Virtual reality modulates the control of upper limb motion in one-handed ball catching.

There remains a question about whether and to what extent perception-action coupled response in virtual reality are equal/unequal to those in the real world or physical reality. The purpose of this study was to identify the differences in the environmental effect of virtual presentation on the motor responses of a one-handed ball catching. Thirteen healthy participants were instructed to catch an approaching ball projected at three speeds in a real laboratory room and in a room-sized virtual reality system (CAVE) that simulated those real situations with two- or three-dimensional display settings.

Intermetallic Charge Transfer in V-Substituted PbCrO.

PbCrO features an unusual charge distribution PbPbCrO with Pb charge disproportionation at ambient pressure. A charge transfer between Pb and Cr is induced by the application of pressure resulting in PbCrO charge distribution and a large volume collapse. Here, structural and charge distribution changes in PbCrVO are investigated.

High-Brightness Red-Emitting Phosphor La(Si,Al)(O,N):Ce for Next-Generation Solid-State Light Sources.

A novel high-brightness red-emitting phosphor, La(Si,Al)(O,N):Ce (LSA), which can potentially be used as a laser-excited light source, is demonstrated. Laser-excited phosphor system has great potential for use as a white-light source, as it is orders of magnitude brighter than white LEDs. Although conventional yellow-green phosphors show excellent luminescent properties even under high-power laser excitation, red-emitting phosphors, which are essential to achieve a high color-rendering index and low color-temperature, show quantum efficiency quenching.

Quantitative Analysis of Taste Bud Cell Numbers in the Circumvallate and Foliate Taste Buds of Mice.

A mouse single taste bud contains 10-100 taste bud cells (TBCs) in which the elongated TBCs are classified into 3 cell types (types I-III) equipped with different taste receptors. Accordingly, differences in the cell numbers and ratios of respective cell types per taste bud may affect taste-nerve responsiveness. Here, we examined the numbers of each immunoreactive cell for the type II (sweet, bitter, or umami receptor cells) and type III (sour and/or salt receptor cells) markers per taste bud in the circumvallate and foliate papillae and compared these numerical features of TBCs per taste bud to those in fungiform papilla and soft palate, which we previously reported.

Enhanced Negative Thermal Expansion Induced by Simultaneous Charge Transfer and Polar-Nonpolar Transitions.

Negative thermal expansion (NTE) induced by simultaneous mechanisms, that is, charge transfer and polar-nonpolar transitions, was observed for the first time in BiNiFeO (0.25 ≤ ≤ 0.5).

Stability of Polar Structure in Filling-Controlled Giant Tetragonal Perovskite Oxide PbVO.

The crystal structure and stability of a giant tetragonal phase in electron-doped PbBi VO ( x = 0.1, 0.2, and 0.

Large Negative Thermal Expansion Induced by Synergistic Effects of Ferroelectrostriction and Spin Crossover in PbTiO-Based Perovskites.

The discovery of unusual negative thermal expansion (NTE) provides the opportunity to control the common but much desired property of thermal expansion, which is valuable not only in scientific interests but also in practical applications. However, most of the available NTE materials are limited to a narrow temperature range, and the NTE effect is generally weakened by various modifications. Here, we report an enhanced NTE effect that occurs over a wide temperature range , and this NTE effect is accompanied by an abnormal enhanced tetragonality, a large spontaneous polarization, and a G-type antiferromagnetic ordering in the present perovskite-type ferroelectric of (1-)PbTiO-BiCoO.

Can Slow-Motion Footage of Forehand Strokes Be Used to Immediately Improve Anticipatory Judgments in Tennis?

Slow-motion footage of sports actions is widely used as a visual learning tool in observing the dynamic motor behaviors of athletes. Recent studies on action observation have reported that extending the observation time in slow-motion footage provides benefits of understanding the intention of an opponent's action, at least when observing rapid movements. As such, the use of slow-motion footage may have the potential to improve the anticipatory judgments of an opponent's action outcome without training (or feedback).

Colossal Volume Contraction in Strong Polar Perovskites of Pb(Ti,V)O.

The unique physical property of negative thermal expansion (NTE) is not only interesting for scientific research but also important for practical applications. Chemical modification generally tends to weaken NTE. It remains a challenge to obtain enhanced NTE from currently available materials.

The role of proximal body information on anticipatory judgment in tennis using graphical information richness.

Objective: Recent studies have reported that skilled tennis players are likely to use proximal body information for anticipating the direction of their opponent's forehand shot. However, in these studies, the visual stimuli did not include visual information about the ball. Skilled players may have used proximal information owing to the lack of distal information.

Growth inhibition and differentiation of cultured smooth muscle cells depend on cellular crossbridges across the tubular lumen of type I collagen matrix honeycombs.

Although rabbit vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) showed a differentiated phenotype in three-dimensional type I collagen matrices (honeycombs, diameter of pores=200-500 microm), mouse vascular SMCs proliferated in honeycombs having the same pore size. Here we investigated the relationship between pore sizes of honeycombs and differentiation of SMCs using various pore sizes of honeycombs. Rabbit SMCs (length: 200+/-32 microm) and mouse SMCs (49+/-10 microm) formed crossbridges in honeycombs with 200-300 microm and less than 200 microm of pores, respectively.