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Interpersonal interactions rely on various communication channels, both verbal and non-verbal, through which information regarding one's intentions and emotions are perceived. Here, we investigated the neural correlates underlying the visual processing of hand postures conveying social affordances (i.e., hand-shaking), compared to control stimuli such as hands performing non-social actions (i.e., grasping) or showing no movement at all. Combining univariate and multivariate analysis on electroencephalography (EEG) data, our results indicate that occipito-temporal electrodes show early differential processing of stimuli conveying social information compared to non-social ones. First, the amplitude of the Early Posterior Negativity (EPN, an Event-Related Potential related to the perception of body parts) is modulated differently during the perception of social and non-social content carried by hands. Moreover, our multivariate classification analysis (MultiVariate Pattern Analysis - MVPA) expanded the univariate results by revealing early (

To define a background in the electromagnetic emissions above seismic regions, it is necessary to define the statistical distribution of the wave energy in the absence of seismic activity and any other anomalous input (e.g. solar forcing). This paper presents a completely new method to determine both the environmental and instrumental backgrounds applied to the entire DEMETER satellite electric and magnetic field data over L'Aquila. Our technique is based on a new data analysis tool called ALIF (adaptive local iterative filtering, Cicone et al., 2016; Cicone and Zhou, 2017; Piersanti et al., 2017b). To evaluate the instrumental background, we performed a multiscale statistical analysis in which the instantaneous relative energy (ϵrel), kurtosis, and Shannon entropy were calculated. To estimate the environmental background, a map, divided into 1° × 1° latitude–longitude cells, of the averaged relative energy (ϵrel), has been constructed, taking into account the geomagnetic activity conditions, the presence of seismic activity, and the local time sector of the satellite orbit. Any distinct signal different (over a certain threshold) from both the instrumental and environmental backgrounds will be considered as a case event to be investigated. Interestingly, on 4 April 2009, when DEMETER flew exactly over L'Aquila at UT  =  20:29, an anomalous signal was observed at 333 Hz on both the electric and magnetic field data, whose characteristics seem to be related to pre-seismic activity.

In this work we perform a statistical analysis of the ionospheric echo response observed by six radars of the SuperDARN network in the Northern Hemisphere, over 236 Sudden Impulses (SI) of solar wind dynamic pressure events (from 1997 through 2000). For that purpose, we make use of MRS, the Mean Rate of Scattering, as a function of time during the SI event. We classify the events in sudden increases (I events, 144 cases) and decreases (D events, 92 cases) of the solar wind dynamic pressure. Moreover, we make use of the AE index to define two distinct conditions of the ionosphere under which each event may take place: Quiet and Disturbed. Regarding Quiet conditions, for both I and D events, we find that MRS displays an increase related to the SI time. On the contrary, for Disturbed conditions, D events display an increase in MRS, while I events show a clear dip. The similarity of response for I and D events under Quiet conditions is briefly discussed, but the smaller number of D events does not allow one to further analyse them. As for the I events, a latitudinal analysis shows that the MRS increase for Quiet conditions is seen both at low latitudes (60°–70° Λ) and at high latitudes (70°–80° Λ); for Disturbed Is the MRS decrease is stronger at high latitudes. We suggest that the MRS increase for Quiet Is can be due to two different mechanisms: 1) a soft electron precipitation induced by Field Line Resonances (FLR) or loss cone instability at lower latitudes; 2) an enlargement of the cusp at higher latitudes, which in turn may induce enhanced particle precipitation. For what concerns Disturbed Is, the MRS decrease can be produced by a higher energy electron precipitation (>1 keV), that enhances the electron density in the E and D regions. This provokes a strong absorbtion of the radio waves in the D region and a higher refraction in the E region, leading to a decrease in MRS, especially at higher latitudes. For I events a further classification has been made on the basis of IMF orientation: this suggests that the effects summarized above are due to the SI itself. Keywords. Ionosphere (Ionospheric irregularities) – Magnetospheric physics (Magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions; Solar wind-magnetosphere interactions)

On 7 December 2000, during 13:30–15:30 UT the MIRACLE all-sky camera at Ny Ålesund observed auroras at high-latitudes (MLAT ~ 76) simultaneously when the Cluster spacecraft were skimming the magnetopause in the same MLT sector (at ~ 16:00–18:00 MLT). The location of the auroras (near the ionospheric convection reversal boundary) and the clear correlation between their dynamics and IMF variations suggests their close relationship with R1 currents. Consequently, we can assume that the Cluster spacecraft were making observations in the magnetospheric region associated with the auroras, although exact magnetic conjugacy between the ground-based and satellite observations did not exist. The solar wind variations appeared to control both the behaviour of the auroras and the magnetopause dynamics. Auroral structures were observed at Ny Ålesund especially during periods of negative IMF BZ. In addition, the Cluster spacecraft experienced periodic (T ~ 4 - 6 min) encounters between magnetospheric and magnetosheath plasmas. These undulations of the boundary can be interpreted as a consequence of tailward propagating magnetopause surface waves. Simultaneous dusk sector ground-based observations show weak, but discernible magnetic pulsations (Pc 5) and occasionally periodic variations (T ~ 2 - 3 min) in the high-latitude auroras. In the dusk sector, Pc 5 activity was stronger and had characteristics that were consistent with a field line resonance type of activity. When IMF BZ stayed positive for a longer period, the auroras were dimmer and the spacecraft stayed at the outer edge of the magnetopause where they observed electromagnetic pulsations with T ~ 1 min. We find these observations interesting especially from the viewpoint of previously presented studies relating poleward-moving high-latitude auroras with pulsation activity and MHD waves propagating at the magnetospheric boundary layers.Key words. Ionosphere (ionosphere-magnetosphere interaction) – Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; solar wind – magnetosphere interactions)

On 14 January 2001, the four Cluster spacecraft passed through the northern magnetospheric mantle in close conjunction to the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) and approached the post-noon dayside magnetopause over Green-land between 13:00 and 14:00 UT. During that interval, a sudden reorganisation of the high-latitude dayside convection pattern occurred after 13:20 UT, most likely caused by a direction change of the Solar wind magnetic field. The result was an eastward and poleward directed flow-channel, as monitored by the SuperDARN radar network and also by arrays of ground-based magnetometers in Canada, Greenland and Scandinavia. After an initial eastward and later poleward expansion of the flow-channel between 13:20 and 13:40 UT, the four Cluster spacecraft, and the field line footprints covered by the eastward looking scan cycle of the Söndre Strömfjord incoherent scatter radar were engulfed by cusp-like precipitation with transient magnetic and electric field signatures. In addition, the EISCAT Svalbard Radar detected strong transient effects of the convection reorganisation, a poleward moving precipitation, and a fast ion flow-channel in association with the auroral structures that suddenly formed to the west and north of the radar. From a detailed analysis of the coordinated Cluster and ground-based data, it was found that this extraordinary transient convection pattern, indeed, had moved the cusp precipitation from its former pre-noon position into the late post-noon sector, allowing for the first and quite unexpected encounter of the cusp by the Cluster spacecraft. Our findings illustrate the large amplitude of cusp dynamics even in response to moderate solar wind forcing. The global ground-based data proves to be an invaluable tool to monitor the dynamics and width of the affected magnetospheric regions.Key words. Magnetospheric cusp, ionosphere, reconnection, convection flow-channel, Cluster, ground-based observations

We have developed and examined a new regional geomagnetic index AES-80, defined similarly to the classical auroral electrojet AE index, using data from five Antarctic stations located at corrected geomagnetic latitudes about 80 °S. Because only sparse ground-based information can be derived from auroral latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, and because no index comparable to AE can be constructed from locations in the south, the possibility of using AES-80 as a measure of high latitudes and polar cap activity is investigated. As a global average activity level indicator, it is found that in general AES-80 gives results rather similar to the classical AE index. However AES-80 provides a more robust measure of the occurrence of high-latitude geomagnetic activity.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; polar cap phenomena).

The two horizontal geomagnetic components and, measured by a fluxgate magnetometer at Antarctic McMurdo station (corrected geomagnetic coordinates 80.0° S, 327.5° E), are analyzed for the period May-June 1994; the spectral powers are calculated and integrated over three frequency intervals corresponding to the nominal ranges. The time dependence of those integrated powers and their correlations with northern auroral indices and solar wind speed are considered. The observations are compared with previous results reported from Terra Nova Bay station (located near McMurdo at the same corrected geomagnetic latitude) during Antarctic summer intervals. The differences found between the two stations are discussed in terms of the seasonal dependence of geomagnetic field line configurations in the near cusp region.