Paralympic Cross-Country sit-skiers use adaptive equipment, with a resulting gesture similar to double poling techniques adopted by able-bodied skiers. Despite the similarity, a specific attention on the gesture performed by sit-skiers is needed. The paper focuses on the sledge kinematic and on inertia effect of upper body motion which is translated in a propulsive effect in the early stage of ...

This paper presents a new power cycle for direct conversion of thermomechanical energy into electrical energy performed on pyroelectric materials. It consists sequentially of (i) an isothermal electric poling process performed under zero stress followed by (ii) a combined uniaxial compressive stress and heating process, (iii) an isothermal electric de-poling process under uniaxial stress, and f...

I agree with Poling and Normand’s (1999) view that noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) is an incorrect description of time-based procedures that reduce behavior rates. I also agree that schedule descriptors, such as fixedtime attention or fixed-time escape, are more accurate. Since the publication of Vollmer, Iwata, Zarcone, Smith, and Mazaleski (1993), I have received numerous comments about ter...

In spite of high piezoelectricity, only a few one-dimensional ferroelectric nano-materials with perovskite structure have been used for piezoelectric nanogenerator applications. In this paper, we report high output electrical signals, i.e. an open-circuit voltage of 3.2 V and a closed-circuit current of 67.5 nA (current density 9.3 nA cm(-2)) at 0.38% strain and 15.2% s(-1) strain rate, using r...

This paper presents a measurement-driven, musculoskeletal, full-body simulation model for biomechanical analysis of the double-poling (DP) technique in cross-country skiing. DP is a fast and powerful full-body movement; therefore, it is interesting to examine whether inverse dynamics using static optimization is working for a musculoskeletal full-body model with high accelerations, a large rang...

Periodically-poled ferroelectric crystals show unprecedented efficiency and properties otherwise impossible to reach. Unfortunately, the sample thickness obtainable today limits their use to low and moderate power application. With the aim of increasing the size of periodically domain-structured crystals with a controlled and regular grating period, we proposed an epitaxial growth process using...

Large-area ferroelectric nanodomain patterns, which are desirable for nonlinear optical applications, were generated in previously He-implanted lithium niobate crystals by applying voltage pulses to the tip of a scanning force microscope. The individual nanodomains were found to be of uniform size, which depended only on the inter-domain spacing and the pulse amplitude. We explain this behavior...

The advent of the electric field poling method to fabricate periodically poled, ferroelectric, nonlinear optical materials resulted in a renaissance of nonlinear optics. Since then quasi-phase matching has been used for efficient wavelength conversion in devices like frequency doublers, difference frequency generators (DFG) and optical parametric oscillators (OPO). Periodically poled Lithium Ni...

Autism has been characterized as a behavioral disorder since it was first described by Leo Kanner in 1943. The number of autistic children has increased over the last decade. The incidence of autism was 1 in 10000 before the 1970s and has steadily increased to 1 in 150 in 2008 with a male:female predominance of 4:1. The cause of this epidemic has remained unknown, but several hypotheses have be...

With increasing technical requirements in the design of microresonators, the development of new techniques for lightweight, simple, and inexpensive components becomes relevant. Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is a powerful tool in the formation of these components, allowing a self-actuation or self-sensing capability. Different fabrication methods lead to the variation of the properties of the de...