MODELING THE FREQUENCY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE QUADRATURE THREE-LOOP L-BAND WAVELENGTH BRIDGE

Представлены результаты численного моделирования частотныххарактеристик квадратурного трехшлейфового моста (КШМ) L-диапазона, выполненного на основе симметричной полосковой линии с воздушным заполнением. Цель работы - установление допустимого уровня вносимых тепловых потерь полосковых линий (или других типов линий передачи), не оказывающих заметного влияния на рабочие характеристики КШМ, удовлетворяющие требуемым параметрам. Метод расчета основан на принципе декомпозиции электрической цепи КШМ на шесть симметричных 6-полюсников, три из которых соответствуют нечетной моде возбуждения КШМ, а три других - четной моде возбуждения КШМ. Алгебраическое суммирование матриц рассеяния указанных мод позволило получить частотные характеристики результирующей S-матрицы рассеяния КШМ. Нормирование S-матрицы к стандартному волновому сопротивлению 50 Ом выполнено с помощью вычисления собственных значений матриц рассеяния эквивалентных 4-полюсников КШМ. Моделирование проведено в среде LabVIEW. The paper presents the results of numerical simulation of the frequency characteristics of the L-range quadrature three-loop bridge (QLB), based on the symmetric striped line with air filling. The purpose of the study is to establish the permissible level of introduced thermal losses of strip lines (or other types of transmission lines) that do not significantly affect the performance characteristics of the QLB, satisfying the required parameters. The calculation method is based on the principle of decomposition of the QLB electric circuit into six symmetric 6-poles, three of which correspond to the odd excitation mode of the QLB, and the other three correspond to the even excitation mode of the QLB. Algebraic summation of the scattering matrices of these modes made it possible to obtain frequency characteristics of the resulting S-scattering matrix of the qLb. The normalization of the S-matrix to the standard wave resistance of 50 Ohms was carried out using the calculation of the eigenvalues of the scattering matrices of equivalent 4-poles of the QLB. The simulation was carried out in the LabVIEW environment.

Visual information increases the indirect corticospinal excitation via cervical interneurons in humans

Modulatory actions of inputs from the visual system to cervical interneurons (IN) for arm muscle control are poorly understood in humans. In the present study, we examined whether visual stimulation modulates the excitation of cervical IN systems mediating corticospinal tract (CST) inputs to biceps brachii (BB). Twenty-eight healthy volunteers were seated and electromyogram recordings from the BB were performed across six experiments, each with discrete objectives. A flash stimulator for visual stimulation (50-μs duration) was placed 60 cm from the participant's eye. The CST was stimulated with transcranial magnetic/electrical stimulation (TMS/TES, respectively) contralateral to the recording site. Visual stimulation with TMS/TES was randomly delivered during weak tonic BB contractions. Single TMS/TES-induced motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were markedly enhanced from 60-100 ms after visual stimulation compared with the control condition. The MEPs were significantly increased by combining the electrical stimulation of the ulnar nerve at the wrist [7.5-12 ms of nerve stimulation (NERVE)/TMS interval] with and without visual stimulation compared to the algebraic summation of responses obtained with either TMS or NERVE. Interestingly, the combined stimulation -induced MEP facilitation was significantly increased after visual stimulation compared with the control. Single motor unit (MU) recording also revealed the further enhancement of combined stimulation effects on the firing probabilities of MU during visual stimulation, which was observed in the peaks of the peri-stimulus time histogram, 1-2 ms later than the onset latency. The present findings suggest that visual stimulation facilitates the oligosynaptic CST excitation of arm motoneurons mediated by the cervical IN system.

Probability-theoretical approach to the accuracy of the component assembly of multilink mechanisms

The technological process, ensuring the accuracy of mechanism assembly is formally a sequential summation of primary manufacturing errors and an analysis of obtained, generalized values to develop and implement specific technological methods to meet process requirements for the accuracy of the relative position of parts. To ensure the accuracy of crank mechanisms for misalignment of piston and cylinder axes, assembled from specific, randomly received component parts, production personnel deal with strictly defined crankshafts, connecting rods, pistons, cylinder blocks, and, consequently, with one or another manufacturing errors. To ensure the accuracy of these parts assembly in a mathematical sense, with such a sequence, will represent nothing more than an algebraic summation of primary errors and compilation of their numerical values with the maximum permissible values. A different situation arises in the implementation of assembly technological processes with automatic achievement of accuracy parameters by varying individual parts from their total number. As in this case fairly representative aggregates are analyzed, the final result of combining parts into assemblies will occur with a greater or lesser probability, especially when the sum of the maximum deviations of constituent links (parts) is not equal and not less than the maximum permissible total values.

Revisiting the role of spike afterhyperpolarization and spike threshold in motoneuron current-frequency gain

The relationship between synaptic or injecting input level and firing rate is an important metric to characterize neuron input-output dynamics. In this study, we examine two long-held, but never validated, assumptions in the “algebraic summation of afterhyperpolarization” theory, which explains how firing rate varies with input (typically referred to as input current-frequency modulation or “F-I gain”). In the theory, the afterhyperpolarizations themselves, along with spike threshold, were assumed constant. That is, whereas they were central concepts in the theory, they were not included in any feedback loops, wherein they could both affect and be affected by firing rate. We performed intracellular recordings from spinal motoneurons in the adult cat to determine whether F-I gain correlates with the afterhyperpolarization and/or spike threshold. We observe that the afterhyperpolarization does indeed appear to be out of the F-I gain mechanism loop, and thus that original assumption holds. However, the presented experimental evidence indicates that the spike threshold appears to be in the loop. That is, spike threshold variation associated with input correlates with F-I gain. We present an extension to the original theory, which explains the F-I gain experimental correlations.

Experimental Simulation of Cat Electromyogram: Evidence for Algebraic Summation of Motor-Unit Action-Potential Trains

Prompted by the observation that the slope of the relationship between average rectified electromyography (EMG) and the ensemble activation rate of a pool of motor units progressively decreased (showing a downward nonlinearity), an experimental study was carried out to test the widely held notion that the EMG is the simple algebraic sum of motor-unit action-potential trains. The experiments were performed on the cat soleus muscle under isometric conditions, using electrical stimulation of α-motor axons isolated in ventral root filaments. The EMG signals were simulated experimentally under conditions where the activation of nearly the entire pool of motor units or of subsets of motor units was completely controlled by the experimenter. Sets of individual motor units or of small groups of motor units were stimulated independently, using stimulation profiles that were strictly repeatable between trials. This permitted a rigorous quantitative comparison of EMGs that were recorded during combined activation of multiple motor filaments with EMGs that were synthesized from the algebraic summation of motor unit action potential trains generated by individual nerve filaments. These were recorded separately by individually stimulating the same filaments with the same activation profiles that were employed during combined stimulation. During combined activation of up to 10 motor filaments, experimentally recorded and computationally synthesized EMGs were virtually identical. This indicates that EMG signals indeed are the outcome of the simple algebraic summation of motor-unit action-potential trains generated by concurrently active motor units. For both recorded and synthesized EMGs, it was confirmed that EMG magnitude increased nonlinearly with the ensemble activation rate of a pool of motor units. The nonlinearity was largely abolished when EMG magnitude was estimated as the sum of rectified, instead of raw, motor-unit action-potential trains. This suggests that the downward nonlinearity in the EMG-ensemble activation rate relation is due to signal cancellation arising from the perfectly linear summation of positive and negative components of action-potential waveforms. The findings provide a much needed post hoc validation of the concept of EMG generation by strict algebraic summation of motor unit action potentials that is generally relied on in theoretical modeling studies of EMG and in EMG decomposition algorithms.

Oppel-Kundt Illusion and Visual Field Anisotropy

Psychophysiological experiments are reported in which a combined influence of visual field anisotropy and the Oppel - Kundt illusion on length judgement was tested. The subjects adjusted the test interval of a stimulus to be equal with the reference interval in length. The stimuli—three dots or the Oppel - Kundt figure with ten dots within the filled half—were generated on the monitor. In the Oppel - Kundt figure, the filled half was considered as the reference interval, and the empty half as the test one. In sessions of the experiments, values of errors as functions of the size and orientation of the stimulus were measured. The reference interval varied within 14 – 150 min arc range, and the orientation was fixed in the 0°, 90°, 180°, or 270° position. The orientation of the test interval varied from 0° to 360°, in 7° steps. The experiments with the three-dot stimuli yielded pure characteristics of visual field anisotropy, and the experiments with the Oppel - Kundt figure showed combined appearance of both the anisotropy and the illusion. The data demonstrate an algebraic summation of the two factors in a simultaneous manifestation. It is assumed that estimation of symmetry of the stimulus, in accordance to the bisector of its internal angle, provides discrimination of the length. Calculations have shown a satisfying confirmation of this assumption.