as a stimulus and that human SI contains at least three separate regions that contain five separate representations of all single contralateral fingers. Moreover, adjacent fingers were represented at adjacent cortical regions across the three SI regions. The spatial organization of SI as reflected in individual subject topography corresponds well with previous electrophysiological data in non-human primates. The small distance between digit representations highlights the need for the high spatial resolution available at 7T.