University of Trento

About: University of Trento is a education organization based out in Trento, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 10527 authors who have published 30978 publications receiving 896614 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitá degli Studi di Trento & Universita degli Studi di Trento.

Asymmetric fMRI adaptation reveals no evidence for mirror neurons in humans

Abstract: Neurons in macaque ventral premotor cortex and inferior parietal lobe discharge during both the observation and the execution of motor acts. It has been claimed that these so-called mirror neurons form the basis of action understanding by matching the visual input with the corresponding motor program (direct matching). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) adaptation can be used to test the direct matching account of action recognition by determining whether putative mirror neurons show adaptation for repeated motor acts independently of whether they are observed or executed. An unambiguous test of the hypothesis requires that the motor acts be meaningless to ensure that any adaptation effect is directly because of movement recognition/motor execution and not contextually determined inferences. We found adaptation for motor acts that were repeatedly observed or repeatedly executed. We also found adaptation for motor acts that were first observed and then executed, as would be expected if a previously seen act primed the subsequent execution of that act. Crucially, we found no signs of adaptation for motor acts that were first executed and then observed. Failure to find cross-modal adaptation for executed and observed motor acts is not compatible with the core assumption of mirror neuron theory, which holds that action recognition and understanding are based on motor simulation.

Chemical Durability of Silicon Oxycarbide Glasses

Abstract: Silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) glasses with controlled amounts of Si-C bonds and free carbon have been produced via the pyrolysis of suitable preceramic networks. Their chemical durability in alkaline and hydrofluoric solutions has been studied and related to the network structure and microstructure of the glasses. SiOC glasses, because of the character of the Si-C bonds, exhibit greater chemical durability in both environments, compared with silica glass. Microphase separation into silicon carbide (SiC), silica (SiO 2 ), and carbon, which usually occurs in this system at pyrolysis temperatures of >1000-1200°C, exerts great influence on the durability of these glasses. The chemical durability decreases as the amount of phase separation increases, because the silica/silicate species (without any carbon substituents) are interconnected and can be easily leached out, in comparison with the SiOC phase, which is resistant to attack by OH - or F - ions.

Measurement of the elliptic anisotropy of charged particles produced in PbPb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV

Abstract: The anisotropy of the azimuthal distributions of charged particles produced in √s_(NN)=2.76 TeV PbPb collisions is studied with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The elliptic anisotropy parameter, v_2, defined as the second coefficient in a Fourier expansion of the particle invariant yields, is extracted using the event-plane method, two- and four-particle cumulants, and Lee-Yang zeros. The anisotropy is presented as a function of transverse momentum (p_T), pseudorapidity (η) over a broad kinematic range, 0.3