Pathloss Calculation Using the Transmission Line Matrix and Finite Difference Time Domain Methods With Coarse Grids

DOE PAGES

Nutaro, James; Kuruganti, Teja

2017-02-24

Numerical simulations of the wave equation that are intended to provide accurate time domain solutions require a computational mesh with grid points separated by a distance less than the wavelength of the source term and initial data. However, calculations of radio signal pathloss generally do not require accurate time domain solutions. This paper describes an approach for calculating pathloss by using the finite difference time domain and transmission line matrix models of wave propagation on a grid with points separated by distances much greater than the signal wavelength. The calculated pathloss can be kept close to the true value formore » freespace propagation with an appropriate selection of initial conditions. This method can also simulate diffraction with an error governed by the ratio of the signal wavelength to the grid spacing.« less

Finite Difference Time Marching in the Frequency Domain: A Parabolic Formulation for the Convective Wave Equation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baumeister, K. J.; Kreider, K. L.

1996-01-01

An explicit finite difference iteration scheme is developed to study harmonic sound propagation in ducts. To reduce storage requirements for large 3D problems, the time dependent potential form of the acoustic wave equation is used. To insure that the finite difference scheme is both explicit and stable, time is introduced into the Fourier transformed (steady-state) acoustic potential field as a parameter. Under a suitable transformation, the time dependent governing equation in frequency space is simplified to yield a parabolic partial differential equation, which is then marched through time to attain the steady-state solution. The input to the system is the amplitude of an incident harmonic sound source entering a quiescent duct at the input boundary, with standard impedance boundary conditions on the duct walls and duct exit. The introduction of the time parameter eliminates the large matrix storage requirements normally associated with frequency domain solutions, and time marching attains the steady-state quickly enough to make the method favorable when compared to frequency domain methods. For validation, this transient-frequency domain method is applied to sound propagation in a 2D hard wall duct with plug flow.

Finite Difference Time Marching in the Frequency Domain: A Parabolic Formulation for Aircraft Acoustic Nacelle Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baumeister, Kenneth J.; Kreider, Kevin L.

1996-01-01

An explicit finite difference iteration scheme is developed to study harmonic sound propagation in aircraft engine nacelles. To reduce storage requirements for large 3D problems, the time dependent potential form of the acoustic wave equation is used. To insure that the finite difference scheme is both explicit and stable, time is introduced into the Fourier transformed (steady-state) acoustic potential field as a parameter. Under a suitable transformation, the time dependent governing equation in frequency space is simplified to yield a parabolic partial differential equation, which is then marched through time to attain the steady-state solution. The input to the system is the amplitude of an incident harmonic sound source entering a quiescent duct at the input boundary, with standard impedance boundary conditions on the duct walls and duct exit. The introduction of the time parameter eliminates the large matrix storage requirements normally associated with frequency domain solutions, and time marching attains the steady-state quickly enough to make the method favorable when compared to frequency domain methods. For validation, this transient-frequency domain method is applied to sound propagation in a 2D hard wall duct with plug flow.

Lasting effect of intimate partner violence exposure during preschool on aggressive behavior and prosocial skills.

PubMed

Holmes, Megan R; Voith, Laura A; Gromoske, Andrea N

2015-06-01

Intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure can negatively affect children's social behavior. However, it is unknown if the negative effects of IPV exposure during the preschool years are sustained through the early school years, if maladaptive behavior in one domain (e.g., aggressive behavior) is linked to subsequent maladaptive behavior in a different developmental domain (e.g., prosocial skill deficits), and if these relations differ by gender. This study addresses these gaps by using data from a sample of 1,125 children aged 3 to 4 at Time 1 and aged 5 to 7 at Time 2 from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. A series of nested longitudinal structural equation models were tested. Aggressive behavior and prosocial skills were stable across time. Time 1 IPV was associated with increased aggressive behavior at Time 1, which in turn was related to increased Time 2 aggressive behavior. Gender differences emerged; Time 2 IPV was associated with prosocial skills deficits for girls but not boys. A cross-domain relation existed between Time 1 aggressive behavior and Time 2 prosocial skills deficits for boys but not girls. These findings support that behavioral problems demonstrated later in childhood may emerge from earlier adverse developmental experiences and that difficulties in one domain may spill over into other developmental domains. Gender-specific interventions to promote competence in children may contribute to diverting children from maladaptive developmental outcomes. © The Author(s) 2014.

Emergence of novel domains in proteins

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Proteins are composed of a combination of discrete, well-defined, sequence domains, associated with specific functions that have arisen at different times during evolutionary history. The emergence of novel domains is related to protein functional diversification and adaptation. But currently little is known about how novel domains arise and how they subsequently evolve. Results To gain insights into the impact of recently emerged domains in protein evolution we have identified all human young protein domains that have emerged in approximately the past 550 million years. We have classified them into vertebrate-specific and mammalian-specific groups, and compared them to older domains. We have found 426 different annotated young domains, totalling 995 domain occurrences, which represent about 12.3% of all human domains. We have observed that 61.3% of them arose in newly formed genes, while the remaining 38.7% are found combined with older domains, and have very likely emerged in the context of a previously existing protein. Young domains are preferentially located at the N-terminus of the protein, indicating that, at least in vertebrates, novel functional sequences often emerge there. Furthermore, young domains show significantly higher non-synonymous to synonymous substitution rates than older domains using human and mouse orthologous sequence comparisons. This is also true when we compare young and old domains located in the same protein, suggesting that recently arisen domains tend to evolve in a less constrained manner than older domains. Conclusions We conclude that proteins tend to gain domains over time, becoming progressively longer. We show that many proteins are made of domains of different age, and that the fastest evolving parts correspond to the domains that have been acquired more recently. PMID:23425224

Brazilian adults' sedentary behaviors by life domain: population-based study.

PubMed

Mielke, Grégore I; da Silva, Inácio C M; Owen, Neville; Hallal, Pedro C

2014-01-01

There is rapidly-emerging evidence on the harmful health effects of sedentary behaviors. The aim of this paper was to quantify time in sedentary behaviors and document socio-demographic variations in different life domains among adults. A population-based survey was carried out in 2012 through face-to-face interviews with Brazilian adults aged 20+ years (N = 2,927). Information about time spent sedentary in a typical weekday was collected for five different domains (workplace, commuting, school/university, watching TV, and computer use at home). Descriptive and bivariate analyses examined variations in overall and domain-specific sedentary time by gender, age, educational attainment and socioeconomic position. On average, participants reported spending 5.8 (SD 4.5) hours per day sitting. The median value was 4.5 (interquartile range: 2.5-8) hours. Men, younger adults, those with higher schooling and from the wealthiest socioeconomic groups had higher overall sedentary scores. TV time was higher in women, older adults and among those with low schooling and socioeconomic position. Sedentary time in transport was higher in men, younger adults, and participants with high schooling and high socioeconomic position. Computer use at home was more frequent among young adults and those from high socioeconomic groups. Sitting at work was higher in those with higher schooling and from the wealthiest socioeconomic groups. Sedentary behavior at school was related inversely to age and directly to schooling. Patterns of sedentary behavior are different by life domains. Initiatives to reduce prolonged sitting among Brazilian adults will be required on multiple levels for different life domains.

Using wavelets to decompose the time frequency effects of monetary policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aguiar-Conraria, Luís; Azevedo, Nuno; Soares, Maria Joana

2008-05-01

Central banks have different objectives in the short and long run. Governments operate simultaneously at different timescales. Many economic processes are the result of the actions of several agents, who have different term objectives. Therefore, a macroeconomic time series is a combination of components operating on different frequencies. Several questions about economic time series are connected to the understanding of the behavior of key variables at different frequencies over time, but this type of information is difficult to uncover using pure time-domain or pure frequency-domain methods. To our knowledge, for the first time in an economic setup, we use cross-wavelet tools to show that the relation between monetary policy variables and macroeconomic variables has changed and evolved with time. These changes are not homogeneous across the different frequencies.

A Persistent Feature of Multiple Scattering of Waves in the Time-Domain: A Tutorial

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lock, James A.; Mishchenko, Michael I.

2015-01-01

The equations for frequency-domain multiple scattering are derived for a scalar or electromagnetic plane wave incident on a collection of particles at known positions, and in the time-domain for a plane wave pulse incident on the same collection of particles. The calculation is carried out for five different combinations of wave types and particle types of increasing geometrical complexity. The results are used to illustrate and discuss a number of physical and mathematical characteristics of multiple scattering in the frequency- and time-domains. We argue that frequency-domain multiple scattering is a purely mathematical construct since there is no temporal sequencing information in the frequency-domain equations and since the multi-particle path information can be dispelled by writing the equations in another mathematical form. However, multiple scattering becomes a definite physical phenomenon in the time-domain when the collection of particles is illuminated by an appropriately short localized pulse.

Numerical simulation of electromagnetic waves in Schwarzschild space-time by finite difference time domain method and Green function method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Shouqing; La, Dongsheng; Ma, Xuelian

2018-04-01

The finite difference time domain (FDTD) algorithm and Green function algorithm are implemented into the numerical simulation of electromagnetic waves in Schwarzschild space-time. FDTD method in curved space-time is developed by filling the flat space-time with an equivalent medium. Green function in curved space-time is obtained by solving transport equations. Simulation results validate both the FDTD code and Green function code. The methods developed in this paper offer a tool to solve electromagnetic scattering problems.

A time-space domain stereo finite difference method for 3D scalar wave propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yushu; Yang, Guangwen; Ma, Xiao; He, Conghui; Song, Guojie

2016-11-01

The time-space domain finite difference methods reduce numerical dispersion effectively by minimizing the error in the joint time-space domain. However, their interpolating coefficients are related with the Courant numbers, leading to significantly extra time costs for loading the coefficients consecutively according to velocity in heterogeneous models. In the present study, we develop a time-space domain stereo finite difference (TSSFD) method for 3D scalar wave equation. The method propagates both the displacements and their gradients simultaneously to keep more information of the wavefields, and minimizes the maximum phase velocity error directly using constant interpolation coefficients for different Courant numbers. We obtain the optimal constant coefficients by combining the truncated Taylor series approximation and the time-space domain optimization, and adjust the coefficients to improve the stability condition. Subsequent investigation shows that the TSSFD can suppress numerical dispersion effectively with high computational efficiency. The maximum phase velocity error of the TSSFD is just 3.09% even with only 2 sampling points per minimum wavelength when the Courant number is 0.4. Numerical experiments show that to generate wavefields with no visible numerical dispersion, the computational efficiency of the TSSFD is 576.9%, 193.5%, 699.0%, and 191.6% of those of the 4th-order and 8th-order Lax-Wendroff correction (LWC) method, the 4th-order staggered grid method (SG), and the 8th-order optimal finite difference method (OFD), respectively. Meanwhile, the TSSFD is compatible to the unsplit convolutional perfectly matched layer (CPML) boundary condition for absorbing artificial boundaries. The efficiency and capability to handle complex velocity models make it an attractive tool in imaging methods such as acoustic reverse time migration (RTM).

Tunable inertia of chiral magnetic domain walls

PubMed Central

Torrejon, Jacob; Martinez, Eduardo; Hayashi, Masamitsu

2016-01-01

The time it takes to accelerate an object from zero to a given velocity depends on the applied force and the environment. If the force ceases, it takes exactly the same time to completely decelerate. A magnetic domain wall is a topological object that has been observed to follow this behaviour. Here we show that acceleration and deceleration times of chiral Neel walls driven by current are different in a system with low damping and moderate Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya exchange constant. The time needed to accelerate a domain wall with current via the spin Hall torque is much faster than the time it needs to decelerate once the current is turned off. The deceleration time is defined by the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya exchange constant whereas the acceleration time depends on the spin Hall torque, enabling tunable inertia of chiral domain walls. Such unique feature of chiral domain walls can be utilized to move and position domain walls with lower current, key to the development of storage class memory devices. PMID:27882932

Nonlinear (time domain) and linearized (time and frequency domain) solutions to the compressible Euler equations in conservation law form

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sreenivas, Kidambi; Whitfield, David L.

1995-01-01

Two linearized solvers (time and frequency domain) based on a high resolution numerical scheme are presented. The basic approach is to linearize the flux vector by expressing it as a sum of a mean and a perturbation. This allows the governing equations to be maintained in conservation law form. A key difference between the time and frequency domain computations is that the frequency domain computations require only one grid block irrespective of the interblade phase angle for which the flow is being computed. As a result of this and due to the fact that the governing equations for this case are steady, frequency domain computations are substantially faster than the corresponding time domain computations. The linearized equations are used to compute flows in turbomachinery blade rows (cascades) arising due to blade vibrations. Numerical solutions are compared to linear theory (where available) and to numerical solutions of the nonlinear Euler equations.

High Performance Computing of Meshless Time Domain Method on Multi-GPU Cluster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikuno, Soichiro; Nakata, Susumu; Hirokawa, Yuta; Itoh, Taku

2015-01-01

High performance computing of Meshless Time Domain Method (MTDM) on multi-GPU using the supercomputer HA-PACS (Highly Accelerated Parallel Advanced system for Computational Sciences) at University of Tsukuba is investigated. Generally, the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is adopted for the numerical simulation of the electromagnetic wave propagation phenomena. However, the numerical domain must be divided into rectangle meshes, and it is difficult to adopt the problem in a complexed domain to the method. On the other hand, MTDM can be easily adept to the problem because MTDM does not requires meshes. In the present study, we implement MTDM on multi-GPU cluster to speedup the method, and numerically investigate the performance of the method on multi-GPU cluster. To reduce the computation time, the communication time between the decomposed domain is hided below the perfect matched layer (PML) calculation procedure. The results of computation show that speedup of MTDM on 128 GPUs is 173 times faster than that of single CPU calculation.

A spectral power analysis of driving behavior changes during the transition from nondistraction to distraction.

PubMed

Wang, Yuan; Bao, Shan; Du, Wenjun; Ye, Zhirui; Sayer, James R

2017-11-17

This article investigated and compared frequency domain and time domain characteristics of drivers' behaviors before and after the start of distracted driving. Data from an existing naturalistic driving study were used. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) was applied for the frequency domain analysis to explore drivers' behavior pattern changes between nondistracted (prestarting of visual-manual task) and distracted (poststarting of visual-manual task) driving periods. Average relative spectral power in a low frequency range (0-0.5 Hz) and the standard deviation in a 10-s time window of vehicle control variables (i.e., lane offset, yaw rate, and acceleration) were calculated and further compared. Sensitivity analyses were also applied to examine the reliability of the time and frequency domain analyses. Results of the mixed model analyses from the time and frequency domain analyses all showed significant degradation in lateral control performance after engaging in visual-manual tasks while driving. Results of the sensitivity analyses suggested that the frequency domain analysis was less sensitive to the frequency bandwidth, whereas the time domain analysis was more sensitive to the time intervals selected for variation calculations. Different time interval selections can result in significantly different standard deviation values, whereas average spectral power analysis on yaw rate in both low and high frequency bandwidths showed consistent results, that higher variation values were observed during distracted driving when compared to nondistracted driving. This study suggests that driver state detection needs to consider the behavior changes during the prestarting periods, instead of only focusing on periods with physical presence of distraction, such as cell phone use. Lateral control measures can be a better indicator of distraction detection than longitudinal controls. In addition, frequency domain analyses proved to be a more robust and consistent method in assessing driving performance compared to time domain analyses.

Time-Domain Simulation of Along-Track Interferometric SAR for Moving Ocean Surfaces.

PubMed

Yoshida, Takero; Rheem, Chang-Kyu

2015-06-10

A time-domain simulation of along-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar (AT-InSAR) has been developed to support ocean observations. The simulation is in the time domain and based on Bragg scattering to be applicable for moving ocean surfaces. The time-domain simulation is suitable for examining velocities of moving objects. The simulation obtains the time series of microwave backscattering as raw signals for movements of ocean surfaces. In terms of realizing Bragg scattering, the computational grid elements for generating the numerical ocean surface are set to be smaller than the wavelength of the Bragg resonant wave. In this paper, the simulation was conducted for a Bragg resonant wave and irregular waves with currents. As a result, the phases of the received signals from two antennas differ due to the movement of the numerical ocean surfaces. The phase differences shifted by currents were in good agreement with the theoretical values. Therefore, the adaptability of the simulation to observe velocities of ocean surfaces with AT-InSAR was confirmed.

Time-Domain Simulation of Along-Track Interferometric SAR for Moving Ocean Surfaces

PubMed Central

Yoshida, Takero; Rheem, Chang-Kyu

2015-01-01

A time-domain simulation of along-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar (AT-InSAR) has been developed to support ocean observations. The simulation is in the time domain and based on Bragg scattering to be applicable for moving ocean surfaces. The time-domain simulation is suitable for examining velocities of moving objects. The simulation obtains the time series of microwave backscattering as raw signals for movements of ocean surfaces. In terms of realizing Bragg scattering, the computational grid elements for generating the numerical ocean surface are set to be smaller than the wavelength of the Bragg resonant wave. In this paper, the simulation was conducted for a Bragg resonant wave and irregular waves with currents. As a result, the phases of the received signals from two antennas differ due to the movement of the numerical ocean surfaces. The phase differences shifted by currents were in good agreement with the theoretical values. Therefore, the adaptability of the simulation to observe velocities of ocean surfaces with AT-InSAR was confirmed. PMID:26067197

Domain wall formation in late-time phase transitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kolb, Edward W.; Wang, Yun

1992-01-01

We examine domain wall formulation in late time phase transitions. We find that in the invisible axion domain wall phenomenon, thermal effects alone are insufficient to drive different parts of the disconnected vacuum manifold. This suggests that domain walls do not form unless either there is some supplemental (but perhaps not unreasonable) dynamics to localize the scalar field responsible for the phase transition to the low temperature maximum (to an extraordinary precision) before the onset of the phase transition, or there is some non-thermal mechanism to produce large fluctuations in the scalar field. The fact that domain wall production is not a robust prediction of late time transitions may suggest future directions in model building.

On-chip Brownian relaxation measurements of magnetic nanobeads in the time domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Østerberg, Frederik Westergaard; Rizzi, Giovanni; Hansen, Mikkel Fougt

2013-06-01

We present and demonstrate a new method for on-chip Brownian relaxation measurements on magnetic nanobeads in the time domain using magnetoresistive sensors. The beads are being magnetized by the sensor self-field arising from the bias current passed through the sensors and thus no external magnetic fields are needed. First, the method is demonstrated on Brownian relaxation measurements of beads with nominal sizes of 40, 80, 130, and 250 nm. The results are found to compare well to those obtained by an already established measurement technique in the frequency domain. Next, we demonstrate the time and frequency domain methods on Brownian relaxation detection of clustering of streptavidin coated magnetic beads in the presence of different concentrations of biotin-conjugated bovine serum albumin and obtain comparable results. In the time domain, a measurement is carried out in less than 30 s, which is about six times faster than in the frequency domain. This substantial reduction of the measurement time allows for continuous monitoring of the bead dynamics vs. time and opens for time-resolved studies, e.g., of binding kinetics.

Time-frequency featured co-movement between the stock and prices of crude oil and gold

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Shupei; An, Haizhong; Gao, Xiangyun; Huang, Xuan

2016-02-01

The nonlinear relationships among variables caused by the hidden frequency information complicate the time series analysis. To shed more light on this nonlinear issue, we examine their relationships in joint time-frequency domain with multivariate framework, and the analyses in the time domain and frequency domain serve as comparisons. The daily Brent oil prices, London gold fixing price and Shanghai Composite index from January 1991 to September 2014 are adopted as example. First, they have long-term cointegration relationship in time domain from holistic perspective. Second, the Granger causality tests in different frequency bands are heterogeneous. Finally, the comparison between results from wavelet coherence and multiple wavelet coherence in the joint time-frequency domain indicates that in the high (1-14 days) and medium frequency (14-128 days) bands, the combination of Brent and gold prices has stronger correlation with the stock. In the low frequency band (256-512 days), year 2003 is the structure broken point before which Brent and oil are ideal choice for hedging the risk of the stock market. Thus, this paper offers more details between the Chinese stock market and the commodities markets of crude oil and gold, which suggests that the decisions for different time and frequencies should consider the corresponding benchmark information.

Subspace-based interference removal methods for a multichannel biomagnetic sensor array.

PubMed

Sekihara, Kensuke; Nagarajan, Srikantan S

2017-10-01

In biomagnetic signal processing, the theory of the signal subspace has been applied to removing interfering magnetic fields, and a representative algorithm is the signal space projection algorithm, in which the signal/interference subspace is defined in the spatial domain as the span of signal/interference-source lead field vectors. This paper extends the notion of this conventional (spatial domain) signal subspace by introducing a new definition of signal subspace in the time domain. It defines the time-domain signal subspace as the span of row vectors that contain the source time course values. This definition leads to symmetric relationships between the time-domain and the conventional (spatial-domain) signal subspaces. As a review, this article shows that the notion of the time-domain signal subspace provides useful insights over existing interference removal methods from a unified perspective. Main results and significance. Using the time-domain signal subspace, it is possible to interpret a number of interference removal methods as the time domain signal space projection. Such methods include adaptive noise canceling, sensor noise suppression, the common temporal subspace projection, the spatio-temporal signal space separation, and the recently-proposed dual signal subspace projection. Our analysis using the notion of the time domain signal space projection reveals implicit assumptions these methods rely on, and shows that the difference between these methods results only from the manner of deriving the interference subspace. Numerical examples that illustrate the results of our arguments are provided.

Subspace-based interference removal methods for a multichannel biomagnetic sensor array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sekihara, Kensuke; Nagarajan, Srikantan S.

2017-10-01

Objective. In biomagnetic signal processing, the theory of the signal subspace has been applied to removing interfering magnetic fields, and a representative algorithm is the signal space projection algorithm, in which the signal/interference subspace is defined in the spatial domain as the span of signal/interference-source lead field vectors. This paper extends the notion of this conventional (spatial domain) signal subspace by introducing a new definition of signal subspace in the time domain. Approach. It defines the time-domain signal subspace as the span of row vectors that contain the source time course values. This definition leads to symmetric relationships between the time-domain and the conventional (spatial-domain) signal subspaces. As a review, this article shows that the notion of the time-domain signal subspace provides useful insights over existing interference removal methods from a unified perspective. Main results and significance. Using the time-domain signal subspace, it is possible to interpret a number of interference removal methods as the time domain signal space projection. Such methods include adaptive noise canceling, sensor noise suppression, the common temporal subspace projection, the spatio-temporal signal space separation, and the recently-proposed dual signal subspace projection. Our analysis using the notion of the time domain signal space projection reveals implicit assumptions these methods rely on, and shows that the difference between these methods results only from the manner of deriving the interference subspace. Numerical examples that illustrate the results of our arguments are provided.

Finite difference time domain calculation of transients in antennas with nonlinear loads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luebbers, Raymond J.; Beggs, John H.; Kunz, Karl S.; Chamberlin, Kent

1991-01-01

Determining transient electromagnetic fields in antennas with nonlinear loads is a challenging problem. Typical methods used involve calculating frequency domain parameters at a large number of different frequencies, then applying Fourier transform methods plus nonlinear equation solution techniques. If the antenna is simple enough so that the open circuit time domain voltage can be determined independently of the effects of the nonlinear load on the antennas current, time stepping methods can be applied in a straightforward way. Here, transient fields for antennas with more general geometries are calculated directly using Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) methods. In each FDTD cell which contains a nonlinear load, a nonlinear equation is solved at each time step. As a test case, the transient current in a long dipole antenna with a nonlinear load excited by a pulsed plane wave is computed using this approach. The results agree well with both calculated and measured results previously published. The approach given here extends the applicability of the FDTD method to problems involving scattering from targets, including nonlinear loads and materials, and to coupling between antennas containing nonlinear loads. It may also be extended to propagation through nonlinear materials.

Socioeconomic inequalities in occupational, leisure-time, and transport related physical activity among European adults: A systematic review

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background This study systematically reviewed the evidence pertaining to socioeconomic inequalities in different domains of physical activity (PA) by European region. Methods Studies conducted between January 2000 and December 2010 were identified by a systematic search in Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Psychinfo, Sportdiscus, Sociological Abstracts, and Social Service Abstracts. English-language peer-reviewed studies undertaken in the general population of adults (18–65 years) were classified by domain of PA (total, leisure-time including sport, occupational, active transport), indicator of socioeconomic position (education, income, occupation), and European region. Distributions of reported positive, negative, and null associations were evaluated. Results A total of 131 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies were conducted in Scandinavia (n = 47). Leisure-time PA was the most frequently studied PA outcome (n = 112). Considerable differences in the direction of inequalities were seen for the different domains of PA. Most studies reported that those with high socioeconomic position were more physically active during leisure-time compared to those with low socioeconomic position (68% positive associations for total leisure-time PA, 76% for vigorous leisure-time PA). Occupational PA was more prevalent among the lower socioeconomic groups (63% negative associations). Socioeconomic differences in total PA and active transport PA did not show a consistent pattern (40% and 38% positive associations respectively). Some inequalities differed by European region or socioeconomic indicator, however these differences were not very pronounced. Conclusions The direction of socioeconomic inequalities in PA in Europe differed considerably by domain of PA. The contradictory results for total PA may partly be explained by contrasting socioeconomic patterns for leisure-time PA and occupational PA. PMID:22992350

Accumulation of Domain-Specific Physical Inactivity and Presence of Hypertension in Brazilian Public Healthcare System.

PubMed

Turi, Bruna Camilo; Codogno, Jamile S; Fernandes, Romulo A; Sui, Xuemei; Lavie, Carl J; Blair, Steven N; Monteiro, Henrique Luiz

2015-11-01

Hypertension is one of the most common noncommunicable diseases worldwide, and physical inactivity is a risk factor predisposing to its occurrence and complications. However, it is still unclear the association between physical inactivity domains and hypertension, especially in public healthcare systems. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the association between physical inactivity aggregation in different domains and prevalence of hypertension among users of Brazilian public health system. 963 participants composed the sample. Subjects were divided into quartiles groups according to 3 different domains of physical activity (occupational; physical exercises; and leisure-time and transportation). Hypertension was based on physician diagnosis. Physical inactivity in occupational domain was significantly associated with higher prevalence of hypertension (OR = 1.52 [1.05 to 2.21]). The same pattern occurred for physical inactivity in leisure-time (OR = 1.63 [1.11 to 2.39]) and aggregation of physical inactivity in 3 domains (OR = 2.46 [1.14 to 5.32]). However, the multivariate-adjusted model showed significant association between hypertension and physical inactivity in 3 domains (OR = 2.57 [1.14 to 5.79]). The results suggest an unequal prevalence of hypertension according to physical inactivity across different domains and increasing the promotion of physical activity in the healthcare system is needed.

Statistical significance of task related deep brain EEG dynamic changes in the time-frequency domain.

PubMed

Chládek, J; Brázdil, M; Halámek, J; Plešinger, F; Jurák, P

2013-01-01

We present an off-line analysis procedure for exploring brain activity recorded from intra-cerebral electroencephalographic data (SEEG). The objective is to determine the statistical differences between different types of stimulations in the time-frequency domain. The procedure is based on computing relative signal power change and subsequent statistical analysis. An example of characteristic statistically significant event-related de/synchronization (ERD/ERS) detected across different frequency bands following different oddball stimuli is presented. The method is used for off-line functional classification of different brain areas.

Three Dimensional Transient Analysis of Microstrip Circuits in Multilayered Anisotropic Media

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-01-18

time fat rfVWh ifl~ttUktOnS. watching e..,ing| galai• fld t gatlwnq and maintaningn~ te data needed. an cems~l~lzn andI reuiewing 1h cOllection Of...noise on the passive via are derived. The coupling responses in the frequency domain and crosstalk waveforms in the time domain for some multilayered...source, developed across the module-backplane connector. The finite-difference time -domain (FD-TD) technique, which is based on the discretization of

A Meta-analysis of Cerebellar Contributions to Higher Cognition from PET and fMRI studies

PubMed Central

Keren-Happuch, E; Chen, Shen-Hsing Annabel; Ho, Moon-Ho Ringo; Desmond, John E.

2013-01-01

A growing interest in cerebellar function and its involvement in higher cognition have prompted much research in recent years. Cerebellar presence in a wide range of cognitive functions examined within an increasing body of neuroimaging literature has been observed. We applied a meta-analytic approach, which employed the activation likelihood estimate method, to consolidate results of cerebellar involvement accumulated in different cognitive tasks of interest and systematically identified similarities among the studies. The current analysis included 88 neuroimaging studies demonstrating cerebellar activations in higher cognitive domains involving emotion, executive function, language, music, timing and working memory. While largely consistent with a prior meta-analysis by Stoodley and Schmahmann (2009), our results extended their findings to include music and timing domains to provide further insights into cerebellar involvement and elucidate its role in higher cognition. In addition, we conducted inter- and intra-domain comparisons for the cognitive domains of emotion, language and working memory. We also considered task differences within the domain of verbal working memory by conducting a comparison of the Sternberg with the n-back task, as well as an analysis of the differential components within the Sternberg task. Results showed a consistent cerebellar presence in the timing domain, providing evidence for a role in time keeping. Unique clusters identified within the domain further refine the topographic organization of the cerebellum. PMID:23125108

Numerical solution of the wave equation with variable wave speed on nonconforming domains by high-order difference potentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Britt, S.; Tsynkov, S.; Turkel, E.

2018-02-01

We solve the wave equation with variable wave speed on nonconforming domains with fourth order accuracy in both space and time. This is accomplished using an implicit finite difference (FD) scheme for the wave equation and solving an elliptic (modified Helmholtz) equation at each time step with fourth order spatial accuracy by the method of difference potentials (MDP). High-order MDP utilizes compact FD schemes on regular structured grids to efficiently solve problems on nonconforming domains while maintaining the design convergence rate of the underlying FD scheme. Asymptotically, the computational complexity of high-order MDP scales the same as that for FD.

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy of submonolayer water adsorption in hydrophilic silica aerogel.

PubMed

Zhang, Jiangquan; Grischkowsky, Daniel

2004-05-01

We report a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy study of the adsorption of water in hydrophilic silica aerogel. The adsorbed water is in submonolayer form and shows properties of index of refraction similar to those of bulk water but different absorption properties.

Time-Dependent Parabolic Finite Difference Formulation for Harmonic Sound Propagation in a Two-Dimensional Duct with Flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kreider, Kevin L.; Baumeister, Kenneth J.

1996-01-01

An explicit finite difference real time iteration scheme is developed to study harmonic sound propagation in aircraft engine nacelles. To reduce storage requirements for future large 3D problems, the time dependent potential form of the acoustic wave equation is used. To insure that the finite difference scheme is both explicit and stable for a harmonic monochromatic sound field, a parabolic (in time) approximation is introduced to reduce the order of the governing equation. The analysis begins with a harmonic sound source radiating into a quiescent duct. This fully explicit iteration method then calculates stepwise in time to obtain the 'steady state' harmonic solutions of the acoustic field. For stability, applications of conventional impedance boundary conditions requires coupling to explicit hyperbolic difference equations at the boundary. The introduction of the time parameter eliminates the large matrix storage requirements normally associated with frequency domain solutions, and time marching attains the steady-state quickly enough to make the method favorable when compared to frequency domain methods. For validation, this transient-frequency domain method is applied to sound propagation in a 2D hard wall duct with plug flow.

Finite difference time domain modeling of steady state scattering from jet engines with moving turbine blades

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ryan, Deirdre A.; Langdon, H. Scott; Beggs, John H.; Steich, David J.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1992-01-01

The approach chosen to model steady state scattering from jet engines with moving turbine blades is based upon the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method. The FDTD method is a numerical electromagnetic program based upon the direct solution in the time domain of Maxwell's time dependent curl equations throughout a volume. One of the strengths of this method is the ability to model objects with complicated shape and/or material composition. General time domain functions may be used as source excitations. For example, a plane wave excitation may be specified as a pulse containing many frequencies and at any incidence angle to the scatterer. A best fit to the scatterer is accomplished using cubical cells in the standard cartesian implementation of the FDTD method. The material composition of the scatterer is determined by specifying its electrical properties at each cell on the scatterer. Thus, the FDTD method is a suitable choice for problems with complex geometries evaluated at multiple frequencies. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the FDTD method.

Magnetic domains in Tb-Fe-Co thin films under anisotropy tilt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Talapatra, A.; Umadevi, K.; Arout Chelvane, J.; Mohanty, J.; Jayalakshmi, V.

2018-04-01

Tailoring of magnetic domains of Tb-Fe-Co thin films with rapid thermal processing has been reported in this paper. While the as-deposited films show elongated, inter-connected domains with high out-of-plane magnetic phase contrast, the rapid thermal processed films at 550 °C with different time intervals display deterioration of magnetic contrast. A longitudinal extension of domains has been observed with the processing time of 5 min. With subsequent increase in processing time, the domain patterns exhibit considerable decrease in magnetic phase difference combined with strong intermixing between two oppositely magnetized areas. The out-of-plane magnetic contrast is seen to be very weak for the Tb-Fe-Co film processed for 30 min. The domain morphology and the contrast variation have been modeled with micromagnetic simulations, considering the in-plane (along xz plane) tilt of anisotropy axis. The ground state energy profile and the variation in magnetic properties indicate the threshold tilt angle to be around 30 ° wherein the in-plane and out-of-plane squareness ratio and coercivities are comparable and hence the system shows a spin re-orientation behavior at higher tilt angles.

Differences between time domain and Fourier domain optical coherence tomography in imaging tissues.

PubMed

Gao, W; Wu, X

2017-11-01

It has been numerously demonstrated that both time domain and Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) can generate high-resolution depth-resolved images of living tissues and cells. In this work, we compare the common points and differences between two methods when the continuous and random properties of live tissue are taken into account. It is found that when relationships that exist between the scattered light and tissue structures are taken into account, spectral interference measurements in Fourier domain OCT (FDOCT) is more advantageous than interference fringe envelope measurements in time domain OCT (TDOCT) in the cases where continuous property of tissue is taken into account. It is also demonstrated that when random property of tissue is taken into account FDOCT measures the Fourier transform of the spatial correlation function of the refractive index and speckle phenomena will limit the effective limiting imaging resolution in both TDOCT and FDOCT. Finally, the effective limiting resolution of both TDOCT and FDOCT are given which can be used to estimate the effective limiting resolution in various practical applications. © 2017 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2017 Royal Microscopical Society.

Acoustic Treatment Design Scaling Methods. Volume 4; Numerical Simulation of the Nonlinear Acoustic Impedance of a Perforated Plate Single-Degree-of-Freedom Resonator Using a Time-Domain Finite Difference Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kraft, R. E.

1999-01-01

Single-degree-of-freedom resonators consisting of honeycomb cells covered by perforated facesheets are widely used as acoustic noise suppression liners in aircraft engine ducts. The acoustic resistance and mass reactance of such liners are known to vary with the intensity of the sound incident upon the panel. Since the pressure drop across a perforated liner facesheet increases quadratically with the flow velocity through the facesheet, this is known as the nonlinear resistance effect. In the past, two different empirical frequency domain models have been used to predict the Sound Pressure Level effect of the incident wave on the perforated liner impedance, one that uses the incident particle velocity in isolated narrowbands, and one that models the particle velocity as the overall velocity. In the absence of grazing flow, neither frequency domain model is entirely accurate in predicting the nonlinear effect that is measured for typical perforated sheets. The time domain model is developed in an attempt to understand and improve the model for the effect of spectral shape and amplitude of multi-frequency incident sound pressure on the liner impedance. A computer code for the time-domain finite difference model is developed and predictions using the models are compared to current frequency-domain models.

How to choose a subset of frequencies in frequency-domain finite-difference migration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mulder, W. A.; Plessix, R.-E.

2004-09-01

Finite-difference migration with the two-way wave equation can be accelerated by an order of magnitude if the frequency domain rather than the time domain is used. This gain is mainly accomplished by using a subset of the available frequencies. The implicit assumption is that the data have a certain amount of redundancy in the frequency domain. The choice of frequencies cannot be arbitrary. If the frequencies are chosen with a constant increment and their spacing is too large, the well-known wrap-around that occurs when transforming back to the time domain will also show up in the migration to the depth domain, albeit in a more subtle way. Because migration involves propagation in a given background velocity model and summation over shots and receivers, the effects of wrap-around may disappear even when the Nyquist theorem is not obeyed. We have studied these effects analytically for the constant-velocity case and determined sampling conditions that avoid wrap-around artefacts. The conditions depend on the velocity, depth of the migration grid and offset range. They show that the spacing between subsequent frequencies can be larger than the inverse of the time range prescribed by the Nyquist theorem. A 2-D example has been used to test the validity of these conditions for a more realistic velocity model. Finite-difference migration with the one-way wave equation shows a similar behaviour.

A Fourier collocation time domain method for numerically solving Maxwell's equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shebalin, John V.

1991-01-01

A new method for solving Maxwell's equations in the time domain for arbitrary values of permittivity, conductivity, and permeability is presented. Spatial derivatives are found by a Fourier transform method and time integration is performed using a second order, semi-implicit procedure. Electric and magnetic fields are collocated on the same grid points, rather than on interleaved points, as in the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method. Numerical results are presented for the propagation of a 2-D Transverse Electromagnetic (TEM) mode out of a parallel plate waveguide and into a dielectric and conducting medium.

Topologically associating domains are stable units of replication-timing regulation.

PubMed

Pope, Benjamin D; Ryba, Tyrone; Dileep, Vishnu; Yue, Feng; Wu, Weisheng; Denas, Olgert; Vera, Daniel L; Wang, Yanli; Hansen, R Scott; Canfield, Theresa K; Thurman, Robert E; Cheng, Yong; Gülsoy, Günhan; Dennis, Jonathan H; Snyder, Michael P; Stamatoyannopoulos, John A; Taylor, James; Hardison, Ross C; Kahveci, Tamer; Ren, Bing; Gilbert, David M

2014-11-20

Eukaryotic chromosomes replicate in a temporal order known as the replication-timing program. In mammals, replication timing is cell-type-specific with at least half the genome switching replication timing during development, primarily in units of 400-800 kilobases ('replication domains'), whose positions are preserved in different cell types, conserved between species, and appear to confine long-range effects of chromosome rearrangements. Early and late replication correlate, respectively, with open and closed three-dimensional chromatin compartments identified by high-resolution chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C), and, to a lesser extent, late replication correlates with lamina-associated domains (LADs). Recent Hi-C mapping has unveiled substructure within chromatin compartments called topologically associating domains (TADs) that are largely conserved in their positions between cell types and are similar in size to replication domains. However, TADs can be further sub-stratified into smaller domains, challenging the significance of structures at any particular scale. Moreover, attempts to reconcile TADs and LADs to replication-timing data have not revealed a common, underlying domain structure. Here we localize boundaries of replication domains to the early-replicating border of replication-timing transitions and map their positions in 18 human and 13 mouse cell types. We demonstrate that, collectively, replication domain boundaries share a near one-to-one correlation with TAD boundaries, whereas within a cell type, adjacent TADs that replicate at similar times obscure replication domain boundaries, largely accounting for the previously reported lack of alignment. Moreover, cell-type-specific replication timing of TADs partitions the genome into two large-scale sub-nuclear compartments revealing that replication-timing transitions are indistinguishable from late-replicating regions in chromatin composition and lamina association and accounting for the reduced correlation of replication timing to LADs and heterochromatin. Our results reconcile cell-type-specific sub-nuclear compartmentalization and replication timing with developmentally stable structural domains and offer a unified model for large-scale chromosome structure and function.

Correlates of sports practice, occupational and leisure-time physical activity in Brazilian adolescents.

PubMed

Silva, Danilo R P; Fernandes, Rômulo A; Ohara, David; Collings, Paul J; Souza, Mariana F; Tomeleri, Crisieli M; Ronque, Enio R V; Sardinha, Luís B; Cyrino, Edilson S

2016-01-01

To analyze the relationship between different physical activity (PA) domains and sociodemographic, psychological, behavioral and biological factors in Brazilian adolescents. 1,220 adolescents (55.1% female) aged between 10 and 16 years-old participated in this study. The Baecke questionnaire was used to evaluate different PA domains, namely occupational, sports and leisure-time. Socioeconomic status, number of siblings, friendships satisfaction, mother's and father's PA level and previous experience with sports were self-reported. Cardiorespiratory fitness, waist circumference, and somatic maturity were estimated by objective indicators. Linear regression was used for the main statistical analysis. The variables consistently related to all of the PA domains were gender (boys more active), friendship satisfaction (positive with sports and leisure-time PA and negative with occupational PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (positive). There were also domain-specific relationships for occupational (number of siblings [β = 0.02] and father's PA [β = 0.13]), sport practice (previous experience with sports [β = 0.33], waist circumference [β = 0.01] and somatic maturity [β = -0.12]) and leisure-time PA (chronological age [β = -0.15], mother's PA [β = 0.47] and previous experience with sports [β = 0.17]). The different domains of PA are related to specific variables in adolescence. This information may be helpful in formulating strategies for physical activity promotion, particularly in adolescents from low-to-middle income countries. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Time and Frequency-Domain Cross-Verification of SLS 6DOF Trajectory Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Matthew; McCullough, John

2017-01-01

The Space Launch System (SLS) Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) team and its partners have developed several time- and frequency-based simulations for development and analysis of the proposed SLS launch vehicle. The simulations differ in fidelity and some have unique functionality that allows them to perform specific analyses. Some examples of the purposes of the various models are: trajectory simulation, multi-body separation, Monte Carlo, hardware in the loop, loads, and frequency domain stability analyses. While no two simulations are identical, many of the models are essentially six degree-of-freedom (6DOF) representations of the SLS plant dynamics, hardware implementation, and flight software. Thus at a high level all of those models should be in agreement. Comparison of outputs from several SLS trajectory and stability analysis tools are ongoing as part of the program's current verification effort. The purpose of these comparisons is to highlight modeling and analysis differences, verify simulation data sources, identify inconsistencies and minor errors, and ultimately to verify output data as being a good representation of the vehicle and subsystem dynamics. This paper will show selected verification work in both the time and frequency domain from the current design analysis cycle of the SLS for several of the design and analysis simulations. In the time domain, the tools that will be compared are MAVERIC, CLVTOPS, SAVANT, STARS, ARTEMIS, and POST 2. For the frequency domain analysis, the tools to be compared are FRACTAL, SAVANT, and STARS. The paper will include discussion of these tools including their capabilities, configurations, and the uses to which they are put in the SLS program. Determination of the criteria by which the simulations are compared (matching criteria) requires thoughtful consideration, and there are several pitfalls that may occur that can severely punish a simulation if not considered carefully. The paper will discuss these considerations and will present a framework for responding to these issues when they arise. For example, small event timing differences can lead to large differences in mass properties if the criteria are to measure those properties at the same time, or large differences in altitude if the criteria are to measure those properties when the simulation experiences a staging event. Similarly, a tiny difference in phase can lead to large gain margin differences for frequency-domain comparisons of gain margins.

Stabilization of time domain acoustic boundary element method for the interior problem with impedance boundary conditions.

PubMed

Jang, Hae-Won; Ih, Jeong-Guon

2012-04-01

The time domain boundary element method (BEM) is associated with numerical instability that typically stems from the time marching scheme. In this work, a formulation of time domain BEM is derived to deal with all types of boundary conditions adopting a multi-input, multi-output, infinite impulse response structure. The fitted frequency domain impedance data are converted into a time domain expression as a form of an infinite impulse response filter, which can also invoke a modeling error. In the calculation, the response at each time step is projected onto the wave vector space of natural radiation modes, which can be obtained from the eigensolutions of the single iterative matrix. To stabilize the computation, unstable oscillatory modes are nullified, and the same decay rate is used for two nonoscillatory modes. As a test example, a transient sound field within a partially lined, parallelepiped box is used, within which a point source is excited by an octave band impulse. In comparison with the results of the inverse Fourier transform of a frequency domain BEM, the average of relative difference norm in the stabilized time response is found to be 4.4%.

Finite difference time domain grid generation from AMC helicopter models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cravey, Robin L.

1992-01-01

A simple technique is presented which forms a cubic grid model of a helicopter from an Aircraft Modeling Code (AMC) input file. The AMC input file defines the helicopter fuselage as a series of polygonal cross sections. The cubic grid model is used as an input to a Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) code to obtain predictions of antenna performance on a generic helicopter model. The predictions compare reasonably well with measured data.

Moisture in untreated, a cetylated, and furfurylated Norway spruce studied during drying using time domain NMR

Treesearch

Lisabeth G. Thygesen; Thomas Elder

2008-01-01

Using time domain NMR, the moisture in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) sapwood subjected to four different treatments (never-dried, dried and remoistened, acetylated, and furfurylated) was studied during drying at 40°C, at sample average moisture contents above fiber saturation. Spin-spin relaxation time distributions were derived from CPMG...

Developmental Change and Time-Specific Variation in Global and Specific Aspects of Self-Concept in Adolescence and Association with Depressive Symptoms

PubMed Central

Kuzucu, Yasar; Bontempo, Daniel E.; Hofer, Scott M.; Stallings, Michael C.; Piccinin, Andrea M.

2014-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that adolescents make differential self-evaluations in multiple domains that include physical appearance, academic competence, and peer acceptance. We report growth curve analyses over a seven year period from age 9 to age 16 on the six domains of the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Children. In general, we find little change in self-concept, on average, but do find substantial individual differences in level, rate of change, and time-specific variation in these self- evaluations. The results suggest that sex differences and adoptive status were related to only certain aspects of the participants’ self-concept. Depressive symptoms were found to have significant effects on individual differences in rate of change and on time-specific variation in general self-concept, as well as on some of the specific domains of self-concept. PMID:25143664

Influence of computer work under time pressure on cardiac activity.

PubMed

Shi, Ping; Hu, Sijung; Yu, Hongliu

2015-03-01

Computer users are often under stress when required to complete computer work within a required time. Work stress has repeatedly been associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. The present study examined the effects of time pressure workload during computer tasks on cardiac activity in 20 healthy subjects. Heart rate, time domain and frequency domain indices of heart rate variability (HRV) and Poincaré plot parameters were compared among five computer tasks and two rest periods. Faster heart rate and decreased standard deviation of R-R interval were noted in response to computer tasks under time pressure. The Poincaré plot parameters showed significant differences between different levels of time pressure workload during computer tasks, and between computer tasks and the rest periods. In contrast, no significant differences were identified for the frequency domain indices of HRV. The results suggest that the quantitative Poincaré plot analysis used in this study was able to reveal the intrinsic nonlinear nature of the autonomically regulated cardiac rhythm. Specifically, heightened vagal tone occurred during the relaxation computer tasks without time pressure. In contrast, the stressful computer tasks with added time pressure stimulated cardiac sympathetic activity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparing longitudinal assessments of quality of life by patient and parent in newly diagnosed children with cancer: the value of both raters' perspectives.

PubMed

Parsons, Susan K; Fairclough, Diane L; Wang, Jim; Hinds, Pamela S

2012-06-01

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) information from children facing rare and/or life-threatening disease serves important clinical functions. Longitudinal HRQoL ratings from 222 child-parent dyads collected at four time points during the first 16 weeks of cancer treatment are presented. Patient and parent HRQoL reports at the domain level, based on the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales, were compared over time, and variation in child/parent agreement by age, treatment intensity, and time on treatment was explored. Analyses included consideration of missingness, differences between child and parent group mean domain scores averaged over assessments, agreement between individual child and parent, compared to group averages, and within-subject changes between assessments. Children consistently reported higher functioning than their parents with differences varying by child age and HRQoL domain and diminishing over time. No differences were found by intensity of treatment. The between-subject correlation ranged from 0.61 (social functioning) to 0.86 (physical functioning) across time. Agreement within groups, defined by age, treatment intensity, and time were generally similar. Results indicate moderate-to-good child/parent agreement with variability by domain of HRQoL. Findings underscore the complexity of self- and proxy-based report and support the use of information from both raters.

Effect of membrane microheterogeneity and domain size on fluorescence resonance energy transfer.

PubMed

Towles, Kevin B; Brown, Angela C; Wrenn, Steven P; Dan, Nily

2007-07-15

Studies of multicomponent membranes suggest lateral inhomogeneity in the form of membrane domains, but the size of small (nanoscale) domains in situ cannot be determined with current techniques. In this article, we present a model that enables extraction of membrane domain size from time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) data. We expand upon a classic approach to the infinite phase separation limit and formulate a model that accounts for the presence of disklike domains of finite dimensions within a two-dimensional infinite planar bilayer. The model was tested against off-lattice Monte Carlo calculations of a model membrane in the liquid-disordered (l(d)) and liquid-ordered (l(o)) coexistence regime. Simulated domain size was varied from 5 to 50 nm, and two fluorophores, preferentially partitioning into opposite phases, were randomly mixed to obtain the simulated time-resolved FRET data. The Monte Carlo data show clear differences in the efficiency of energy transfer as a function of domain size. The model fit of the data yielded good agreement for the domain size, especially in cases where the domain diameter is <20 nm. Thus, data analysis using the proposed model enables measurement of nanoscale membrane domains using time-resolved FRET.

DNA residence time is a regulatory factor of transcription repression

PubMed Central

Clauß, Karen; Popp, Achim P.; Schulze, Lena; Hettich, Johannes; Reisser, Matthias; Escoter Torres, Laura; Uhlenhaut, N. Henriette

2017-01-01

Abstract Transcription comprises a highly regulated sequence of intrinsically stochastic processes, resulting in bursts of transcription intermitted by quiescence. In transcription activation or repression, a transcription factor binds dynamically to DNA, with a residence time unique to each factor. Whether the DNA residence time is important in the transcription process is unclear. Here, we designed a series of transcription repressors differing in their DNA residence time by utilizing the modular DNA binding domain of transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) and varying the number of nucleotide-recognizing repeat domains. We characterized the DNA residence times of our repressors in living cells using single molecule tracking. The residence times depended non-linearly on the number of repeat domains and differed by more than a factor of six. The factors provoked a residence time-dependent decrease in transcript level of the glucocorticoid receptor-activated gene SGK1. Down regulation of transcription was due to a lower burst frequency in the presence of long binding repressors and is in accordance with a model of competitive inhibition of endogenous activator binding. Our single molecule experiments reveal transcription factor DNA residence time as a regulatory factor controlling transcription repression and establish TALE-DNA binding domains as tools for the temporal dissection of transcription regulation. PMID:28977492

Frequency and time domain three-dimensional inversion of electromagnetic data for a grounded-wire source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasaki, Yutaka; Yi, Myeong-Jong; Choi, Jihyang; Son, Jeong-Sul

2015-01-01

We present frequency- and time-domain three-dimensional (3-D) inversion approaches that can be applied to transient electromagnetic (TEM) data from a grounded-wire source using a PC. In the direct time-domain approach, the forward solution and sensitivity were obtained in the frequency domain using a finite-difference technique, and the frequency response was then Fourier-transformed using a digital filter technique. In the frequency-domain approach, TEM data were Fourier-transformed using a smooth-spectrum inversion method, and the recovered frequency response was then inverted. The synthetic examples show that for the time derivative of magnetic field, frequency-domain inversion of TEM data performs almost as well as time-domain inversion, with a significant reduction in computational time. In our synthetic studies, we also compared the resolution capabilities of the ground and airborne TEM and controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) data resulting from a common grounded wire. An airborne TEM survey at 200-m elevation achieved a resolution for buried conductors almost comparable to that of the ground TEM method. It is also shown that the inversion of CSAMT data was able to detect a 3-D resistivity structure better than the TEM inversion, suggesting an advantage of electric-field measurements over magnetic-field-only measurements.

MIMO equalization with adaptive step size for few-mode fiber transmission systems.

PubMed

van Uden, Roy G H; Okonkwo, Chigo M; Sleiffer, Vincent A J M; de Waardt, Hugo; Koonen, Antonius M J

2014-01-13

Optical multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission systems generally employ minimum mean squared error time or frequency domain equalizers. Using an experimental 3-mode dual polarization coherent transmission setup, we show that the convergence time of the MMSE time domain equalizer (TDE) and frequency domain equalizer (FDE) can be reduced by approximately 50% and 30%, respectively. The criterion used to estimate the system convergence time is the time it takes for the MIMO equalizer to reach an average output error which is within a margin of 5% of the average output error after 50,000 symbols. The convergence reduction difference between the TDE and FDE is attributed to the limited maximum step size for stable convergence of the frequency domain equalizer. The adaptive step size requires a small overhead in the form of a lookup table. It is highlighted that the convergence time reduction is achieved without sacrificing optical signal-to-noise ratio performance.

A multi-domain spectral method for time-fractional differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Feng; Xu, Qinwu; Hesthaven, Jan S.

2015-07-01

This paper proposes an approach for high-order time integration within a multi-domain setting for time-fractional differential equations. Since the kernel is singular or nearly singular, two main difficulties arise after the domain decomposition: how to properly account for the history/memory part and how to perform the integration accurately. To address these issues, we propose a novel hybrid approach for the numerical integration based on the combination of three-term-recurrence relations of Jacobi polynomials and high-order Gauss quadrature. The different approximations used in the hybrid approach are justified theoretically and through numerical examples. Based on this, we propose a new multi-domain spectral method for high-order accurate time integrations and study its stability properties by identifying the method as a generalized linear method. Numerical experiments confirm hp-convergence for both time-fractional differential equations and time-fractional partial differential equations.

Fast and accurate fitting and filtering of noisy exponentials in Legendre space.

PubMed

Bao, Guobin; Schild, Detlev

2014-01-01

The parameters of experimentally obtained exponentials are usually found by least-squares fitting methods. Essentially, this is done by minimizing the mean squares sum of the differences between the data, most often a function of time, and a parameter-defined model function. Here we delineate a novel method where the noisy data are represented and analyzed in the space of Legendre polynomials. This is advantageous in several respects. First, parameter retrieval in the Legendre domain is typically two orders of magnitude faster than direct fitting in the time domain. Second, data fitting in a low-dimensional Legendre space yields estimates for amplitudes and time constants which are, on the average, more precise compared to least-squares-fitting with equal weights in the time domain. Third, the Legendre analysis of two exponentials gives satisfactory estimates in parameter ranges where least-squares-fitting in the time domain typically fails. Finally, filtering exponentials in the domain of Legendre polynomials leads to marked noise removal without the phase shift characteristic for conventional lowpass filters.

Adaptive multi-time-domain subcycling for crystal plasticity FE modeling of discrete twin evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Somnath; Cheng, Jiahao

2018-02-01

Crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) models that accounts for discrete micro-twin nucleation-propagation have been recently developed for studying complex deformation behavior of hexagonal close-packed (HCP) materials (Cheng and Ghosh in Int J Plast 67:148-170, 2015, J Mech Phys Solids 99:512-538, 2016). A major difficulty with conducting high fidelity, image-based CPFE simulations of polycrystalline microstructures with explicit twin formation is the prohibitively high demands on computing time. High strain localization within fast propagating twin bands requires very fine simulation time steps and leads to enormous computational cost. To mitigate this shortcoming and improve the simulation efficiency, this paper proposes a multi-time-domain subcycling algorithm. It is based on adaptive partitioning of the evolving computational domain into twinned and untwinned domains. Based on the local deformation-rate, the algorithm accelerates simulations by adopting different time steps for each sub-domain. The sub-domains are coupled back after coarse time increments using a predictor-corrector algorithm at the interface. The subcycling-augmented CPFEM is validated with a comprehensive set of numerical tests. Significant speed-up is observed with this novel algorithm without any loss of accuracy that is advantageous for predicting twinning in polycrystalline microstructures.

Dynamic interactions between a membrane binding protein and lipids induce fluctuating diffusivity

PubMed Central

Yamamoto, Eiji; Akimoto, Takuma; Kalli, Antreas C.; Yasuoka, Kenji; Sansom, Mark S. P.

2017-01-01

Pleckstrin homology (PH) domains are membrane-binding lipid recognition proteins that interact with phosphatidylinositol phosphate (PIP) molecules in eukaryotic cell membranes. Diffusion of PH domains plays a critical role in biological reactions on membrane surfaces. Although diffusivity can be estimated by long-time measurements, it lacks information on the short-time diffusive nature. We reveal two diffusive properties of a PH domain bound to the surface of a PIP-containing membrane using molecular dynamics simulations. One is fractional Brownian motion, attributed to the motion of the lipids with which the PH domain interacts. The other is temporally fluctuating diffusivity; that is, the short-time diffusivity of the bound protein changes substantially with time. Moreover, the diffusivity for short-time measurements is intrinsically different from that for long-time measurements. This fluctuating diffusivity results from dynamic changes in interactions between the PH domain and PIP molecules. Our results provide evidence that the complexity of protein-lipid interactions plays a crucial role in the diffusion of proteins on biological membrane surfaces. Changes in the diffusivity of PH domains and related membrane-bound proteins may in turn contribute to the formation/dissolution of protein complexes in membranes. PMID:28116358

Deposition and growth of domains in one dimension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodgers, G. J.; Tavassoli, Z.

1998-09-01

A model of deposition and growth in one dimension is studied in which finite sized domains are deposited by the random sequential adsorption process. The domains then grow with a time dependent growth rate. When the initial deposited domains are monomers and dimers the coverage is found exactly for a number of different growth rates. A continuum version of this model is also considered.

A finite-difference time-domain electromagnetic solver in a generalized coordinate system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hochberg, Timothy Allen

A new, finite-difference, time-domain method for the simulation of full-wave electromagnetic wave propogation in complex structures is developed. This method is simple and flexible; it allows for the simulation of transient wave propogation in a large class of practical structures. Boundary conditions are implemented for perfect and imperfect electrically conducting boundaries, perfect magnetically conducting boundaries, and absorbing boundaries. The method is validated with the aid of several different types of test cases. Two types of coaxial cables with helical breaks are simulated and the results are discussed.

Analysis of composite/difference field scattering properties between a slightly rough optical surface and multi-body defects.

PubMed

Gong, Lei; Wu, Zhensen; Gao, Ming; Qu, Tan

2018-03-20

The effective extraction of optical surface roughness and defect characteristic provide important realistic values to improve optical system efficiency. Based on finite difference time domain/multi-resolution time domain (FDTD/MRTD) mixed approach, composite scattering between a slightly rough optical surface and multi-body defect particles with different positions is investigated. The scattering contribution of defect particles or the slightly rough optical surface is presented. Our study provides a theoretical and technological basis for the nondestructive examination and optical performance design of nanometer structures.

Real time recognition of explosophorous group and explosive material using laser induced photoacoustic spectroscopy associated with novel algorithm for time and frequency domain analysis.

PubMed

El-Sharkawy, Yasser H; Elbasuney, Sherif

2018-06-07

Energy-rich bonds such as nitrates (NO 3 - ) and percholorates (ClO 4 - ) have an explosive nature; they are frequently encountered in high energy materials. These bonds encompass two highly electronegative atoms competing for electrons. Common explosive materials including urea nitrate, ammonium nitrate, and ammonium percholorates were subjected to photoacoustic spectroscopy. The captured signal was processed using novel digital algorithm designed for time and frequency domain analysis. Frequency domain analysis offered not only characteristic frequencies for NO 3 - and ClO 4 - groups; but also characteristic fingerprint spectra (based on thermal, acoustical, and optical properties) for different materials. The main outcome of this study is that phase-shift domain analysis offered an outstanding signature for each explosive material, with novel discrimination between explosive and similar non-explosive material. Photoacoustic spectroscopy offered different characteristic signatures that can be employed for real time detection with stand-off capabilities. There is no two materials could have the same optical, thermal, and acoustical properties. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Three-dimensional compact explicit-finite difference time domain scheme with density variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsuchiya, Takao; Maruta, Naoki

2018-07-01

In this paper, the density variation is implemented in the three-dimensional compact-explicit finite-difference time-domain (CE-FDTD) method. The formulation is first developed based on the continuity equation and the equation of motion, which include the density. Some numerical demonstrations are performed for the three-dimensional sound wave propagation in a two density layered medium. The numerical results are compared with the theoretical results to verify the proposed formulation.

Moisture in untreated, acetylated, and furfurylated Norway Spruce monitored during drying below fiber saturation using time domain NMR

Treesearch

Lisbeth G. Thygesen; Thomas Elder

2009-01-01

Using time domain–nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the moisture content (MC) in Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] sapwood, subjected to three different treatments (untreated, acetylated, and furfurylated), was studied during drying at 40oC at MCs below fiber saturation. Spin–spin relaxation time distributions were derived from Carr-Purcell-...

ARMA models for earthquake ground motions. Seismic safety margins research program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chang, M. K.; Kwiatkowski, J. W.; Nau, R. F.

1981-02-01

Four major California earthquake records were analyzed by use of a class of discrete linear time-domain processes commonly referred to as ARMA (Autoregressive/Moving-Average) models. It was possible to analyze these different earthquakes, identify the order of the appropriate ARMA model(s), estimate parameters, and test the residuals generated by these models. It was also possible to show the connections, similarities, and differences between the traditional continuous models (with parameter estimates based on spectral analyses) and the discrete models with parameters estimated by various maximum-likelihood techniques applied to digitized acceleration data in the time domain. The methodology proposed is suitable for simulatingmore » earthquake ground motions in the time domain, and appears to be easily adapted to serve as inputs for nonlinear discrete time models of structural motions. 60 references, 19 figures, 9 tables.« less

Postural analysis in time and frequency domains in patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

PubMed

Galli, Manuela; Rigoldi, Chiara; Celletti, Claudia; Mainardi, Luca; Tenore, Nunzio; Albertini, Giorgio; Camerota, Filippo

2011-01-01

The goal of this work is to analyze postural control in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) participants in time and frequency domain. This study considered a pathological group composed by 22 EDS participants performing a postural test consisting in maintaining standing position over a force platform for 30s in two conditions: open eyes (OE) and closed eyes (CE). In order to compare pathological group we acquired in the same conditions a control group composed by 20 healthy participants. The obtained center of pressure (COP) signal was analyzed in time and frequency domain using an AR model. Results revealed differences between pathological and control group: EDS participants pointed out difficulties in controlling COP displacements trying to keep it inside the BOS in AP direction and for this reason increased the use of ML mechanism in order to avoid the risk of fall. Also in CE conditions they demonstrated more difficulties in maintaining posture revealing the proprioceptive system is impaired, due to ligament laxity that characterized EDS participants. Frequency domain analysis showed no differences between the two groups, affirming that the changes in time domain reflected really the impairment to the postural control mechanism and not a different strategy assumed by EDS participants. These data could help in decision-making process to establish a correct rehabilitation approach, based on the reinforcing of muscle tone to supply the ligament laxity in order to prevent risks of falls and its consequences. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time-Domain Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Investigation of Water Dynamics in Different Ginger Cultivars.

PubMed

Huang, Chongyang; Zhou, Qi; Gao, Shan; Bao, Qingjia; Chen, Fang; Liu, Chaoyang

2016-01-20

Different ginger cultivars may contain different nutritional and medicinal values. In this study, a time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance method was employed to study water dynamics in different ginger cultivars. Significant differences in transverse relaxation time T2 values assigned to the distribution of water in different parts of the plant were observed between Henan ginger and four other ginger cultivars. Ion concentration and metabolic analysis showed similar differences in Mn ion concentrations and organic solutes among the different ginger cultivars, respectively. On the basis of Pearson's correlation analysis, many organic solutes and 6-gingerol, the main active substance of ginger, exhibited significant correlations with water distribution as determined by NMR T2 relaxation, suggesting that the organic solute differences may impact water distribution. Our work demonstrates that low-field NMR relaxometry provides useful information about water dynamics in different ginger cultivars as affected by the presence of different organic solutes.

Domains and naïve theories.

PubMed

Gelman, Susan A; Noles, Nicholaus S

2011-09-01

Human cognition entails domain-specific cognitive processes that influence memory, attention, categorization, problem-solving, reasoning, and knowledge organization. This article examines domain-specific causal theories, which are of particular interest for permitting an examination of how knowledge structures change over time. We first describe the properties of commonsense theories, and how commonsense theories differ from scientific theories, illustrating with children's classification of biological and nonbiological kinds. We next consider the implications of domain-specificity for broader issues regarding cognitive development and conceptual change. We then examine the extent to which domain-specific theories interact, and how people reconcile competing causal frameworks. Future directions for research include examining how different content domains interact, the nature of theory change, the role of context (including culture, language, and social interaction) in inducing different frameworks, and the neural bases for domain-specific reasoning. WIREs Cogni Sci 2011 2 490-502 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.124 This article is categorized under: Psychology > Reasoning and Decision Making. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Arithmetic strategy development and its domain-specific and domain-general cognitive correlates: a longitudinal study in children with persistent mathematical learning difficulties.

PubMed

Vanbinst, Kiran; Ghesquière, Pol; De Smedt, Bert

2014-11-01

Deficits in arithmetic fact retrieval constitute the hallmark of children with mathematical learning difficulties (MLD). It remains, however, unclear which cognitive deficits underpin these difficulties in arithmetic fact retrieval. Many prior studies defined MLD by considering low achievement criteria and not by additionally taking the persistence of the MLD into account. Therefore, the present longitudinal study contrasted children with persistent MLD (MLD-p; mean age: 9 years 2 months) and typically developing (TD) children (mean age: 9 years 6 months) at three time points, to explore whether differences in arithmetic strategy development were associated with differences in numerical magnitude processing, working memory and phonological processing. Our longitudinal data revealed that children with MLD-p had persistent arithmetic fact retrieval deficits at each time point. Children with MLD-p showed persistent impairments in symbolic, but not in nonsymbolic, magnitude processing at each time point. The two groups differed in phonological processing, but not in working memory. Our data indicate that both domain-specific and domain-general cognitive abilities contribute to individual differences in children's arithmetic strategy development, and that the symbolic processing of numerical magnitudes might be a particular risk factor for children with MLD-p. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Application of Cross-Correlation Greens Function Along With FDTD for Fast Computation of Envelope Correlation Coefficient Over Wideband for MIMO Antennas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarkar, Debdeep; Srivastava, Kumar Vaibhav

2017-02-01

In this paper, the concept of cross-correlation Green's functions (CGF) is used in conjunction with the finite difference time domain (FDTD) technique for calculation of envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) of any arbitrary MIMO antenna system over wide frequency band. Both frequency-domain (FD) and time-domain (TD) post-processing techniques are proposed for possible application with this FDTD-CGF scheme. The FDTD-CGF time-domain (FDTD-CGF-TD) scheme utilizes time-domain signal processing methods and exhibits significant reduction in ECC computation time as compared to the FDTD-CGF frequency domain (FDTD-CGF-FD) scheme, for high frequency-resolution requirements. The proposed FDTD-CGF based schemes can be applied for accurate and fast prediction of wideband ECC response, instead of the conventional scattering parameter based techniques which have several limitations. Numerical examples of the proposed FDTD-CGF techniques are provided for two-element MIMO systems involving thin-wire half-wavelength dipoles in parallel side-by-side as well as orthogonal arrangements. The results obtained from the FDTD-CGF techniques are compared with results from commercial electromagnetic solver Ansys HFSS, to verify the validity of proposed approach.

Finite difference time domain (FDTD) modeling of implanted deep brain stimulation electrodes and brain tissue.

PubMed

Gabran, S R I; Saad, J H; Salama, M M A; Mansour, R R

2009-01-01

This paper demonstrates the electromagnetic modeling and simulation of an implanted Medtronic deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrode using finite difference time domain (FDTD). The model is developed using Empire XCcel and represents the electrode surrounded with brain tissue assuming homogenous and isotropic medium. The model is created to study the parameters influencing the electric field distribution within the tissue in order to provide reference and benchmarking data for DBS and intra-cortical electrode development.

User's manual for three dimensional FDTD version A code for scattering from frequency-independent dielectric materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1991-01-01

The Finite Difference Time Domain Electromagnetic Scattering Code Version A is a three dimensional numerical electromagnetic scattering code based upon the Finite Difference Time Domain Technique (FDTD). This manual provides a description of the code and corresponding results for the default scattering problem. In addition to the description, the operation, resource requirements, version A code capabilities, a description of each subroutine, a brief discussion of the radar cross section computations, and a discussion of the scattering results.

Water content measurement in forest soils and decayed wood using time domain reflectometry

Treesearch

Andrew Gray; Thomas Spies

1995-01-01

The use of time domain reflectometry to measure moisture content in forest soils and woody debris was evaluated. Calibrations were developed on undisturbed soil cores from four forest stands and on point samples from decayed logs. An algorithm for interpreting irregularly shaped traces generated by the reflectometer was also developed. Two different calibration...

Impulse propagation over a complex site: a comparison of experimental results and numerical predictions.

PubMed

Dragna, Didier; Blanc-Benon, Philippe; Poisson, Franck

2014-03-01

Results from outdoor acoustic measurements performed in a railway site near Reims in France in May 2010 are compared to those obtained from a finite-difference time-domain solver of the linearized Euler equations. During the experiments, the ground profile and the different ground surface impedances were determined. Meteorological measurements were also performed to deduce mean vertical profiles of wind and temperature. An alarm pistol was used as a source of impulse signals and three microphones were located along a propagation path. The various measured parameters are introduced as input data into the numerical solver. In the frequency domain, the numerical results are in good accordance with the measurements up to a frequency of 2 kHz. In the time domain, except a time shift, the predicted waveforms match the measured waveforms with a close agreement.

Tailoring magnetic domains in Gd-Fe thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Talapatra, A.; Chelvane, J. Arout; Mohanty, J.

2018-05-01

This paper presents the global modification of magnetic domains and magnetic properties in amorphous Gd19Fe81 thin films with rapid thermal processing at two distinct temperatures (250oC and 450oC), and with different time intervals viz., 2, 5, 10 and 20 minutes. 100 nm thick as-prepared films display nano-scale meandering stripe domains with high magnetic phase contrast which is the signature of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The films processed at 250oC for various time intervals show successive reduction in magnetic phase contrast and domain size. The domain pattern completely disappeared, and topography dominated mixed magnetic phase has been obtained for the films processed at 450oC for time intervals greater than 2 minutes. The magnetization measurements indicate the reduction in perpendicular magnetic anisotropy with increase in saturation magnetization for all the rapid thermal processed films. The experimental outputs have been used to simulate the domain pattern. Reduction in uniaxial anisotropy along with the increase in saturation magnetization successfully explain the experimental trend of decrease in domain size and magnetic contrast.

3D transient electromagnetic simulation using a modified correspondence principle for wave and diffusion fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Y.; Ji, Y.; Egbert, G. D.

2015-12-01

The fictitious time domain method (FTD), based on the correspondence principle for wave and diffusion fields, has been developed and used over the past few years primarily for marine electromagnetic (EM) modeling. Here we present results of our efforts to apply the FTD approach to land and airborne TEM problems which can reduce the computer time several orders of magnitude and preserve high accuracy. In contrast to the marine case, where sources are in the conductive sea water, we must model the EM fields in the air; to allow for topography air layers must be explicitly included in the computational domain. Furthermore, because sources for most TEM applications generally must be modeled as finite loops, it is useful to solve directly for the impulse response appropriate to the problem geometry, instead of the point-source Green functions typically used for marine problems. Our approach can be summarized as follows: (1) The EM diffusion equation is transformed to a fictitious wave equation. (2) The FTD wave equation is solved with an explicit finite difference time-stepping scheme, with CPML (Convolutional PML) boundary conditions for the whole computational domain including the air and earth , with FTD domain source corresponding to the actual transmitter geometry. Resistivity of the air layers is kept as low as possible, to compromise between efficiency (longer fictitious time step) and accuracy. We have generally found a host/air resistivity contrast of 10-3 is sufficient. (3)A "Modified" Fourier Transform (MFT) allow us recover system's impulse response from the fictitious time domain to the diffusion (frequency) domain. (4) The result is multiplied by the Fourier transformation （FT） of the real source current avoiding time consuming convolutions in the time domain. (5) The inverse FT is employed to get the final full waveform and full time response of the system in the time domain. In general, this method can be used to efficiently solve most time-domain EM simulation problems for non-point sources.

Perceived Interpersonal Discrimination and Older Women’s Mental Health: Accumulation Across Domains, Attributions, and Time

PubMed Central

Bécares, Laia; Zhang, Nan

2018-01-01

Abstract Experiencing discrimination is associated with poor mental health, but how cumulative experiences of perceived interpersonal discrimination across attributes, domains, and time are associated with mental disorders is still unknown. Using data from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (1996–2008), we applied latent class analysis and generalized linear models to estimate the association between cumulative exposure to perceived interpersonal discrimination and older women’s mental health. We found 4 classes of perceived interpersonal discrimination, ranging from cumulative exposure to discrimination over attributes, domains, and time to none or minimal reports of discrimination. Women who experienced cumulative perceived interpersonal discrimination over time and across attributes and domains had the highest risk of depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale score ≥16) compared with women in all other classes. This was true for all women regardless of race/ethnicity, although the type and severity of perceived discrimination differed across racial/ethnic groups. Cumulative exposure to perceived interpersonal discrimination across attributes, domains, and time has an incremental negative long-term association with mental health. Studies that examine exposure to perceived discrimination due to a single attribute in 1 domain or at 1 point in time underestimate the magnitude and complexity of discrimination and its association with health. PMID:29036550

Fast and Accurate Fitting and Filtering of Noisy Exponentials in Legendre Space

PubMed Central

Bao, Guobin; Schild, Detlev

2014-01-01

The parameters of experimentally obtained exponentials are usually found by least-squares fitting methods. Essentially, this is done by minimizing the mean squares sum of the differences between the data, most often a function of time, and a parameter-defined model function. Here we delineate a novel method where the noisy data are represented and analyzed in the space of Legendre polynomials. This is advantageous in several respects. First, parameter retrieval in the Legendre domain is typically two orders of magnitude faster than direct fitting in the time domain. Second, data fitting in a low-dimensional Legendre space yields estimates for amplitudes and time constants which are, on the average, more precise compared to least-squares-fitting with equal weights in the time domain. Third, the Legendre analysis of two exponentials gives satisfactory estimates in parameter ranges where least-squares-fitting in the time domain typically fails. Finally, filtering exponentials in the domain of Legendre polynomials leads to marked noise removal without the phase shift characteristic for conventional lowpass filters. PMID:24603904

A Non-Dissipative Staggered Fourth-Order Accurate Explicit Finite Difference Scheme for the Time-Domain Maxwell's Equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yefet, Amir; Petropoulos, Peter G.

1999-01-01

We consider a divergence-free non-dissipative fourth-order explicit staggered finite difference scheme for the hyperbolic Maxwell's equations. Special one-sided difference operators are derived in order to implement the scheme near metal boundaries and dielectric interfaces. Numerical results show the scheme is long-time stable, and is fourth-order convergent over complex domains that include dielectric interfaces and perfectly conducting surfaces. We also examine the scheme's behavior near metal surfaces that are not aligned with the grid axes, and compare its accuracy to that obtained by the Yee scheme.

Dynamic gas temperature measurement system. Volume 2: Operation and program manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Purpura, P. T.

1983-01-01

The hot section technology (HOST) dynamic gas temperature measurement system computer program acquires data from two type B thermocouples of different diameters. The analysis method determines the in situ value of an aerodynamic parameter T, containing the heat transfer coefficient from the transfer function of the two thermocouples. This aerodynamic parameter is used to compute a fequency response spectrum and compensate the dynamic portion of the signal of the smaller thermocouple. The calculations for the aerodynamic parameter and the data compensation technique are discussed. Compensated data are presented in either the time or frequency domain, time domain data as dynamic temperature vs time, or frequency domain data.

Further development of the dynamic gas temperature measurement system. Volume 2: Computer program user's manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stocks, Dana R.

1986-01-01

The Dynamic Gas Temperature Measurement System compensation software accepts digitized data from two different diameter thermocouples and computes a compensated frequency response spectrum for one of the thermocouples. Detailed discussions of the physical system, analytical model, and computer software are presented in this volume and in Volume 1 of this report under Task 3. Computer program software restrictions and test cases are also presented. Compensated and uncompensated data may be presented in either the time or frequency domain. Time domain data are presented as instantaneous temperature vs time. Frequency domain data may be presented in several forms such as power spectral density vs frequency.

A comparison of time domain boundary conditions for acoustic waves in wave guides

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Banks, H. T.; Propst, G.; Silcox, R. J.

1991-01-01

Researchers consider several types of boundary conditions in the context of time domain models for acoustic waves. Experiments with four different duct terminations (hard wall, free radiation, foam, and wedge) were carried out in a wave duct from which reflection coefficients over a wide frequency range were measured. These reflection coefficients were used to estimate parameters in the time domain boundary conditions. A comparison of the relative merits of the models in describing the data is presented. Boundary conditions which yield a good fit of the model to the experimental data were found for all duct terminations except the wedge.

Terahertz Radiation: A Non-contact Tool for the Selective Stimulation of Biological Responses in Human Cells

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

computational and empirical dosimetric tools [31]. For the computational dosimetry, we employed finite-dif- ference time- domain (FDTD) modeling techniques to...temperature-time data collected for a well exposed to THz radiation using finite-difference time- domain (FDTD) modeling techniques and thermocouples... like )). Alter- ation in the expression of such genes underscores the signif- 62 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON TERAHERTZ SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 6, NO. 1

Gastric Emptying Assessment in Frequency and Time Domain Using Bio-impedance: Preliminary Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huerta-Franco, R.; Vargas-Luna, M.; Hernández, E.; Córdova, T.; Sosa, M.; Gutiérrez, G.; Reyes, P.; Mendiola, C.

2006-09-01

The impedance assessment to measure gastric emptying and in general gastric activity has been reported since 1985. The physiological interpretation of these measurements, is still under research. This technique usually uses a single frequency, and the conductivity parameter. The frequency domain and the Fourier analysis of the time domain behavior of the gastric impedance in different gastric conditions (fasting state, and after food administration) has not been explored in detail. This work presents some insights of the potentiality of these alternative methodologies to measure gastric activity.

Endothermic decompositions of inorganic monocrystalline thin plates. I. Shape of polycrystalline product domains versus constraints and time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertrand, G.; Comperat, M.; Lallemant, M.; Watelle, G.

1980-03-01

Copper sulfate pentahydrate dehydration into trihydrate was investigated using monocrystalline platelets with varying crystallographic orientations. The morphological and kinetic features of the trihydrate domains were examined. Different shapes were observed: polygons (parallelograms, hexagons) and ellipses; their conditions of occurrence are reported in the (P, T) diagram. At first (for about 2 min), the ratio of the long to the short axes of elliptical domains changes with time; these subsequently develop homothetically and the rate ratio is then only pressure dependent. Temperature influence is inferred from that of pressure. Polygonal shapes are time dependent and result in ellipses. So far, no model can be put forward. Yet, qualitatively, the polygonal shape of a domain may be explained by the prevalence of the crystal arrangement and the elliptical shape by that of the solid tensorial properties. The influence of those factors might be modulated versus pressure, temperature, interface extent, and, thus, time.

A review of hybrid implicit explicit finite difference time domain method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Juan

2018-06-01

The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method has been extensively used to simulate varieties of electromagnetic interaction problems. However, because of its Courant-Friedrich-Levy (CFL) condition, the maximum time step size of this method is limited by the minimum size of cell used in the computational domain. So the FDTD method is inefficient to simulate the electromagnetic problems which have very fine structures. To deal with this problem, the Hybrid Implicit Explicit (HIE)-FDTD method is developed. The HIE-FDTD method uses the hybrid implicit explicit difference in the direction with fine structures to avoid the confinement of the fine spatial mesh on the time step size. So this method has much higher computational efficiency than the FDTD method, and is extremely useful for the problems which have fine structures in one direction. In this paper, the basic formulations, time stability condition and dispersion error of the HIE-FDTD method are presented. The implementations of several boundary conditions, including the connect boundary, absorbing boundary and periodic boundary are described, then some applications and important developments of this method are provided. The goal of this paper is to provide an historical overview and future prospects of the HIE-FDTD method.

Time-Gating Processes in Intra-Cavity Mode-Locking Devices Like Saturable Absorbers and Kerr Cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prasad, Narasimha; Roychoudhuri, Chandrasekhar

2010-01-01

Photons are non-interacting entities. Light beams do not interfere by themselves. Light beams constituting different laser modes (frequencies) are not capable of re-arranging their energies from extended time-domain to ultra-short time-domain by themselves without the aid of light-matter interactions with suitable intra-cavity devices. In this paper we will discuss the time-gating properties of intra-cavity "mode-locking" devices that actually help generate a regular train of high energy wave packets.

Domain-Generality of Timing-Based Serial Order Processes in Short-Term Memory: New Insights from Musical and Verbal Domains

PubMed Central

Kowialiewski, Benjamin; Majerus, Steve

2016-01-01

Several models in the verbal domain of short-term memory (STM) consider a dissociation between item and order processing. This view is supported by data demonstrating that different types of time-based interference have a greater effect on memory for the order of to-be-remembered items than on memory for the items themselves. The present study investigated the domain-generality of the item versus serial order dissociation by comparing the differential effects of time-based interfering tasks, such as rhythmic interference and articulatory suppression, on item and order processing in verbal and musical STM domains. In Experiment 1, participants had to maintain sequences of verbal or musical information in STM, followed by a probe sequence, this under different conditions of interference (no-interference, rhythmic interference, articulatory suppression). They were required to decide whether all items of the probe list matched those of the memory list (item condition) or whether the order of the items in the probe sequence matched the order in the memory list (order condition). In Experiment 2, participants performed a serial order probe recognition task for verbal and musical sequences ensuring sequential maintenance processes, under no-interference or rhythmic interference conditions. For Experiment 1, serial order recognition was not significantly more impacted by interfering tasks than was item recognition, this for both verbal and musical domains. For Experiment 2, we observed selective interference of the rhythmic interference condition on both musical and verbal order STM tasks. Overall, the results suggest a similar and selective sensitivity to time-based interference for serial order STM in verbal and musical domains, but only when the STM tasks ensure sequential maintenance processes. PMID:27992565

Domain-Generality of Timing-Based Serial Order Processes in Short-Term Memory: New Insights from Musical and Verbal Domains.

PubMed

Gorin, Simon; Kowialiewski, Benjamin; Majerus, Steve

2016-01-01

Several models in the verbal domain of short-term memory (STM) consider a dissociation between item and order processing. This view is supported by data demonstrating that different types of time-based interference have a greater effect on memory for the order of to-be-remembered items than on memory for the items themselves. The present study investigated the domain-generality of the item versus serial order dissociation by comparing the differential effects of time-based interfering tasks, such as rhythmic interference and articulatory suppression, on item and order processing in verbal and musical STM domains. In Experiment 1, participants had to maintain sequences of verbal or musical information in STM, followed by a probe sequence, this under different conditions of interference (no-interference, rhythmic interference, articulatory suppression). They were required to decide whether all items of the probe list matched those of the memory list (item condition) or whether the order of the items in the probe sequence matched the order in the memory list (order condition). In Experiment 2, participants performed a serial order probe recognition task for verbal and musical sequences ensuring sequential maintenance processes, under no-interference or rhythmic interference conditions. For Experiment 1, serial order recognition was not significantly more impacted by interfering tasks than was item recognition, this for both verbal and musical domains. For Experiment 2, we observed selective interference of the rhythmic interference condition on both musical and verbal order STM tasks. Overall, the results suggest a similar and selective sensitivity to time-based interference for serial order STM in verbal and musical domains, but only when the STM tasks ensure sequential maintenance processes.

Time domain diffuse Raman spectrometer based on a TCSPC camera for the depth analysis of diffusive media.

PubMed

Konugolu Venkata Sekar, S; Mosca, S; Tannert, S; Valentini, G; Martelli, F; Binzoni, T; Prokazov, Y; Turbin, E; Zuschratter, W; Erdmann, R; Pifferi, A

2018-05-01

We present a time domain diffuse Raman spectrometer for depth probing of highly scattering media. The system is based on, to the best of our knowledge, a novel time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) camera that simultaneously acquires both spectral and temporal information of Raman photons. A dedicated non-contact probe was built, and time domain Raman measurements were performed on a tissue mimicking bilayer phantom. The fluorescence contamination of the Raman signal was eliminated by early time gating (0-212 ps) the Raman photons. Depth sensitivity is achieved by time gating Raman photons at different delays with a gate width of 106 ps. Importantly, the time domain can provide time-dependent depth sensitivity leading to a high contrast between two layers of Raman signal. As a result, an enhancement factor of 2170 was found for our bilayer phantom which is much higher than the values obtained by spatial offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS), frequency offset Raman spectroscopy (FORS), or hybrid FORS-SORS on a similar phantom.

Tracking of large-scale structures in turbulent channel with direct numerical simulation of low Prandtl number passive scalar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiselj, Iztok

2014-12-01

Channel flow DNS (Direct Numerical Simulation) at friction Reynolds number 180 and with passive scalars of Prandtl numbers 1 and 0.01 was performed in various computational domains. The "normal" size domain was ˜2300 wall units long and ˜750 wall units wide; size taken from the similar DNS of Moser et al. The "large" computational domain, which is supposed to be sufficient to describe the largest structures of the turbulent flows was 3 times longer and 3 times wider than the "normal" domain. The "very large" domain was 6 times longer and 6 times wider than the "normal" domain. All simulations were performed with the same spatial and temporal resolution. Comparison of the standard and large computational domains shows the velocity field statistics (mean velocity, root-mean-square (RMS) fluctuations, and turbulent Reynolds stresses) that are within 1%-2%. Similar agreement is observed for Pr = 1 temperature fields and can be observed also for the mean temperature profiles at Pr = 0.01. These differences can be attributed to the statistical uncertainties of the DNS. However, second-order moments, i.e., RMS temperature fluctuations of standard and large computational domains at Pr = 0.01 show significant differences of up to 20%. Stronger temperature fluctuations in the "large" and "very large" domains confirm the existence of the large-scale structures. Their influence is more or less invisible in the main velocity field statistics or in the statistics of the temperature fields at Prandtl numbers around 1. However, these structures play visible role in the temperature fluctuations at low Prandtl number, where high temperature diffusivity effectively smears the small-scale structures in the thermal field and enhances the relative contribution of large-scales. These large thermal structures represent some kind of an echo of the large scale velocity structures: the highest temperature-velocity correlations are not observed between the instantaneous temperatures and instantaneous streamwise velocities, but between the instantaneous temperatures and velocities averaged over certain time interval.

Using terahertz time-domain spectroscopical technique to monitor cocrystal formation between piracetam and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Yong; Xia, Yi; Zhang, Huili; Hong, Zhi

2013-07-01

Far-infrared vibrational absorption of cocrystal formation between 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,5-DHBA) and piracetam compounds under solvent evaporation and grinding methods have been investigated using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) at room temperature. The experimental results show large difference among absorption spectra of the formed cocrystals and the involved individual parent molecules in 0.20-1.50 THz region, which probably originated from the intra-molecular and inter-molecular hydrogen bonds due to the presence of two hydroxyl groups in 2,5-DHBA and amide moieties in piracetam compound. The THz absorption spectra of two formed cocrystals with different methods are almost identical. With grinding method, the reaction process can be monitored directly from both time-domain and frequency-domain spectra using THz-TDS technique. The results indicate that THz-TDS technology can absolutely offer us a high potential method to identify and characterize the formed cocrystals, and also provide the rich information about their reaction dynamic process involving two or more molecular crystals in situ to better know the corresponding reaction mechanism in pharmaceutical fields.

Evidence in Support of the Independent Channel Model Describing the Sensorimotor Control of Human Stance Using a Humanoid Robot

PubMed Central

Pasma, Jantsje H.; Assländer, Lorenz; van Kordelaar, Joost; de Kam, Digna; Mergner, Thomas; Schouten, Alfred C.

2018-01-01

The Independent Channel (IC) model is a commonly used linear balance control model in the frequency domain to analyze human balance control using system identification and parameter estimation. The IC model is a rudimentary and noise-free description of balance behavior in the frequency domain, where a stable model representation is not guaranteed. In this study, we conducted firstly time-domain simulations with added noise, and secondly robot experiments by implementing the IC model in a real-world robot (PostuRob II) to test the validity and stability of the model in the time domain and for real world situations. Balance behavior of seven healthy participants was measured during upright stance by applying pseudorandom continuous support surface rotations. System identification and parameter estimation were used to describe the balance behavior with the IC model in the frequency domain. The IC model with the estimated parameters from human experiments was implemented in Simulink for computer simulations including noise in the time domain and robot experiments using the humanoid robot PostuRob II. Again, system identification and parameter estimation were used to describe the simulated balance behavior. Time series, Frequency Response Functions, and estimated parameters from human experiments, computer simulations, and robot experiments were compared with each other. The computer simulations showed similar balance behavior and estimated control parameters compared to the human experiments, in the time and frequency domain. Also, the IC model was able to control the humanoid robot by keeping it upright, but showed small differences compared to the human experiments in the time and frequency domain, especially at high frequencies. We conclude that the IC model, a descriptive model in the frequency domain, can imitate human balance behavior also in the time domain, both in computer simulations with added noise and real world situations with a humanoid robot. This provides further evidence that the IC model is a valid description of human balance control. PMID:29615886

Evidence in Support of the Independent Channel Model Describing the Sensorimotor Control of Human Stance Using a Humanoid Robot.

PubMed

Pasma, Jantsje H; Assländer, Lorenz; van Kordelaar, Joost; de Kam, Digna; Mergner, Thomas; Schouten, Alfred C

2018-01-01

The Independent Channel (IC) model is a commonly used linear balance control model in the frequency domain to analyze human balance control using system identification and parameter estimation. The IC model is a rudimentary and noise-free description of balance behavior in the frequency domain, where a stable model representation is not guaranteed. In this study, we conducted firstly time-domain simulations with added noise, and secondly robot experiments by implementing the IC model in a real-world robot (PostuRob II) to test the validity and stability of the model in the time domain and for real world situations. Balance behavior of seven healthy participants was measured during upright stance by applying pseudorandom continuous support surface rotations. System identification and parameter estimation were used to describe the balance behavior with the IC model in the frequency domain. The IC model with the estimated parameters from human experiments was implemented in Simulink for computer simulations including noise in the time domain and robot experiments using the humanoid robot PostuRob II. Again, system identification and parameter estimation were used to describe the simulated balance behavior. Time series, Frequency Response Functions, and estimated parameters from human experiments, computer simulations, and robot experiments were compared with each other. The computer simulations showed similar balance behavior and estimated control parameters compared to the human experiments, in the time and frequency domain. Also, the IC model was able to control the humanoid robot by keeping it upright, but showed small differences compared to the human experiments in the time and frequency domain, especially at high frequencies. We conclude that the IC model, a descriptive model in the frequency domain, can imitate human balance behavior also in the time domain, both in computer simulations with added noise and real world situations with a humanoid robot. This provides further evidence that the IC model is a valid description of human balance control.

Ferroelectric domain inversion and its stability in lithium niobate thin film on insulator with different thicknesses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shao, Guang-hao; Bai, Yu-hang; Cui, Guo-xin

2016-07-15

Ferroelectric domain inversion and its effect on the stability of lithium niobate thin films on insulator (LNOI) are experimentally characterized. Two sets of specimens with different thicknesses varying from submicron to microns are selected. For micron thick samples (∼28 μm), domain structures are achieved by pulsed electric field poling with electrodes patterned via photolithography. No domain structure deterioration has been observed for a month as inspected using polarizing optical microscopy and etching. As for submicron (540 nm) films, large-area domain inversion is realized by scanning a biased conductive tip in a piezoelectric force microscope. A graphic processing method is takenmore » to evaluate the domain retention. A domain life time of 25.0 h is obtained and possible mechanisms are discussed. Our study gives a direct reference for domain structure-related applications of LNOI, including guiding wave nonlinear frequency conversion, nonlinear wavefront tailoring, electro-optic modulation, and piezoelectric devices.« less

Shared and Unique Genetic and Environmental Influences on Aging-Related Changes in Multiple Cognitive Abilities

PubMed Central

Tucker-Drob, Elliot M.; Reynolds, Chandra A.; Finkel, Deborah; Pedersen, Nancy L.

2013-01-01

Aging-related declines occur in many different domains of cognitive function during later adulthood. However, whether a global dimension underlies individual differences in changes in different domains of cognition, and whether global genetic influences on cognitive changes exist, is less clear. We addressed these issues by applying multivariate growth curve models to longitudinal data from 857 individuals from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging, who had been measured on 11 cognitive variables representative of verbal, spatial, memory, and processing speed abilities up to 5 times over up to 16 years between ages 50 and 96 years. Between ages 50 and 65 years scores on different tests changed relatively independently of one another, and there was little evidence for strong underlying dimensions of change. In contrast, over the period between 65 and 96 years of age, there were strong interrelations among rates of change both within and across domains. During this age period, variability in rates of change were, on average, 52% domain-general, 8% domain-specific, and 39% test specific. Quantitative genetic decomposition indicated that 29% of individual differences in a global domain-general dimension of cognitive changes from 65 to 96 years were attributable to genetic influences, but some domain-specific genetic influences were also evident, even after accounting for domain-general contributions. These findings are consistent with a balanced global and domain-specific account of the genetics of cognitive aging. PMID:23586942

Shared and unique genetic and environmental influences on aging-related changes in multiple cognitive abilities.

PubMed

Tucker-Drob, Elliot M; Reynolds, Chandra A; Finkel, Deborah; Pedersen, Nancy L

2014-01-01

Aging-related declines occur in many different domains of cognitive function during middle and late adulthood. However, whether a global dimension underlies individual differences in changes in different domains of cognition and whether global genetic influences on cognitive changes exist is less clear. We addressed these issues by applying multivariate growth curve models to longitudinal data from 857 individuals from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging, who had been measured on 11 cognitive variables representative of verbal, spatial, memory, and processing speed abilities up to 5 times over up to 16 years between ages 50 and 96 years. Between ages 50 and 65 years scores on different tests changed relatively independently of one another, and there was little evidence for strong underlying dimensions of change. In contrast, over the period between 65 and 96 years of age, there were strong interrelations among rates of change both within and across domains. During this age period, variability in rates of change were, on average, 52% domain-general, 8% domain-specific, and 39% test-specific. Quantitative genetic decomposition indicated that 29% of individual differences in a global domain-general dimension of cognitive changes during this age period were attributable to genetic influences, but some domain-specific genetic influences were also evident, even after accounting for domain-general contributions. These findings are consistent with a balanced global and domain-specific account of the genetics of cognitive aging. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Finite difference time domain modeling of spiral antennas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Penney, Christopher W.; Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.

1992-01-01

The objectives outlined in the original proposal for this project were to create a well-documented computer analysis model based on the finite-difference, time-domain (FDTD) method that would be capable of computing antenna impedance, far-zone radiation patterns, and radar cross-section (RCS). The ability to model a variety of penetrable materials in addition to conductors is also desired. The spiral antennas under study by this project meet these requirements since they are constructed of slots cut into conducting surfaces which are backed by dielectric materials.

The electromagnetic modeling of thin apertures using the finite-difference time-domain technique

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Demarest, Kenneth R.

1987-01-01

A technique which computes transient electromagnetic responses of narrow apertures in complex conducting scatterers was implemented as an extension of previously developed Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) computer codes. Although these apertures are narrow with respect to the wavelengths contained within the power spectrum of excitation, this technique does not require significantly more computer resources to attain the increased resolution at the apertures. In the report, an analytical technique which utilizes Babinet's principle to model the apertures is developed, and an FDTD computer code which utilizes this technique is described.

Numerical investigation of field enhancement by metal nano-particles using a hybrid FDTD-PSTD algorithm.

PubMed

Pernice, W H; Payne, F P; Gallagher, D F

2007-09-03

We present a novel numerical scheme for the simulation of the field enhancement by metal nano-particles in the time domain. The algorithm is based on a combination of the finite-difference time-domain method and the pseudo-spectral time-domain method for dispersive materials. The hybrid solver leads to an efficient subgridding algorithm that does not suffer from spurious field spikes as do FDTD schemes. Simulation of the field enhancement by gold particles shows the expected exponential field profile. The enhancement factors are computed for single particles and particle arrays. Due to the geometry conforming mesh the algorithm is stable for long integration times and thus suitable for the simulation of resonance phenomena in coupled nano-particle structures.

Time- and frequency-domain parameters of heart rate variability and sympathetic skin response in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Maetzler, Walter; Karam, Marie; Berger, Monika Fruhmann; Heger, Tanja; Maetzler, Corina; Ruediger, Heinz; Bronzova, Juliana; Lobo, Patricia Pita; Ferreira, Joaquim J; Ziemssen, Tjalf; Berg, Daniela

2015-03-01

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is regularly affected in Parkinson's disease (PD). Information on autonomic dysfunction can be derived from e.g. altered heart rate variability (HRV) and sympathetic skin response (SSR). Such parameters can be quantified easily and measured repeatedly which might be helpful for evaluating disease progression and therapeutic outcome. In this 2-center study, HRV and SSR of 45 PD patients and 26 controls were recorded. HRV was measured during supine metronomic breathing and analyzed in time- and frequency-domains. SSR was evoked by repetitive auditory stimulation. Various ANS parameters were compared (1) between patients and healthy controls, (2) to clinical scales (Unified Parkinson's disease rating scale, Mini-Mental State Examination, Becks Depression Inventory), and (3) to disease duration. Root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) and low frequency/high frequency (LF/HF) ratio differed significantly between PD and controls. Both, HRV and SSR parameters showed low or no association with clinical scores. Time-domain parameters tended to be affected already at early PD stages but did not consistently change with longer disease duration. In contrast, frequency-domain parameters were not altered in early PD phases but tended to be lower (LF, LF/HF ratio), respectively higher (HF) with increasing disease duration. This report confirms previous results of altered ANS parameters in PD. In addition, it suggests that (1) these ANS parameters are not relevantly associated with motor, behavioral, and cognitive changes in PD, (2) time-domain parameters are useful for the assessment of early PD, and (3) frequency-domain parameters are more closely associated with disease duration.

Cardiovagal Autonomic Function in HIV-Infected Patients with Unsuppressed HIV Viremia

PubMed Central

Chow, Dominic C.; Wood, Robert; Choi, Julia; Grandinetti, Andrew; Gerschenson, Mariana; Sriratanaviriyakul, Narin; Nakamoto, Beau; Shikuma, Cecilia; Low, Phillip

2011-01-01

Purpose HIV infection has been implicated in dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system. Method Cross-sectional study examining the relationship between the presence of persistent detectable HIV viral load with autonomic function, measured by heart rate variability (HRV). Non-virologic suppression (NVS) was defined as having a detectable viral load for at least 3 months prior to autonomic function testing. HRV was measured during the following 4 maneuvers: resting and paced respirations and sustained handgrip and tilt. Inferences on parasympathetic and sympathetic modulations were determined by analyzing time and frequency domains of HRV. Results 57 participants were enrolled in 3 groups: 22 were HIV-infected participants with HIV virologic suppression (VS; undetectable HIV viral load), 9 were HIV-infected participants who had NVS, and 26 were HIV seronegative controls. There were lower time domain parameters in the HIV-infected group as a whole compared to controls. There were no significant differences in time domain parameters among HIV-infected participants. There were no differences in frequency domain parameters during any of the maneuvers between controls and all HIV-infected participants, nor between the NVS and VS groups. Conclusion There were differences in autonomic function between HIV-infected individuals and HIV seronegative controls, but not between the NVS and VS groups. PMID:21684854

Time-domain representation of frequency-dependent foundation impedance functions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Safak, E.

2006-01-01

Foundation impedance functions provide a simple means to account for soil-structure interaction (SSI) when studying seismic response of structures. Impedance functions represent the dynamic stiffness of the soil media surrounding the foundation. The fact that impedance functions are frequency dependent makes it difficult to incorporate SSI in standard time-history analysis software. This paper introduces a simple method to convert frequency-dependent impedance functions into time-domain filters. The method is based on the least-squares approximation of impedance functions by ratios of two complex polynomials. Such ratios are equivalent, in the time-domain, to discrete-time recursive filters, which are simple finite-difference equations giving the relationship between foundation forces and displacements. These filters can easily be incorporated into standard time-history analysis programs. Three examples are presented to show the applications of the method.

Finite difference time domain analysis of chirped dielectric gratings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hochmuth, Diane H.; Johnson, Eric G.

1993-01-01

The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method for solving Maxwell's time-dependent curl equations is accurate, computationally efficient, and straight-forward to implement. Since both time and space derivatives are employed, the propagation of an electromagnetic wave can be treated as an initial-value problem. Second-order central-difference approximations are applied to the space and time derivatives of the electric and magnetic fields providing a discretization of the fields in a volume of space, for a period of time. The solution to this system of equations is stepped through time, thus, simulating the propagation of the incident wave. If the simulation is continued until a steady-state is reached, an appropriate far-field transformation can be applied to the time-domain scattered fields to obtain reflected and transmitted powers. From this information diffraction efficiencies can also be determined. In analyzing the chirped structure, a mesh is applied only to the area immediately around the grating. The size of the mesh is then proportional to the electric size of the grating. Doing this, however, imposes an artificial boundary around the area of interest. An absorbing boundary condition must be applied along the artificial boundary so that the outgoing waves are absorbed as if the boundary were absent. Many such boundary conditions have been developed that give near-perfect absorption. In this analysis, the Mur absorbing boundary conditions are employed. Several grating structures were analyzed using the FDTD method.

Finite difference time domain electromagnetic scattering from frequency-dependent lossy materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luebbers, Raymond J.; Beggs, John H.

1991-01-01

Four different FDTD computer codes and companion Radar Cross Section (RCS) conversion codes on magnetic media are submitted. A single three dimensional dispersive FDTD code for both dispersive dielectric and magnetic materials was developed, along with a user's manual. The extension of FDTD to more complicated materials was made. The code is efficient and is capable of modeling interesting radar targets using a modest computer workstation platform. RCS results for two different plate geometries are reported. The FDTD method was also extended to computing far zone time domain results in two dimensions. Also the capability to model nonlinear materials was incorporated into FDTD and validated.

Unsteady transonic flows - Introduction, current trends, applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yates, E. C., Jr.

1985-01-01

The computational treatment of unsteady transonic flows is discussed, reviewing the historical development and current techniques. The fundamental physical principles are outlined; the governing equations are introduced; three-dimensional linearized and two-dimensional linear-perturbation theories in frequency domain are described in detail; and consideration is given to frequency-domain FEMs and time-domain finite-difference and integral-equation methods. Extensive graphs and diagrams are included.

Space-time windowing of angle-beam wavefield data to characterize scattering from defects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weng, Yu; Michaels, Jennifer E.

2018-04-01

The primary focus of ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation is defect detection and characterization. In particular, fatigue cracks emanating from fastener holes are commonly found in aerospace structures. Therefore, scattering of ultrasonic waves from crack-like notches is of practical interest. Here, angle-beam shear waves are used to interrogate notches in aluminum plates. In prior work, notch-scattering was characterized and quantified in the frequency-wavenumber domain, which has the undesirable effect of lumping all scattered shear wave energy from notches into a single energy curve. This present work focuses on developing space-time windowing methods to quantify notch-scattered energy directly in the time-space domain. Two strategies are developed. The first is to indirectly characterize notch-scattering via the change in scattering as compared to the undamaged through-hole. The second strategy is to directly track notch-scattered waves in the time-space domain and then quantify scattered energy by constructing energy-versus-direction curves. Both strategies provide a group of energy difference curves, which show how notch-scattering evolves as time progresses. Notch-scattering quantification results for different notch lengths are shown and discussed.

Secular trends on traditional ecological knowledge: An analysis of different domains of knowledge among Tsimane' men.

PubMed

Reyes-García, Victoria; Luz, Ana C; Gueze, Maximilien; Paneque-Gálvez, Jaime; Macía, Manuel J; Orta-Martínez, Martí; Pino, Joan

2013-10-01

Empirical research provides contradictory evidence of the loss of traditional ecological knowledge across societies. Researchers have argued that culture, methodological differences, and site-specific conditions are responsible for such contradictory evidences. We advance and test a third explanation: the adaptive nature of traditional ecological knowledge systems. Specifically, we test whether different domains of traditional ecological knowledge experience different secular changes and analyze trends in the context of other changes in livelihoods. We use data collected among 651 Tsimane' men (Bolivian Amazon). Our findings indicate that different domains of knowledge follow different secular trends. Among the domains of knowledge analyzed, medicinal and wild edible knowledge appear as the most vulnerable; canoe building and firewood knowledge seem to remain constant across generations; whereas house building knowledge seems to experience a slight secular increase. Our analysis reflects on the adaptive nature of traditional ecological knowledge, highlighting how changes in this knowledge system respond to the particular needs of a society in a given point of time.

Genetic influences on heart rate variability

PubMed Central

Golosheykin, Simon; Grant, Julia D.; Novak, Olga V.; Heath, Andrew C.; Anokhin, Andrey P.

2016-01-01

Heart rate variability (HRV) is the variation of cardiac inter-beat intervals over time resulting largely from the interplay between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. Individual differences in HRV are associated with emotion regulation, personality, psychopathology, cardiovascular health, and mortality. Previous studies have shown significant heritability of HRV measures. Here we extend genetic research on HRV by investigating sex differences in genetic underpinnings of HRV, the degree of genetic overlap among different measurement domains of HRV, and phenotypic and genetic relationships between HRV and the resting heart rate (HR). We performed electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings in a large population-representative sample of young adult twins (n = 1060 individuals) and computed HRV measures from three domains: time, frequency, and nonlinear dynamics. Genetic and environmental influences on HRV measures were estimated using linear structural equation modeling of twin data. The results showed that variability of HRV and HR measures can be accounted for by additive genetic and non-shared environmental influences (AE model), with no evidence for significant shared environmental effects. Heritability estimates ranged from 47 to 64%, with little difference across HRV measurement domains. Genetic influences did not differ between genders for most variables except the square root of the mean squared differences between successive R-R intervals (RMSSD, higher heritability in males) and the ratio of low to high frequency power (LF/HF, distinct genetic factors operating in males and females). The results indicate high phenotypic and especially genetic correlations between HRV measures from different domains, suggesting that >90% of genetic influences are shared across measures. Finally, about 40% of genetic variance in HRV was shared with HR. In conclusion, both HR and HRV measures are highly heritable traits in the general population of young adults, with high degree of genetic overlap across different measurement domains. PMID:27114045

Solving time-dependent two-dimensional eddy current problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Min Eig; Hariharan, S. I.; Ida, Nathan

1990-01-01

Transient eddy current calculations are presented for an EM wave-scattering and field-penetrating case in which a two-dimensional transverse magnetic field is incident on a good (i.e., not perfect) and infinitely long conductor. The problem thus posed is of initial boundary-value interface type, where the boundary of the conductor constitutes the interface. A potential function is used for time-domain modeling of the situation, and finite difference-time domain techniques are used to march the potential function explicitly in time. Attention is given to the case of LF radiation conditions.

Experimental evidence for stochastic switching of supercooled phases in NdNiO3 nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Devendra; Rajeev, K. P.; Alonso, J. A.

2018-03-01

A first-order phase transition is a dynamic phenomenon. In a multi-domain system, the presence of multiple domains of coexisting phases averages out the dynamical effects, making it nearly impossible to predict the exact nature of phase transition dynamics. Here, we report the metal-insulator transition in samples of sub-micrometer size NdNiO3 where the effect of averaging is minimized by restricting the number of domains under study. We observe the presence of supercooled metallic phases with supercooling of 40 K or more. The transformation from the supercooled metallic to the insulating state is a stochastic process that happens at different temperatures and times in different experimental runs. The experimental results are understood without incorporating material specific properties, suggesting that the behavior is of universal nature. The size of the sample needed to observe individual switching of supercooled domains, the degree of supercooling, and the time-temperature window of switching are expected to depend on the parameters such as quenched disorder, strain, and magnetic field.

Enabling fast, stable and accurate peridynamic computations using multi-time-step integration

DOE PAGES

Lindsay, P.; Parks, M. L.; Prakash, A.

2016-04-13

Peridynamics is a nonlocal extension of classical continuum mechanics that is well-suited for solving problems with discontinuities such as cracks. This paper extends the peridynamic formulation to decompose a problem domain into a number of smaller overlapping subdomains and to enable the use of different time steps in different subdomains. This approach allows regions of interest to be isolated and solved at a small time step for increased accuracy while the rest of the problem domain can be solved at a larger time step for greater computational efficiency. Lastly, performance of the proposed method in terms of stability, accuracy, andmore » computational cost is examined and several numerical examples are presented to corroborate the findings.« less

Research on differences between 2-(2‧-pyridyl)benzimidazole and 2-(4‧-pyridyl)benzimidazole based on terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Maojiang; Yang, Fei; Liu, Liping; Su, Caixia

2018-02-01

Due to the important pharmaceutical activities of benzimidazole derivatives, the differences between 2-(2‧-pyridyl)benzimidazole and 2-(4‧-pyridyl)benzimidazole were researched by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and density functional theory systematically. Although the only difference between their molecular configurations is the different arrangement of nitrogen on pyridine ring, 2PBI and 4PBI have large differences in their experimental absorption spectra in the range of 0.2-2.5 THz, such as the amount, amplitude and frequency position of absorption peaks. The validity of these results was confirmed by the theoretical results simulated using density functional theory. The possible reasons of these differences originate from the different dihedral angles between benzimidazole ring and pyridine ring and the different hydrogen-bonding interactions within crystal cell.

School grade and sex differences in domain-specific sedentary behaviors among Japanese elementary school children: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Ishii, Kaori; Shibata, Ai; Adachi, Minoru; Mano, Yoshiyuki; Oka, Koichiro

2017-04-13

It is vital to reduce the proportion of sedentary behavior in children. Understanding the duration and behavioral context is needed. The present study examined school-grade and sex differences in domain-specific sedentary times and concurrence with screen-time guidelines among Japanese elementary school children. A total of 625 children (330 boys) were surveyed in 2010 and 2014. Using a questionnaire, data regarding participants' grade (first through third grades: lower grades; fourth through six grades: higher grades), sex, weight, and height were collected in addition to the time spent per day engaging in each specific sedentary behavior separately: (1) reading or listening to music, (2) TV or video viewing, (3) TV game use, (4) internet use excluding class, (5) homework, and (6) car travel. Two-way analysis of covariance and logistic regression analyses, adjusted for BMI and moderate to vigorous physical activity, were used to examine school-grade and sex differences in sedentary behaviors and the independent risk of exceeding recommended total daily screen time (< 2 h). On 625 children, mean minutes (SD) of sedentary behavior per week in (1) - (6) were 90.3 (123.4), 535.0 (356.6), 167.3 (222.1), 23.9 (70.9), 264.9 (185.3), and 33.4 (61.2) in weekdays and 42.1 (70.0), 323.9 (232.0), 123.0 (96.4), 15.8 (49.9), 74.4 (96.4), and 71.3 (84.9) in weekends, respectively. There were differences in the minutes of sedentary behavior between participants of 2010 and 2014; e.g., TV game use and homework in weekdays and weekdays and car travel in weekends. Boys spent more time in TV game use, and girls spent more time reading, listening to music, doing homework, and car travel. Higher-grade students spent more time reading or listening to music, using a computer, and doing homework. Higher-grade students were 2.09 times (95% CI: 1.32 - 3.30) in whole week, 2.08 times (95% CI: 1.45 - 3.00) in weekday, and 1.88 times (95% CI: 1.29 - 2.74) in weekend more likely to spend ≥2 h per day in domains (2) - (4) (screen-time) than lower-grade students. Time spent engaging in each domain-specific sedentary behavior differed according to sex and school grade. Higher-grade students were less likely to meet screen-time guidelines. These findings highlight the need for domain-focused strategies to decrease sedentary behavior in Japanese school-age children.

Evaluation of different time domain peak models using extreme learning machine-based peak detection for EEG signal.

PubMed

Adam, Asrul; Ibrahim, Zuwairie; Mokhtar, Norrima; Shapiai, Mohd Ibrahim; Cumming, Paul; Mubin, Marizan

2016-01-01

Various peak models have been introduced to detect and analyze peaks in the time domain analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. In general, peak model in the time domain analysis consists of a set of signal parameters, such as amplitude, width, and slope. Models including those proposed by Dumpala, Acir, Liu, and Dingle are routinely used to detect peaks in EEG signals acquired in clinical studies of epilepsy or eye blink. The optimal peak model is the most reliable peak detection performance in a particular application. A fair measure of performance of different models requires a common and unbiased platform. In this study, we evaluate the performance of the four different peak models using the extreme learning machine (ELM)-based peak detection algorithm. We found that the Dingle model gave the best performance, with 72 % accuracy in the analysis of real EEG data. Statistical analysis conferred that the Dingle model afforded significantly better mean testing accuracy than did the Acir and Liu models, which were in the range 37-52 %. Meanwhile, the Dingle model has no significant difference compared to Dumpala model.

Measurement of the local muscular metabolism by time-domain near infrared spectroscopy during knee flex-extension induced by functional electrical stimulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Contini, D.; Spinelli, L.; Torricelli, A.; Ferrante, S.; Pedrocchi, A.; Molteni, F.; Ferrigno, G.; Cubeddu, R.

2009-02-01

We present a preliminary study that combines functional electrical stimulation and time-domain near infrared spectroscopy for a quantitative measurement of the local muscular metabolism during rehabilitation of post-acute stroke patients. Seven healthy subjects and nine post-acute stroke patients underwent a protocol of knee flex-extension of the quadriceps induced by functional electrical stimulation. During the protocol time-domain near infrared spectroscopy measurement were performed on both left and right muscle. Hemodynamic parameters (concentration of oxy- and deoxy-genated hemoglobin) during baseline did not show any significant differences between healthy subject and patients, while functional performances (knee angle amplitude) were distinctly different. Nevertheless, even if their clinical histories were noticeably different, there was no differentiation among functional performances of patients. On the basis of the hemodynamic parameters measured during the recovery phase, instead, it was possible to identify two classes of patients showing a metabolic trend similar or very different to the one obtained by healthy subjects. The presented results suggest that the combination of functional and metabolic information can give an additional tool to the clinicians in the evaluation of the rehabilitation in post-acute stroke patients.

Frequency- and Time-Domain Methods in Soil-Structure Interaction Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bolisetti, Chandrakanth; Whittaker, Andrew S.; Coleman, Justin L.

2015-06-01

Soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis in the nuclear industry is currently performed using linear codes that function in the frequency domain. There is a consensus that these frequency-domain codes give reasonably accurate results for low-intensity ground motions that result in almost linear response. For higher intensity ground motions, which may result in nonlinear response in the soil, structure or at the vicinity of the foundation, the adequacy of frequency-domain codes is unproven. Nonlinear analysis, which is only possible in the time domain, is theoretically more appropriate in such cases. These methods are available but are rarely used due to the largemore » computational requirements and a lack of experience with analysts and regulators. This paper presents an assessment of the linear frequency-domain code, SASSI, which is widely used in the nuclear industry, and the time-domain commercial finite-element code, LS-DYNA, for SSI analysis. The assessment involves benchmarking the SSI analysis procedure in LS-DYNA against SASSI for linearly elastic models. After affirming that SASSI and LS-DYNA result in almost identical responses for these models, they are used to perform nonlinear SSI analyses of two structures founded on soft soil. An examination of the results shows that, in spite of using identical material properties, the predictions of frequency- and time-domain codes are significantly different in the presence of nonlinear behavior such as gapping and sliding of the foundation.« less

Evaluation of Time Domain EM Coupling Techniques. Volume II.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-08-01

tool for the analysis of elec- tromangetic coupling and shielding problems: the finite-difference, time-domain (FD- TD ) solution of Maxwell’s equations...The objective of the program was to evaluate the suitability of the FD- TD method to determine the amount of electromagnetic coupling through an...specific questfiowwere addressed during this program: 1. Can the FD- TD method accurately model electromagnetic coupling into a conducting structure for

HRQoL assessment by SRS-30 for Chinese patients with surgery for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS).

PubMed

Ng, Bobby Kin Wah; Chau, Wai-Wang; Hui, Chak-Na; Cheng, Po-Yin; Wong, Chau-Yuet; Wang, Bin; Cheng, Jack Chun Yiu; Lam, Tsz Ping

2015-01-01

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcome questionnaire, Scoliosis Research Society (SRS)-30, had been well received since its establishment in 2003. Literatures from Asia on the use of SRS-30 mainly focused on the translation process and validation process, but not on measuring outcomes, particularly in the Chinese community. We carried out a prospective cohort study to evaluate the HRQoL of Chinese AIS adolescents with severe scoliosis after surgery. One hundred and four Chinese AIS patients with severe scoliosis undergoing posterior spinal fusion between 2009 and 2013 were recruited in this study. They completed SRS-30 questions before surgery, before hospital discharge, and at follow-up. Mean scores and percentages of individual scores in different domains, and composite scores in terms of subtotal and total scores were calculated referring to the scoring system. Gender-specific and period-specific descriptive analyses were described. Correlation of mean domain scores at the three time points were explored to look for any time-specific relationship. Linear regression analysis looking for potential risk factors on domain scores at different time points by gender were also carried out. Mean age was 16.28 at surgery, and 83.6% were female. Significant correlations between pre-op scores and scores after surgery were observed in function/activity domain (p=0.05) in males, and pain (p=0.04) and satisfaction with management (p=0.04) domains in females. No gender difference in all 5 domain scores at the 3 time points was found. Pre-op maximum Cobb angle and corrected angle were found to be risk factors on self-image, as well as satisfaction with management, in male and female patients. This is the first report on the evaluation of the clinical HRQoL outcomes of Chinese AIS patients with severe scoliosis after surgery. Medical professionals should pay attention to take care of the difference in personal perceptions of feelings between boys and girls. Special care should also be allocated to AIS patients, and try to arrange earlier surgical intervention.

Adaptation of interoperability standards for cross domain usage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Essendorfer, B.; Kerth, Christian; Zaschke, Christian

2017-05-01

As globalization affects most aspects of modern life, challenges of quick and flexible data sharing apply to many different domains. To protect a nation's security for example, one has to look well beyond borders and understand economical, ecological, cultural as well as historical influences. Most of the time information is produced and stored digitally and one of the biggest challenges is to receive relevant readable information applicable to a specific problem out of a large data stock at the right time. These challenges to enable data sharing across national, organizational and systems borders are known to other domains (e.g., ecology or medicine) as well. Solutions like specific standards have been worked on for the specific problems. The question is: what can the different domains learn from each other and do we have solutions when we need to interlink the information produced in these domains? A known problem is to make civil security data available to the military domain and vice versa in collaborative operations. But what happens if an environmental crisis leads to the need to quickly cooperate with civil or military security in order to save lives? How can we achieve interoperability in such complex scenarios? The paper introduces an approach to adapt standards from one domain to another and lines out problems that have to be overcome and limitations that may apply.

Time Domain Filtering of Resolved Images of Sgr A{sup ∗}

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shiokawa, Hotaka; Doeleman, Sheperd S.; Gammie, Charles F.

The goal of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is to provide spatially resolved images of Sgr A*, the source associated with the Galactic Center black hole. Because Sgr A* varies on timescales that are short compared to an EHT observing campaign, it is interesting to ask whether variability contains information about the structure and dynamics of the accretion flow. In this paper, we introduce “time-domain filtering,” a technique to filter time fluctuating images with specific temporal frequency ranges and to demonstrate the power and usage of the technique by applying it to mock millimeter wavelength images of Sgr A*. Themore » mock image data is generated from the General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulation and the general relativistic ray-tracing method. We show that the variability on each line of sight is tightly correlated with a typical radius of emission. This is because disk emissivity fluctuates on a timescale of the order of the local orbital period. Time-domain filtered images therefore reflect the model dependent emission radius distribution, which is not accessible in time-averaged images. We show that, in principle, filtered data have the power to distinguish between models with different black-hole spins, different disk viewing angles, and different disk orientations in the sky.« less

Time Domain Filtering of Resolved Images of Sgr A∗

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiokawa, Hotaka; Gammie, Charles F.; Doeleman, Sheperd S.

2017-09-01

The goal of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is to provide spatially resolved images of Sgr A*, the source associated with the Galactic Center black hole. Because Sgr A* varies on timescales that are short compared to an EHT observing campaign, it is interesting to ask whether variability contains information about the structure and dynamics of the accretion flow. In this paper, we introduce “time-domain filtering,” a technique to filter time fluctuating images with specific temporal frequency ranges and to demonstrate the power and usage of the technique by applying it to mock millimeter wavelength images of Sgr A*. The mock image data is generated from the General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulation and the general relativistic ray-tracing method. We show that the variability on each line of sight is tightly correlated with a typical radius of emission. This is because disk emissivity fluctuates on a timescale of the order of the local orbital period. Time-domain filtered images therefore reflect the model dependent emission radius distribution, which is not accessible in time-averaged images. We show that, in principle, filtered data have the power to distinguish between models with different black-hole spins, different disk viewing angles, and different disk orientations in the sky.

Brain system for mental orientation in space, time, and person.

PubMed

Peer, Michael; Salomon, Roy; Goldberg, Ilan; Blanke, Olaf; Arzy, Shahar

2015-09-01

Orientation is a fundamental mental function that processes the relations between the behaving self to space (places), time (events), and person (people). Behavioral and neuroimaging studies have hinted at interrelations between processing of these three domains. To unravel the neurocognitive basis of orientation, we used high-resolution 7T functional MRI as 16 subjects compared their subjective distance to different places, events, or people. Analysis at the individual-subject level revealed cortical activation related to orientation in space, time, and person in a precisely localized set of structures in the precuneus, inferior parietal, and medial frontal cortex. Comparison of orientation domains revealed a consistent order of cortical activity inside the precuneus and inferior parietal lobes, with space orientation activating posterior regions, followed anteriorly by person and then time. Core regions at the precuneus and inferior parietal lobe were activated for multiple orientation domains, suggesting also common processing for orientation across domains. The medial prefrontal cortex showed a posterior activation for time and anterior for person. Finally, the default-mode network, identified in a separate resting-state scan, was active for all orientation domains and overlapped mostly with person-orientation regions. These findings suggest that mental orientation in space, time, and person is managed by a specific brain system with a highly ordered internal organization, closely related to the default-mode network.

Helicopter time-domain electromagnetic numerical simulation based on Leapfrog ADI-FDTD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, S.; Ji, Y.; Li, D.; Wu, Y.; Wang, A.

2017-12-01

We present a three-dimension (3D) Alternative Direction Implicit Finite-Difference Time-Domain (Leapfrog ADI-FDTD) method for the simulation of helicopter time-domain electromagnetic (HTEM) detection. This method is different from the traditional explicit FDTD, or ADI-FDTD. Comparing with the explicit FDTD, leapfrog ADI-FDTD algorithm is no longer limited by Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy(CFL) condition. Thus, the time step is longer. Comparing with the ADI-FDTD, we reduce the equations from 12 to 6 and .the Leapfrog ADI-FDTD method will be easier for the general simulation. First, we determine initial conditions which are adopted from the existing method presented by Wang and Tripp(1993). Second, we derive Maxwell equation using a new finite difference equation by Leapfrog ADI-FDTD method. The purpose is to eliminate sub-time step and retain unconditional stability characteristics. Third, we add the convolution perfectly matched layer (CPML) absorbing boundary condition into the leapfrog ADI-FDTD simulation and study the absorbing effect of different parameters. Different absorbing parameters will affect the absorbing ability. We find the suitable parameters after many numerical experiments. Fourth, We compare the response with the 1-Dnumerical result method for a homogeneous half-space to verify the correctness of our algorithm.When the model contains 107*107*53 grid points, the conductivity is 0.05S/m. The results show that Leapfrog ADI-FDTD need less simulation time and computer storage space, compared with ADI-FDTD. The calculation speed decreases nearly four times, memory occupation decreases about 32.53%. Thus, this algorithm is more efficient than the conventional ADI-FDTD method for HTEM detection, and is more precise than that of explicit FDTD in the late time.

On thick domain walls in general relativity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goetz, Guenter; Noetzold, Dirk

1989-01-01

Planar scalar field configurations in general relativity differ considerably from those in flat space. It is shown that static domain walls of finite thickness in curved space-time do not possess a reflection symmetry. At infinity, the space-time tends to the Taub vacuum on one side of the wall and to the Minkowski vacuum (Rindler space-time) on the other. Massive test particles are always accelerated towards the Minkowski side, i.e., domain walls are attractive on the Taub side, but repulsive on the Minkowski side (Taub-vacuum cleaner). It is also proved that the pressure in all directions is always negative. Finally, a brief comment is made concerning the possibility of infinite, i.e., bigger than horizon size, domain walls in our universe. All of the results are independent of the form of the potential V(phi) greater than or equal to 0 of the scalar field phi.

Identification of bearing faults using time domain zero-crossings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

William, P. E.; Hoffman, M. W.

2011-11-01

In this paper, zero-crossing characteristic features are employed for early detection and identification of single point bearing defects in rotating machinery. As a result of bearing defects, characteristic defect frequencies appear in the machine vibration signal, normally requiring spectral analysis or envelope analysis to identify the defect type. Zero-crossing features are extracted directly from the time domain vibration signal using only the duration between successive zero-crossing intervals and do not require estimation of the rotational frequency. The features are a time domain representation of the composite vibration signature in the spectral domain. Features are normalized by the length of the observation window and classification is performed using a multilayer feedforward neural network. The model was evaluated on vibration data recorded using an accelerometer mounted on an induction motor housing subjected to a number of single point defects with different severity levels.

Changes in children's self-competence and values: gender and domain differences across grades one through twelve.

PubMed

Jacobs, Janis E; Lanza, Stephanie; Osgood, D Wayne; Eccles, Jacquelynne S; Wigfield, Allan

2002-01-01

This study extended previous research on changes in children's self-beliefs by documenting domain-specific growth trajectories for 761 children across grades 1 through 12 in a longitudinal study of perceptions of self-competence and task values. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to (1) describe changes in beliefs across childhood and adolescence within the domains of mathematics, language arts, and sports; (2) examine the impact of changes in competence beliefs on changes in values over time in the same domains; and (3) describe gender differences in mean levels and trajectories of change in competence beliefs and values. The most striking finding across all domains was that self-perceptions of competence and subjective task values declined as children got older, although the extent and rate of decline varied across domains. For example, in language arts, competence beliefs declined rapidly during the elementary school years, but then leveled off or increased to some extent; whereas the decline in self-competence beliefs in sports accelerated during the high school years. Significant gender differences in beliefs were found in most domains; however, the gender differences in developmental trajectories appeared to be domain specific rather than global. Importantly, the gender differences between boys and girls did not systematically increase with age, as predicted by some socialization perspectives. Adding competence beliefs as an explanatory variable to the model for task values revealed that changes in competence beliefs accounted for much of the age-related decline in task values. In addition, competence beliefs accounted for most of the gender differences in task values for language arts and sports.

EEG Sleep Stages Classification Based on Time Domain Features and Structural Graph Similarity.

PubMed

Diykh, Mohammed; Li, Yan; Wen, Peng

2016-11-01

The electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are commonly used in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders. Many existing methods for sleep stages classification mainly depend on the analysis of EEG signals in time or frequency domain to obtain a high classification accuracy. In this paper, the statistical features in time domain, the structural graph similarity and the K-means (SGSKM) are combined to identify six sleep stages using single channel EEG signals. Firstly, each EEG segment is partitioned into sub-segments. The size of a sub-segment is determined empirically. Secondly, statistical features are extracted, sorted into different sets of features and forwarded to the SGSKM to classify EEG sleep stages. We have also investigated the relationships between sleep stages and the time domain features of the EEG data used in this paper. The experimental results show that the proposed method yields better classification results than other four existing methods and the support vector machine (SVM) classifier. A 95.93% average classification accuracy is achieved by using the proposed method.

Solar signals detected within neutral atmospheric and ionospheric parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koucka Knizova, Petra; Georgieva, Katya; Mosna, Zbysek; Kozubek, Michal; Kouba, Daniel; Kirov, Boian; Potuzníkova, Katerina; Boska, Josef

2018-06-01

We have analyzed time series of solar data together with the atmospheric and ionospheric measurements for solar cycles 19 till 23 according to particular data availability. For the analyses we have used long term data with 1-day sampling. By mean of Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) we have found common spectral domains within solar and atmospheric and ionospheric time series. Further we have identified terms when particular pairs of signals show high coherence applying Wavelet Transform Coherence (WTC). Despite wide oscillation ranges detected in particular time series CWT spectra we found only limited domains with high coherence by mean of WTC. Wavelet Transform Coherence reveals significant high power domains with stable phase difference for periods 1 month, 2 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and 3-4 years between pairs of solar data and atmospheric and ionospheric data. The occurence of the detected domains vary significantly during particular solar cycle (SC) and from cycle to the following one. It indicates the changing solar forcing and/or atmospheric sensitivity with time.

Evolution of optical force on two-level atom by ultrashort time-domain dark hollow Gaussian pulse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Xiaochao; Wang, Zhaoying; Lin, Qiang

2017-09-01

Based on the analytical expression of the ultrashort time-domain dark hollow Gaussian (TDHG) pulse, the optical force on two-level atoms induced by a TDHG pulse is calculated in this paper. The phenomena of focusing or defocusing of the light force is numerical analyzed for different detuning, various duration time, and different order of the ultrashort pulse. The transverse optical force can change from a focusing force to a defocusing force depending on the spatial-temporal coupling effect as the TDHG pulses propagating in free space. Our results also show that the initial phase of the TDHG pulse can significantly changes the envelope of the optical force.

Ultrasonic Phased Array Compressive Imaging in Time and Frequency Domain: Simulation, Experimental Verification and Real Application

PubMed Central

Bai, Zhiliang; Chen, Shili; Jia, Lecheng; Zeng, Zhoumo

2018-01-01

Embracing the fact that one can recover certain signals and images from far fewer measurements than traditional methods use, compressive sensing (CS) provides solutions to huge amounts of data collection in phased array-based material characterization. This article describes how a CS framework can be utilized to effectively compress ultrasonic phased array images in time and frequency domains. By projecting the image onto its Discrete Cosine transform domain, a novel scheme was implemented to verify the potentiality of CS for data reduction, as well as to explore its reconstruction accuracy. The results from CIVA simulations indicate that both time and frequency domain CS can accurately reconstruct array images using samples less than the minimum requirements of the Nyquist theorem. For experimental verification of three types of artificial flaws, although a considerable data reduction can be achieved with defects clearly preserved, it is currently impossible to break Nyquist limitation in the time domain. Fortunately, qualified recovery in the frequency domain makes it happen, meaning a real breakthrough for phased array image reconstruction. As a case study, the proposed CS procedure is applied to the inspection of an engine cylinder cavity containing different pit defects and the results show that orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP)-based CS guarantees the performance for real application. PMID:29738452

Weakly and strongly coupled Belousov-Zhabotinsky patterns.

PubMed

Weiss, Stephan; Deegan, Robert D

2017-02-01

We investigate experimentally and numerically the synchronization of two-dimensional spiral wave patterns in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction due to point-to-point coupling of two separate domains. Different synchronization modalities appear depending on the coupling strength and the initial patterns in each domain. The behavior as a function of the coupling strength falls into two qualitatively different regimes. The weakly coupled regime is characterized by inter-domain interactions that distorted but do not break wave fronts. Under weak coupling, spiral cores are pushed around by wave fronts in the other domain, resulting in an effective interaction between cores in opposite domains. In the case where each domain initially contains a single spiral, the cores form a bound pair and orbit each other at quantized distances. When the starting patterns consist of multiple randomly positioned spiral cores, the number of cores decreases with time until all that remains are a few cores that are synchronized with a partner in the other domain. The strongly coupled regime is characterized by interdomain interactions that break wave fronts. As a result, the wave patterns in both domains become identical.

Weakly and strongly coupled Belousov-Zhabotinsky patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiss, Stephan; Deegan, Robert D.

2017-02-01

We investigate experimentally and numerically the synchronization of two-dimensional spiral wave patterns in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction due to point-to-point coupling of two separate domains. Different synchronization modalities appear depending on the coupling strength and the initial patterns in each domain. The behavior as a function of the coupling strength falls into two qualitatively different regimes. The weakly coupled regime is characterized by inter-domain interactions that distorted but do not break wave fronts. Under weak coupling, spiral cores are pushed around by wave fronts in the other domain, resulting in an effective interaction between cores in opposite domains. In the case where each domain initially contains a single spiral, the cores form a bound pair and orbit each other at quantized distances. When the starting patterns consist of multiple randomly positioned spiral cores, the number of cores decreases with time until all that remains are a few cores that are synchronized with a partner in the other domain. The strongly coupled regime is characterized by interdomain interactions that break wave fronts. As a result, the wave patterns in both domains become identical.

Individual differences in children's and parents' generic language

PubMed Central

Gelman, Susan A.; Ware, Elizabeth A.; Kleinberg, Felicia; Manczak, Erika M.; Stilwell, Sarah M.

2014-01-01

Generics (“Dogs bark”) convey important information about categories and facilitate children’s learning. Two studies with parents and their 2- or 4-year-old children (N=104 dyads) examined whether individual differences in generic language use are: (a) stable over time, contexts, and domains, and (b) linked to conceptual factors. For both children and parents, individual differences in rate of generic production were stable across time, contexts, and domains, and parents' generic usage significantly correlated with that of their own children. Furthermore, parents’ essentialist beliefs correlated with their own and their children’s rates of generic frequency. These results indicate that generic language use exhibits substantial stability and may reflect individual differences in speakers’ conceptual attitudes toward categories. PMID:24266531

Using terahertz time-domain spectroscopical technique to monitor cocrystal formation between piracetam and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid.

PubMed

Du, Yong; Xia, Yi; Zhang, Huili; Hong, Zhi

2013-07-01

Far-infrared vibrational absorption of cocrystal formation between 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,5-DHBA) and piracetam compounds under solvent evaporation and grinding methods have been investigated using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) at room temperature. The experimental results show large difference among absorption spectra of the formed cocrystals and the involved individual parent molecules in 0.20-1.50 THz region, which probably originated from the intra-molecular and inter-molecular hydrogen bonds due to the presence of two hydroxyl groups in 2,5-DHBA and amide moieties in piracetam compound. The THz absorption spectra of two formed cocrystals with different methods are almost identical. With grinding method, the reaction process can be monitored directly from both time-domain and frequency-domain spectra using THz-TDS technique. The results indicate that THz-TDS technology can absolutely offer us a high potential method to identify and characterize the formed cocrystals, and also provide the rich information about their reaction dynamic process involving two or more molecular crystals in situ to better know the corresponding reaction mechanism in pharmaceutical fields. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-scale Slip Inversion Based on Simultaneous Spatial and Temporal Domain Wavelet Transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, W.; Yao, H.; Yang, H. Y.

2017-12-01

Finite fault inversion is a widely used method to study earthquake rupture processes. Some previous studies have proposed different methods to implement finite fault inversion, including time-domain, frequency-domain, and wavelet-domain methods. Many previous studies have found that different frequency bands show different characteristics of the seismic rupture (e.g., Wang and Mori, 2011; Yao et al., 2011, 2013; Uchide et al., 2013; Yin et al., 2017). Generally, lower frequency waveforms correspond to larger-scale rupture characteristics while higher frequency data are representative of smaller-scale ones. Therefore, multi-scale analysis can help us understand the earthquake rupture process thoroughly from larger scale to smaller scale. By the use of wavelet transform, the wavelet-domain methods can analyze both the time and frequency information of signals in different scales. Traditional wavelet-domain methods (e.g., Ji et al., 2002) implement finite fault inversion with both lower and higher frequency signals together to recover larger-scale and smaller-scale characteristics of the rupture process simultaneously. Here we propose an alternative strategy with a two-step procedure, i.e., firstly constraining the larger-scale characteristics with lower frequency signals, and then resolving the smaller-scale ones with higher frequency signals. We have designed some synthetic tests to testify our strategy and compare it with the traditional one. We also have applied our strategy to study the 2015 Gorkha Nepal earthquake using tele-seismic waveforms. Both the traditional method and our two-step strategy only analyze the data in different temporal scales (i.e., different frequency bands), while the spatial distribution of model parameters also shows multi-scale characteristics. A more sophisticated strategy is to transfer the slip model into different spatial scales, and then analyze the smooth slip distribution (larger scales) with lower frequency data firstly and more detailed slip distribution (smaller scales) with higher frequency data subsequently. We are now implementing the slip inversion using both spatial and temporal domain wavelets. This multi-scale analysis can help us better understand frequency-dependent rupture characteristics of large earthquakes.

Comprehensive Numerical Analysis of Finite Difference Time Domain Methods for Improving Optical Waveguide Sensor Accuracy

PubMed Central

Samak, M. Mosleh E. Abu; Bakar, A. Ashrif A.; Kashif, Muhammad; Zan, Mohd Saiful Dzulkifly

2016-01-01

This paper discusses numerical analysis methods for different geometrical features that have limited interval values for typically used sensor wavelengths. Compared with existing Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) methods, the alternating direction implicit (ADI)-FDTD method reduces the number of sub-steps by a factor of two to three, which represents a 33% time savings in each single run. The local one-dimensional (LOD)-FDTD method has similar numerical equation properties, which should be calculated as in the previous method. Generally, a small number of arithmetic processes, which result in a shorter simulation time, are desired. The alternating direction implicit technique can be considered a significant step forward for improving the efficiency of unconditionally stable FDTD schemes. This comparative study shows that the local one-dimensional method had minimum relative error ranges of less than 40% for analytical frequencies above 42.85 GHz, and the same accuracy was generated by both methods.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nutaro, James; Kuruganti, Teja

Numerical simulations of the wave equation that are intended to provide accurate time domain solutions require a computational mesh with grid points separated by a distance less than the wavelength of the source term and initial data. However, calculations of radio signal pathloss generally do not require accurate time domain solutions. This paper describes an approach for calculating pathloss by using the finite difference time domain and transmission line matrix models of wave propagation on a grid with points separated by distances much greater than the signal wavelength. The calculated pathloss can be kept close to the true value formore » freespace propagation with an appropriate selection of initial conditions. This method can also simulate diffraction with an error governed by the ratio of the signal wavelength to the grid spacing.« less

Terahertz quasi time-domain spectroscopy based on telecom technology for 1550 nm.

PubMed

Kohlhaas, Robert B; Rehn, Arno; Nellen, Simon; Koch, Martin; Schell, Martin; Dietz, Roman J B; Balzer, Jan C

2017-05-29

We present a fiber-coupled terahertz quasi time-domain spectroscopy system driven by a laser with a central wavelength of 1550 nm. By using a commercially available multimode laser diode in combination with state-of-the-art continuous wave antennas, a bandwidth of more than 1.8 THz is achieved. The peak signal-to-noise ratio is around 60 dB. A simulation based on the optical spectrum of the laser diode and the transfer function of the THz path is in agreement with the experimental results. The system is used to extract the refractive index from two different samples and the results indicate that the performance is up to 1.8 THz comparable to a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system.

Terahertz time-domain attenuated total reflection spectroscopy applied to the rapid discrimination of the botanical origin of honeys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wen; Zhang, Yuying; Yang, Si; Han, Donghai

2018-05-01

A new technique to identify the floral resources of honeys is demanded. Terahertz time-domain attenuated total reflection spectroscopy combined with chemometrics methods was applied to discriminate different categorizes (Medlar honey, Vitex honey, and Acacia honey). Principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis (CA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) have been used to find information of the botanical origins of honeys. Spectral range also was discussed to increase the precision of PLS-DA model. The accuracy of 88.46% for validation set was obtained, using PLS-DA model in 0.5-1.5 THz. This work indicated terahertz time-domain attenuated total reflection spectroscopy was an available approach to evaluate the quality of honey rapidly.

Carbon financial markets: A time-frequency analysis of CO2 prices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sousa, Rita; Aguiar-Conraria, Luís; Soares, Maria Joana

2014-11-01

We characterize the interrelation of CO2 prices with energy prices (electricity, gas and coal), and with economic activity. Previous studies have relied on time-domain techniques, such as Vector Auto-Regressions. In this study, we use multivariate wavelet analysis, which operates in the time-frequency domain. Wavelet analysis provides convenient tools to distinguish relations at particular frequencies and at particular time horizons. Our empirical approach has the potential to identify relations getting stronger and then disappearing over specific time intervals and frequencies. We are able to examine the coherency of these variables and lead-lag relations at different frequencies for the time periods in focus.

Field Demonstrations of Five Geophysical Methods that Could Be Used to Characterize Deposits of Alluvial Aggregate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellefsen, K.J.; Burton, B.L.; Lucius, J.E.; Haines, S.S.; Fitterman, D.V.; Witty, J.A.; Carlson, D.; Milburn, B.; Langer, W.H.

2007-01-01

Personnel from the U.S. Geological Survey and Martin Marietta Aggregates, Inc., conducted field demonstrations of five different geophysical methods to show how these methods could be used to characterize deposits of alluvial aggregate. The methods were time-domain electromagnetic sounding, electrical resistivity profiling, S-wave reflection profiling, S-wave refraction profiling, and P-wave refraction profiling. All demonstrations were conducted at one site within a river valley in central Indiana, where the stratigraphy consisted of 1 to 2 meters of clay-rich soil, 20 to 35 meters of alluvial sand and gravel, 1 to 6 meters of clay, and multiple layers of limestone and dolomite bedrock. All geophysical methods, except time-domain electromagnetic sounding, provided information about the alluvial aggregate that was consistent with the known geology. Although time-domain electromagnetic sounding did not work well at this site, it has worked well at other sites with different geology. All of these geophysical methods complement traditional methods of geologic characterization such as drilling.

10 Management Controller for Time and Space Partitioning Architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lachaize, Jerome; Deredempt, Marie-Helene; Galizzi, Julien

2015-09-01

The Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) has been industrialized in aeronautical domain to enable the independent qualification of different application softwares from different suppliers on the same generic computer, this latter computer being a single terminal in a deterministic network. This concept allowed to distribute efficiently and transparently the different applications across the network, sizing accurately the HW equipments to embed on the aircraft, through the configuration of the virtual computers and the virtual network. , This concept has been studied for space domain and requirements issued [D04],[D05]. Experiments in the space domain have been done, for the computer level, through ESA and CNES initiatives [D02] [D03]. One possible IMA implementation may use Time and Space Partitioning (TSP) technology. Studies on Time and Space Partitioning [D02] for controlling resources access such as CPU and memories and studies on hardware/software interface standardization [D01] showed that for space domain technologies where I/O components (or IP) do not cover advanced features such as buffering, descriptors or virtualization, CPU overhead in terms of performances is mainly due to shared interface management in the execution platform, and to the high frequency of I/O accesses, these latter leading to an important number of context switches. This paper will present a solution to reduce this execution overhead with an open, modular and configurable controller.

Diagnostics of plasma in the ionospheric D-region: detection and study of different ionospheric disturbance types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nina, Aleksandra; Čadež, Vladimir M.; Popović, Luka Č.; Srećković, Vladimir A.

2017-07-01

Here we discuss our recent investigations of the ionospheric plasma by using very low and low frequency (VLF/LF) radio waves. We give a review of how to detect different low ionospheric reactions (sudden ionospheric disturbances) to various terrestrial and extra-terrestrial events, show their classification according to intensity and time duration, and present some methods for their detections in time and frequency domains. Investigations of detection in time domain are carried out for intensive long-lasting perturbations induced by solar X-ray flares and for short-lasting perturbations caused by gamma ray bursts. We also analyze time variations of signals used in the low ionospheric monitoring after earthquake events. In addition, we describe a procedure for the detection of acoustic and gravity waves from the VLF/LF signal analysis in frequency domain. The research of the low ionospheric plasma is based on data collected by the VLF/LF receivers located in Belgrade, Serbia. Contribution to the Topical Issue "Physics of Ionized Gases (SPIG 2016)", edited by Goran Poparic, Bratislav Obradovic, Dragana Maric and Aleksandar Milosavljevic.

Superfluid in a shaken optical lattice: quantum critical dynamics and topological defect engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaj, Anita; Feng, Lei; Clark, Logan W.; Chin, Cheng

2017-04-01

We present our recent studies of non-equilibrium dynamics in Bose-Einstein condensates using the shaken optical lattice. By increasing the shaking amplitude we observe a quantum phase transition from an ordinary superfluid to an effectively ferromagnetic superfluid composed of discrete domains with different quasi-momentum. We investigate the critical dynamics during which the domain structure and domain walls emerge. We demonstrate the use of a digital micromirror device to deterministically create desired domain structure. Using this technique we develop a clearer picture of the quantum critical dynamics at early times and its impact on the domain structure long after the transition.

The element level time domain (ELTD) method for the analysis of nano-optical systems: I. Nondispersive media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fallahi, Arya; Oswald, Benedikt; Leidenberger, Patrick

2012-04-01

We study a 3-dimensional, dual-field, fully explicit method for the solution of Maxwell's equations in the time domain on unstructured, tetrahedral grids. The algorithm uses the element level time domain (ELTD) discretization of the electric and magnetic vector wave equations. In particular, the suitability of the method for the numerical analysis of nanometer structured systems in the optical region of the electromagnetic spectrum is investigated. The details of the theory and its implementation as a computer code are introduced and its convergence behavior as well as conditions for stable time domain integration is examined. Here, we restrict ourselves to non-dispersive dielectric material properties since dielectric dispersion will be treated in a subsequent paper. Analytically solvable problems are analyzed in order to benchmark the method. Eventually, a dielectric microlens is considered to demonstrate the potential of the method. A flexible method of 2nd order accuracy is obtained that is applicable to a wide range of nano-optical configurations and can be a serious competitor to more conventional finite difference time domain schemes which operate only on hexahedral grids. The ELTD scheme can resolve geometries with a wide span of characteristic length scales and with the appropriate level of detail, using small tetrahedra where delicate, physically relevant details must be modeled.

Extracting Low-Frequency Information from Time Attenuation in Elastic Waveform Inversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Xuebao; Liu, Hong; Shi, Ying; Wang, Weihong

2017-03-01

Low-frequency information is crucial for recovering background velocity, but the lack of low-frequency information in field data makes inversion impractical without accurate initial models. Laplace-Fourier domain waveform inversion can recover a smooth model from real data without low-frequency information, which can be used for subsequent inversion as an ideal starting model. In general, it also starts with low frequencies and includes higher frequencies at later inversion stages, while the difference is that its ultralow frequency information comes from the Laplace-Fourier domain. Meanwhile, a direct implementation of the Laplace-transformed wavefield using frequency domain inversion is also very convenient. However, because broad frequency bands are often used in the pure time domain waveform inversion, it is difficult to extract the wavefields dominated by low frequencies in this case. In this paper, low-frequency components are constructed by introducing time attenuation into the recorded residuals, and the rest of the method is identical to the traditional time domain inversion. Time windowing and frequency filtering are also applied to mitigate the ambiguity of the inverse problem. Therefore, we can start at low frequencies and to move to higher frequencies. The experiment shows that the proposed method can achieve a good inversion result in the presence of a linear initial model and records without low-frequency information.

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Rap1 Myb-type domain in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

PubMed Central

Mukherjee, Koel; Pandey, Dev Mani; Vidyarthi, Ambarish Saran

2012-01-01

Telomere is a nucleoprotein complex that plays important role in stability and their maintenance and consists of random repeats of species specific motifs. In budding Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Repressor Activator Protein 1 (Rap1) is a sequence specific protein that involved in transcriptional regulation. Rap1 consist of three active domains like N-terminal BRCT-domain, DNA-binding domain and C-terminal RCT-domain. In this study the unknown 3D structure of Myb-type domain (having 61 residues) within DNAbinding domain was modeled by Modeller7, and verified using different online bioinformatics tools (ProCheck, WhatIf, Verify3D). Dynamics of Myb-type domain of Rap1was carried out through simulation studies using GROMACS software. Time dependent interactions among the molecules were analyzed by Root Mean Square Deviation (RMSD), Radius of Gyration (Rg) and Root Mean Square Fluctuation (RMSF) plots. Motional properties in reduced dimension were also performed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Result indicated that Rap1 interacts with DNA major groove through its Helix Turn Helix motifs. Helix 3 was rigid, less amount of fluctuation was found as it interacts with DNA major groove. Helix2 and N-terminal having considerable fluctuation in the time scale. PMID:23144544

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Rap1 Myb-type domain in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Mukherjee, Koel; Pandey, Dev Mani; Vidyarthi, Ambarish Saran

2012-01-01

Telomere is a nucleoprotein complex that plays important role in stability and their maintenance and consists of random repeats of species specific motifs. In budding Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Repressor Activator Protein 1 (Rap1) is a sequence specific protein that involved in transcriptional regulation. Rap1 consist of three active domains like N-terminal BRCT-domain, DNA-binding domain and C-terminal RCT-domain. In this study the unknown 3D structure of Myb-type domain (having 61 residues) within DNAbinding domain was modeled by Modeller7, and verified using different online bioinformatics tools (ProCheck, WhatIf, Verify3D). Dynamics of Myb-type domain of Rap1was carried out through simulation studies using GROMACS software. Time dependent interactions among the molecules were analyzed by Root Mean Square Deviation (RMSD), Radius of Gyration (Rg) and Root Mean Square Fluctuation (RMSF) plots. Motional properties in reduced dimension were also performed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Result indicated that Rap1 interacts with DNA major groove through its Helix Turn Helix motifs. Helix 3 was rigid, less amount of fluctuation was found as it interacts with DNA major groove. Helix2 and N-terminal having considerable fluctuation in the time scale.

Full waveform time domain solutions for source and induced magnetotelluric and controlled-source electromagnetic fields using quasi-equivalent time domain decomposition and GPU parallelization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imamura, N.; Schultz, A.

2015-12-01

Recently, a full waveform time domain solution has been developed for the magnetotelluric (MT) and controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) methods. The ultimate goal of this approach is to obtain a computationally tractable direct waveform joint inversion for source fields and earth conductivity structure in three and four dimensions. This is desirable on several grounds, including the improved spatial resolving power expected from use of a multitude of source illuminations of non-zero wavenumber, the ability to operate in areas of high levels of source signal spatial complexity and non-stationarity, etc. This goal would not be obtainable if one were to adopt the finite difference time-domain (FDTD) approach for the forward problem. This is particularly true for the case of MT surveys, since an enormous number of degrees of freedom are required to represent the observed MT waveforms across the large frequency bandwidth. It means that for FDTD simulation, the smallest time steps should be finer than that required to represent the highest frequency, while the number of time steps should also cover the lowest frequency. This leads to a linear system that is computationally burdensome to solve. We have implemented our code that addresses this situation through the use of a fictitious wave domain method and GPUs to speed up the computation time. We also substantially reduce the size of the linear systems by applying concepts from successive cascade decimation, through quasi-equivalent time domain decomposition. By combining these refinements, we have made good progress toward implementing the core of a full waveform joint source field/earth conductivity inverse modeling method. From results, we found the use of previous generation of CPU/GPU speeds computations by an order of magnitude over a parallel CPU only approach. In part, this arises from the use of the quasi-equivalent time domain decomposition, which shrinks the size of the linear system dramatically.

Twitter data analysis: temporal and term frequency analysis with real-time event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yadav, Garima; Joshi, Mansi; Sasikala, R.

2017-11-01

From the past few years, World Wide Web (www) has become a prominent and huge source for user generated content and opinionative data. Among various social media, Twitter gained popularity as it offers a fast and effective way of sharing users’ perspective towards various critical and other issues in different domain. As the data is hugely generated on cloud, it has opened doors for the researchers in the field of data science and analysis. There are various domains such as ‘Political’ domain, ‘Entertainment’ domain and ‘Business’ domain. Also there are various APIs that Twitter provides for developers 1) Search API, focus on the old tweets 2) Rest API, focuses on user details and allow to collect the user profile, friends and followers 3) Streaming API, which collects details like tweets, hashtags, geo locations. In our work we are accessing Streaming API in order to fetch real-time tweets for the dynamic happening event. For this we are focusing on ‘Entertainment’ domain especially ‘Sports’ as IPL-T20 is currently the trending on-going event. We are collecting these numerous amounts of tweets and storing them in MongoDB database where the tweets are stored in JSON document format. On this document we are performing time-series analysis and term frequency analysis using different techniques such as filtering, information extraction for text-mining that fulfils our objective of finding interesting moments for temporal data in the event and finding the ranking among the players or the teams based on popularity which helps people in understanding key influencers on the social media platform.

Hawking radiation from a Reisner-Nordström domain wall

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greenwood, Eric, E-mail: esg3@buffalo.edu

2010-01-01

We investigate the effect on the Hawking radiation given off during the time of collapse of a Reisner-Nordström domain wall. Using the functional Schrödinger formalism we are able to probe the time-dependent regime, which is out of the reach of the standard approximations like the Bogolyubov method. We calculate the occupation number of particles for a scalar field and complex scalar field. We demonstrate that the particles from the scalar field are unaffected by the charge of the Reisner-Nordström domain wall, as is expected since the scalar field doesn't carry any charge, which would couple to the charge of themore » Reisner-Nordström domain wall. Here the situation effectively reduces to the uncharged case, a spherically symmetric domain wall. To take the charge into account, we consider the complex scalar field which represents charged particles and anti-particles. Here investigate two different cases, first the non-extremal case and second the extremal case. In the non-extremal case we demonstrate that when the particle (anti-particle) carries charge opposite to that of the domain wall, the occupation number becomes suppressed during late times of the collapse. Therefore the dominate occupation number is when the particle (anti-particle) carries the same charge as the domain wall, as expected due to the Coulomb potential carried by the domain walls. In the extremal case we demonstrate that as time increases the temperature of the radiation decreases until when the domain wall reaches the horizon and the temperature then goes to zero. This is in agreement with the Hawking temperature for charged black holes.« less

Information criteria for quantifying loss of reversibility in parallelized KMC

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gourgoulias, Konstantinos, E-mail: gourgoul@math.umass.edu; Katsoulakis, Markos A., E-mail: markos@math.umass.edu; Rey-Bellet, Luc, E-mail: luc@math.umass.edu

Parallel Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) is a potent tool to simulate stochastic particle systems efficiently. However, despite literature on quantifying domain decomposition errors of the particle system for this class of algorithms in the short and in the long time regime, no study yet explores and quantifies the loss of time-reversibility in Parallel KMC. Inspired by concepts from non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, we propose the entropy production per unit time, or entropy production rate, given in terms of an observable and a corresponding estimator, as a metric that quantifies the loss of reversibility. Typically, this is a quantity that cannot bemore » computed explicitly for Parallel KMC, which is why we develop a posteriori estimators that have good scaling properties with respect to the size of the system. Through these estimators, we can connect the different parameters of the scheme, such as the communication time step of the parallelization, the choice of the domain decomposition, and the computational schedule, with its performance in controlling the loss of reversibility. From this point of view, the entropy production rate can be seen both as an information criterion to compare the reversibility of different parallel schemes and as a tool to diagnose reversibility issues with a particular scheme. As a demonstration, we use Sandia Lab's SPPARKS software to compare different parallelization schemes and different domain (lattice) decompositions.« less

Information criteria for quantifying loss of reversibility in parallelized KMC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gourgoulias, Konstantinos; Katsoulakis, Markos A.; Rey-Bellet, Luc

2017-01-01

Parallel Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) is a potent tool to simulate stochastic particle systems efficiently. However, despite literature on quantifying domain decomposition errors of the particle system for this class of algorithms in the short and in the long time regime, no study yet explores and quantifies the loss of time-reversibility in Parallel KMC. Inspired by concepts from non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, we propose the entropy production per unit time, or entropy production rate, given in terms of an observable and a corresponding estimator, as a metric that quantifies the loss of reversibility. Typically, this is a quantity that cannot be computed explicitly for Parallel KMC, which is why we develop a posteriori estimators that have good scaling properties with respect to the size of the system. Through these estimators, we can connect the different parameters of the scheme, such as the communication time step of the parallelization, the choice of the domain decomposition, and the computational schedule, with its performance in controlling the loss of reversibility. From this point of view, the entropy production rate can be seen both as an information criterion to compare the reversibility of different parallel schemes and as a tool to diagnose reversibility issues with a particular scheme. As a demonstration, we use Sandia Lab's SPPARKS software to compare different parallelization schemes and different domain (lattice) decompositions.

Attributing variance in supportive care needs during cancer: culture-service, and individual differences, before clinical factors.

PubMed

Fielding, Richard; Lam, Wendy Wing Tak; Shun, Shiow Ching; Okuyama, Toru; Lai, Yeur Hur; Wada, Makoto; Akechi, Tatsuo; Li, Wylie Wai Yee

2013-01-01

Studies using the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS) report high levels of unmet supportive care needs (SCNs) in psychological and less-so physical & daily living domains, interpreted as reflecting disease/treatment-coping deficits. However, service and culture differences may account for unmet SCNs variability. We explored if service and culture differences better account for observed SCNs patterns. Hong Kong (n = 180), Taiwanese (n = 263) and Japanese (n = 109) CRC patients' top 10 ranked SCNS-34 items were contrasted. Mean SCNS-34 domain scores were compared by sample and treatment status, then adjusted for sample composition, disease stage and treatment status using multivariate hierarchical regression. All samples were assessed at comparable time-points. SCNs were most prevalent among Japanese and least among Taiwanese patients. Japanese patients emphasized Psychological (domain mean = 40.73) and Health systems and information (HSI) (38.61) SCN domains, whereas Taiwanese and Hong Kong patients emphasized HSI (27.41; 32.92) and Patient care & support (PCS) (19.70; 18.38) SCN domains. Mean Psychological domain scores differed: Hong Kong = 9.72, Taiwan = 17.84 and Japan = 40.73 (p<0.03-0.001, Bonferroni). Other SCN domains differed only between Chinese and Japanese samples (all p<0.001). Treatment status differentiated Taiwanese more starkly than Hong Kong patients. After adjustment, sample origin accounted for most variance in SCN domain scores (p<0.001), followed by age (p = 0.01-0.001) and employment status (p = 0.01-0.001). Treatment status and Disease stage, though retained, accounted for least variance. Overall accounted variance remained low. Health service and/or cultural influences, age and occupation differences, and less so clinical factors, differentially account for significant variation in published studies of SCNs.

Optical coherence tomography-based decision making in exudative age-related macular degeneration: comparison of time- vs spectral-domain devices.

PubMed

Cukras, C; Wang, Y D; Meyerle, C B; Forooghian, F; Chew, E Y; Wong, W T

2010-05-01

To determine whether optical coherence tomography (OCT) device-type influences clinical grading of OCT imaging in the context of exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Ninety-six paired OCT scans from 49 patients with active exudative AMD were obtained on both the time-domain Stratus OCT system and the spectral-domain Cirrus OCT system at the same visit. Three independent graders judged each scan for the presence of intraretinal fluid (IRF) or subretinal fluid (SRF). The degree of grader consensus was evaluated and the ability of the systems to detect the presence of disease activity was analysed. Cirrus OCT generated a higher degree of inter-grader consensus than Stratus OCT with higher intraclass correlation coefficients for all parameters analysed. A pair-wise comparison of Cirrus OCT with Stratus OCT systems revealed that Cirrus-based gradings more frequently reported the presence of SRF and IRF and detected overall neovascular activity at a higher rate (P<0.05) compared with Stratus-based gradings. The choice of time-domain (Stratus) vs spectra-domain (Cirrus) OCT systems has a measurable impact on clinical decision making in exudative AMD. Spectral-domain OCT systems may be able to generate more consensus in clinical interpretation and, in particular cases, detect disease activity not detected by time-domain systems. Clinical trials using OCT-based clinical evaluations of exudative AMD may need to account for these inter-system differences in planning and analysis.

Optical Coherence Tomography-Based Decision Making in Exudative Age-related Macular Degeneration: Comparison of Time- versus Spectral-Domain Devices

PubMed Central

Cukras, Catherine; Wang, Yunqing D.; Meyerle, Catherine B.; Forooghian, Farzin; Chew, Emily Y.; Wong, Wai T.

2010-01-01

Purpose To determine if optical coherence tomography (OCT) device-type influences clinical grading of OCT imaging in the context of exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods Ninety-six paired OCT scans from 49 patients with active exudative AMD were obtained on both the time-domain Stratus™ OCT system and the spectral-domain Cirrus™ OCT system at the same visit. Three independent graders judged each scan for the presence of intraretinal fluid (IRF) or subretinal fluid (SRF). The degree of grader consensus was evaluated and the ability of the systems to detect the presence of disease activity was analyzed. Results Cirrus™ OCT generated a higher degree of inter-grader consensus than Stratus OCT with higher intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for all parameters analyzed. A pair-wise comparison of Cirrus™ OCT to Stratus™ OCT systems revealed that Cirrus™-based gradings more frequently reported the presence of SRF and IRF and detected overall neovascular activity at a higher rate (p<0.05) compared to Stratus™-based gradings Conclusions The choice of time-domain (Stratus™) versus spectra-domain (Cirrus™) OCT systems has a measurable impact on clinical decision making in exudative AMD. Spectral-domain OCT systems may be able to generate more consensus in clinical interpretation and, in particular cases, detect disease activity not detected by time-domain systems. Clinical trials employing OCT-based clinical evaluations of exudative AMD may need to account for these inter-system differences in planning and analysis. PMID:19696804

Time-domain approach for the transient responses in stratified viscoelastic Earth models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hanyk, L.; Moser, J.; Yuen, D. A.; Matyska, C.

1995-01-01

We have developed the numerical algorithm for the computation of transient viscoelastic responses in the time domain for a radially stratified Earth model. Stratifications in both the elastic parameters and the viscosity profile have been considered. The particular viscosity profile employed has a viscosity maximum with a constrast of O(100) in the mid lower mantle. The distribution of relaxation times reveals the presence of a continuous spectrum situated between O(100) and O(exp 4) years. The principal mode is embedded within this continuous spectrum. From this initial-value approach we have found that for the low degree harmonics the non-modal contributions are comparable to the modal contributions. For this viscosity model the differences between the time-domain and normal-mode results are found to decrease strongly with increasing angular order. These calculations also show that a time-dependent effective relaxation time can be defined, which can be bounded by the relaxation times of the principal modes.

Image/Time Series Mining Algorithms: Applications to Developmental Biology, Document Processing and Data Streams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tataw, Oben Moses

2013-01-01

Interdisciplinary research in computer science requires the development of computational techniques for practical application in different domains. This usually requires careful integration of different areas of technical expertise. This dissertation presents image and time series analysis algorithms, with practical interdisciplinary applications…

Brain system for mental orientation in space, time, and person

PubMed Central

Peer, Michael; Salomon, Roy; Goldberg, Ilan; Blanke, Olaf; Arzy, Shahar

2015-01-01

Orientation is a fundamental mental function that processes the relations between the behaving self to space (places), time (events), and person (people). Behavioral and neuroimaging studies have hinted at interrelations between processing of these three domains. To unravel the neurocognitive basis of orientation, we used high-resolution 7T functional MRI as 16 subjects compared their subjective distance to different places, events, or people. Analysis at the individual-subject level revealed cortical activation related to orientation in space, time, and person in a precisely localized set of structures in the precuneus, inferior parietal, and medial frontal cortex. Comparison of orientation domains revealed a consistent order of cortical activity inside the precuneus and inferior parietal lobes, with space orientation activating posterior regions, followed anteriorly by person and then time. Core regions at the precuneus and inferior parietal lobe were activated for multiple orientation domains, suggesting also common processing for orientation across domains. The medial prefrontal cortex showed a posterior activation for time and anterior for person. Finally, the default-mode network, identified in a separate resting-state scan, was active for all orientation domains and overlapped mostly with person-orientation regions. These findings suggest that mental orientation in space, time, and person is managed by a specific brain system with a highly ordered internal organization, closely related to the default-mode network. PMID:26283353

Finite difference time domain calculation of transients in antennas with nonlinear loads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luebbers, Raymond J.; Beggs, John H.; Kunz, Karl S.; Chamberlin, Kent

1991-01-01

In this paper transient fields for antennas with more general geometries are calculated directly using Finite Difference Time Domain methods. In each FDTD cell which contains a nonlinear load, a nonlinear equation is solved at each time step. As a test case the transient current in a long dipole antenna with a nonlinear load excited by a pulsed plane wave is computed using this approach. The results agree well with both calculated and measured results previously published. The approach given here extends the applicability of the FDTD method to problems involving scattering from targets including nonlinear loads and materials, and to coupling between antennas containing nonlinear loads. It may also be extended to propagation through nonlinear materials.

Childhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage, Occupational, Leisure-Time, and Household Physical Activity, and Diabetes in Adulthood.

PubMed

Tsenkova, Vera K; Lee, Chioun; Boylan, Jennifer Morozink

2017-10-01

Regular physical activity is a key way to prevent disease. However, we have a limited understanding of the socioeconomic precursors and glucoregulatory sequelae of engaging in physical activity in different domains. We examined the associations among life course socioeconomic disadvantage; meeting the physical activity guidelines with leisure-time physical activity, occupational physical activity, or household physical activity; and prediabetes and diabetes in the Midlife in the United States national study (N = 986). Childhood disadvantage was associated with lower odds of meeting the guidelines with leisure-time physical activity (odds ratio = 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.65-0.86). Adulthood disadvantage was associated with higher odds of meeting the guidelines with occupational physical activity (odds ratio = 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.49-2.53). Importantly, while meeting the guidelines with leisure-time physical activity was associated with lower odds of prediabetes and diabetes, we found no evidence for associations among occupational physical activity, household physical activity, and glucoregulation. Current US physical activity guidelines do not differentiate between physical activity for leisure or work, assuming that physical activity in any domain confers comparable health benefits. We documented important differences in the associations among lifetime socioeconomic disadvantage, physical activity domain, and diabetes, suggesting that physical activity domain potentially belongs in the guidelines, similar to other characteristics of activity (eg, type, intensity).

Walking and cycling for commuting, leisure and errands: relations with individual characteristics and leisure-time physical activity in a cross-sectional survey (the ACTI-Cités project).

PubMed

Menai, Mehdi; Charreire, Hélène; Feuillet, Thierry; Salze, Paul; Weber, Christiane; Enaux, Christophe; Andreeva, Valentina A; Hercberg, Serge; Nazare, Julie-Anne; Perchoux, Camille; Simon, Chantal; Oppert, Jean-Michel

2015-12-09

Increasing active transport behavior (walking, cycling) throughout the life-course is a key element of physical activity promotion for health. There is, however, a need to better understand the correlates of specific domains of walking and cycling to identify more precisely at-risk populations for public health interventions. In addition, current knowledge of interactions between domains of walking and cycling remains limited. We assessed past-month self-reported time spent walking and cycling in three specific domains (commuting, leisure and errands) in 39,295 French adult participants (76.5% women) of the on-going NutriNet Santé web-cohort. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to investigate the associations with socio-demographic and physical activity correlates. Having a transit pass was strongly positively associated with walking for commuting and for errands but was unrelated to walking for leisure or to all domains of cycling. Having a parking space at work was strongly negatively associated with walking for commuting and cycling for commuting. BMI was negatively associated with both walking for leisure and errands, and with the three domains of cycling. Leisure-time physical activity was negatively associated with walking for commuting but was positively associated with the two other domains of walking and with cycling (three domains). Walking for commuting was positively associated with the other domains of walking; cycling for commuting was also positively associated with the other domains of cycling. Walking for commuting was not associated with cycling for commuting. In adults walking and cycling socio-demographic and physical activity correlates differ by domain (commuting, leisure and errands). Better knowledge of relationships between domains should help to develop interventions focusing not only the right population, but also the right behavior.

Domain switching kinetics in ferroelectric-resistive BiFeO3 thin film memories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Jianwei; Jiang, Jun; Geng, Wenping; Chen, Zhihui; Zhang, Wei; Jiang, Anquan

2015-02-01

We fabricated (00l) BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films in different growth modes on SrRuO3/SrTiO3 substrates using a pulsed laser deposition technique. X-ray diffraction patterns show an out-of-plane lattice constant of 4.03 Å and ferroelectric polarization of 82 µC/cm2 for the BFO thin film in a layer-by-layer growth mode (2D-BFO), larger than 3.96 Å and 51 µC/cm2 for the thin film in the 3D-island formation growth mode (3D-BFO). The 2D-BFO thin film at 300 K shows switchable on/off diode currents upon polarization flipping near a negative coercive voltage, which is nevertheless absent from the above 3D-BFO thin film. From a positive-up-negative-down pulse characterization technique, we measured domain switching current transients as well as polarization-voltage (Pf-Vf) hysteresis loops in both semiconducting thin films. Pf-Vf hysteresis loops after 1 µs-retention time show the preferred domain orientation pointing to bottom electrodes in a 3D-BFO thin film. The poor retention of the domains pointing to top electrodes can be improved considerably in a 2D-BFO thin film. From these measurements, we extracted domain switching time dependence of coercive voltage at temperatures of 78-300 K. From these dependences, we found coercive voltages in semiconducting ferroelectric thin films much higher than those in insulating thin films, disobeying the traditional Merz equation. Finally, an equivalent resistance model in description of free-carrier compensation of the front domain boundary charge is developed to interpret this difference. This equivalent resistance can be coincidently extracted either from domain switching time dependence of coercive voltage or from applied voltage dependence of domain switching current, which drops almost linearly with the temperature until down to 0 in a ferroelectric insulator at 78 K.

Design of the sample cell in near-field surface-enhanced Raman scattering by finite difference time domain method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yaqin; Jian, Guoshu; Wu, Shifa

2006-11-01

The rational design of the sample cell may improve the sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection in a high degree. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations of the configuration of Ag film-Ag particles illuminated by plane wave and evanescent wave are performed to provide physical insight for design of the sample cell. Numerical solutions indicate that the sample cell can provide more "hot spots' and the massive field intensity enhancement occurs in these "hot spots'. More information on the nanometer character of the sample can be got because of gradient-field Raman (GFR) of evanescent wave.

A Study of Two Instructional Sequences Informed by Alternative Learning Progressions in Genetics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duncan, Ravit Golan; Choi, Jinnie; Castro-Faix, Moraima; Cavera, Veronica L.

2017-01-01

Learning progressions (LPs) are hypothetical models of how learning in a domain develops over time with appropriate instruction. In the domain of genetics, there are two independently developed alternative LPs. The main difference between the two progressions hinges on their assumptions regarding the accessibility of classical (Mendelian) versus…

Idealized Computational Models for Auditory Receptive Fields

PubMed Central

Lindeberg, Tony; Friberg, Anders

2015-01-01

We present a theory by which idealized models of auditory receptive fields can be derived in a principled axiomatic manner, from a set of structural properties to (i) enable invariance of receptive field responses under natural sound transformations and (ii) ensure internal consistency between spectro-temporal receptive fields at different temporal and spectral scales. For defining a time-frequency transformation of a purely temporal sound signal, it is shown that the framework allows for a new way of deriving the Gabor and Gammatone filters as well as a novel family of generalized Gammatone filters, with additional degrees of freedom to obtain different trade-offs between the spectral selectivity and the temporal delay of time-causal temporal window functions. When applied to the definition of a second-layer of receptive fields from a spectrogram, it is shown that the framework leads to two canonical families of spectro-temporal receptive fields, in terms of spectro-temporal derivatives of either spectro-temporal Gaussian kernels for non-causal time or a cascade of time-causal first-order integrators over the temporal domain and a Gaussian filter over the logspectral domain. For each filter family, the spectro-temporal receptive fields can be either separable over the time-frequency domain or be adapted to local glissando transformations that represent variations in logarithmic frequencies over time. Within each domain of either non-causal or time-causal time, these receptive field families are derived by uniqueness from the assumptions. It is demonstrated how the presented framework allows for computation of basic auditory features for audio processing and that it leads to predictions about auditory receptive fields with good qualitative similarity to biological receptive fields measured in the inferior colliculus (ICC) and primary auditory cortex (A1) of mammals. PMID:25822973

Assessment of Time and Frequency Domain Parameters of Heart Rate Variability and Interictal Cardiac Rhythm Abnormalities in Drug-naïve Patients with Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy.

PubMed

Kilinc, Ozden; Cincin, Altug; Pehlivan, Aslihan; Midi, Ipek; Kepez, Alper; Agan, Kadriye

2016-06-01

Epilepsy is a disease known to occur with autonomous phenomenons. Earlier studies indicate decreased heart rate variability (HRV) during ictal and interictal periods among epilepsy patients. In this study, we aim to investigate cardiac rhythm abnormalities and HRV during interictal period between drug-naïve patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and healthy control group. Twenty-six patients with IGE and 26 healthy individuals included in the study. In order to eliminate any structural cardiac pathology, transthoracic echocardiography was performed in all subjects and time and frequency domain parameters of HRV were evaluated after 24-hour rhythm holter monitoring. Between two groups, no significant difference was detected in terms of mean heart rate and maximum duration between the start of the Q waves and the end of the T waves (QT intervals). In the time domain analysis of HRV, no statically significant difference was detected for standard deviation of all R - R intervals and root-mean-square of successive differences between patient and control group (p = 0,070 and p = 0,104 respectively). In the frequency domain analysis of HRV, patients tended to display lower total power and very low frequency power than did healthy subjects, but the differences were not statistically significant. Our results suggest that there is no major effect of the epilepsy on HRV in patients with IGE. It should be emphasized that, in this study, HRV was evaluated only in patients with IGE and that the results are not proper to be generalized for patients with partial seizures.

Adapting Word Embeddings from Multiple Domains to Symptom Recognition from Psychiatric Notes

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yaoyun; Li, Hee-Jin; Wang, Jingqi; Cohen, Trevor; Roberts, Kirk; Xu, Hua

2018-01-01

Mental health is increasingly recognized an important topic in healthcare. Information concerning psychiatric symptoms is critical for the timely diagnosis of mental disorders, as well as for the personalization of interventions. However, the diversity and sparsity of psychiatric symptoms make it challenging for conventional natural language processing techniques to automatically extract such information from clinical text. To address this problem, this study takes the initiative to use and adapt word embeddings from four source domains – intensive care, biomedical literature, Wikipedia and Psychiatric Forum – to recognize symptoms in the target domain of psychiatry. We investigated four different approaches including 1) only using word embeddings of the source domain, 2) directly combining data of the source and target to generate word embeddings, 3) assigning different weights to word embeddings, and 4) retraining the word embedding model of the source domain using a corpus of the target domain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work of adapting multiple word embeddings of external domains to improve psychiatric symptom recognition in clinical text. Experimental results showed that the last two approaches outperformed the baseline methods, indicating the effectiveness of our new strategies to leverage embeddings from other domains. PMID:29888086

Exact calculations of survival probability for diffusion on growing lines, disks, and spheres: The role of dimension.

PubMed

Simpson, Matthew J; Baker, Ruth E

2015-09-07

Unlike standard applications of transport theory, the transport of molecules and cells during embryonic development often takes place within growing multidimensional tissues. In this work, we consider a model of diffusion on uniformly growing lines, disks, and spheres. An exact solution of the partial differential equation governing the diffusion of a population of individuals on the growing domain is derived. Using this solution, we study the survival probability, S(t). For the standard non-growing case with an absorbing boundary, we observe that S(t) decays to zero in the long time limit. In contrast, when the domain grows linearly or exponentially with time, we show that S(t) decays to a constant, positive value, indicating that a proportion of the diffusing substance remains on the growing domain indefinitely. Comparing S(t) for diffusion on lines, disks, and spheres indicates that there are minimal differences in S(t) in the limit of zero growth and minimal differences in S(t) in the limit of fast growth. In contrast, for intermediate growth rates, we observe modest differences in S(t) between different geometries. These differences can be quantified by evaluating the exact expressions derived and presented here.

An energy ratio feature extraction method for optical fiber vibration signal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheng, Zhiyong; Zhang, Xinyan; Wang, Yanping; Hou, Weiming; Yang, Dan

2018-03-01

The intrusion events in the optical fiber pre-warning system (OFPS) are divided into two types which are harmful intrusion event and harmless interference event. At present, the signal feature extraction methods of these two types of events are usually designed from the view of the time domain. However, the differences of time-domain characteristics for different harmful intrusion events are not obvious, which cannot reflect the diversity of them in detail. We find that the spectrum distribution of different intrusion signals has obvious differences. For this reason, the intrusion signal is transformed into the frequency domain. In this paper, an energy ratio feature extraction method of harmful intrusion event is drawn on. Firstly, the intrusion signals are pre-processed and the power spectral density (PSD) is calculated. Then, the energy ratio of different frequency bands is calculated, and the corresponding feature vector of each type of intrusion event is further formed. The linear discriminant analysis (LDA) classifier is used to identify the harmful intrusion events in the paper. Experimental results show that the algorithm improves the recognition rate of the intrusion signal, and further verifies the feasibility and validity of the algorithm.

Multivariate trajectories across multiple domains of health-related quality of life in children with new-onset epilepsy.

PubMed

Sajobi, Tolulope T; Wang, Meng; Ferro, Mark A; Brobbey, Anita; Goodwin, Shane; Speechley, Kathy N; Wiebe, Samuel

2017-10-01

The diagnosis of epilepsy in children is known to impact the trajectory of their health-related quality of life (HRQOL) over time. However, there is limited knowledge about variations in longitudinal trajectories across multiple domains of HRQOL. This study aims to characterize the heterogeneity in HRQOL trajectories across multiple HRQOL domains and to evaluate predictors of differences among the identified trajectory groups in children with new-onset epilepsy. Data were obtained from the Health Related Quality of Life in Children with Epilepsy Study (HERQULES), a prospective multi-center study of 373 children newly diagnosed with new-onset epilepsy who were followed up over 2years. Child HRQOL and family factors were reported by parents, and clinical characteristics were reported by neurologists. Group-based multi-trajectory modeling was adopted to characterize longitudinal trajectories of HRQOL as measured by the individual domains of cognitive, emotional, physical, and social functioning in the 55-item Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE-55). Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess potential factors that explain differences among the identified latent trajectory groups. Three distinct HRQOL trajectory subgroups were identified in children with new-onset epilepsy based on HRQOL scores: "High" (44.7%), "Intermediate" (37.0%), and "Low" (18.3%). While most trajectory groups exhibited increasing scores over time on physical and social domains, both flat and declining trajectories were noted on emotional and cognitive domains. Less severe epilepsy, an absence of cognitive and behavioral problems, lower parental depression scores, better family functioning, and fewer family demands were associated with a "Higher" or "Intermediate" HRQOL trajectory. The course of HRQOL over time in children with new-onset epilepsy appears to follow one of three different trajectories. Addressing the clinical and psychosocial determinants identified for each pattern can help clinicians provide more targeted care to these children and their families. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sensitivity to Mental Effort and Test-Retest Reliability of Heart Rate Variability Measures in Healthy Seniors

PubMed Central

Mukherjee, Shalini; Yadav, Rajeev; Yung, Iris; Zajdel, Daniel P.; Oken, Barry S.

2011-01-01

Objectives To determine 1) whether heart rate variability (HRV) was a sensitive and reliable measure in mental effort tasks carried out by healthy seniors and 2) whether non-linear approaches to HRV analysis, in addition to traditional time and frequency domain approaches were useful to study such effects. Methods Forty healthy seniors performed two visual working memory tasks requiring different levels of mental effort, while ECG was recorded. They underwent the same tasks and recordings two weeks later. Traditional and 13 non-linear indices of HRV including Poincaré, entropy and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) were determined. Results Time domain (especially mean R-R interval/RRI), frequency domain and, among nonlinear parameters- Poincaré and DFA were the most reliable indices. Mean RRI, time domain and Poincaré were also the most sensitive to different mental effort task loads and had the largest effect size. Conclusions Overall, linear measures were the most sensitive and reliable indices to mental effort. In non-linear measures, Poincaré was the most reliable and sensitive, suggesting possible usefulness as an independent marker in cognitive function tasks in healthy seniors. Significance A large number of HRV parameters was both reliable as well as sensitive indices of mental effort, although the simple linear methods were the most sensitive. PMID:21459665

Pulse analysis of acoustic emission signals. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houghton, J. R.

1976-01-01

A method for the signature analysis of pulses in the frequency domain and the time domain is presented. Fourier spectrum, Fourier transfer function, shock spectrum and shock spectrum ratio are examined in the frequency domain analysis, and pulse shape deconvolution is developed for use in the time domain analysis. To demonstrate the relative sensitivity of each of the methods to small changes in the pulse shape, signatures of computer modeled systems with analytical pulses are presented. Optimization techniques are developed and used to indicate the best design parameters values for deconvolution of the pulse shape. Several experiments are presented that test the pulse signature analysis methods on different acoustic emission sources. These include acoustic emissions associated with: (1) crack propagation, (2) ball dropping on a plate, (3) spark discharge and (4) defective and good ball bearings.

Mobility-induced persistent chimera states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrungaro, Gabriela; Uriu, Koichiro; Morelli, Luis G.

2017-12-01

We study the dynamics of mobile, locally coupled identical oscillators in the presence of coupling delays. We find different kinds of chimera states in which coherent in-phase and antiphase domains coexist with incoherent domains. These chimera states are dynamic and can persist for long times for intermediate mobility values. We discuss the mechanisms leading to the formation of these chimera states in different mobility regimes. This finding could be relevant for natural and technological systems composed of mobile communicating agents.

Direct observation of electron emission and recombination processes by time domain measurements of charge pumping current

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hori, Masahiro, E-mail: hori@eng.u-toyama.ac.jp; Watanabe, Tokinobu; Ono, Yukinori

2015-01-26

To analyze the charge pumping (CP) sequence in detail, the source/drain electron current and the substrate hole current under the CP mode of transistors are simultaneously monitored in the time domain. Peaks are observed in both the electron and hole currents, which are, respectively, attributed to the electron emission from the interface defects and to the recombination with holes. The peak caused by the electron emission is found to consist of two components, strongly suggesting that the present time-domain measurement can enable us to resolve different kinds of interface defects. Investigating the correlation between the number of emitted and recombinedmore » electrons reveals that only one of the two components contributes to the CP current for the gate-pulse fall time from 6.25 × 10{sup −4} to 1.25 × 10{sup −2} s.« less

Discrimination of Temperature and Strain in Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis Using a Multicore Optical Fiber

PubMed Central

Zaghloul, Mohamed A. S.; Wang, Mohan; Milione, Giovanni; Li, Ming-Jun; Li, Shenping; Huang, Yue-Kai; Wang, Ting; Chen, Kevin P.

2018-01-01

Brillouin optical time domain analysis is the sensing of temperature and strain changes along an optical fiber by measuring the frequency shift changes of Brillouin backscattering. Because frequency shift changes are a linear combination of temperature and strain changes, their discrimination is a challenge. Here, a multicore optical fiber that has two cores is fabricated. The differences between the cores’ temperature and strain coefficients are such that temperature (strain) changes can be discriminated with error amplification factors of 4.57 °C/MHz (69.11 μϵ/MHz), which is 2.63 (3.67) times lower than previously demonstrated. As proof of principle, using the multicore optical fiber and a commercial Brillouin optical time domain analyzer, the temperature (strain) changes of a thermally expanding metal cylinder are discriminated with an error of 0.24% (3.7%). PMID:29649148

Time-frequency domain SNR estimation and its application in seismic data processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yan; Liu, Yang; Li, Xuxuan; Jiang, Nansen

2014-08-01

Based on an approach estimating frequency domain signal-to-noise ratio (FSNR), we propose a method to evaluate time-frequency domain signal-to-noise ratio (TFSNR). This method adopts short-time Fourier transform (STFT) to estimate instantaneous power spectrum of signal and noise, and thus uses their ratio to compute TFSNR. Unlike FSNR describing the variation of SNR with frequency only, TFSNR depicts the variation of SNR with time and frequency, and thus better handles non-stationary seismic data. By considering TFSNR, we develop methods to improve the effects of inverse Q filtering and high frequency noise attenuation in seismic data processing. Inverse Q filtering considering TFSNR can better solve the problem of amplitude amplification of noise. The high frequency noise attenuation method considering TFSNR, different from other de-noising methods, distinguishes and suppresses noise using an explicit criterion. Examples of synthetic and real seismic data illustrate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Discrimination of Temperature and Strain in Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis Using a Multicore Optical Fiber.

PubMed

Zaghloul, Mohamed A S; Wang, Mohan; Milione, Giovanni; Li, Ming-Jun; Li, Shenping; Huang, Yue-Kai; Wang, Ting; Chen, Kevin P

2018-04-12

Brillouin optical time domain analysis is the sensing of temperature and strain changes along an optical fiber by measuring the frequency shift changes of Brillouin backscattering. Because frequency shift changes are a linear combination of temperature and strain changes, their discrimination is a challenge. Here, a multicore optical fiber that has two cores is fabricated. The differences between the cores' temperature and strain coefficients are such that temperature (strain) changes can be discriminated with error amplification factors of 4.57 °C/MHz (69.11 μ ϵ /MHz), which is 2.63 (3.67) times lower than previously demonstrated. As proof of principle, using the multicore optical fiber and a commercial Brillouin optical time domain analyzer, the temperature (strain) changes of a thermally expanding metal cylinder are discriminated with an error of 0.24% (3.7%).

Chaotic one-dimensional domains induced by periodic potentials in normal-dispersion fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urzagasti, Deterlino; Vargas, Bryan A.; Quispe-Flores, Luzmila A.

2017-10-01

We investigate numerically the effects of external time-periodic potentials on time-localized perturbations to the amplitude of electromagnetic waves propagating in normal-dispersion fiber lasers which are described by the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation. Two main effects were found: The formation of domains enclosed by two maxima of the external periodic field and the generation of a chaotic behavior of these domains in the region of relatively high amplitudes and low frequencies of the external fields. Maps and bifurcation diagrams of the largest Lyapunov exponent and moments, such as energy and momentum, are also provided for different values of the amplitude and frequency of such external potentials.

Structural analyses of von Willebrand factor C domains of collagen 2A and CCN3 reveal an alternative mode of binding to bone morphogenetic protein-2.

PubMed

Xu, Emma-Ruoqi; Blythe, Emily E; Fischer, Gerhard; Hyvönen, Marko

2017-07-28

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are secreted growth factors that promote differentiation processes in embryogenesis and tissue development. Regulation of BMP signaling involves binding to a variety of extracellular proteins, among which are many von Willebrand factor C (vWC) domain-containing proteins. Although the crystal structure of the complex of crossveinless-2 (CV-2) vWC1 and BMP-2 previously revealed one mode of the vWC/BMP-binding mechanism, other vWC domains may bind to BMP differently. Here, using X-ray crystallography, we present for the first time structures of the vWC domains of two proteins thought to interact with BMP-2: collagen IIA and matricellular protein CCN3. We found that these two vWC domains share a similar N-terminal fold that differs greatly from that in CV-2 vWC, which comprises its BMP-2-binding site. We analyzed the ability of these vWC domains to directly bind to BMP-2 and detected an interaction only between the collagen IIa vWC and BMP-2. Guided by the collagen IIa vWC domain crystal structure and conservation of surface residues among orthologous domains, we mapped the BMP-binding epitope on the subdomain 1 of the vWC domain. This binding site is different from that previously observed in the complex between CV-2 vWC and BMP-2, revealing an alternative mode of interaction between vWC domains and BMPs. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Time-resolved single-shot terahertz time-domain spectroscopy for ultrafast irreversible processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhai, Zhao-Hui; Zhong, Sen-Cheng; Li, Jun; Zhu, Li-Guo; Meng, Kun; Li, Jiang; Liu, Qiao; Peng, Qi-Xian; Li, Ze-Ren; Zhao, Jian-Heng

2016-09-01

Pulsed terahertz spectroscopy is suitable for spectroscopic diagnostics of ultrafast events. However, the study of irreversible or single shot ultrafast events requires ability to record transient properties at multiple time delays, i.e., time resolved at single shot level, which is not available currently. Here by angular multiplexing use of femtosecond laser pulses, we developed and demonstrated a time resolved, transient terahertz time domain spectroscopy technique, where burst mode THz pulses were generated and then detected in a single shot measurement manner. The burst mode THz pulses contain 2 sub-THz pulses, and the time gap between them is adjustable up to 1 ns with picosecond accuracy, thus it can be used to probe the single shot event at two different time delays. The system can detect the sub-THz pulses at 0.1 THz-2.5 THz range with signal to noise ratio (SNR) of ˜400 and spectrum resolution of 0.05 THz. System design was described here, and optimizations of single shot measurement of THz pulses were discussed in detail. Methods to improve SNR were also discussed in detail. A system application was demonstrated where pulsed THz signals at different time delays of the ultrafast process were successfully acquired within single shot measurement. This time resolved transient terahertz time domain spectroscopy technique provides a new diagnostic tool for irreversible or single shot ultrafast events where dynamic information can be extracted at terahertz range within one-shot experiment.

Time-resolved single-shot terahertz time-domain spectroscopy for ultrafast irreversible processes.

PubMed

Zhai, Zhao-Hui; Zhong, Sen-Cheng; Li, Jun; Zhu, Li-Guo; Meng, Kun; Li, Jiang; Liu, Qiao; Peng, Qi-Xian; Li, Ze-Ren; Zhao, Jian-Heng

2016-09-01

Pulsed terahertz spectroscopy is suitable for spectroscopic diagnostics of ultrafast events. However, the study of irreversible or single shot ultrafast events requires ability to record transient properties at multiple time delays, i.e., time resolved at single shot level, which is not available currently. Here by angular multiplexing use of femtosecond laser pulses, we developed and demonstrated a time resolved, transient terahertz time domain spectroscopy technique, where burst mode THz pulses were generated and then detected in a single shot measurement manner. The burst mode THz pulses contain 2 sub-THz pulses, and the time gap between them is adjustable up to 1 ns with picosecond accuracy, thus it can be used to probe the single shot event at two different time delays. The system can detect the sub-THz pulses at 0.1 THz-2.5 THz range with signal to noise ratio (SNR) of ∼400 and spectrum resolution of 0.05 THz. System design was described here, and optimizations of single shot measurement of THz pulses were discussed in detail. Methods to improve SNR were also discussed in detail. A system application was demonstrated where pulsed THz signals at different time delays of the ultrafast process were successfully acquired within single shot measurement. This time resolved transient terahertz time domain spectroscopy technique provides a new diagnostic tool for irreversible or single shot ultrafast events where dynamic information can be extracted at terahertz range within one-shot experiment.

Comparison and Computational Performance of Tsunami-HySEA and MOST Models for the LANTEX 2013 scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González-Vida, Jose M.; Macías, Jorge; Mercado, Aurelio; Ortega, Sergio; Castro, Manuel J.

2017-04-01

Tsunami-HySEA model is used to simulate the Caribbean LANTEX 2013 scenario (LANTEX is the acronym for Large AtlaNtic Tsunami EXercise, which is carried out annually). The numerical simulation of the propagation and inundation phases, is performed with both models but using different mesh resolutions and nested meshes. Some comparisons with the MOST tsunami model available at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) are made. Both models compare well for propagating tsunami waves in open sea, producing very similar results. In near-shore shallow waters, Tsunami-HySEA should be compared with the inundation version of MOST, since the propagation version of MOST is limited to deeper waters. Regarding the inundation phase, a 1 arc-sec (approximately 30 m) resolution mesh covering all of Puerto Rico, is used, and a three-level nested meshes technique implemented. In the inundation phase, larger differences between model results are observed. Nevertheless, the most striking difference resides in computational time; Tsunami-HySEA is coded using the advantages of GPU architecture, and can produce a 4 h simulation in a 60 arcsec resolution grid for the whole Caribbean Sea in less than 4 min with a single general-purpose GPU and as fast as 11 s with 32 general-purpose GPUs. In the inundation stage with nested meshes, approximately 8 hours of wall clock time is needed for a 2-h simulation in a single GPU (versus more than 2 days for the MOST inundation, running three different parts of the island—West, Center, East—at the same time due to memory limitations in MOST). When domain decomposition techniques are finally implemented by breaking up the computational domain into sub-domains and assigning a GPU to each sub-domain (multi-GPU Tsunami-HySEA version), we show that the wall clock time significantly decreases, allowing high-resolution inundation modelling in very short computational times, reducing, for example, if eight GPUs are used, the wall clock time to around 1 hour. Besides, these computational times are obtained using general-purpose GPU hardware.

Interacting particle systems in time-dependent geometries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, A.; Ball, R. C.; Grosskinsky, S.; Somfai, E.

2013-09-01

Many complex structures and stochastic patterns emerge from simple kinetic rules and local interactions, and are governed by scale invariance properties in combination with effects of the global geometry. We consider systems that can be described effectively by space-time trajectories of interacting particles, such as domain boundaries in two-dimensional growth or river networks. We study trajectories embedded in time-dependent geometries, and the main focus is on uniformly expanding or decreasing domains for which we obtain an exact mapping to simple fixed domain systems while preserving the local scale invariance properties. This approach was recently introduced in Ali et al (2013 Phys. Rev. E 87 020102(R)) and here we provide a detailed discussion on its applicability for self-affine Markovian models, and how it can be adapted to self-affine models with memory or explicit time dependence. The mapping corresponds to a nonlinear time transformation which converges to a finite value for a large class of trajectories, enabling an exact analysis of asymptotic properties in expanding domains. We further provide a detailed discussion of different particle interactions and generalized geometries. All our findings are based on exact computations and are illustrated numerically for various examples, including Lévy processes and fractional Brownian motion.

Assessment of resting-state blood flow through anterior cerebral arteries using trans-cranial doppler recordings.

PubMed

Huang, Hanrui; Sejdić, Ervin

2013-12-01

Trans-cranial Doppler (TCD) recordings are used to monitor cerebral blood flow in the main cerebral arteries. The resting state is usually characterized by the mean velocity or the maximum Doppler shift frequency (an envelope signal) by insonating the middle cerebral arteries. In this study, we characterized cerebral blood flow in the anterior cerebral arteries. We analyzed both envelope signals and raw signals obtained from bilateral insonation. We recruited 20 healthy patients and conducted the data acquisition for 15 min. Features were extracted from the time domain, the frequency domain and the time-frequency domain. The results indicate that a gender-based statistical difference exists in the frequency and time-frequency domains. However, no handedness effect was found. In the time domain, information-theoretic features indicated that mutual dependence is higher in raw signals than in envelope signals. Finally, we concluded that insonation of the anterior cerebral arteries serves as a complement to middle cerebral artery studies. Additionally, investigation of the raw signals provided us with additional information that is not otherwise available from envelope signals. Use of direct trans-cranial Doppler raw data is therefore validated as a valuable method for characterizing the resting state. Copyright © 2013 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Studies in astronomical time series analysis. I - Modeling random processes in the time domain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scargle, J. D.

1981-01-01

Several random process models in the time domain are defined and discussed. Attention is given to the moving average model, the autoregressive model, and relationships between and combinations of these models. Consideration is then given to methods for investigating pulse structure, procedures of model construction, computational methods, and numerical experiments. A FORTRAN algorithm of time series analysis has been developed which is relatively stable numerically. Results of test cases are given to study the effect of adding noise and of different distributions for the pulse amplitudes. A preliminary analysis of the light curve of the quasar 3C 272 is considered as an example.

A new approach for measuring power spectra and reconstructing time series in active galactic nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yan-Rong; Wang, Jian-Min

2018-05-01

We provide a new approach to measure power spectra and reconstruct time series in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) based on the fact that the Fourier transform of AGN stochastic variations is a series of complex Gaussian random variables. The approach parametrizes a stochastic series in frequency domain and transforms it back to time domain to fit the observed data. The parameters and their uncertainties are derived in a Bayesian framework, which also allows us to compare the relative merits of different power spectral density models. The well-developed fast Fourier transform algorithm together with parallel computation enables an acceptable time complexity for the approach.

Father for the first time - development and validation of a questionnaire to assess fathers’ experiences of first childbirth (FTFQ)

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background A father’s experience of the birth of his first child is important not only for his birth-giving partner but also for the father himself, his relationship with the mother and the newborn. No validated questionnaire assessing first-time fathers' experiences during childbirth is currently available. Hence, the aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument to assess first-time fathers’ experiences of childbirth. Method Domains and items were initially derived from interviews with first-time fathers, and supplemented by a literature search and a focus group interview with midwives. The comprehensibility, comprehension and relevance of the items were evaluated by four paternity research experts and a preliminary questionnaire was pilot tested in eight first-time fathers. A revised questionnaire was completed by 200 first-time fathers (response rate = 81%) Exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis with varimax rotation was performed and multitrait scaling analysis was used to test scaling assumptions. External validity was assessed by means of known-groups analysis. Results Factor analysis yielded four factors comprising 22 items and accounting 48% of the variance. The domains found were Worry, Information, Emotional support and Acceptance. Multitrait analysis confirmed the convergent and discriminant validity of the domains; however, Cronbach’s alpha did not meet conventional reliability standards in two domains. The questionnaire was sensitive to differences between groups of fathers hypothesized to differ on important socio demographic or clinical variables. Conclusions The questionnaire adequately measures important dimensions of first-time fathers’ childbirth experience and may be used to assess aspects of fathers’ experiences during childbirth. To obtain the FTFQ and permission for its use, please contact the corresponding author. PMID:22594834

Father for the first time--development and validation of a questionnaire to assess fathers' experiences of first childbirth (FTFQ).

PubMed

Premberg, Åsa; Taft, Charles; Hellström, Anna-Lena; Berg, Marie

2012-05-17

A father's experience of the birth of his first child is important not only for his birth-giving partner but also for the father himself, his relationship with the mother and the newborn. No validated questionnaire assessing first-time fathers' experiences during childbirth is currently available. Hence, the aim of this study was to develop and validate an instrument to assess first-time fathers' experiences of childbirth. Domains and items were initially derived from interviews with first-time fathers, and supplemented by a literature search and a focus group interview with midwives. The comprehensibility, comprehension and relevance of the items were evaluated by four paternity research experts and a preliminary questionnaire was pilot tested in eight first-time fathers. A revised questionnaire was completed by 200 first-time fathers (response rate = 81%) Exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis with varimax rotation was performed and multitrait scaling analysis was used to test scaling assumptions. External validity was assessed by means of known-groups analysis. Factor analysis yielded four factors comprising 22 items and accounting 48% of the variance. The domains found were Worry, Information, Emotional support and Acceptance. Multitrait analysis confirmed the convergent and discriminant validity of the domains; however, Cronbach's alpha did not meet conventional reliability standards in two domains. The questionnaire was sensitive to differences between groups of fathers hypothesized to differ on important socio demographic or clinical variables. The questionnaire adequately measures important dimensions of first-time fathers' childbirth experience and may be used to assess aspects of fathers' experiences during childbirth. To obtain the FTFQ and permission for its use, please contact the corresponding author.

The Time-Domain Matched Filter and the Spectral-Domain Matched Filter in 1-Dimensional NMR Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Spencer, Richard G

2010-09-01

A type of "matched filter" (MF), used extensively in the processing of one-dimensional spectra, is defined by multiplication of a free-induction decay (FID) by a decaying exponential with the same time constant as that of the FID. This maximizes, in a sense to be defined, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the spectrum obtained after Fourier transformation. However, a different entity known also as the matched filter was introduced by van Vleck in the context of pulse detection in the 1940's and has become widely integrated into signal processing practice. These two types of matched filters appear to be quite distinct. In the NMR case, the "filter", that is, the exponential multiplication, is defined by the characteristics of, and applied to, a time domain signal in order to achieve improved SNR in the spectral domain. In signal processing, the filter is defined by the characteristics of a signal in the spectral domain, and applied in order to improve the SNR in the temporal (pulse) domain. We reconcile these two distinct implementations of the matched filter, demonstrating that the NMR "matched filter" is a special case of the matched filter more rigorously defined in the signal processing literature. In addition, two limitations in the use of the MF are highlighted. First, application of the MF distorts resonance ratios as defined by amplitudes, although not as defined by areas. Second, the MF maximizes SNR with respect to resonance amplitude, while intensities are often more appropriately defined by areas. Maximizing the SNR with respect to area requires a somewhat different approach to matched filtering.

Role of initial correlation in coarsening of a ferromagnet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, Saikat; Das, Subir K.

2015-06-01

We study the dynamics of ordering in ferromagnets via Monte Carlo simulations of the Ising model, employing the Glauber spin-flip mechanism, in space dimensions d = 2 and 3, on square and simple cubic lattices. Results for the persistence probability and the domain growth are discussed for quenches to various temperatures (Tf) below the critical one (Tc), from different initial temperatures Ti ≥ Tc. In long time limit, for Ti>Tc, the persistence probability exhibits power-law decay with exponents θ ≃ 0.22 and ≃ 0.18 in d = 2 and 3, respectively. For finite Ti, the early time behavior is a different power-law whose life-time diverges and exponent decreases as Ti → Tc. The two steps are connected via power-law as a function of domain length and the crossover to the second step occurs when this characteristic length exceeds the equilibrium correlation length at T = Ti. Ti = Tc is expected to provide a new universality class for which we obtain θ ≡ θc ≃ 0.035 in d = 2 and ≃0.105 in d = 3. The time dependence of the average domain size ℓ, however, is observed to be rather insensitive to the choice of Ti.

Effects of electrical stimulus composition on cardiac electrophysiology in a rodent model of electroconvulsive therapy.

PubMed

Singh, Nagendra Madan; Sathyaprabha, T N; Thirthalli, Jagadisha; Andrade, Chittaranjan

2018-01-01

No electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) study on humans or in animal models has so far examined whether differently composed electrical stimuli exert different cardiac electrophysiological effects at constant electrical dose. The subject is important because cardiac electrophysiological changes may provide indirect information about ECT seizure quality as modulated by stimulus composition. Adult female Wistar rats ( n = 20/group) received fixed, moderately suprathreshold (18 mC) electrical stimuli. This stimulus in each of eight groups was formed by varying pulse amplitude, pulse width, pulse frequency, and stimulus duration. The electrocardiogram was recorded, and time and frequency domain variables were examined in 30 s epochs in preictal (30 s before electroconvulsive shock [ECS]), early postictal (starting 15 s after stimulation), and late postictal (5 h after ECS) periods. Alpha for statistical significance was set at P < 0.01 to adjust for multiple hypothesis testing. Cardiac electrophysiological indices in the eight groups did not differ significantly at baseline. At both early and late postictal time points, almost no analysis yielded statistically significant differences between groups for four time domain variables, including heart rate and standard deviation of R-R intervals, and for six frequency domain variables, including low-frequency power, high-frequency power, and total power. Cardiac electrophysiological measures may not be helpful to identify differences in seizure quality that are driven by differences in the composition of electrical stimuli at constant, moderately suprathreshold electrical dose. The generalization of this conclusion to threshold electrical doses and to human contexts requires a study.

Do men and their wives see it the same way? Congruence within couples during the first year of prostate cancer.

PubMed

Ezer, Hélène; Chachamovich, Juliana L Rigol; Chachamovich, Eduardo

2011-02-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the psychosocial adjustment congruence within couples through the first year of prostate cancer experience, and to explore the personal variables that could predict congruence within couples. Eighty-one couples were interviewed at the time of diagnosis; 69 participated at 3 months and 61 at 12 months. Paired t-tests were used to examine dyadic congruence on seven domains of psychosocial adjustment. Repeated Measures ANOVAs were used to examine the congruence over time. Multiple regressions were used to determine whether mood disturbance, urinary and sexual bother, sense of coherence, and social support were predictors of congruence within couples on each of the adjustment domains. At time 1, couples had incongruent perceptions in 3 of 7 domains: health care, psychological, and social adjustment. Three months later, health care, psychological, and sexual domains showed incongruence within couples. One year after the diagnosis, there were incongruent perceptions only in sexual and psychological domains. There was little variation of the congruence within couples over time. Husbands and wives' mood disturbance, urinary and sexual bother, sense of coherence, and social support accounted for 25-63% of variance in couple congruence in the adjustment domains in the study periods. The findings suggested that there is couple congruence. Domains in which incongruence was observed are important targets for clinical interventions. Greater attention needs to be directed to assisting couples to recognize the differences between their perceptions, especially the ones related to the sexual symptoms and psychological distress. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Fairness of QoS supporting in optical burst switching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xuan, Xuelei; Liu, Hua; Chen, Chunfeng; Zhang, Zhizhong

2004-04-01

In this paper we investigate the fairness problem of offset-time-based quality of service (QoS) scheme proposed by Qiao and Dixit in optical burst switching (OBS) networks. In the proposed schemes, QoS relies on the fact that the requests for reservation further into the future, but for practical, benchmark offset-time of data bursts at the intermediate nodes is not equal to each other. Here, a new offset-time-based QoS scheme is introduced, where data bursts are classified according to their offset-time and isolated in the wavelength domain or time domain to achieve the parallel reservation. Through simulation, it is found that this scheme achieves fairness among data bursts with different priority.

A Comparison of Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings Solvers for Airframe Noise Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lockard, David P.

2002-01-01

This paper presents a comparison between two implementations of the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings equation for airframe noise applications. Airframe systems are generally moving at constant speed and not rotating, so these conditions are used in the current investigation. Efficient and easily implemented forms of the equations applicable to subsonic, rectilinear motion of all acoustic sources are used. The assumptions allow the derivation of a simple form of the equations in the frequency-domain, and the time-domain method uses the restrictions on the motion to reduce the work required to find the emission time. The comparison between the frequency domain method and the retarded time formulation reveals some of the advantages of the different approaches. Both methods are still capable of predicting the far-field noise from nonlinear near-field flow quantities. Because of the large input data sets and potentially large numbers of observer positions of interest in three-dimensional problems, both codes utilize the message passing interface to divide the problem among different processors. Example problems are used to demonstrate the usefulness and efficiency of the two schemes.

Rapid updating of optical arbitrary waveforms via time-domain multiplexing.

PubMed

Scott, R P; Fontaine, N K; Yang, C; Geisler, D J; Okamoto, K; Heritage, J P; Yoo, S J B

2008-05-15

We demonstrate high-fidelity optical arbitrary waveform generation with 5 GHz waveform switching via time-domain multiplexing. Compact, integrated waveform shapers based on silica arrayed-waveguide grating pairs with 10 GHz channel spacing are used to shape (line-by-line) two different waveforms from the output of a 10-mode x 10 GHz optical frequency comb generator. Characterization of the time multiplexer's complex transfer function (amplitude and phase) by frequency-resolved optical gating permits compensation of its impact on the switched waveforms and matching of the measured and target waveforms to better than G'=5%.

Dielectric properties of benzylamine in 1,2,6-hexanetriol mixture using time domain reflectometry technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swami, M. B.; Hudge, P. G.; Pawar, V. P.

The dielectric properties of binary mixtures of benzylamine-1,2,6-hexantriol mixtures at different volume fractions of 1,2,6-hexanetriol have been measured using Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) technique in the frequency range of 10 MHz to 30 GHz. Complex permittivity spectra were fitted using Havriliak-Negami equation. By using least square fit method the dielectric parameters such as static dielectric constant (ɛ0), dielectric constant at high frequency (ɛ∞), relaxation time τ (ps) and relaxation distribution parameter (β) were extracted from complex permittivity spectra at 25∘C. The intramolecular interaction of different molecules has been discussed using the Kirkwood correlation factor, Bruggeman factor. The Kirkwood correlation factor (gf) and effective Kirkwood correlation factor (geff) indicate the dipole ordering of the binary mixtures.

HRV Analysis to Identify Stages of Home-based Telerehabilitation Exercise.

PubMed

Jeong, In Cheol; Finkelstein, Joseph

2014-01-01

Spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) has been widely used to investigate activity of autonomous nervous system. Previous studies demonstrated potential of analysis of short-term sequences of heart rate data in a time domain for continuous monitoring of levels of physiological stress however the value of HRV parameters in frequency domain for monitoring cycling exercise has not been established. The goal of this study was to assess whether HRV parameters in frequency domain differ depending on a stage of cycling exercise. We compared major HRV parameters in high, low and very low frequency ranges during rest, height of exercise, and recovery during cycling exercise. Our results indicated responsiveness of frequency-domain indices to different phases of cycling exercise program and their potential in monitoring autonomic balance and stress levels as a part of a tailored home-based telerehabilitation program.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meng, F.; Banks, J. W.; Henshaw, W. D.

We describe a new partitioned approach for solving conjugate heat transfer (CHT) problems where the governing temperature equations in different material domains are time-stepped in a implicit manner, but where the interface coupling is explicit. The new approach, called the CHAMP scheme (Conjugate Heat transfer Advanced Multi-domain Partitioned), is based on a discretization of the interface coupling conditions using a generalized Robin (mixed) condition. The weights in the Robin condition are determined from the optimization of a condition derived from a local stability analysis of the coupling scheme. The interface treatment combines ideas from optimized-Schwarz methods for domain-decomposition problems togethermore » with the interface jump conditions and additional compatibility jump conditions derived from the governing equations. For many problems (i.e. for a wide range of material properties, grid-spacings and time-steps) the CHAMP algorithm is stable and second-order accurate using no sub-time-step iterations (i.e. a single implicit solve of the temperature equation in each domain). In extreme cases (e.g. very fine grids with very large time-steps) it may be necessary to perform one or more sub-iterations. Each sub-iteration generally increases the range of stability substantially and thus one sub-iteration is likely sufficient for the vast majority of practical problems. The CHAMP algorithm is developed first for a model problem and analyzed using normal-mode the- ory. The theory provides a mechanism for choosing optimal parameters in the mixed interface condition. A comparison is made to the classical Dirichlet-Neumann (DN) method and, where applicable, to the optimized- Schwarz (OS) domain-decomposition method. For problems with different thermal conductivities and dif- fusivities, the CHAMP algorithm outperforms the DN scheme. For domain-decomposition problems with uniform conductivities and diffusivities, the CHAMP algorithm performs better than the typical OS scheme with one grid-cell overlap. Lastly, the CHAMP scheme is also developed for general curvilinear grids and CHT ex- amples are presented using composite overset grids that confirm the theory and demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.« less

Thunder-induced ground motions: 1. Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Ting-L.; Langston, Charles A.

2009-04-01

Acoustic pressure from thunder and its induced ground motions were investigated using a small array consisting of five three-component short-period surface seismometers, a three-component borehole seismometer, and five infrasound microphones. We used the array to constrain wave parameters of the incident acoustic and seismic waves. The incident slowness differences between acoustic pressure and ground motions suggest that ground reverberations were first initiated somewhat away from the array. Using slowness inferred from ground motions is preferable to obtain the seismic source parameters. We propose a source equalization procedure for acoustic/seismic deconvolution to generate the time domain transfer function, a procedure similar to that of obtaining teleseismic earthquake receiver functions. The time domain transfer function removes the incident pressure time history from the seismogram. An additional vertical-to-radial ground motion transfer function was used to identify the Rayleigh wave propagation mode of induced seismic waves complementing that found using the particle motions and amplitude variations in the borehole. The initial motions obtained by the time domain transfer functions suggest a low Poisson's ratio for the near-surface layer. The acoustic-to-seismic transfer functions show a consistent reverberation series at frequencies near 5 Hz. This gives an empirical measure of site resonance that depends on the ratio of the layer velocity to layer thickness for earthquake P and S waves. The time domain transfer function approach by transferring a spectral division into the time domain provides an alternative method for studying acoustic-to-seismic coupling.

Career preferences and the work-family balance in medicine: gender differences among medical specialists.

PubMed

Heiliger, P J; Hingstman, L

2000-05-01

In this article career preferences of medical specialists in the Netherlands are analysed, based on a survey among the members of medical associations of five specialties. Four different career preferences were offered, each of which implied a possible variation in working hours. A questionnaire was sent to a random selected group of working specialists in general practice, internal medicine, anaesthesiology, ophthalmology and psychiatry. Logistic regressions were used to predict career preferences. Besides individual characteristics, work and home domain characteristics were taken into the analysis. Not surprisingly, the preference for career change in respect of working hours is higher among full-time MDs, especially women, than among part-time workers. In contradiction to what was expected, home domain characteristics did not predict a part-time preference for female, but for male MDs. One home domain characteristic, children's age, did predict the male part-time preference. Further gender differences were found in respect of the fit between actual and preferred working hours (A/P-fit). The majority of male MDs with a full-time preference had achieved an A/P-fit, whereas significantly less female MDs achieved their preferences. It was found that hospital-bound specialists are less positive towards part-time careers than other specialists. Furthermore, the change of working hours would imply a reduction in FTE for all specialties, if all preferences were met. Especially in hospital-bound specialisms it was not confirmed that the reduction in FTE would be low; this was found only in respect of interns. It may be concluded that individual preferences in career paths are very diverse. Personnel policy in medical specialties, especially in hospitals, will have to cope with changes in traditional vertical and age-related career paths. Flexible careers related to home domain determinants or other activities will reinforce a life cycle approach, in which the centrality of work is decreasing.

Rating knowledge sharing in cross-domain collaborative filtering.

PubMed

Li, Bin; Zhu, Xingquan; Li, Ruijiang; Zhang, Chengqi

2015-05-01

Cross-domain collaborative filtering (CF) aims to share common rating knowledge across multiple related CF domains to boost the CF performance. In this paper, we view CF domains as a 2-D site-time coordinate system, on which multiple related domains, such as similar recommender sites or successive time-slices, can share group-level rating patterns. We propose a unified framework for cross-domain CF over the site-time coordinate system by sharing group-level rating patterns and imposing user/item dependence across domains. A generative model, say ratings over site-time (ROST), which can generate and predict ratings for multiple related CF domains, is developed as the basic model for the framework. We further introduce cross-domain user/item dependence into ROST and extend it to two real-world cross-domain CF scenarios: 1) ROST (sites) for alleviating rating sparsity in the target domain, where multiple similar sites are viewed as related CF domains and some items in the target domain depend on their correspondences in the related ones; and 2) ROST (time) for modeling user-interest drift over time, where a series of time-slices are viewed as related CF domains and a user at current time-slice depends on herself in the previous time-slice. All these ROST models are instances of the proposed unified framework. The experimental results show that ROST (sites) can effectively alleviate the sparsity problem to improve rating prediction performance and ROST (time) can clearly track and visualize user-interest drift over time.

Research on the differences between 2-(2-Chlorophenyl)benzimidazole and 2-(4-Chlorophenyl)benzimidazole based on terahertz time domain spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Maojiang; Yang, Fei; Liu, Liping; Shen, Li; Hu, Pengfei; Zhang, Li; Su, Caixia

2018-05-01

Due to wide variety of biological and pharmacological activities of benzimidazole derivatives, the differences between 2-(2-Chlorophenyl)benzimidazole and 2-(4-Chlorophenyl) benzimidazole were researched by employing terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and density functional theory systematically. Although the only difference between their molecular configurations is the arrangement of chlorine atom on chlorophenyl ring, there are distinctive differences in their fingerprint spectra in the range of 0.2-2.5 THz, such as amount, amplitude, and frequency position of absorption peaks. The validity of these results was confirmed by the theoretical results simulated by using density functional theory. The possible reasons of these differences originate from the different van der Waals forces and the different dihedral angles of the molecules within crystal cell. These results indicate the importance of this spectral range as a conformational fingerprint region where even minor changes in the molecular configuration lead to major differences in its THz absorption.

Toward an optimisation technique for dynamically monitored environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shurrab, Orabi M.

2016-10-01

The data fusion community has introduced multiple procedures of situational assessments; this is to facilitate timely responses to emerging situations. More directly, the process refinement of the Joint Directors of Laboratories (JDL) is a meta-process to assess and improve the data fusion task during real-time operation. In other wording, it is an optimisation technique to verify the overall data fusion performance, and enhance it toward the top goals of the decision-making resources. This paper discusses the theoretical concept of prioritisation. Where the analysts team is required to keep an up to date with the dynamically changing environment, concerning different domains such as air, sea, land, space and cyberspace. Furthermore, it demonstrates an illustration example of how various tracking activities are ranked, simultaneously into a predetermined order. Specifically, it presents a modelling scheme for a case study based scenario, where the real-time system is reporting different classes of prioritised events. Followed by a performance metrics for evaluating the prioritisation process of situational awareness (SWA) domain. The proposed performance metrics has been designed and evaluated using an analytical approach. The modelling scheme represents the situational awareness system outputs mathematically, in the form of a list of activities. Such methods allowed the evaluation process to conduct a rigorous analysis of the prioritisation process, despite any constrained related to a domain-specific configuration. After conducted three levels of assessments over three separates scenario, The Prioritisation Capability Score (PCS) has provided an appropriate scoring scheme for different ranking instances, Indeed, from the data fusion perspectives, the proposed metric has assessed real-time system performance adequately, and it is capable of conducting a verification process, to direct the operator's attention to any issue, concerning the prioritisation capability of situational awareness domain.

Wave-vector and polarization dependent impedance model for a hexagonal periodic metasurface exemplified through finite-difference time-domain simulations.

PubMed

Ding, Yi S; He, Yang

2017-08-21

An isotropic impedance sheet model is proposed for a loop-type hexagonal periodic metasurface. Both frequency and wave-vector dispersion are considered near the resonance frequency. Therefore both the angle and polarization dependences of the metasurface impedance can be properly and simultaneously described in our model. The constitutive relation of this model is transformed into auxiliary differential equations which are integrated into the finite-difference time-domain algorithm. Finally, a finite large metasurface sample under oblique illumination is used to test the model and the algorithm. Our model and algorithm can significantly increase the accuracy of the homogenization methods for modeling periodic metasurfaces.

Spatially dispersive finite-difference time-domain analysis of sub-wavelength imaging by the wire medium slabs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yan; Belov, Pavel A.; Hao, Yang

2006-06-01

In this paper, a spatially dispersive finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to model wire media is developed and validated. Sub-wavelength imaging properties of the finite wire medium slabs are examined. It is demonstrated that the slab with its thickness equal to an integer number of half-wavelengths is capable of transporting images with sub-wavelength resolution from one interface of the slab to another. It is also shown that the operation of such transmission devices is not sensitive to their transverse dimensions, which can be made even comparable to the wavelength. In this case, the edge diffractions are negligible and do not disturb the image formation.

Development of a Finite-Difference Time Domain (FDTD) Model for Propagation of Transient Sounds in Very Shallow Water.

PubMed

Sprague, Mark W; Luczkovich, Joseph J

2016-01-01

This finite-difference time domain (FDTD) model for sound propagation in very shallow water uses pressure and velocity grids with both 3-dimensional Cartesian and 2-dimensional cylindrical implementations. Parameters, including water and sediment properties, can vary in each dimension. Steady-state and transient signals from discrete and distributed sources, such as the surface of a vibrating pile, can be used. The cylindrical implementation uses less computation but requires axial symmetry. The Cartesian implementation allows asymmetry. FDTD calculations compare well with those of a split-step parabolic equation. Applications include modeling the propagation of individual fish sounds, fish aggregation sounds, and distributed sources.

Fast time- and frequency-domain finite-element methods for electromagnetic analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Woochan

Fast electromagnetic analysis in time and frequency domain is of critical importance to the design of integrated circuits (IC) and other advanced engineering products and systems. Many IC structures constitute a very large scale problem in modeling and simulation, the size of which also continuously grows with the advancement of the processing technology. This results in numerical problems beyond the reach of existing most powerful computational resources. Different from many other engineering problems, the structure of most ICs is special in the sense that its geometry is of Manhattan type and its dielectrics are layered. Hence, it is important to develop structure-aware algorithms that take advantage of the structure specialties to speed up the computation. In addition, among existing time-domain methods, explicit methods can avoid solving a matrix equation. However, their time step is traditionally restricted by the space step for ensuring the stability of a time-domain simulation. Therefore, making explicit time-domain methods unconditionally stable is important to accelerate the computation. In addition to time-domain methods, frequency-domain methods have suffered from an indefinite system that makes an iterative solution difficult to converge fast. The first contribution of this work is a fast time-domain finite-element algorithm for the analysis and design of very large-scale on-chip circuits. The structure specialty of on-chip circuits such as Manhattan geometry and layered permittivity is preserved in the proposed algorithm. As a result, the large-scale matrix solution encountered in the 3-D circuit analysis is turned into a simple scaling of the solution of a small 1-D matrix, which can be obtained in linear (optimal) complexity with negligible cost. Furthermore, the time step size is not sacrificed, and the total number of time steps to be simulated is also significantly reduced, thus achieving a total cost reduction in CPU time. The second contribution is a new method for making an explicit time-domain finite-element method (TDFEM) unconditionally stable for general electromagnetic analysis. In this method, for a given time step, we find the unstable modes that are the root cause of instability, and deduct them directly from the system matrix resulting from a TDFEM based analysis. As a result, an explicit TDFEM simulation is made stable for an arbitrarily large time step irrespective of the space step. The third contribution is a new method for full-wave applications from low to very high frequencies in a TDFEM based on matrix exponential. In this method, we directly deduct the eigenmodes having large eigenvalues from the system matrix, thus achieving a significantly increased time step in the matrix exponential based TDFEM. The fourth contribution is a new method for transforming the indefinite system matrix of a frequency-domain FEM to a symmetric positive definite one. We deduct non-positive definite component directly from the system matrix resulting from a frequency-domain FEM-based analysis. The resulting new representation of the finite-element operator ensures an iterative solution to converge in a small number of iterations. We then add back the non-positive definite component to synthesize the original solution with negligible cost.

Associations of occupational, transportation, household and leisure-time physical activity patterns with metabolic risk factors among middle-aged adults in a middle-income country.

PubMed

Chu, Anne H Y; Moy, Foong Ming

2013-01-01

This study investigates physical activity in different domains and its association with metabolic risk factors among middle-aged adults. The study was performed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from August 2010-August 2011. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, systolic/diastolic blood pressure, and fasting blood glucose/lipid profile were measured in 686 Malay participants (mean age 45.9 ± 6.5 years). Self-reported physical activity was obtained with the validated IPAQ (Malay version) and categorized into low-, moderate- and high-activity levels across occupational, transportation, household and leisure-time domains. Participants spent most of their time on household (567.5, 95% CI: 510-630 MET-minutes/week) and occupational activities (297, 95% CI: 245-330 MET-minutes/week). After adjusted for gender and smoking, participants with low-activity levels in occupational, transport and household domains were associated with significantly higher odds for metabolic syndrome (2.02, 95% CI: 1.33-3.05; 1.49, 95% CI: 1.01-2.21; 1.96, 95% CI: 1.33-2.91). Significantly higher odds for obesity and abdominal obesity were consistently reported among those with low-activity levels across all four domains. High-activity levels in occupational, transportation and household domains were each negatively associated with metabolic syndrome among our cohort. Increase participation of physical activity across all four domains (including leisure-time activity) should be encouraged. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

TDR method for determine IC's parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Timoshenkov, V.; Rodionov, D.; Khlybov, A.

2016-12-01

Frequency domain simulation is a widely used approach for determine integrated circuits parameters. This approach can be found in most of software tools used in IC industry. Time domain simulation approach shows intensive usage last years due to some advantages. In particular it applicable for analysis of nonlinear and nonstationary systems where frequency domain is inapplicable. Resolution of time domain systems allow see heterogeneities on distance 1mm, determine it parameters and properties. Authors used approach based on detecting reflected signals from heterogeneities - time domain reflectometry (TDR). Field effect transistor technology scaling up to 30-60nm gate length and 10nm gate dielectric, heterojunction bi-polar transistors with 10-30nm base width allows fabricate digital IC's with 20GHz clock frequency and RF-IC's with tens GHz bandwidth. Such devices and operation speed suppose transit signal by use microwave lines. There are local heterogeneities can be found inside of the signal path due to connections between different parts of signal lines (stripe line-RF-connector pin, stripe line - IC package pin). These heterogeneities distort signals that cause bandwidth decrease for RF-devices. Time domain research methods of transmission and reflected signals give the opportunities to determine heterogeneities, it properties, parameters and built up equivalent circuits. Experimental results are provided and show possibility for inductance and capacitance measurement up to 25GHz. Measurements contains result of signal path research on IC and printed circuit board (PCB) used for 12GHz RF chips. Also dielectric constant versus frequency was measured up to 35GHz.

Rheological Models in the Time-Domain Modeling of Seismic Motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moczo, P.; Kristek, J.

2004-12-01

The time-domain stress-strain relation in a viscoelastic medium has a form of the convolutory integral which is numerically intractable. This was the reason for the oversimplified models of attenuation in the time-domain seismic wave propagation and earthquake motion modeling. In their pioneering work, Day and Minster (1984) showed the way how to convert the integral into numerically tractable differential form in the case of a general viscoelastic modulus. In response to the work by Day and Minster, Emmerich and Korn (1987) suggested using the rheology of their generalized Maxwell body (GMB) while Carcione et al. (1988) suggested using the generalized Zener body (GZB). The viscoelastic moduli of both rheological models have a form of the rational function and thus the differential form of the stress-strain relation is rather easy to obtain. After the papers by Emmerich and Korn and Carcione et al. numerical modelers decided either for the GMB or GZB rheology and developed 'non-communicating' algorithms. In the many following papers the authors using the GMB never commented the GZB rheology and the corresponding algorithms, and the authors using the GZB never related their methods to the GMB rheology and algorithms. We analyze and compare both rheologies and the corresponding incorporations of the realistic attenuation into the time-domain computations. We then focus on the most recent staggered-grid finite-difference modeling, mainly on accounting for the material heterogeneity in the viscoelastic media, and the computational efficiency of the finite-difference algorithms.

Comparison of Cartesian grid configurations for application of the finite-difference time-domain method to electromagnetic scattering by dielectric particles.

PubMed

Yang, Ping; Kattawar, George W; Liou, Kuo-Nan; Lu, Jun Q

2004-08-10

Two grid configurations can be employed to implement the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique in a Cartesian system. One configuration defines the electric and magnetic field components at the cell edges and cell-face centers, respectively, whereas the other reverses these definitions. These two grid configurations differ in terms of implication on the electromagnetic boundary conditions if the scatterer in the FDTD computation is a dielectric particle. The permittivity has an abrupt transition at the cell interface if the dielectric properties of two adjacent cells are not identical. Similarly, the discontinuity of permittivity is also observed at the edges of neighboring cells that are different in terms of their dielectric constants. We present two FDTD schemes for light scattering by dielectric particles to overcome the above-mentioned discontinuity on the basis of the electromagnetic boundary conditions for the two Cartesian grid configurations. We also present an empirical approach to accelerate the convergence of the discrete Fourier transform to obtain the field values in the frequency domain. As a new application of the FDTD method, we investigate the scattering properties of multibranched bullet-rosette ice crystals at both visible and thermal infrared wavelengths.

Topologically-associating domains are stable units of replication-timing regulation

PubMed Central

Pope, Benjamin D.; Ryba, Tyrone; Dileep, Vishnu; Yue, Feng; Wu, Weisheng; Denas, Olgert; Vera, Daniel L.; Wang, Yanli; Hansen, R. Scott; Canfield, Theresa K.; Thurman, Robert E.; Cheng, Yong; Gülsoy, Günhan; Dennis, Jonathan H.; Snyder, Michael P.; Stamatoyannopoulos, John A.; Taylor, James; Hardison, Ross C.; Kahveci, Tamer; Ren, Bing; Gilbert, David M.

2014-01-01

Summary Eukaryotic chromosomes replicate in a temporal order known as the replication-timing program1. During mammalian development, at least half the genome changes replication timing, primarily in units of 400–800 kb (“replication domains”; RDs), whose positions are preserved in different cell types, conserved between species, and appear to confine long-range effects of chromosome rearrangements2–7. Early and late replication correlate strongly with open and closed chromatin compartments identified by high-resolution chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C), and, to a lesser extent, lamina-associated domains (LADs)4,5,8,9. Recent Hi-C mapping has unveiled a substructure of topologically-associating domains (TADs) that are largely conserved in their positions between cell types and are similar in size to RDs8,10. However, TADs can be further sub-stratified into smaller domains, challenging the significance of structures at any particular scale11,12. Moreover, attempts to reconcile TADs and LADs to replication-timing data have not revealed a common, underlying domain structure8,9,13. Here, we localize boundaries of RDs to the early-replicating border of replication-timing transitions and map their positions in 18 human and 13 mouse cell types. We demonstrate that, collectively, RD boundaries share a near one-to-one correlation with TAD boundaries, whereas within a cell type, adjacent TADs that replicate at similar times obscure RD boundaries, largely accounting for the previously reported lack of alignment. Moreover, cell-type specific replication timing of TADs partitions the genome into two large-scale sub-nuclear compartments revealing that replication-timing transitions are indistinguishable from late-replicating regions in chromatin composition and lamina association and accounting for the reduced correlation of replication timing to LADs and heterochromatin. Our results reconcile cell type specific sub-nuclear compartmentalization with developmentally stable chromosome domains and offer a unified model for large-scale chromosome structure and function. PMID:25409831

The content of the work of clinical nurse specialists described by use of daily activity diaries.

PubMed

Oddsdóttir, Elín Jakobína; Sveinsdóttir, Herdís

2011-05-01

Evaluate the usefulness of the role of clinical nurse specialists and the content of their work by mapping their activities. The clinical work of advanced practice nursing differs in different countries, and a clear picture is lacking on what exactly advanced practice nurses do. Prospective exploratory study. The setting of the study was the largest hospital in Iceland where over half of the country's active nursing workforce are employed, including the only clinical nurse specialists. Of 19 clinical nurse specialists working at the hospital, 15 participated. Data were collected over seven days with a structured activity diary that lists 65 activities, classified into six roles and three domains. In 17 instances, the 'role activities' and 'domain activities' overlap and form 17 categories of practice. The clinical nurse specialists coded their activities at 15-minutes interval and could code up to four activities simultaneously. Daily, the clinical nurse specialists evaluated their clinical nurse specialist background. The roles that occupied the greatest proportion of the clinical nurse specialists' time were education, expert practice and 'other' activities, while the smallest proportions were in counselling, research and practice development. The domain they worked in most was the institutional domain, followed by the client/family domain and the clinical outcome management domain. All of the clinical nurse specialists reported working on two activities simultaneously, 11 of them on three activities and six on four activities. They self-assessed their background as clinical nurse specialists as being very useful. The activity diary is a useful tool for assessing the content of practice. Clinical nurse specialists spend too much time on activities related to the institution. Nurse managers are advised to provide clinical nurse specialists with ample time to develop the direct practice role in the client/family domain. The development of advanced nursing practice requires that clinical nurse specialists take an active and visible part in direct patient care. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Age Stereotypes and Self-Views Revisited: Patterns of Internalization and Projection Processes Across the Life Span.

PubMed

Kornadt, Anna E; Voss, Peggy; Rothermund, Klaus

2017-07-01

We investigated processes of age stereotype internalization into the self and projection of self-views onto age stereotypes from a life-span perspective, taking age-related differences in the relevance of life domains into account. Age stereotypes and self-views in eight life domains were assessed in a sample of N = 593 persons aged 30-80 years (T1) at two time points that were separated by a 4-year time interval. We estimated cross-lagged projection and internalization effects in multigroup structural equation models. Internalization and projection effects were contingent on age group and life domain: Internalization effects were strongest in the young and middle-aged groups and emerged in the domains family, personality, work, and leisure. Projection effects in different domains were most pronounced for older participants. Our findings suggest that the internalization of age stereotypes is triggered by domain-specific expectations of impending age-related changes and transitions during certain phases of the life span. Projection processes, however, seem to occur in response to changes that have already been experienced by the individual. Our study demonstrates the dynamic interrelation of age stereotypes and self-views across the life course and highlights the importance of a differentiated, life-span perspective for the understanding of these mechanisms. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Dielectric relaxation and hydrogen bonding interaction in xylitol-water mixtures using time domain reflectometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rander, D. N.; Joshi, Y. S.; Kanse, K. S.; Kumbharkhane, A. C.

2016-01-01

The measurements of complex dielectric permittivity of xylitol-water mixtures have been carried out in the frequency range of 10 MHz-30 GHz using a time domain reflectometry technique. Measurements have been done at six temperatures from 0 to 25 °C and at different weight fractions of xylitol (0 < W X ≤ 0.7) in water. There are different models to explain the dielectric relaxation behaviour of binary mixtures, such as Debye, Cole-Cole or Cole-Davidson model. We have observed that the dielectric relaxation behaviour of binary mixtures of xylitol-water can be well described by Cole-Davidson model having an asymmetric distribution of relaxation times. The dielectric parameters such as static dielectric constant and relaxation time for the mixtures have been evaluated. The molecular interaction between xylitol and water molecules is discussed using the Kirkwood correlation factor ( g eff ) and thermodynamic parameter.

Assessment of Time and Frequency Domain Parameters of Heart Rate Variability and Interictal Cardiac Rhythm Abnormalities in Drug-naïve Patients with Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy

PubMed Central

Kilinc, Ozden; Cincin, Altug; Pehlivan, Aslihan; Midi, Ipek; Kepez, Alper; Agan, Kadriye

2016-01-01

Background and Purpose: Epilepsy is a disease known to occur with autonomous phenomenons. Earlier studies indicate decreased heart rate variability (HRV) during ictal and interictal periods among epilepsy patients. In this study, we aim to investigate cardiac rhythm abnormalities and HRV during interictal period between drug-naïve patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and healthy control group. Methods: Twenty-six patients with IGE and 26 healthy individuals included in the study. In order to eliminate any structural cardiac pathology, transthoracic echocardiography was performed in all subjects and time and frequency domain parameters of HRV were evaluated after 24-hour rhythm holter monitoring. Results: Between two groups, no significant difference was detected in terms of mean heart rate and maximum duration between the start of the Q waves and the end of the T waves (QT intervals). In the time domain analysis of HRV, no statically significant difference was detected for standard deviation of all R - R intervals and root-mean-square of successive differences between patient and control group (p = 0,070 and p = 0,104 respectively). In the frequency domain analysis of HRV, patients tended to display lower total power and very low frequency power than did healthy subjects, but the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Our results suggest that there is no major effect of the epilepsy on HRV in patients with IGE. It should be emphasized that, in this study, HRV was evaluated only in patients with IGE and that the results are not proper to be generalized for patients with partial seizures. PMID:27390676

Adaptive Semantic and Social Web-based learning and assessment environment for the STEM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babaie, Hassan; Atchison, Chris; Sunderraman, Rajshekhar

2014-05-01

We are building a cloud- and Semantic Web-based personalized, adaptive learning environment for the STEM fields that integrates and leverages Social Web technologies to allow instructors and authors of learning material to collaborate in semi-automatic development and update of their common domain and task ontologies and building their learning resources. The semi-automatic ontology learning and development minimize issues related to the design and maintenance of domain ontologies by knowledge engineers who do not have any knowledge of the domain. The social web component of the personal adaptive system will allow individual and group learners to interact with each other and discuss their own learning experience and understanding of course material, and resolve issues related to their class assignments. The adaptive system will be capable of representing key knowledge concepts in different ways and difficulty levels based on learners' differences, and lead to different understanding of the same STEM content by different learners. It will adapt specific pedagogical strategies to individual learners based on their characteristics, cognition, and preferences, allow authors to assemble remotely accessed learning material into courses, and provide facilities for instructors to assess (in real time) the perception of students of course material, monitor their progress in the learning process, and generate timely feedback based on their understanding or misconceptions. The system applies a set of ontologies that structure the learning process, with multiple user friendly Web interfaces. These include the learning ontology (models learning objects, educational resources, and learning goal); context ontology (supports adaptive strategy by detecting student situation), domain ontology (structures concepts and context), learner ontology (models student profile, preferences, and behavior), task ontologies, technological ontology (defines devices and places that surround the student), pedagogy ontology, and learner ontology (defines time constraint, comment, profile).

Direct estimation of the permeation of topical excipients through artificial membranes and human skin with non-invasive Terahertz time-domain techniques.

PubMed

Lopez-Dominguez, Victor; Boix-Montañes, Antoni; Redo-Sanchez, Albert; Tejada-Palacios, Javier

2016-07-01

Drug permeation through skin, or a synthetic membrane, from locally acting pharmaceutical products can be influenced by the permeation behaviour of pharmaceutical excipients. Terahertz time-domain technology is investigated as a non-invasive method for a direct and accurate measurement of excipients permeation through synthetic membranes or human skin. A series of in-vitro release and skin permeation experiments of liquid excipients (e.g. propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol 400) has been conducted with vertical diffusion cells. The permeation profiles of excipients through different synthetic membranes or skin were obtained using Terahertz pulses providing a direct measurement. Corresponding permeation flux and permeability coefficient values were calculated based on temporal changes of the terahertz pulses. The influence of different experimental conditions, such as the polarity of the membrane and the viscosity of the permeant, was assessed in release experiments. Specific transmembrane flux values of those excipients were directly calculated with statistical differences between cases. Finally, an attempt to estimate the skin permeation of propylene glycol with this technique was also achieved. All these permeation results were likely comparable to those obtained by other authors with usual analytical techniques. Terahertz time-domain technology is shown to be a suitable technique for an accurate and non-destructive measurement of the permeation of liquid substances through different synthetic membranes or even human skin. © 2016 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Field-Polarity-Dependent Domain Growth in Epitaxial BaTiO 3 Films

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roth, Robert; Guo, Er-Jia; Rafique, Mohsin

The growth of circular tip-induced domains has been studied in epitaxial BaTiO 3 (BTO) films as a function of writing voltage and time using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). While abundant for Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 (PZT) films, such studies are rare for BTO. Strong relaxation of written domains is observed in the form of reduction of the PFM amplitude inside the area of written domains which occurs additionally to a decrease of the domain radius. The domain wall velocity observed for negative tip voltage is systematically smaller than that for positive tip voltage. Based on maps of the positive and negative switchingmore » fields, the effective driving field for both polarities has been estimated. The polarity-dependent effective field cannot account for the different velocities, indicating a polarity-dependent mobility of the domain walls.« less

Stress-based control of magnetic nanowire domain walls in artificial multiferroic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dean, J.; Bryan, M. T.; Schrefl, T.; Allwood, D. A.

2011-01-01

Artificial multiferroic systems, which combine piezoelectric and piezomagnetic materials, offer novel methods of controlling material properties. Here, we use combined structural and magnetic finite element models to show how localized strains in a piezoelectric film coupled to a piezomagnetic nanowire can attract and pin magnetic domain walls. Synchronous switching of addressable contacts enables the controlled movement of pinning sites, and hence domain walls, in the nanowire without applied magnetic field or spin-polarized current, irrespective of domain wall structure. Conversely, domain wall-induced strain in the piezomagnetic material induces a local potential difference in the piezoelectric, providing a mechanism for sensing domain walls. This approach overcomes the problems in magnetic nanowire memories of domain wall structure-dependent behavior and high power consumption. Nonvolatile random access or shift register memories based on these effects can achieve storage densities >1 Gbit/In2, sub-10 ns switching times, and power consumption <100 keV per operation.

Magnetic field control of 90°, 180°, and 360° domain wall resistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Majidi, Roya

2012-10-01

In the present work, we have compared the resistance of the 90°, 180°, and 360° domain walls in the presence of external magnetic field. The calculations are based on the Boltzmann transport equation within the relaxation time approximation. One-dimensional Néel-type domain walls between two domains whose magnetization differs by angle of 90°, 180°, and 360° are considered. The results indicate that the resistance of the 360° DW is more considerable than that of the 90° and 180° DWs. It is also found that the domain wall resistance can be controlled by applying transverse magnetic field. Increasing the strength of the external magnetic field enhances the domain wall resistance. In providing spintronic devices based on magnetic nanomaterials, considering and controlling the effect of domain wall on resistivity are essential.

Field-Polarity-Dependent Domain Growth in Epitaxial BaTiO 3 Films

DOE PAGES

Roth, Robert; Guo, Er-Jia; Rafique, Mohsin; ...

2018-03-23

The growth of circular tip-induced domains has been studied in epitaxial BaTiO 3 (BTO) films as a function of writing voltage and time using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). While abundant for Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 (PZT) films, such studies are rare for BTO. Strong relaxation of written domains is observed in the form of reduction of the PFM amplitude inside the area of written domains which occurs additionally to a decrease of the domain radius. The domain wall velocity observed for negative tip voltage is systematically smaller than that for positive tip voltage. Based on maps of the positive and negative switchingmore » fields, the effective driving field for both polarities has been estimated. The polarity-dependent effective field cannot account for the different velocities, indicating a polarity-dependent mobility of the domain walls.« less

Self-consistent field theory simulations of polymers on arbitrary domains

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ouaknin, Gaddiel, E-mail: gaddielouaknin@umail.ucsb.edu; Laachi, Nabil; Delaney, Kris

2016-12-15

We introduce a framework for simulating the mesoscale self-assembly of block copolymers in arbitrary confined geometries subject to Neumann boundary conditions. We employ a hybrid finite difference/volume approach to discretize the mean-field equations on an irregular domain represented implicitly by a level-set function. The numerical treatment of the Neumann boundary conditions is sharp, i.e. it avoids an artificial smearing in the irregular domain boundary. This strategy enables the study of self-assembly in confined domains and enables the computation of physically meaningful quantities at the domain interface. In addition, we employ adaptive grids encoded with Quad-/Oc-trees in parallel to automatically refinemore » the grid where the statistical fields vary rapidly as well as at the boundary of the confined domain. This approach results in a significant reduction in the number of degrees of freedom and makes the simulations in arbitrary domains using effective boundary conditions computationally efficient in terms of both speed and memory requirement. Finally, in the case of regular periodic domains, where pseudo-spectral approaches are superior to finite differences in terms of CPU time and accuracy, we use the adaptive strategy to store chain propagators, reducing the memory footprint without loss of accuracy in computed physical observables.« less

Financial Capacity Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Six-Month Longitudinal Study

PubMed Central

Dreer, Laura E.; DeVivo, Michael J.; Novack, Thomas A.; Marson, Daniel C.

2015-01-01

Objective To longitudinally investigate financial capacity (FC) following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Design Longitudinal study comparing FC in cognitively healthy adults and persons with moderate to severe TBI at time of acute hospitalization (Time 1) and at six months post injury (Time 2). Setting Inpatient brain injury rehabilitation unit. Participants Twenty healthy adult controls and 24 adult persons with moderate to severe TBI. Main Outcome Measures Participants were administered the Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI-9), a standardized instrument that measures performance on eighteen financial tasks, nine domains, and two global scores. Between and within group differences were examined for each FCI-9 domain and global scores. Using control group referenced cut scores, participants with TBI were also assigned an impairment rating (intact, marginal, or impaired) on each domain and global score. Results At Time 1, participants with TBI performed significantly below controls on the majority of financial variables tested. At Time 2, participants with TBI demonstrated within group improvement on both simple and complex financial skills, but continued to perform below adult controls on complex financial skills and both global scores. Group by time interactions were significant for five domains and both global scores. At Time 1, high percentages of participants with TBI were assigned either ‘marginal’ or ‘impaired’ ratings on the domains and global scores, with significant percentage increases of ‘intact’ ratings at Time 2. Conclusions Immediately following acute injury, persons with moderate to severe TBI show global impairment of FC. Findings indicate improvement of both simple and complex financial skills over a six month period, but continued impairment on more complex financial skills. Future studies should examine loss and recovery of FC following TBI over longer time periods and a wider range of injury severity. PMID:22369113

Spectral behavior of a terahertz quantum-cascade laser.

PubMed

Hensley, J M; Montoya, Juan; Allen, M G; Xu, J; Mahler, L; Tredicucci, A; Beere, H E; Ritchie, D A

2009-10-26

In this paper, the spectral behavior of two terahertz (THz) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) operating both pulsed and cw is characterized using a heterodyne technique. Both lasers emitting around 2.5 THz are combined onto a whisker contact Schottky diode mixer mounted in a corner cube reflector. The resulting difference frequency beatnote is recorded in both the time and frequency domain. From the frequency domain data, we measure the effective laser linewidth and the tuning rates as a function of both temperature and injection current and show that the current tuning behavior cannot be explained by temperature tuning mechanisms alone. From the time domain data, we characterize the intrapulse frequency tuning behavior, which limits the effective linewidth to approximately 5 MHz.

Attributing Variance in Supportive Care Needs during Cancer: Culture-Service, and Individual Differences, before Clinical Factors

PubMed Central

Fielding, Richard; Lam, Wendy Wing Tak; Shun, Shiow Ching; Okuyama, Toru; Lai, Yeur Hur; Wada, Makoto; Akechi, Tatsuo; Li, Wylie Wai Yee

2013-01-01

Background Studies using the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS) report high levels of unmet supportive care needs (SCNs) in psychological and less-so physical & daily living domains, interpreted as reflecting disease/treatment-coping deficits. However, service and culture differences may account for unmet SCNs variability. We explored if service and culture differences better account for observed SCNs patterns. Methods Hong Kong (n = 180), Taiwanese (n = 263) and Japanese (n = 109) CRC patients’ top 10 ranked SCNS-34 items were contrasted. Mean SCNS-34 domain scores were compared by sample and treatment status, then adjusted for sample composition, disease stage and treatment status using multivariate hierarchical regression. Results All samples were assessed at comparable time-points. SCNs were most prevalent among Japanese and least among Taiwanese patients. Japanese patients emphasized Psychological (domain mean = 40.73) and Health systems and information (HSI) (38.61) SCN domains, whereas Taiwanese and Hong Kong patients emphasized HSI (27.41; 32.92) and Patient care & support (PCS) (19.70; 18.38) SCN domains. Mean Psychological domain scores differed: Hong Kong = 9.72, Taiwan = 17.84 and Japan = 40.73 (p<0.03–0.001, Bonferroni). Other SCN domains differed only between Chinese and Japanese samples (all p<0.001). Treatment status differentiated Taiwanese more starkly than Hong Kong patients. After adjustment, sample origin accounted for most variance in SCN domain scores (p<0.001), followed by age (p = 0.01–0.001) and employment status (p = 0.01–0.001). Treatment status and Disease stage, though retained, accounted for least variance. Overall accounted variance remained low. Conclusions Health service and/or cultural influences, age and occupation differences, and less so clinical factors, differentially account for significant variation in published studies of SCNs. PMID:23741467

Effectiveness of clinical supervision of physiotherapists: a survey.

PubMed

Snowdon, David A; Millard, Geraldine; Taylor, Nicholas F

2015-04-01

Limited literature exists on the practice of clinical supervision (CS) of professional physiotherapists despite current Australian safety and quality health standards stating that CS is to be provided to all physiotherapists. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of CS of physiotherapists working in an Australian public health service. CS was measured using the allied health-specific 26-item modified Manchester Clinical Supervision Scale (MCSS-26). Subscales of the MCSS-26 were summed for three domain scores (normative, restorative and formative) and a total score was calculated, which was compared with the reported threshold score of 73 for effective supervision. Sixty registered physiotherapists (response rate 92%), working for a large metropolitan public health service, with six different site locations, completed the survey. The mean (± s.d.) total MCSS-26 score was 71.0 ± 14.3 (95% confidence interval (CI) 67.4-74.6). Hospital site was the only variable that had a significant effect on total MCSS-26 score (P=0.005); there was no effect for supervisor or supervisee experience, or hospital setting (acute vs subacute). Physiotherapists scored a significantly lower mean percentage MCSS-26 score on the normative domain compared with the restorative domain (mean difference 7.8%; 95% CI 2.9-12.7; P=0.002) and the formative domain (mean difference 9.6%; 95% CI 6.3-13.0; P<0.001). Of the two subscales that form the normative domain, 'finding time' had a significantly lower mean percentage MCSS-26 score than 'importance/value of CS' (mean difference 35.4%; 95% CI 31.3-39.4; P<0.001). Within this publicly funded physiotherapy department there was uncertainty about the effectiveness of CS, with more than half the physiotherapists rating their supervision as less than effective, suggesting there is opportunity for improvement in the practice of physiotherapy CS. Physiotherapists scored lowest in the normative domain, indicating that they found it difficult to find time for CS.

Predicting Negative Life Outcomes from Early Aggressive-Disruptive Behavior Trajectories: Gender Differences in Maladaptation across Life Domains

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradshaw, Catherine P.; Schaeffer, Cindy M.; Petras, Hanno; Ialongo, Nicholas

2010-01-01

Transactional theories of development suggest that displaying high levels of antisocial behavior early in life and persistently over time causes disruption in multiple life domains, which in turn places individuals at risk for negative life outcomes. We used longitudinal data from 1,137 primarily African American urban youth (49.1% female) to…

Electromagnetic fields produced by GSM cellular phones and heart rate variability.

PubMed

Parazzini, Marta; Ravazzani, Paolo; Tognola, Gabriella; Thuróczy, György; Molnar, Ferenc B; Sacchettini, Alessio; Ardesi, Gianluca; Mainardi, Luca Tommaso

2007-02-01

In this study, 26 healthy young volunteers were submitted to 900 MHz (2 W) GSM cellular phone exposure and to sham exposure in separate sessions. The study was designed to assess cardiac regulatory mechanism in different autonomic nervous system (ANS) states during exposure to low-intensity EMF. Rest-to-stand protocol was applied to evaluate ANS in quiet condition (rest, vagal prevalence) and after a sympathetic activation (stand). The procedure is conducted twice in a double-blind design: once with a genuine EMF exposure and once with a sham exposure (at least 24 h apart). During each session three-leads electrocardiograms were recorded and RR series extracted off-line. Time domain and frequency domain HRV parameters were calculated in every phase of the protocol and during different exposures. The analysis of the data show there was no statistically significant effect due to EMF exposure both on main (i.e., RR mean) and most of the other HRV parameters. A weak interaction between some HRV parameters (i.e., SDNN, TINN, and triangular index in time domain and LF power in frequency domain analysis) and RF exposure was observed and this effect seems to be gathered around the sympathetic response to stand.

Nonlinear data-driven identification of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells for diagnostic purposes: A Volterra series approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ritzberger, D.; Jakubek, S.

2017-09-01

In this work, a data-driven identification method, based on polynomial nonlinear autoregressive models with exogenous inputs (NARX) and the Volterra series, is proposed to describe the dynamic and nonlinear voltage and current characteristics of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The structure selection and parameter estimation of the NARX model is performed on broad-band voltage/current data. By transforming the time-domain NARX model into a Volterra series representation using the harmonic probing algorithm, a frequency-domain description of the linear and nonlinear dynamics is obtained. With the Volterra kernels corresponding to different operating conditions, information from existing diagnostic tools in the frequency domain such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and total harmonic distortion analysis (THDA) are effectively combined. Additionally, the time-domain NARX model can be utilized for fault detection by evaluating the difference between measured and simulated output. To increase the fault detectability, an optimization problem is introduced which maximizes this output residual to obtain proper excitation frequencies. As a possible extension it is shown, that by optimizing the periodic signal shape itself that the fault detectability is further increased.

A new principle technic for the transformation from frequency domain to time domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Ben-Qing

2017-03-01

A principle technic for the transformation from frequency domain to time domain is presented. Firstly, a special type of frequency domain transcendental equation is obtained for an expected frequency domain parameter which is a rational or irrational fraction expression. Secondly, the inverse Laplace transformation is performed. When the two time-domain factors corresponding to the two frequency domain factors at two sides of frequency domain transcendental equation are known quantities, a time domain transcendental equation is reached. At last, the expected time domain parameter corresponding to the expected frequency domain parameter can be solved by the inverse convolution process. Proceeding from rational or irrational fraction expression, all solving process is provided. In the meantime, the property of time domain sequence is analyzed and the strategy for choosing the parameter values is described. Numerical examples are presented to verify the proposed theory and technic. Except for rational or irrational fraction expressions, examples of complex relative permittivity of water and plasma are used as verification method. The principle method proposed in the paper can easily solve problems which are difficult to be solved by Laplace transformation.

Numerical results for near surface time domain electromagnetic exploration: a full waveform approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, H.; Li, K.; Li, X., Sr.; Liu, Y., Sr.; Wen, J., Sr.

2015-12-01

Time domain or Transient electromagnetic (TEM) survey including types with airborne, semi-airborne and ground play important roles in applicants such as geological surveys, ground water/aquifer assess [Meju et al., 2000; Cox et al., 2010], metal ore exploration [Yang and Oldenburg, 2012], prediction of water bearing structures in tunnels [Xue et al., 2007; Sun et al., 2012], UXO exploration [Pasion et al., 2007; Gasperikova et al., 2009] etc. The common practice is introducing a current into a transmitting (Tx) loop and acquire the induced electromagnetic field after the current is cut off [Zhdanov and Keller, 1994]. The current waveforms are different depending on instruments. Rectangle is the most widely used excitation current source especially in ground TEM. Triangle and half sine are commonly used in airborne and semi-airborne TEM investigation. In most instruments, only the off time responses are acquired and used in later analysis and data inversion. Very few airborne instruments acquire the on time and off time responses together. Although these systems acquire the on time data, they usually do not use them in the interpretation.This abstract shows a novel full waveform time domain electromagnetic method and our recent modeling results. The benefits comes from our new algorithm in modeling full waveform time domain electromagnetic problems. We introduced the current density into the Maxwell's equation as the transmitting source. This approach allows arbitrary waveforms, such as triangle, half-sine, trapezoidal waves or scatter record from equipment, being used in modeling. Here, we simulate the establishing and induced diffusion process of the electromagnetic field in the earth. The traditional time domain electromagnetic with pure secondary fields can also be extracted from our modeling results. The real time responses excited by a loop source can be calculated using the algorithm. We analyze the full time gates responses of homogeneous half space and two layered models with half sine current waveform as examples. We find the on time responses are quite sensitive to resistivity or depth changes. The results show the potential use of full waveform responses in time domain electromagnetic surveys.

Defined types of cortical interneurone structure space and spike timing in the hippocampus

PubMed Central

Somogyi, Peter; Klausberger, Thomas

2005-01-01

The cerebral cortex encodes, stores and combines information about the internal and external environment in rhythmic activity of multiple frequency ranges. Neurones of the cortex can be defined, recognized and compared on the comprehensive application of the following measures: (i) brain area- and cell domain-specific distribution of input and output synapses, (ii) expression of molecules involved in cell signalling, (iii) membrane and synaptic properties reflecting the expression of membrane proteins, (iv) temporal structure of firing in vivo, resulting from (i)–(iii). Spatial and temporal measures of neurones in the network reflect an indivisible unity of evolutionary design, i.e. neurones do not have separate structure or function. The blueprint of this design is most easily accessible in the CA1 area of the hippocampus, where a relatively uniform population of pyramidal cells and their inputs follow an instantly recognizable laminated pattern and act within stereotyped network activity patterns. Reviewing the cell types and their spatio-temporal interactions, we suggest that CA1 pyramidal cells are supported by at least 16 distinct types of GABAergic neurone. During a given behaviour-contingent network oscillation, interneurones of a given type exhibit similar firing patterns. During different network oscillations representing two distinct brain states, interneurones of the same class show different firing patterns modulating their postsynaptic target-domain in a brain-state-dependent manner. These results suggest roles for specific interneurone types in structuring the activity of pyramidal cells via their respective target domains, and accurately timing and synchronizing pyramidal cell discharge, rather than providing generalized inhibition. Finally, interneurones belonging to different classes may fire preferentially at distinct time points during a given oscillation. As different interneurones innervate distinct domains of the pyramidal cells, the different compartments will receive GABAergic input differentiated in time. Such a dynamic, spatio-temporal, GABAergic control, which evolves distinct patterns during different brain states, is ideally suited to regulating the input integration of individual pyramidal cells contributing to the formation of cell assemblies and representations in the hippocampus and, probably, throughout the cerebral cortex. PMID:15539390

Prediction of lamb carcass composition by impedance spectroscopy.

PubMed

Altmann, M; Pliquett, U; Suess, R; von Borell, E

2004-03-01

The objective of this study was to compare impedance spectroscopy with resistance measurements at a single frequency (50 kHz) for the prediction of lamb carcass composition. The impedance spectrum is usually recorded by measuring the complex impedance at various frequencies (frequency domain); however, in this study, we also applied the faster and simpler measurement in the time domain (application of a current step and measurement of the voltage response). The study was carried out on 24 male, German Black-headed Mutton lambs with an average BW of 45 kg. Frequency- and time domain-based impedance measurements were collected at 20 min and 24 h postmortem with different electrode placements. Real and imaginary parts at various frequencies were calculated from the locus diagram. Left sides were dissected into lean, fat, and bone, and right sides were ground to determine actual carcass composition. Crude fat, crude protein, and moisture were chemically analyzed on ground samples. Frequency- and time domain-based measurements did not provide the same absolute impedance values; however, the high correlations (P < 0.001) between these methods for the "real parts" showed that they ranked individuals in the same order. Most of the time domain data correlated higher to carcass composition than did the frequency domain data. The real parts of impedance showed correlations between -0.37 (P > 0.05) and -0.74 (P < 0.001) to water, crude fat, lean, and fatty tissue, whereas the relations to CP were much lower (from 0.00 to -0.47, P < 0.05). Electrode placements at different locations did not substantially improve the correlations with carcass composition. The "imaginary parts" of impedance were not suitable for the prediction of carcass composition. The highest accuracy (R2 = 0.66) was reached for the estimation of crude fat percentage by a regression equation with the time domain-based impedance measured at 24 h postmortem. Furthermore, there was not a clear superiority of measurements in a wide frequency range over a single frequency measurement at 50 kHz for the prediction of carcass composition. Even though we calculated the impedance at 50 kHz based on the locus diagram, which allowed for a high precision for predicting this impedance trait, single-frequency impedance devices typically used in practice cannot record the locus diagram and, therefore, exhibit a greater amount of uncertainty.

Sensitivity to mental effort and test-retest reliability of heart rate variability measures in healthy seniors.

PubMed

Mukherjee, Shalini; Yadav, Rajeev; Yung, Iris; Zajdel, Daniel P; Oken, Barry S

2011-10-01

To determine (1) whether heart rate variability (HRV) was a sensitive and reliable measure in mental effort tasks carried out by healthy seniors and (2) whether non-linear approaches to HRV analysis, in addition to traditional time and frequency domain approaches were useful to study such effects. Forty healthy seniors performed two visual working memory tasks requiring different levels of mental effort, while ECG was recorded. They underwent the same tasks and recordings 2 weeks later. Traditional and 13 non-linear indices of HRV including Poincaré, entropy and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) were determined. Time domain, especially mean R-R interval (RRI), frequency domain and, among non-linear parameters - Poincaré and DFA were the most reliable indices. Mean RRI, time domain and Poincaré were also the most sensitive to different mental effort task loads and had the largest effect size. Overall, linear measures were the most sensitive and reliable indices to mental effort. In non-linear measures, Poincaré was the most reliable and sensitive, suggesting possible usefulness as an independent marker in cognitive function tasks in healthy seniors. A large number of HRV parameters was both reliable as well as sensitive indices of mental effort, although the simple linear methods were the most sensitive. Copyright © 2011 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulation of the Dynamics of Isothermal Growth of Single-Layer Graphene on a Copper Catalyst in the Process of Chemical Vapor Deposition of Hydrocarbons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Futko, S. I.; Shulitskii, B. G.; Labunov, V. A.; Ermolaeva, E. M.

2018-01-01

A new kinetic model of isothermal growth of single-layer graphene on a copper catalyst as a result of the chemical vapor deposition of hydrocarbons on it at a low pressure has been developed on the basis of in situ measurements of the growth of graphene in the process of its synthesis. This model defines the synthesis of graphene with regard for the chemisorption and catalytic decomposition of ethylene on the surface of a copper catalyst, the diffusion of carbon atoms in the radial direction to the nucleation centers within the thin melted near-surface copper layer, and the nucleation and autocatalytic growth of graphene domains. It is shown that the time dependence of the rate of growth of a graphene domain has a characteristic asymmetrical bell-like shape. The dependences of the surface area and size of a graphene domain and the rate of its growth on the time at different synthesis temperatures and ethylene concentrations have been obtained. Time characteristics of the growth of graphene domains depending on the parameters of their synthesis were calculated. The results obtained can be used for determining optimum regimes of synthesis of graphene in the process of chemical vapor deposition of hydrocarbons on different catalysts with a low solubility of carbon.

Three sides to a story: Child, parent, and nurse perspectives on the child's experience during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

PubMed

Ullrich, Christina K; Rodday, Angie Mae; Bingen, Kristin M; Kupst, Mary Jo; Patel, Sunita K; Syrjala, Karen L; Harris, Lynnette L; Recklitis, Christopher J; Chang, Grace; Guinan, Eva C; Terrin, Norma; Tighiouart, Hocine; Phipps, Sean; Parsons, Susan K

2017-08-15

The experience of children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), including the ways in which different participants (ie, children, parents, and nurses) contribute to the overall picture of a child's experience, is poorly characterized. This study evaluated parent, child, and nurse perspectives on the experience of children during HSCT and factors contributing to interrater differences. Participants were enrolled in a multicenter, prospective study evaluating child and parent health-related quality of life over the year after HSCT. Children (n = 165) and their parents and nurses completed the Behavioral, Affective, and Somatic Experiences Scale (BASES) at baseline (before/during conditioning), 7 days after the stem cell infusion (day+7), and 21 days after the stem cell infusion (day+21). The BASES domains included Somatic Distress, Mood Disturbance, Cooperation, and Getting Along. Higher scores indicated more distress/impairment. Repeated measures models by domain assessed differences by raters and changes over time and identified other factors associated with raters' scores. Completion rates were high (≥73% across times and raters). Multivariate models revealed significant time-rater interactions, which varied by domain. For example, parent-rated Somatic Distress scores increased from baseline to day+7 and remained elevated at day+21 (P < .001); children's scores were lower than parents' scores across time points. Nurses' baseline scores were lower than parents' baseline scores, although by day+21 they were similar. Older child age was associated with higher Somatic Distress and Mood Disturbance scores. Worse parent emotional functioning was associated with lower scores across raters and domains except for Cooperation. Multirater assessments are highly feasible during HSCT. Ratings differ by several factors; considering ratings in light of such factors may deepen our understanding of the child's experience. Cancer 2017;123:3159-66. © 2017 American Cancer Society. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

A nodal domain theorem for integrable billiards in two dimensions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Samajdar, Rhine; Jain, Sudhir R., E-mail: srjain@barc.gov.in

Eigenfunctions of integrable planar billiards are studied — in particular, the number of nodal domains, ν of the eigenfunctions with Dirichlet boundary conditions are considered. The billiards for which the time-independent Schrödinger equation (Helmholtz equation) is separable admit trivial expressions for the number of domains. Here, we discover that for all separable and non-separable integrable billiards, ν satisfies certain difference equations. This has been possible because the eigenfunctions can be classified in families labelled by the same value of mmodkn, given a particular k, for a set of quantum numbers, m,n. Further, we observe that the patterns in a familymore » are similar and the algebraic representation of the geometrical nodal patterns is found. Instances of this representation are explained in detail to understand the beauty of the patterns. This paper therefore presents a mathematical connection between integrable systems and difference equations. - Highlights: • We find that the number of nodal domains of eigenfunctions of integrable, planar billiards satisfy a class of difference equations. • The eigenfunctions labelled by quantum numbers (m,n) can be classified in terms of mmodkn. • A theorem is presented, realising algebraic representations of geometrical patterns exhibited by the domains. • This work presents a connection between integrable systems and difference equations.« less

Quality of Life in and After Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation: A Longitudinal Multicenter Study

PubMed Central

Kennedy, P.; Elfström, M.L.; Ballert, C.S.

2014-01-01

Purpose: To investigate the changes in quality of life (QOL) in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their close persons during the first 2 years post injury. Method: Longitudinal multiple sample multiple wave panel design. Data included 292 patients recruited from Austrian British German Irish and Swiss specialist SCI rehabilitation centers and 55 of their close persons. Questionnaire booklets were administered at 6 weeks 12 weeks 1 year and 2 years after injury to both samples. Results: Study 1 investigated the WHOQOL-BREF domains in individuals with SCI and found differences mostly in the physical domain indicating that QOL increases for persons with SCI from onset. An effect of the culture was observed in the psychological and environmental domains with higher QOL scores in the German-speaking sample. Study 2 compared individuals with SCI to their close persons and found differences in the physical environmental and social domains over time. The scores on the psychological dimension did not significantly differ between the persons with SCI and their close persons over time. Conclusion: QOL measured by the WHOQOL-BREF shows that QOL changes during rehabilitation and after discharge. Apart from the physical dimension the persons with SCI and their close persons seem to experience a similar change in QOL. Further longitudinal research is suggested to clarify the mutual adjustment process of people with SCI and their close persons and to explore cultural differences in QOL between English-and German-speaking countries. PMID:25484566

Distributed fiber optical sensing of oxygen with optical time domain reflectometry.

PubMed

Eich, Susanne; Schmälzlin, Elmar; Löhmannsröben, Hans-Gerd

2013-05-31

In many biological and environmental applications spatially resolved sensing of molecular oxygen is desirable. A powerful tool for distributed measurements is optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) which is often used in the field of telecommunications. We combine this technique with a novel optical oxygen sensor dye, triangular-[4] phenylene (TP), immobilized in a polymer matrix. The TP luminescence decay time is 86 ns. The short decay time of the sensor dye is suitable to achieve a spatial resolution of some meters. In this paper we present the development and characterization of a reflectometer in the UV range of the electromagnetic spectrum as well as optical oxygen sensing with different fiber arrangements.

Distributed Fiber Optical Sensing of Oxygen with Optical Time Domain Reflectometry

PubMed Central

Eich, Susanne; Schmälzlin, Elmar; Löhmannsröben, Hans-Gerd

2013-01-01

In many biological and environmental applications spatially resolved sensing of molecular oxygen is desirable. A powerful tool for distributed measurements is optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) which is often used in the field of telecommunications. We combine this technique with a novel optical oxygen sensor dye, triangular-[4] phenylene (TP), immobilized in a polymer matrix. The TP luminescence decay time is 86 ns. The short decay time of the sensor dye is suitable to achieve a spatial resolution of some meters. In this paper we present the development and characterization of a reflectometer in the UV range of the electromagnetic spectrum as well as optical oxygen sensing with different fiber arrangements. PMID:23727953

Long-time asymptotic solution structure of Camassa-Holm equation subject to an initial condition with non-zero reflection coefficient of the scattering data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Chueh-Hsin; Yu, Ching-Hao; Sheu, Tony Wen-Hann

2016-10-01

In this article, we numerically revisit the long-time solution behavior of the Camassa-Holm equation ut - uxxt + 2ux + 3uux = 2uxuxx + uuxxx. The finite difference solution of this integrable equation is sought subject to the newly derived initial condition with Delta-function potential. Our underlying strategy of deriving a numerical phase accurate finite difference scheme in time domain is to reduce the numerical dispersion error through minimization of the derived discrepancy between the numerical and exact modified wavenumbers. Additionally, to achieve the goal of conserving Hamiltonians in the completely integrable equation of current interest, a symplecticity-preserving time-stepping scheme is developed. Based on the solutions computed from the temporally symplecticity-preserving and the spatially wavenumber-preserving schemes, the long-time asymptotic CH solution characters can be accurately depicted in distinct regions of the space-time domain featuring with their own quantitatively very different solution behaviors. We also aim to numerically confirm that in the two transition zones their long-time asymptotics can indeed be described in terms of the theoretically derived Painlevé transcendents. Another attempt of this study is to numerically exhibit a close connection between the presently predicted finite-difference solution and the solution of the Painlevé ordinary differential equation of type II in two different transition zones.

Message-passing-interface-based parallel FDTD investigation on the EM scattering from a 1-D rough sea surface using uniaxial perfectly matched layer absorbing boundary.

PubMed

Li, J; Guo, L-X; Zeng, H; Han, X-B

2009-06-01

A message-passing-interface (MPI)-based parallel finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) algorithm for the electromagnetic scattering from a 1-D randomly rough sea surface is presented. The uniaxial perfectly matched layer (UPML) medium is adopted for truncation of FDTD lattices, in which the finite-difference equations can be used for the total computation domain by properly choosing the uniaxial parameters. This makes the parallel FDTD algorithm easier to implement. The parallel performance with different processors is illustrated for one sea surface realization, and the computation time of the parallel FDTD algorithm is dramatically reduced compared to a single-process implementation. Finally, some numerical results are shown, including the backscattering characteristics of sea surface for different polarization and the bistatic scattering from a sea surface with large incident angle and large wind speed.

Investigation on wide-band scattering of a 2-D target above 1-D randomly rough surface by FDTD method.

PubMed

Li, Juan; Guo, Li-Xin; Jiao, Yong-Chang; Li, Ke

2011-01-17

Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) algorithm with a pulse wave excitation is used to investigate the wide-band composite scattering from a two-dimensional(2-D) infinitely long target with arbitrary cross section located above a one-dimensional(1-D) randomly rough surface. The FDTD calculation is performed with a pulse wave incidence, and the 2-D representative time-domain scattered field in the far zone is obtained directly by extrapolating the currently calculated data on the output boundary. Then the 2-D wide-band scattering result is acquired by transforming the representative time-domain field to the frequency domain with a Fourier transform. Taking the composite scattering of an infinitely long cylinder above rough surface as an example, the wide-band response in the far zone by FDTD with the pulsed excitation is computed and it shows a good agreement with the numerical result by FDTD with the sinusoidal illumination. Finally, the normalized radar cross section (NRCS) from a 2-D target above 1-D rough surface versus the incident frequency, and the representative scattered fields in the far zone versus the time are analyzed in detail.

Real-time deformation of human soft tissues: A radial basis meshless 3D model based on Marquardt's algorithm.

PubMed

Zhou, Jianyong; Luo, Zu; Li, Chunquan; Deng, Mi

2018-01-01

When the meshless method is used to establish the mathematical-mechanical model of human soft tissues, it is necessary to define the space occupied by human tissues as the problem domain and the boundary of the domain as the surface of those tissues. Nodes should be distributed in both the problem domain and on the boundaries. Under external force, the displacement of the node is computed by the meshless method to represent the deformation of biological soft tissues. However, computation by the meshless method consumes too much time, which will affect the simulation of real-time deformation of human tissues in virtual surgery. In this article, the Marquardt's Algorithm is proposed to fit the nodal displacement at the problem domain's boundary and obtain the relationship between surface deformation and force. When different external forces are applied, the deformation of soft tissues can be quickly obtained based on this relationship. The analysis and discussion show that the improved model equations with Marquardt's Algorithm not only can simulate the deformation in real-time but also preserve the authenticity of the deformation model's physical properties. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions and gender dynamics: A qualitative study in Nepal.

PubMed

Kjeldsberg, Cecilie; Shrestha, Niva; Patel, Miti; Davis, Dale; Mundy, Gary; Cunningham, Kenda

2018-03-24

Undernutrition and low women's status persist as major development obstacles in South Asia and specifically, Nepal. Multi-sectoral approaches, including nutrition-sensitive agriculture, are potential avenues for further reductions in undernutrition. Although evidence is growing, many questions remain regarding how gender mediates the translation of agricultural production activities into nutritional benefit. In this study, we examined how gender influences the pathway from agricultural production to improved income and control of income, with a focus on five domains of empowerment: decision-making power, freedom of mobility, social support, workload and time, and self-efficacy. For this, we conducted a qualitative retrospective assessment (N = 10 FGDs) among 73 beneficiary women of a nutrition-sensitive agriculture programme implemented from 2008 to 2012 in two districts of Nepal-Baitadi and Kailali. We found that women reported increased decision-making power, new knowledge and skills, increased recognition by their family members of their new knowledge and contributions, and self-efficacy as farmers and sellers, whereas workload and time were the most consistent constraints noted. We also found that each empowerment domain operated differently at different stages of the pathway, sometimes representing barriers and at other times, opportunities and that the interconnectedness of the domains made them difficult to disentangle in practice. Finally, there were major contextual differences for some domains (e.g., freedom of mobility) between the two districts. Future policies and programmes need to include in-depth formative research to ensure that interventions address context-specific gender and social norms to maximise programmatic opportunities to achieve desired results. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Simulation of subwavelength metallic gratings using a new implementation of the recursive convolution finite-difference time-domain algorithm.

PubMed

Banerjee, Saswatee; Hoshino, Tetsuya; Cole, James B

2008-08-01

We introduce a new implementation of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) algorithm with recursive convolution (RC) for first-order Drude metals. We implemented RC for both Maxwell's equations for light polarized in the plane of incidence (TM mode) and the wave equation for light polarized normal to the plane of incidence (TE mode). We computed the Drude parameters at each wavelength using the measured value of the dielectric constant as a function of the spatial and temporal discretization to ensure both the accuracy of the material model and algorithm stability. For the TE mode, where Maxwell's equations reduce to the wave equation (even in a region of nonuniform permittivity) we introduced a wave equation formulation of RC-FDTD. This greatly reduces the computational cost. We used our methods to compute the diffraction characteristics of metallic gratings in the visible wavelength band and compared our results with frequency-domain calculations.

Age, distribution and style of deformation in Alaska north of 60°N: Implications for assembly of Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Thomas; Box, Stephen E.

2016-01-01

The structural architecture of Alaska is the product of a complex history of deformation along both the Cordilleran and Arctic margins of North America involving oceanic plates, subduction zones and strike-slip faults and with continental elements of Laurentia, Baltica, and Siberia. We use geological constraints to assign regions of deformation to 14 time intervals and to map their distributions in Alaska. Alaska can be divided into three domains with differing deformational histories. Each domain includes a crustal fragment that originated near Early Paleozoic Baltica. The Northern domain experienced the Early Cretaceous Brookian orogeny, an oceanic arc-continent collision, followed by mid-Cretaceous extension. Early Cretaceous opening of the oceanic Canada Basin rifted the orogen from the Canadian Arctic margin, producing the bent trends of the orogen. The second (Southern) domain consists of Neoproterozoic and younger crust of the amalgamated Peninsular-Wrangellia-Alexander arc terrane and its paired Mesozoic accretionary prism facing the Pacific Ocean basin. The third (Interior) domain, situated between the first two domains and roughly bounded by the Cenozoic dextral Denali and Tintina faults, includes the large continental Yukon Composite and Farewell terranes having different Permian deformational episodes. Although a shared deformation that might mark their juxtaposition by collisional processes is unrecognized, sedimentary linkage between the two terranes and depositional overlap of the boundary with the Northern domain occurred by early Late Cretaceous. Late Late Cretaceous deformation is the first deformation shared by all three domains and correlates temporally with emplacement of the Southern domain against the remainder of Alaska. Early Cenozoic shortening is mild across interior Alaska but is significant in the Brooks Range, and correlates in time with dextral faulting, ridge subduction and counter-clockwise rotation of southern Alaska. Late Cenozoic shortening is significant in southern Alaska inboard of the underthrusting Yakutat terrane at the Pacific margin and in northeastern Alaska.

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Prospective Mathematics Teacher in Three Dimensional Material Based on Sex Differences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aqib, M. A.; Budiarto, M. T.; Wijayanti, P.

2018-01-01

The effectiveness of learning in this era can be seen from 3 factors such as: technology, content, and pedagogy that covered in Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK). This research was a qualitative research which aimed to describe each domain from TPCK include Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Technological Knowledge, Technological Content Knowledge, Technological Pedagogical Knowledge and Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge. The subjects of this research were male and female mathematics college students at least 5th semester who has almost the same ability for some course like innovative learning, innovative learning II, school mathematics I, school mathematics II, computer applications and instructional media. Research began by spreading the questionnaire of subject then continued with the assignment and interview. The obtained data was validated by time triangulation.This research has result that male and female prospective teacher was relatively same for Content Knowledge and Pedagogical Knowledge domain. While it was difference in the Technological Knowledge domain. The difference in this domain certainly has an impact on other domains that has technology components on it. Although it can be minimized by familiarizing the technology.

Applying data mining techniques to medical time series: an empirical case study in electroencephalography and stabilometry.

PubMed

Anguera, A; Barreiro, J M; Lara, J A; Lizcano, D

2016-01-01

One of the major challenges in the medical domain today is how to exploit the huge amount of data that this field generates. To do this, approaches are required that are capable of discovering knowledge that is useful for decision making in the medical field. Time series are data types that are common in the medical domain and require specialized analysis techniques and tools, especially if the information of interest to specialists is concentrated within particular time series regions, known as events. This research followed the steps specified by the so-called knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) process to discover knowledge from medical time series derived from stabilometric (396 series) and electroencephalographic (200) patient electronic health records (EHR). The view offered in the paper is based on the experience gathered as part of the VIIP project. Knowledge discovery in medical time series has a number of difficulties and implications that are highlighted by illustrating the application of several techniques that cover the entire KDD process through two case studies. This paper illustrates the application of different knowledge discovery techniques for the purposes of classification within the above domains. The accuracy of this application for the two classes considered in each case is 99.86% and 98.11% for epilepsy diagnosis in the electroencephalography (EEG) domain and 99.4% and 99.1% for early-age sports talent classification in the stabilometry domain. The KDD techniques achieve better results than other traditional neural network-based classification techniques.

Research on the Effect of Electrical Signals on Growth of Sansevieria under Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Lighting Environment.

PubMed

Tian, Liguo; Meng, Qinghao; Wang, Liping; Dong, Jianghui; Wu, Hai

2015-01-01

The plant electrical signal has some features, e.g. weak, low-frequency and time-varying. To detect changes in plant electrical signals, LED light source was used to create a controllable light environment in this study. The electrical signal data were collected from Sansevieria leaves under the different illumination conditions, and the data was analyzed in time domain, frequency domain and time-frequency domain, respectively. These analyses are helpful to explore the relationship between changes in the light environment and electrical signals in Sansevieria leaves. The changes in the plant electrical signal reflected the changes in the intensity of photosynthesis. In this study, we proposed a new method to express plant photosynthetic intensity as a function of the electrical signal. That is, the plant electrical signal can be used to describe the state of plant growth.

Terahertz photonic crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jian, Zhongping

This thesis describes the study of two-dimensional photonic crystals slabs with terahertz time domain spectroscopy. In our study we first demonstrate the realization of planar photonic components to manipulate terahertz waves, and then characterize photonic crystals using terahertz pulses. Photonic crystal slabs at the scale of micrometers are first designed and fabricated free of defects. Terahertz time domain spectrometer generates and detects the electric fields of single-cycle terahertz pulses. By putting photonic crystals into waveguide geometry, we successfully demonstrate planar photonic components such as transmission filters, reflection frequency-selective filters, defects modes as well as superprisms. In the characterization study of out-of-plane properties of photonic crystal slabs, we observe very strong dispersion at low frequencies, guided resonance modes at middle frequencies, and a group velocity anomaly at high frequencies. We employ Finite Element Method and Finite-Difference Time-Domain method to simulate the photonic crystals, and excellent agreement is achieved between simulation results and experimental results.

Non-destructive inspections of illicit drugs in envelope using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ning; Shen, Jingling; Lu, Meihong; Jia, Yan; Sun, Jinhai; Liang, Laishun; Shi, Yanning; Xu, Xiaoyu; Zhang, Cunlin

2006-09-01

The absorption spectra of two illicit drugs, methylenedioxyamphetarnine (MDA) and methamphetamine (MA), within and without two conventional envelopes are studied using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy technique. The characteristic absorption spectra of MDA and MA are obtained in the range of 0.2 THz to 2.5 THz. MDA has an obvious absorption peak at 1.41 THz while MA has obvious absorption peaks at 1.23 THz, 1.67 THz, 1.84 THz and 2.43 THz. We find that the absorption peaks of MDA and MA within the envelopes are almost the same as those without the envelopes respectively although the two envelopes have some different absorption in THz waveband. This result indicates that the type of illicit drugs in envelopes can be determined by identifying their characteristic absorption peaks, and THz time-domain spectroscopy is one of the most powerful candidates for illicit drugs inspection.

Simulation and analysis on ultrasonic testing for the cement grouting defects of the corrugated pipe

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qingbang, Han; Ling, Chen; Changping, Zhu

2014-02-18

The defects exist in the cement grouting process of prestressed corrugated pipe may directly impair the bridge safety. In this paper, sound fields propagation in concrete structures with corrugated pipes and the influence of various different defects are simulated and analyzed using finite element method. The simulation results demonstrate a much complex propagation characteristic due to multiple reflection, refraction and scattering, where the scattering signals caused by metal are very strong, while the signals scattered by an air bubble are weaker. The influence of defect both in time and frequency domain are found through deconvolution treatment. In the time domain,more » the deconvolution signals correspond to larger defect display a larger head wave amplitude and shorter arrive time than those of smaller defects; in the frequency domain, larger defect also shows a stronger amplitude, lower center frequency and lower cutoff frequency.« less

EEMD-Based Steady-State Indexes and Their Applications to Condition Monitoring and Fault Diagnosis of Railway Axle Bearings

PubMed Central

Fan, Wei; Tsui, Kwok-Leung; Lin, Jianhui

2018-01-01

Railway axle bearings are one of the most important components used in vehicles and their failures probably result in unexpected accidents and economic losses. To realize a condition monitoring and fault diagnosis scheme of railway axle bearings, three dimensionless steadiness indexes in a time domain, a frequency domain, and a shape domain are respectively proposed to measure the steady states of bearing vibration signals. Firstly, vibration data collected from some designed experiments are pre-processed by using ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD). Then, the coefficient of variation is introduced to construct two steady-state indexes from pre-processed vibration data in a time domain and a frequency domain, respectively. A shape function is used to construct a steady-state index in a shape domain. At last, to distinguish normal and abnormal bearing health states, some guideline thresholds are proposed. Further, to identify axle bearings with outer race defects, a pin roller defect, a cage defect, and coupling defects, the boundaries of all steadiness indexes are experimentally established. Experimental results showed that the proposed condition monitoring and fault diagnosis scheme is effective in identifying different bearing health conditions. PMID:29495446

Rehabilitation following pediatric traumatic brain injury: variability in adherence to psychosocial quality-of-care indicators.

PubMed

Ennis, Stephanie K; Jaffe, Kenneth M; Mangione-Smith, Rita; Konodi, Mark A; MacKenzie, Ellen J; Rivara, Frederick P

2014-01-01

To examine variations in processes of pediatric inpatient rehabilitation care related to family-centered care, management of neurobehavioral and psychosocial needs, and community reintegration after traumatic brain injury. Nine acute rehabilitation facilities from geographically diverse areas of the United States. A total of 174 children with traumatic brain injury. Retrospective chart review. Adherence to care indicators (the number of times recommended care was delivered or attempted divided by the number of times care was indicated). Across facilities, adherence rates (adjusted for difficulty of delivery) ranged from 33.6% to 73.1% (95% confidence interval, 13.4-53.9, 58.7-87.4) for family-centered processes, 21.3% to 82.5% (95% confidence interval, 6.6-36.1, 67.6-97.4) for neurobehavioral and psychosocial processes, and 22.7% to 80.3% (95% confidence interval, 5.3-40.1, 68.1-92.5) for community integration processes. Within facilities, standard deviations for adherence rates were large (24.3-34.9, family-centered domain; 22.6-34.2, neurobehavioral and psychosocial domain; and 21.6-40.5, community reintegration domain). The current state of acute rehabilitation care for children with traumatic brain injury is variable across different quality-of-care indicators addressing neurobehavioral and psychosocial needs and facilitating community reintegration of the patient and the family. Individual rehabilitation facilities demonstrate inconsistent adherence to different indicators and inconsistent performance across different care domains.

Ultraviolet-infrared laser-induced domain inversion in MgO-doped congruent LiNbO3 and near stoichiometric LiTaO3 crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhi, Ya'nan; Qu, Weijuan; Liu, De'an; Sun, Jianfeng; Yan, Aimin; Liu, Liren

2008-08-01

Laser-induced domain inversion is a promising technique for domain engineering in LiNbO3 and LiTaO3. The ultraviolet-infrared laser induced domain inversions in MgO-doped congruent LiNbO3 and near stoichiometric LiTaO3 crystals are investigated for the first time here. Within the wavelength range from 351 to 799 nm, the different reductions of nucleation field induced by the focused continuous laser irradiation are systematically investigated in the MgO-doped congruent LiNbO3 crystals. The investigation of ultrashort-pulse laser-induced domain inversion in MgO-doped congruent LiNbO3 is performed with 800 nm wavelength irradiation. The focused continuous ultraviolet laser-induced ferroelectric domain inversion in the near stoichiometric LiTaO3 is also investigated. The different physical explanations, based on space charge field and defect formation, are presented for the laser-induced domain inversion, and the solid experimental proofs are also presented. The results provide the solid experimental proofs and feasible schemes for the further investigation of laser-induced domain engineering in MgO-doped LiNbO3 and near stoichiometric LiTaO3 crystals. The important characteristics of domain inversion, including domain wall and internal field, in LiNbO3 crystals are also investigated by the digital holographic interferometry with an improved reconstruction method, and some creative experimental results and conclusions are achieved.

Order statistics inference for describing topological coupling and mechanical symmetry breaking in multidomain proteins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kononova, Olga; Jones, Lee; Barsegov, V.

2013-09-01

Cooperativity is a hallmark of proteins, many of which show a modular architecture comprising discrete structural domains. Detecting and describing dynamic couplings between structural regions is difficult in view of the many-body nature of protein-protein interactions. By utilizing the GPU-based computational acceleration, we carried out simulations of the protein forced unfolding for the dimer WW - WW of the all-β-sheet WW domains used as a model multidomain protein. We found that while the physically non-interacting identical protein domains (WW) show nearly symmetric mechanical properties at low tension, reflected, e.g., in the similarity of their distributions of unfolding times, these properties become distinctly different when tension is increased. Moreover, the uncorrelated unfolding transitions at a low pulling force become increasingly more correlated (dependent) at higher forces. Hence, the applied force not only breaks "the mechanical symmetry" but also couples the physically non-interacting protein domains forming a multi-domain protein. We call this effect "the topological coupling." We developed a new theory, inspired by order statistics, to characterize protein-protein interactions in multi-domain proteins. The method utilizes the squared-Gaussian model, but it can also be used in conjunction with other parametric models for the distribution of unfolding times. The formalism can be taken to the single-molecule experimental lab to probe mechanical cooperativity and domain communication in multi-domain proteins.

Effects of electrical stimulus composition on cardiac electrophysiology in a rodent model of electroconvulsive therapy

PubMed Central

Singh, Nagendra Madan; Sathyaprabha, T. N.; Thirthalli, Jagadisha; Andrade, Chittaranjan

2018-01-01

Background: No electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) study on humans or in animal models has so far examined whether differently composed electrical stimuli exert different cardiac electrophysiological effects at constant electrical dose. The subject is important because cardiac electrophysiological changes may provide indirect information about ECT seizure quality as modulated by stimulus composition. Materials and Methods: Adult female Wistar rats (n = 20/group) received fixed, moderately suprathreshold (18 mC) electrical stimuli. This stimulus in each of eight groups was formed by varying pulse amplitude, pulse width, pulse frequency, and stimulus duration. The electrocardiogram was recorded, and time and frequency domain variables were examined in 30 s epochs in preictal (30 s before electroconvulsive shock [ECS]), early postictal (starting 15 s after stimulation), and late postictal (5 h after ECS) periods. Alpha for statistical significance was set at P < 0.01 to adjust for multiple hypothesis testing. Results: Cardiac electrophysiological indices in the eight groups did not differ significantly at baseline. At both early and late postictal time points, almost no analysis yielded statistically significant differences between groups for four time domain variables, including heart rate and standard deviation of R-R intervals, and for six frequency domain variables, including low-frequency power, high-frequency power, and total power. Conclusions: Cardiac electrophysiological measures may not be helpful to identify differences in seizure quality that are driven by differences in the composition of electrical stimuli at constant, moderately suprathreshold electrical dose. The generalization of this conclusion to threshold electrical doses and to human contexts requires a study. PMID:29736058

Social time preferences for health and money elicited with a choice experiment.

PubMed

Meerding, Willem Jan; Bonsel, Gouke J; Brouwer, Werner B F; Stuifbergen, Marja C; Essink-Bot, Marie-Louise

2010-01-01

In economic evaluations future health and monetary outcomes are commonly discounted at equal and constant rates. The theoretical foundation of this practice is being debated and appropriate discount rates for costs and health effects are sought. Here, we have derived social discount rates for health, money, and environmental benefits by means of a choice experiment. All choices were framed from a social perspective. We investigated differences in time preference by domain (health, monetary benefits, environmental benefits), time delay (5, 10, and 40 years), and respondent characteristics. Respondents were 173 health-care professionals and 34 health policymakers. Choice titration was used to determine when the respondent was indifferent between future and present benefits. At least two-thirds of respondents preferred an intervention with immediate benefits to delayed benefits in the different domains. The median (mean) yearly discount rates for health benefits were 2.7% (10.7%), 1.3% (3.5%), and 1.1% (2.3%) assuming a 5, 10, and 40 years delay, respectively. Social time preference for monetary benefits was significantly stronger, with median (mean) yearly discount rates of 6.6% (18.7%) and 4.8% (11.2%) assuming a 5 and 10 years delay, respectively. The social time preference with regard to environmental benefits was similar to the monetary benefits. Social time preference for the different domains was significantly correlated at the individual level. The empirically derived social time preference is in line with current theoretical arguments for a lower discount rate for health benefits than for monetary benefits. Moreover, the implied median discount rates for health were lower than those commonly used or advocated in guidelines.

Acoustic vibrations of metal nano-objects: Time-domain investigations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crut, Aurélien; Maioli, Paolo; Del Fatti, Natalia; Vallée, Fabrice

2015-01-01

Theoretical and time-domain experimental investigations of the vibrational acoustic response of nano-objects are described focusing on metallic ones. Acoustic vibrations are modeled using a macroscopic-like approach based on continuum mechanics with the proper boundary conditions, a model which yields results in excellent agreement with the experimental ones and those of atomistic calculations, down to the nanometric scale. Vibrational mode excitation and detection mechanisms and the associated mode selection in ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy are discussed, and the measured time-dependent signals in single and ensemble of nanoparticles modeled. The launched modes, their period and their damping rate are compared to experimental results obtained on ensembles of nano-objects with different composition, morphology and environment, and with size ranging from one to hundreds of nanometers. Recent extension of time-domain spectroscopy to individual nano-objects has shed new light on the vibrational responses of isolated nanoparticles, in particular on their damping, but also raises questions on the origin of its large particle to particle dispersion.

Broadband impedance boundary conditions for the simulation of sound propagation in the time domain.

PubMed

Bin, Jonghoon; Yousuff Hussaini, M; Lee, Soogab

2009-02-01

An accurate and practical surface impedance boundary condition in the time domain has been developed for application to broadband-frequency simulation in aeroacoustic problems. To show the capability of this method, two kinds of numerical simulations are performed and compared with the analytical/experimental results: one is acoustic wave reflection by a monopole source over an impedance surface and the other is acoustic wave propagation in a duct with a finite impedance wall. Both single-frequency and broadband-frequency simulations are performed within the framework of linearized Euler equations. A high-order dispersion-relation-preserving finite-difference method and a low-dissipation, low-dispersion Runge-Kutta method are used for spatial discretization and time integration, respectively. The results show excellent agreement with the analytical/experimental results at various frequencies. The method accurately predicts both the amplitude and the phase of acoustic pressure and ensures the well-posedness of the broadband time-domain impedance boundary condition.

Method of assessing the state of a rolling bearing based on the relative compensation distance of multiple-domain features and locally linear embedding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Shouqiang; Ma, Danyang; Wang, Yujing; Lan, Chaofeng; Chen, Qingguo; Mikulovich, V. I.

2017-03-01

To effectively assess different fault locations and different degrees of performance degradation of a rolling bearing with a unified assessment index, a novel state assessment method based on the relative compensation distance of multiple-domain features and locally linear embedding is proposed. First, for a single-sample signal, time-domain and frequency-domain indexes can be calculated for the original vibration signal and each sensitive intrinsic mode function obtained by improved ensemble empirical mode decomposition, and the singular values of the sensitive intrinsic mode function matrix can be extracted by singular value decomposition to construct a high-dimensional hybrid-domain feature vector. Second, a feature matrix can be constructed by arranging each feature vector of multiple samples, the dimensions of each row vector of the feature matrix can be reduced by the locally linear embedding algorithm, and the compensation distance of each fault state of the rolling bearing can be calculated using the support vector machine. Finally, the relative distance between different fault locations and different degrees of performance degradation and the normal-state optimal classification surface can be compensated, and on the basis of the proposed relative compensation distance, the assessment model can be constructed and an assessment curve drawn. Experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively assess different fault locations and different degrees of performance degradation of the rolling bearing under certain conditions.

Longitudinal Analysis of the Domains of Satisfaction before and after Disability: Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pagan-Rodriguez, Ricardo

2012-01-01

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of the onset of disability on life satisfaction and five different domains of satisfaction (health, household income, housing, job, leisure) for German individuals. Particular attention is paid to examining whether individuals can adapt to disability over time before and after its onset in terms of…

A conjugate heat transfer procedure for gas turbine blades.

PubMed

Croce, G

2001-05-01

A conjugate heat transfer procedure, allowing for the use of different solvers on the solid and fluid domain(s), is presented. Information exchange between solid and fluid solution is limited to boundary condition values, and this exchange is carried out at any pseudo-time step. Global convergence rate of the procedure is, thus, of the same order of magnitude of stand-alone computations.

Overview of Megaprogramming Course: Lectures and Exercises. Version 02. 00.03

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-02-01

schedule to be presented (e.g., so it looks like a calendar or just a list for each day followed by the time) It might be useftl to have a separate text ...machines, yet enough differences, that it makes sense to study their similarities and differences. "* What would the domain engineer do in this domain...of the item, followed by the ENTER key. If you need help, press the F1 key. You can use the backspace key to remove the last character you typed. When

User's manual for three dimensional FDTD version D code for scattering from frequency-dependent dielectric and magnetic materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1992-01-01

The Penn State Finite Difference Time Domain Electromagnetic Scattering Code version D is a 3-D numerical electromagnetic scattering code based upon the finite difference time domain technique (FDTD). The manual provides a description of the code and corresponding results for several scattering problems. The manual is organized into 14 sections: introduction; description of the FDTD method; operation; resource requirements; version D code capabilities; a brief description of the default scattering geometry; a brief description of each subroutine; a description of the include file; a section briefly discussing Radar Cross Section computations; a section discussing some scattering results; a sample problem setup section; a new problem checklist; references and figure titles. The FDTD technique models transient electromagnetic scattering and interactions with objects of arbitrary shape and/or material composition. In the FDTD method, Maxwell's curl equations are discretized in time-space and all derivatives (temporal and spatial) are approximated by central differences.

Electromagnetic Wave Propagation in Body Area Networks Using the Finite-Difference-Time-Domain Method

PubMed Central

Bringuier, Jonathan N.; Mittra, Raj

2012-01-01

A rigorous full-wave solution, via the Finite-Difference-Time-Domain (FDTD) method, is performed in an attempt to obtain realistic communication channel models for on-body wireless transmission in Body-Area-Networks (BANs), which are local data networks using the human body as a propagation medium. The problem of modeling the coupling between body mounted antennas is often not amenable to attack by hybrid techniques owing to the complex nature of the human body. For instance, the time-domain Green's function approach becomes more involved when the antennas are not conformal. Furthermore, the human body is irregular in shape and has dispersion properties that are unique. One consequence of this is that we must resort to modeling the antenna network mounted on the body in its entirety, and the number of degrees of freedom (DoFs) can be on the order of billions. Even so, this type of problem can still be modeled by employing a parallel version of the FDTD algorithm running on a cluster. Lastly, we note that the results of rigorous simulation of BANs can serve as benchmarks for comparison with the abundance of measurement data. PMID:23012575

Frequency domain analysis of errors in cross-correlations of ambient seismic noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xin; Ben-Zion, Yehuda; Zigone, Dimitri

2016-12-01

We analyse random errors (variances) in cross-correlations of ambient seismic noise in the frequency domain, which differ from previous time domain methods. Extending previous theoretical results on ensemble averaged cross-spectrum, we estimate confidence interval of stacked cross-spectrum of finite amount of data at each frequency using non-overlapping windows with fixed length. The extended theory also connects amplitude and phase variances with the variance of each complex spectrum value. Analysis of synthetic stationary ambient noise is used to estimate the confidence interval of stacked cross-spectrum obtained with different length of noise data corresponding to different number of evenly spaced windows of the same duration. This method allows estimating Signal/Noise Ratio (SNR) of noise cross-correlation in the frequency domain, without specifying filter bandwidth or signal/noise windows that are needed for time domain SNR estimations. Based on synthetic ambient noise data, we also compare the probability distributions, causal part amplitude and SNR of stacked cross-spectrum function using one-bit normalization or pre-whitening with those obtained without these pre-processing steps. Natural continuous noise records contain both ambient noise and small earthquakes that are inseparable from the noise with the existing pre-processing steps. Using probability distributions of random cross-spectrum values based on the theoretical results provides an effective way to exclude such small earthquakes, and additional data segments (outliers) contaminated by signals of different statistics (e.g. rain, cultural noise), from continuous noise waveforms. This technique is applied to constrain values and uncertainties of amplitude and phase velocity of stacked noise cross-spectrum at different frequencies, using data from southern California at both regional scale (˜35 km) and dense linear array (˜20 m) across the plate-boundary faults. A block bootstrap resampling method is used to account for temporal correlation of noise cross-spectrum at low frequencies (0.05-0.2 Hz) near the ocean microseismic peaks.

Fractal dimension approach in postural control of subjects with Prader-Willi Syndrome

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Static posturography is user-friendly technique suitable for the study of the centre of pressure (CoP) trajectory. However, the utility of static posturography in clinical practice is somehow limited and there is a need for reliable approaches to extract physiologically meaningful information from stabilograms. The aim of this study was to quantify the postural strategy of Prader-Willi patients with the fractal dimension technique in addition to the CoP trajectory analysis in time and frequency domain. Methods 11 adult patients affected by Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) and 20 age-matched individuals (Control group: CG) were included in this study. Postural acquisitions were conducted by means of a force platform and the participants were required to stand barefoot on the platform with eyes open and heels at standardized distance and position for 30 seconds. Platform data were analysed in time and frequency domain. Fractal Dimension (FD) was also computed. Results The analysis of CoP vs. time showed that in PWS participants all the parameters were statistically different from CG, with greater displacements along both the antero-posterior and medio-lateral direction and longer CoP tracks. As for frequency analysis, our data showed no significant differences between PWS and CG. FD evidenced that PWS individuals were characterized by greater value in comparison with CG. Conclusions Our data showed that while the analysis in the frequency domain did not seem to explain the postural deficit in PWS, the FD method appears to provide a more informative description of it and to complement and integrate the time domain analysis. PMID:21854639

A comprehensive assessment of memory, delay aversion, timing, inhibition, decision making and variability in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: advancing beyond the three-pathway models.

PubMed

Coghill, D R; Seth, S; Matthews, K

2014-07-01

Although attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with a broad range of deficits across various neuropsychological domains, most studies have assessed only a narrow range of neuropsychological functions. Direct cross-domain comparisons are rare, with almost all studies restricted to less than four domains. Therefore, the relationships between these various domains remain undefined. In addition, almost all studies included previously medicated participants, limiting the conclusions that can be drawn. We present the first study to compare a large cohort of medication-naive boys with ADHD with healthy controls on a broad battery of neuropsychological tasks, assessing six key domains of neuropsychological functioning. The neuropsychological functioning of 83 medication-naive boys with well-characterized ADHD (mean age 8.9 years) was compared with that of 66 typically developing (TYP) boys (mean age 9.0 years) on a broad battery of validated neuropsychological tasks. Data reduction using complementary factor analysis (CFA) confirmed six distinct neuropsychological domains: working memory, inhibition, delay aversion, decision making, timing and response variability. Boys with ADHD performed less well across all six domains although, for each domain, only a minority of boys with ADHD had a deficit [effect size (% with deficit) ADHD versus TYP: working memory 0.95 (30.1), inhibition 0.61 (22.9), delay aversion 0.82 (36.1), decision making 0.55 (20.5), timing 0.71 (31.3), response variability 0.37 (18.1)]. The clinical syndrome of ADHD is neuropsychologically heterogeneous. These data highlight the complexity of the relationships between the different neuropsychological profiles associated with ADHD and the clinical symptoms and functional impairment.

Absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic characterization of BLUF domain of AppA from Rhodobacter sphaeroides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zirak, P.; Penzkofer, A.; Schiereis, T.; Hegemann, P.; Jung, A.; Schlichting, I.

2005-08-01

The BLUF domain of the transcriptional anti-repressor protein AppA from the non-sulfur anoxyphototrophic purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides was characterized by absorption and emission spectroscopy. The BLUF domain constructs AppA 148 (consisting of amino-acid residues 1-148) and AppA 126 (amino-acid residues 1-126) are investigated. The cofactor of the investigated domains is found to consist of a mixture of the flavins riboflavin, FMN, and FAD. The dark-adapted domains exist in two different active receptor conformations (receptor states) with different sub-nanosecond fluorescence lifetimes (BLUF r,f and BLUF r,sl) and a small non-interacting conformation (BLUF nc). The active receptor conformations are transformed to putative signalling states (BLUF s,f and BLUF s,sl) of low fluorescence efficiency and picosecond fluorescence lifetime by blue-light excitation (light-adapted domains). In the dark at room temperature both signalling states recover back to the initial receptor states with a time constant of about 17 min. A quantum yield of signalling state formation of about 25% was determined by intensity dependent transmission measurements. A photo-cycle scheme is presented including photo-induced charge transfer complex formation, charge recombination, and protein binding pocket reorganisation.

Reaction time and anticipatory skill of athletes in open and closed skill-dominated sport.

PubMed

Nuri, Leila; Shadmehr, Azadeh; Ghotbi, Nastaran; Attarbashi Moghadam, Behrouz

2013-01-01

In sports, reaction time and anticipatory skill are critical aspects of perceptual abilities. To date, no study has compared reaction time and anticipatory skill of athletes from open and closed skill-dominated sport. Accordingly, the present study investigated whether a difference exists in sensory-cognitive skills between these two different sport domains. Eleven volleyball players and 11 sprinters participated in this experiment. Reaction time and anticipatory skill of both groups were recorded by a custom-made software called SART (speed anticipation and reaction time test). This software consists of six sensory-cognitive tests that evaluate visual choice reaction time, visual complex choice reaction time, auditory choice reaction time, auditory complex choice reaction time, and anticipatory skill of the high speed and low speed of the ball. For each variable, an independent t-test was performed. Results suggested that sprinters were better in both auditory reaction times (P<0.001 for both tests) and volleyball players were better in both anticipatory skill tests (P = 0.007 and P = 0.04 for anticipatory skill of the high speed and low speed of the ball, respectively). However, no significant differences were found in both visual choice reaction time tests (P > 0.05 for both visual reaction time tests). It is concluded that athletes have greater sensory-cognitive skills related to their specific sport domain either open or closed.

A novel spatial-temporal detection method of dim infrared moving small target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhong; Deng, Tao; Gao, Lei; Zhou, Heng; Luo, Song

2014-09-01

Moving small target detection under complex background in infrared image sequence is one of the major challenges of modern military in Early Warning Systems (EWS) and the use of Long-Range Strike (LRS). However, because of the low SNR and undulating background, the infrared moving small target detection is a difficult problem in a long time. To solve this problem, a novel spatial-temporal detection method based on bi-dimensional empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and time-domain difference is proposed in this paper. This method is downright self-data decomposition and do not rely on any transition kernel function, so it has a strong adaptive capacity. Firstly, we generalized the 1D EMD algorithm to the 2D case. In this process, the project has solved serial issues in 2D EMD, such as large amount of data operations, define and identify extrema in 2D case, and two-dimensional signal boundary corrosion. The EMD algorithm studied in this project can be well adapted to the automatic detection of small targets under low SNR and complex background. Secondly, considering the characteristics of moving target, we proposed an improved filtering method based on three-frame difference on basis of the original difference filtering in time-domain, which greatly improves the ability of anti-jamming algorithm. Finally, we proposed a new time-space fusion method based on a combined processing of 2D EMD and improved time-domain differential filtering. And, experimental results show that this method works well in infrared small moving target detection under low SNR and complex background.

Subjective time pressure: general or domain specific?

PubMed

Kleiner, Sibyl

2014-09-01

Chronic time pressure has been identified as a pervasive societal problem, exacerbated by high demands of the labor market and the home. Yet time pressure has not been disaggregated and examined separately across home and work contexts, leaving many unanswered questions regarding the sources and potentially stressful consequences of time pressure. Using data collected in the United States General Social Survey waves 2002 and 2004, this study disaggregates time pressure into the domains of home and work, and asks whether considering time pressures within distinct work and home contexts reveals distinct predictors or associations with stress. Findings show that both predictors and stress associations differ across work and home pressures, revealing both methodological and theoretical implications for the study of time pressure and work and family life more generally. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Alterations in comprehensive geriatric assessment decrease survival of elderly patients with cancer.

PubMed

Frasca, M; Soubeyran, P; Bellera, C; Rainfray, M; Leffondre, K; Mathoulin-Pélissier, S

2018-02-01

A comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) evaluating several domains of health is recommended for elderly patients with cancer. Effects of altered domains on the risk of death in this population need to be clarified. The aim of this study was to estimate the independent association of each CGA domain to overall survival (OS). Patients included in the ONCODAGE cohort completed a CGA at baseline. Cox models (one per domain) estimated the hazard ratio (HR) of death for each CGA domain. Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) selected specific sets of adjustment factors for each model. The analysis included 1264 patients (mean age: 78 years, women: 70%). Median follow-up was 5.2 years, and 446 patients died. Each altered domain had a detrimental effect on survival, sometimes dependent on gender, age, education or time from inclusion. Nutritional status had a time-varying effect, with higher mortality rates if altered only within the first 3 years of follow-up. In case of altered mobility, the risk of death was higher only for the youngest patients and, in case of altered autonomy, only for the youngest women. An altered neurological state led to higher mortality rates; this effect increased with the level of education. Patients with altered psychological status or more than four comorbidities at baseline had also higher mortality rates. Patients with an altered CGA domain have a higher risk of death than those without any alteration. The effect of some alterations is different in some subgroups or at a given time of the treatments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A new time domain random walk method for solute transport in 1-D heterogeneous media

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Banton, O.; Delay, F.; Porel, G.

A new method to simulate solute transport in 1-D heterogeneous media is presented. This time domain random walk method (TDRW), similar in concept to the classical random walk method, calculates the arrival time of a particle cloud at a given location (directly providing the solute breakthrough curve). The main advantage of the method is that the restrictions on the space increments and the time steps which exist with the finite differences and random walk methods are avoided. In a homogeneous zone, the breakthrough curve (BTC) can be calculated directly at a given distance using a few hundred particles or directlymore » at the boundary of the zone. Comparisons with analytical solutions and with the classical random walk method show the reliability of this method. The velocity and dispersivity calculated from the simulated results agree within two percent with the values used as input in the model. For contrasted heterogeneous media, the random walk can generate high numerical dispersion, while the time domain approach does not.« less

Lexical leverage: Category knowledge boosts real-time novel word recognition in two-year- olds

PubMed Central

Borovsky, Arielle; Ellis, Erica M.; Evans, Julia L.; Elman, Jeffrey L.

2016-01-01

Recent research suggests that infants tend to add words to their vocabulary that are semantically related to other known words, though it is not clear why this pattern emerges. In this paper, we explore whether infants to leverage their existing vocabulary and semantic knowledge when interpreting novel label-object mappings in real-time. We initially identified categorical domains for which individual 24-month-old infants have relatively higher and lower levels of knowledge, irrespective of overall vocabulary size. Next, we taught infants novel words in these higher and lower knowledge domains and then asked if their subsequent real-time recognition of these items varied as a function of their category knowledge. While our participants successfully acquired the novel label -object mappings in our task, there were important differences in the way infants recognized these words in real time. Namely, infants showed more robust recognition of high (vs. low) domain knowledge words. These findings suggest that dense semantic structure facilitates early word learning and real-time novel word recognition. PMID:26452444

Machine Learning and Network Analysis of Molecular Dynamics Trajectories Reveal Two Chains of Red/Ox-specific Residue Interactions in Human Protein Disulfide Isomerase.

PubMed

Karamzadeh, Razieh; Karimi-Jafari, Mohammad Hossein; Sharifi-Zarchi, Ali; Chitsaz, Hamidreza; Salekdeh, Ghasem Hosseini; Moosavi-Movahedi, Ali Akbar

2017-06-16

The human protein disulfide isomerase (hPDI), is an essential four-domain multifunctional enzyme. As a result of disulfide shuffling in its terminal domains, hPDI exists in two oxidation states with different conformational preferences which are important for substrate binding and functional activities. Here, we address the redox-dependent conformational dynamics of hPDI through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Collective domain motions are identified by the principal component analysis of MD trajectories and redox-dependent opening-closing structure variations are highlighted on projected free energy landscapes. Then, important structural features that exhibit considerable differences in dynamics of redox states are extracted by statistical machine learning methods. Mapping the structural variations to time series of residue interaction networks also provides a holistic representation of the dynamical redox differences. With emphasizing on persistent long-lasting interactions, an approach is proposed that compiled these time series networks to a single dynamic residue interaction network (DRIN). Differential comparison of DRIN in oxidized and reduced states reveals chains of residue interactions that represent potential allosteric paths between catalytic and ligand binding sites of hPDI.

Causality Analysis of Neural Connectivity: Critical Examination of Existing Methods and Advances of New Methods

PubMed Central

Hu, Sanqing; Dai, Guojun; Worrell, Gregory A.; Dai, Qionghai; Liang, Hualou

2012-01-01

Granger causality (GC) is one of the most popular measures to reveal causality influence of time series and has been widely applied in economics and neuroscience. Especially, its counterpart in frequency domain, spectral GC, as well as other Granger-like causality measures have recently been applied to study causal interactions between brain areas in different frequency ranges during cognitive and perceptual tasks. In this paper, we show that: 1) GC in time domain cannot correctly determine how strongly one time series influences the other when there is directional causality between two time series, and 2) spectral GC and other Granger-like causality measures have inherent shortcomings and/or limitations because of the use of the transfer function (or its inverse matrix) and partial information of the linear regression model. On the other hand, we propose two novel causality measures (in time and frequency domains) for the linear regression model, called new causality and new spectral causality, respectively, which are more reasonable and understandable than GC or Granger-like measures. Especially, from one simple example, we point out that, in time domain, both new causality and GC adopt the concept of proportion, but they are defined on two different equations where one equation (for GC) is only part of the other (for new causality), thus the new causality is a natural extension of GC and has a sound conceptual/theoretical basis, and GC is not the desired causal influence at all. By several examples, we confirm that new causality measures have distinct advantages over GC or Granger-like measures. Finally, we conduct event-related potential causality analysis for a subject with intracranial depth electrodes undergoing evaluation for epilepsy surgery, and show that, in the frequency domain, all measures reveal significant directional event-related causality, but the result from new spectral causality is consistent with event-related time–frequency power spectrum activity. The spectral GC as well as other Granger-like measures are shown to generate misleading results. The proposed new causality measures may have wide potential applications in economics and neuroscience. PMID:21511564

False Detection of Dangerous and Netural Substances in Commonly Used Materials by Means of the Standard THz Time Domain Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trofimov, V. A.; Varentsova, S. A.

2016-04-01

Essential limitations of the standard THz Time Domain Spectroscopy (TDS), which lead to false detection of dangerous and neutral substances in commonly used materials, are demonstrated using the physical experiment with chocolate under real conditions as well as with semiconductors under laboratory conditions. To overcome this disadvantage, we propose using the time-dependent spectrum of the THz pulse, transmitted through or reflected from a substance. For quality assessment of the standard substance absorption frequency presence in the signal under analysis, we use time-dependent integral correlation criteria. The influence of aperture placed in front of the sample on spectral properties of silicon wafers with different resistivity is demonstrated as well.

Relationship Between Physical Activity Patterns and Metabolic Syndrome Among Male Coal Miners of Shanxi Province in China.

PubMed

Liang, Jie; Tian, Shuang-Shuang; Qiao, Nan; Wang, Cong; Huang, Jian-Jun; Sun, Chen-Ming; Zhang, Hai-Xia; Cui, Yan; Wang, Hui; Liu, Xiao-Meng; Xu, Shu-Hong; Guan, Hongwei; Wang, Tong

2017-02-01

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and physical activity (PA) in different domains among male coal miners of Shanxi Province in China. The study was conducted from July 2013 to December 2013. A two-stage stratified cluster sampling method was used. Data regarding the general information of participants were collected by well-trained interviewers. MetS was defined according to IDF criteria. Self-reported PA was obtained with the IPAQ and categorized into three tertiles of intensity levels across occupation, transportation, household, and leisure-time domains. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were applied to compute the odds ratios and their 95% confidence interval (CI). A total of 3076 males aged 18-65 years old were recruited in this cross-sectional study. The prevalence of MetS was 40.5% in the study subjects. The percentages of vigorous-intensity PA in MetS and non-MetS groups were 70.07% and 62.92%, respectively. Participants spent most of their time on occupation (2034 MET-min/w) and transportation (693MET-min/w) domains. Higher-intensity levels in occupation domains were significantly associated with lower risk of MetS (OR: 0.759, 95% CI: 0.633-0.911; OR: 0.627, 95% CI: 0.516-0.762). Across four types of workers, the relationships between PA domains and MetS were different. For underground and underground auxiliary workers, the negative relationship was found between occupation PA and MetS. For office workers, the negative relationship was found between household PA and MetS. For ground workers, only leisure-time PA had positively related to MetS.

Exposure-time based modeling of nonlinear reactive transport in porous media subject to physical and geochemical heterogeneity.

PubMed

Sanz-Prat, Alicia; Lu, Chuanhe; Amos, Richard T; Finkel, Michael; Blowes, David W; Cirpka, Olaf A

2016-09-01

Transport of reactive solutes in groundwater is affected by physical and chemical heterogeneity of the porous medium, leading to complex spatio-temporal patterns of concentrations and reaction rates. For certain cases of bioreactive transport, it could be shown that the concentrations of reactive constituents in multi-dimensional domains are approximately aligned with isochrones, that is, lines of identical travel time, provided that the chemical properties of the matrix are uniform. We extend this concept to combined physical and chemical heterogeneity by additionally considering the time that a water parcel has been exposed to reactive materials, the so-called exposure time. We simulate bioreactive transport in a one-dimensional domain as function of time and exposure time, rather than space. Subsequently, we map the concentrations to multi-dimensional heterogeneous domains by means of the mean exposure time at each location in the multi-dimensional domain. Differences in travel and exposure time at a given location are accounted for as time difference. This approximation simplifies reactive-transport simulations significantly under conditions of steady-state flow when reactions are restricted to specific locations. It is not expected to be exact in realistic applications because the underlying assumption, such as neglecting transverse mixing altogether, may not hold. We quantify the error introduced by the approximation for the hypothetical case of a two-dimensional, binary aquifer made of highly-permeable, non-reactive and low-permeable, reactive materials releasing dissolved organic matter acting as electron donor for aerobic respiration and denitrification. The kinetically controlled reactions are catalyzed by two non-competitive bacteria populations, enabling microbial growth. Even though the initial biomass concentrations were uniform, the interplay between transport, non-uniform electron-donor supply, and bio-reactions led to distinct spatial patterns of the two types of biomass at late times. Results obtained by mapping the exposure-time based results to the two-dimensional domain are compared with simulations based on the two-dimensional, spatially explicit advection-dispersion-reaction equation. Once quasi-steady state has been reached, we find a good agreement in terms of the chemical-compound concentrations between the two approaches inside the reactive zones, whereas the exposure-time based model is not able to capture reactions occurring in the zones with zero electron-donor release. We conclude that exposure-time models provide good approximations of nonlinear bio-reactive transport when transverse mixing is not the overall controlling process and all reactions are essentially restricted to distinct reactive zones. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

CUDA Fortran acceleration for the finite-difference time-domain method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadi, Mohammed F.; Esmaeili, Seyed A.

2013-05-01

A detailed description of programming the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to run on graphical processing units (GPUs) using CUDA Fortran is presented. Two FDTD-to-CUDA thread-block mapping designs are investigated and their performances compared. Comparative assessment of trade-offs between GPU's shared memory and L1 cache is also discussed. This presentation is for the benefit of FDTD programmers who work exclusively with Fortran and are reluctant to port their codes to C in order to utilize GPU computing. The derived CUDA Fortran code is compared with an optimized CPU version that runs on a workstation-class CPU to present a realistic GPU to CPU run time comparison and thus help in making better informed investment decisions on FDTD code redesigns and equipment upgrades. All analyses are mirrored with CUDA C simulations to put in perspective the present state of CUDA Fortran development.

From Binding-Induced Dynamic Effects in SH3 Structures to Evolutionary Conserved Sectors.

PubMed

Zafra Ruano, Ana; Cilia, Elisa; Couceiro, José R; Ruiz Sanz, Javier; Schymkowitz, Joost; Rousseau, Frederic; Luque, Irene; Lenaerts, Tom

2016-05-01

Src Homology 3 domains are ubiquitous small interaction modules known to act as docking sites and regulatory elements in a wide range of proteins. Prior experimental NMR work on the SH3 domain of Src showed that ligand binding induces long-range dynamic changes consistent with an induced fit mechanism. The identification of the residues that participate in this mechanism produces a chart that allows for the exploration of the regulatory role of such domains in the activity of the encompassing protein. Here we show that a computational approach focusing on the changes in side chain dynamics through ligand binding identifies equivalent long-range effects in the Src SH3 domain. Mutation of a subset of the predicted residues elicits long-range effects on the binding energetics, emphasizing the relevance of these positions in the definition of intramolecular cooperative networks of signal transduction in this domain. We find further support for this mechanism through the analysis of seven other publically available SH3 domain structures of which the sequences represent diverse SH3 classes. By comparing the eight predictions, we find that, in addition to a dynamic pathway that is relatively conserved throughout all SH3 domains, there are dynamic aspects specific to each domain and homologous subgroups. Our work shows for the first time from a structural perspective, which transduction mechanisms are common between a subset of closely related and distal SH3 domains, while at the same time highlighting the differences in signal transduction that make each family member unique. These results resolve the missing link between structural predictions of dynamic changes and the domain sectors recently identified for SH3 domains through sequence analysis.

From Binding-Induced Dynamic Effects in SH3 Structures to Evolutionary Conserved Sectors

PubMed Central

Ruiz Sanz, Javier; Schymkowitz, Joost; Rousseau, Frederic

2016-01-01

Src Homology 3 domains are ubiquitous small interaction modules known to act as docking sites and regulatory elements in a wide range of proteins. Prior experimental NMR work on the SH3 domain of Src showed that ligand binding induces long-range dynamic changes consistent with an induced fit mechanism. The identification of the residues that participate in this mechanism produces a chart that allows for the exploration of the regulatory role of such domains in the activity of the encompassing protein. Here we show that a computational approach focusing on the changes in side chain dynamics through ligand binding identifies equivalent long-range effects in the Src SH3 domain. Mutation of a subset of the predicted residues elicits long-range effects on the binding energetics, emphasizing the relevance of these positions in the definition of intramolecular cooperative networks of signal transduction in this domain. We find further support for this mechanism through the analysis of seven other publically available SH3 domain structures of which the sequences represent diverse SH3 classes. By comparing the eight predictions, we find that, in addition to a dynamic pathway that is relatively conserved throughout all SH3 domains, there are dynamic aspects specific to each domain and homologous subgroups. Our work shows for the first time from a structural perspective, which transduction mechanisms are common between a subset of closely related and distal SH3 domains, while at the same time highlighting the differences in signal transduction that make each family member unique. These results resolve the missing link between structural predictions of dynamic changes and the domain sectors recently identified for SH3 domains through sequence analysis. PMID:27213566

Time Is Not Space: Core Computations and Domain-Specific Networks for Mental Travels.

PubMed

Gauthier, Baptiste; van Wassenhove, Virginie

2016-11-23

Humans can consciously project themselves in the future and imagine themselves at different places. Do mental time travel and mental space navigation abilities share common cognitive and neural mechanisms? To test this, we recorded fMRI while participants mentally projected themselves in time or in space (e.g., 9 years ago, in Paris) and ordered historical events from their mental perspective. Behavioral patterns were comparable for mental time and space and shaped by self-projection and by the distance of historical events to the mental position of the self, suggesting the existence of egocentric mapping in both dimensions. Nonetheless, self-projection in space engaged the medial and lateral parietal cortices, whereas self-projection in time engaged a widespread parietofrontal network. Moreover, while a large distributed network was found for spatial distances, temporal distances specifically engaged the right inferior parietal cortex and the anterior insula. Across these networks, a robust overlap was only found in a small region of the inferior parietal lobe, adding evidence for its role in domain-general egocentric mapping. Our findings suggest that mental travel in time or space capitalizes on egocentric remapping and on distance computation, which are implemented in distinct dimension-specific cortical networks converging in inferior parietal lobe. As humans, we can consciously imagine ourselves at a different time (mental time travel) or at a different place (mental space navigation). Are such abilities domain-general, or are the temporal and spatial dimensions of our conscious experience separable? Here, we tested the hypothesis that mental time travel and mental space navigation required the egocentric remapping of events, including the estimation of their distances to the self. We report that, although both remapping and distance computation are foundational for the processing of the temporal and spatial dimensions of our conscious experience, their neuroanatomical implementations were clearly dissociable and engaged distinct parietal and parietofrontal networks for mental space navigation and mental time travel, respectively. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/3611891-13$15.00/0.

Studies in astronomical time series analysis: Modeling random processes in the time domain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scargle, J. D.

1979-01-01

Random process models phased in the time domain are used to analyze astrophysical time series data produced by random processes. A moving average (MA) model represents the data as a sequence of pulses occurring randomly in time, with random amplitudes. An autoregressive (AR) model represents the correlations in the process in terms of a linear function of past values. The best AR model is determined from sampled data and transformed to an MA for interpretation. The randomness of the pulse amplitudes is maximized by a FORTRAN algorithm which is relatively stable numerically. Results of test cases are given to study the effects of adding noise and of different distributions for the pulse amplitudes. A preliminary analysis of the optical light curve of the quasar 3C 273 is given.

Improvements of the two-dimensional FDTD method for the simulation of normal- and superconducting planar waveguides using time series analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hofschen, S.; Wolff, I.

1996-08-01

Time-domain simulation results of two-dimensional (2-D) planar waveguide finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) analysis are normally analyzed using Fourier transform. The introduced method of time series analysis to extract propagation and attenuation constants reduces the desired computation time drastically. Additionally, a nonequidistant discretization together with an adequate excitation technique is used to reduce the number of spatial grid points. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of spatial grid points. Therefore, it is possible to simulate normal- and superconducting planar waveguide structures with very thin conductors and small dimensions, as they are used in MMIC technology. The simulation results are comparedmore » with measurements and show good agreement.« less

What explains the socioeconomic status gap in activity? Educational differences in determinants of physical activity and screentime.

PubMed

Hankonen, Nelli; Heino, Matti T J; Kujala, Emilia; Hynynen, Sini-Tuuli; Absetz, Pilvikki; Araújo-Soares, Vera; Borodulin, Katja; Haukkala, Ari

2017-02-01

Designing evidence-based interventions to address socioeconomic disparities in health and health behaviours requires a better understanding of the specific explanatory mechanisms. We aimed to investigate a comprehensive range of potential theoretical mediators of physical activity (PA) and screen time in different socioeconomic status (SES) groups: a high SES group of high school students, and a low SES group of vocational school students. The COM-B system, including the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), was used as a heuristic framework to synthesise different theoretical determinants in this exploratory study. Finnish vocational and high school students (N = 659) aged 16-19, responded to a survey assessing psychological, social and environmental determinants of activity (PA and screen time). These determinants are mappable into the COM-B domains: capability, opportunity and motivation. The outcome measures were validated self-report measures for PA and screen time. The statistical analyses included a bootstrapping-based mediation procedure. Regarding PA, there were SES differences in all of the COM-B domains. For example, vocational school students reported using less self-monitoring of PA, weaker injunctive norms to engage in regular PA, and fewer intentions than high school students. Mediation analyses identified potential mediators of the SES-PA relationship in all of three domains: The most important candidates included self-monitoring (CI95 for b: 0.19-0.47), identity (0.04-0.25) and material resources available (0.01-0.16). However, SES was not related to most determinants of screentime, where there were mainly gender differences. Most determinants were similarly related with both behaviours in both SES groups, indicating no major moderation effect of SES on these relationships. This study revealed that already in the first years of educational differentiation, levels of key PA determinants differ, contributing to socioeconomic differences in PA. The analyses identified the strongest mediators of the SES-PA association, but additional investigation utilising longitudinal and experimental designs are needed. This study demonstrates the usefulness of combining constructs from various theoretical approaches to better understand the role of distinct mechanisms that underpin socioeconomic health behaviour disparities.

Characterization and Upscaling of Pore Scale Hydrodynamic Mass Transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gouze, P.; Roubinet, D.; Dentz, M.; Planes, V.; Russian, A.

2017-12-01

Imaging reservoir rocks in 3D using X-ray microtomography with spatial resolution ranging from about 1 to 10 mm provides us a unique opportunity not only to characterize pore space geometry but also for simulating hydrodynamical processes. Yet, pores and throats displaying sizes smaller than the resolution cannot be distinguished on the images and must be assigned to a so called microporous phase during the process of image segmentation. Accordingly one simulated mass transfers caused by advection and diffusion in the connected pores (mobile domain) and diffusion in the microporous clusters (immobile domain) using Time Domain Random Walk (TDRW) and developed a set of metrics that can be used to monitor the different mechanisms of transport in the sample, the final objective being of proposing a simple but accurate upscaled 1D model in which the particle travel times in the mobile and immobile domain and the number of mobile-immobile transfer events (called trapping events) are independently distributed random variables characterized by PDFs. For TDRW the solute concentration is represented by the density distribution of non-interacting point-like solute particles which move due to advection and dispersion. The set of metrics derives from different spatial and temporal statistical analyses of the particle motion, and is used for characterizing the particles transport (i) in the mobile domain in relation with the velocity field properties, (ii) in the immobile domain in relation with the structure and the properties of microporous phase and at the mobile-immobile interface. We specifically focused on how to model the trapping frequency and rate into the immobile domain in relation with the structure and the spatial distribution of the mobile-immobile domain interface. This thorough analysis of the particle motion for both simple artificial structures and real rock images allowed us to derive the parametrization of the upscaled 1D model.

A meshless method for solving two-dimensional variable-order time fractional advection-diffusion equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tayebi, A.; Shekari, Y.; Heydari, M. H.

2017-07-01

Several physical phenomena such as transformation of pollutants, energy, particles and many others can be described by the well-known convection-diffusion equation which is a combination of the diffusion and advection equations. In this paper, this equation is generalized with the concept of variable-order fractional derivatives. The generalized equation is called variable-order time fractional advection-diffusion equation (V-OTFA-DE). An accurate and robust meshless method based on the moving least squares (MLS) approximation and the finite difference scheme is proposed for its numerical solution on two-dimensional (2-D) arbitrary domains. In the time domain, the finite difference technique with a θ-weighted scheme and in the space domain, the MLS approximation are employed to obtain appropriate semi-discrete solutions. Since the newly developed method is a meshless approach, it does not require any background mesh structure to obtain semi-discrete solutions of the problem under consideration, and the numerical solutions are constructed entirely based on a set of scattered nodes. The proposed method is validated in solving three different examples including two benchmark problems and an applied problem of pollutant distribution in the atmosphere. In all such cases, the obtained results show that the proposed method is very accurate and robust. Moreover, a remarkable property so-called positive scheme for the proposed method is observed in solving concentration transport phenomena.

Interpretable Early Classification of Multivariate Time Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghalwash, Mohamed F.

2013-01-01

Recent advances in technology have led to an explosion in data collection over time rather than in a single snapshot. For example, microarray technology allows us to measure gene expression levels in different conditions over time. Such temporal data grants the opportunity for data miners to develop algorithms to address domain-related problems,…

Moderators of age effects on attention bias toward threat and its association with anxiety.

PubMed

Namaky, Nauder; Beltzer, Miranda L; Werntz, Alexandra J; Lambert, Ann E; Isaacowitz, Derek M; Teachman, Bethany A

2017-07-01

The current study used a research domain criteria (RDoC) approach to assess age differences in multiple indicators of attention bias and its ties to anxiety, examining stimulus domain and cognitive control as moderators of older adults' oft-cited positivity effect (bias towards positive and away from negative stimuli, when compared to younger adults). 38 Younger adults and 38 older adults were administered a battery of cognitive control and trait and state anxiety measures, and completed a dot-probe task to assess attention bias, during which reaction time and fixation duration (using eye-tracking) were recorded for negative and neutral social (a salient threat domain for younger adults) and physical (a salient threat domain for older adults) stimuli. Mixed-effects models demonstrated that older adults were faster to react to dot-probe trials when the probe appeared in the place of negative (vs. neutral) physical stimuli, but displayed no difference in reaction time for social stimuli. Also, older (vs. younger) adults with lower levels of cognitive control were less negatively biased in their visual fixation to social stimuli. A negative reaction time attention bias on the dot-probe task predicted greater trait anxiety among participants with low levels of cognitive control, with a more complex pattern predicting state anxiety. Older adults do attend to social and physical stimuli differently. When stimuli concern a social threat, older adults do not preferentially attend to either neutral or negative stimuli. However, when stimuli concern physical threat, older adults preferentially attend to negative stimuli. Threat biases are associated with anxiety at all ages for those with low cognitive control. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A stable and accurate partitioned algorithm for conjugate heat transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, F.; Banks, J. W.; Henshaw, W. D.; Schwendeman, D. W.

2017-09-01

We describe a new partitioned approach for solving conjugate heat transfer (CHT) problems where the governing temperature equations in different material domains are time-stepped in an implicit manner, but where the interface coupling is explicit. The new approach, called the CHAMP scheme (Conjugate Heat transfer Advanced Multi-domain Partitioned), is based on a discretization of the interface coupling conditions using a generalized Robin (mixed) condition. The weights in the Robin condition are determined from the optimization of a condition derived from a local stability analysis of the coupling scheme. The interface treatment combines ideas from optimized-Schwarz methods for domain-decomposition problems together with the interface jump conditions and additional compatibility jump conditions derived from the governing equations. For many problems (i.e. for a wide range of material properties, grid-spacings and time-steps) the CHAMP algorithm is stable and second-order accurate using no sub-time-step iterations (i.e. a single implicit solve of the temperature equation in each domain). In extreme cases (e.g. very fine grids with very large time-steps) it may be necessary to perform one or more sub-iterations. Each sub-iteration generally increases the range of stability substantially and thus one sub-iteration is likely sufficient for the vast majority of practical problems. The CHAMP algorithm is developed first for a model problem and analyzed using normal-mode theory. The theory provides a mechanism for choosing optimal parameters in the mixed interface condition. A comparison is made to the classical Dirichlet-Neumann (DN) method and, where applicable, to the optimized-Schwarz (OS) domain-decomposition method. For problems with different thermal conductivities and diffusivities, the CHAMP algorithm outperforms the DN scheme. For domain-decomposition problems with uniform conductivities and diffusivities, the CHAMP algorithm performs better than the typical OS scheme with one grid-cell overlap. The CHAMP scheme is also developed for general curvilinear grids and CHT examples are presented using composite overset grids that confirm the theory and demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.

A stable and accurate partitioned algorithm for conjugate heat transfer

DOE PAGES

Meng, F.; Banks, J. W.; Henshaw, W. D.; ...

2017-04-25

We describe a new partitioned approach for solving conjugate heat transfer (CHT) problems where the governing temperature equations in different material domains are time-stepped in a implicit manner, but where the interface coupling is explicit. The new approach, called the CHAMP scheme (Conjugate Heat transfer Advanced Multi-domain Partitioned), is based on a discretization of the interface coupling conditions using a generalized Robin (mixed) condition. The weights in the Robin condition are determined from the optimization of a condition derived from a local stability analysis of the coupling scheme. The interface treatment combines ideas from optimized-Schwarz methods for domain-decomposition problems togethermore » with the interface jump conditions and additional compatibility jump conditions derived from the governing equations. For many problems (i.e. for a wide range of material properties, grid-spacings and time-steps) the CHAMP algorithm is stable and second-order accurate using no sub-time-step iterations (i.e. a single implicit solve of the temperature equation in each domain). In extreme cases (e.g. very fine grids with very large time-steps) it may be necessary to perform one or more sub-iterations. Each sub-iteration generally increases the range of stability substantially and thus one sub-iteration is likely sufficient for the vast majority of practical problems. The CHAMP algorithm is developed first for a model problem and analyzed using normal-mode the- ory. The theory provides a mechanism for choosing optimal parameters in the mixed interface condition. A comparison is made to the classical Dirichlet-Neumann (DN) method and, where applicable, to the optimized- Schwarz (OS) domain-decomposition method. For problems with different thermal conductivities and dif- fusivities, the CHAMP algorithm outperforms the DN scheme. For domain-decomposition problems with uniform conductivities and diffusivities, the CHAMP algorithm performs better than the typical OS scheme with one grid-cell overlap. Lastly, the CHAMP scheme is also developed for general curvilinear grids and CHT ex- amples are presented using composite overset grids that confirm the theory and demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.« less

Coarsening and persistence in a one-dimensional system of orienting arrowheads: Domain-wall kinetics with A +B →0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khandkar, Mahendra D.; Stinchcombe, Robin; Barma, Mustansir

2017-01-01

We demonstrate the large-scale effects of the interplay between shape and hard-core interactions in a system with left- and right-pointing arrowheads <> on a line, with reorientation dynamics. This interplay leads to the formation of two types of domain walls, >< (A ) and <> (B ). The correlation length in the equilibrium state diverges exponentially with increasing arrowhead density, with an ordered state of like orientations arising in the limit. In this high-density limit, the A domain walls diffuse, while the B walls are static. In time, the approach to the ordered state is described by a coarsening process governed by the kinetics of domain-wall annihilation A +B →0 , quite different from the A +A →0 kinetics pertinent to the Glauber-Ising model. The survival probability of a finite set of walls is shown to decay exponentially with time, in contrast to the power-law decay known for A +A →0 . In the thermodynamic limit with a finite density of walls, coarsening as a function of time t is studied by simulation. While the number of walls falls as t-1/2, the fraction of persistent arrowheads decays as t-θ where θ is close to 1/4 , quite different from the Ising value. The global persistence too has θ =1/4 , as follows from a heuristic argument. In a generalization where the B walls diffuse slowly, θ varies continuously, increasing with increasing diffusion constant.

Coarsening and persistence in a one-dimensional system of orienting arrowheads: Domain-wall kinetics with A+B→0.

PubMed

Khandkar, Mahendra D; Stinchcombe, Robin; Barma, Mustansir

2017-01-01

We demonstrate the large-scale effects of the interplay between shape and hard-core interactions in a system with left- and right-pointing arrowheads <> on a line, with reorientation dynamics. This interplay leads to the formation of two types of domain walls, >< (A) and <> (B). The correlation length in the equilibrium state diverges exponentially with increasing arrowhead density, with an ordered state of like orientations arising in the limit. In this high-density limit, the A domain walls diffuse, while the B walls are static. In time, the approach to the ordered state is described by a coarsening process governed by the kinetics of domain-wall annihilation A+B→0, quite different from the A+A→0 kinetics pertinent to the Glauber-Ising model. The survival probability of a finite set of walls is shown to decay exponentially with time, in contrast to the power-law decay known for A+A→0. In the thermodynamic limit with a finite density of walls, coarsening as a function of time t is studied by simulation. While the number of walls falls as t^{-1/2}, the fraction of persistent arrowheads decays as t^{-θ} where θ is close to 1/4, quite different from the Ising value. The global persistence too has θ=1/4, as follows from a heuristic argument. In a generalization where the B walls diffuse slowly, θ varies continuously, increasing with increasing diffusion constant.

Performance Analysis of Triple Asymmetrical Optical Micro Ring Resonator with 2 × 2 Input-Output Bus Waveguide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ranjan, Suman; Mandal, Sanjoy

2017-12-01

Modeling of triple asymmetrical optical micro ring resonator (TAOMRR) in z-domain with 2 × 2 input-output system with detailed design of its waveguide configuration using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is presented. Transfer function in z-domain using delay-line signal processing technique of the proposed TAOMRR is determined for different input and output ports. The frequency response analysis is carried out using MATLAB software. Group delay and dispersion characteristics are also determined in MATLAB. The electric field analysis is done using FDTD. The method proposes a new methodology to design and draw multiple configurations of coupled ring resonators having multiple in and out ports. Various important parameters such as coupling coefficients and FSR are also determined.

Performance Analysis of Triple Asymmetrical Optical Micro Ring Resonator with 2 × 2 Input-Output Bus Waveguide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ranjan, Suman; Mandal, Sanjoy

2018-02-01

Modeling of triple asymmetrical optical micro ring resonator (TAOMRR) in z-domain with 2 × 2 input-output system with detailed design of its waveguide configuration using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is presented. Transfer function in z-domain using delay-line signal processing technique of the proposed TAOMRR is determined for different input and output ports. The frequency response analysis is carried out using MATLAB software. Group delay and dispersion characteristics are also determined in MATLAB. The electric field analysis is done using FDTD. The method proposes a new methodology to design and draw multiple configurations of coupled ring resonators having multiple in and out ports. Various important parameters such as coupling coefficients and FSR are also determined.

Real-Time Classification of Exercise Exertion Levels Using Discriminant Analysis of HRV Data.

PubMed

Jeong, In Cheol; Finkelstein, Joseph

2015-01-01

Heart rate variability (HRV) was shown to reflect activation of sympathetic nervous system however it is not clear which set of HRV parameters is optimal for real-time classification of exercise exertion levels. There is no studies that compared potential of two types of HRV parameters (time-domain and frequency-domain) in predicting exercise exertion level using discriminant analysis. The main goal of this study was to compare potential of HRV time-domain parameters versus HRV frequency-domain parameters in classifying exercise exertion level. Rest, exercise, and recovery categories were used in classification models. Overall 79.5% classification agreement by the time-domain parameters as compared to overall 52.8% classification agreement by frequency-domain parameters demonstrated that the time-domain parameters had higher potential in classifying exercise exertion levels.

Numerical modeling of wind turbine aerodynamic noise in the time domain.

PubMed

Lee, Seunghoon; Lee, Seungmin; Lee, Soogab

2013-02-01

Aerodynamic noise from a wind turbine is numerically modeled in the time domain. An analytic trailing edge noise model is used to determine the unsteady pressure on the blade surface. The far-field noise due to the unsteady pressure is calculated using the acoustic analogy theory. By using a strip theory approach, the two-dimensional noise model is applied to rotating wind turbine blades. The numerical results indicate that, although the operating and atmospheric conditions are identical, the acoustical characteristics of wind turbine noise can be quite different with respect to the distance and direction from the wind turbine.

Non-invasive Florentine Renaissance Panel Painting Replica Structures Investigation by Using Terahertz Time-Domain Imaging (THz-TDI) Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koch Dandolo, Corinna L.; Picollo, Marcello; Cucci, Costanza; Jepsen, Peter Uhd

2016-11-01

The potentials of the Terahertz Time-Domain Imaging (THz-TDI) technique for a non-invasive inspection of panel paintings have been considered in detail. The THz-TD data acquired on a replica of a panel painting made in imitation of Italian Renaissance panel paintings were processed in order to provide insights as to the limits and potentials of the technique in detecting different kinds of underdrawings and paint layers. Constituent layers, construction techniques, and anomalies were identified and localized by interpreting the extracted THz dielectric stratigraphy.

Domain decomposition methods for systems of conservation laws: Spectral collocation approximations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quarteroni, Alfio

1989-01-01

Hyperbolic systems of conversation laws are considered which are discretized in space by spectral collocation methods and advanced in time by finite difference schemes. At any time-level a domain deposition method based on an iteration by subdomain procedure was introduced yielding at each step a sequence of independent subproblems (one for each subdomain) that can be solved simultaneously. The method is set for a general nonlinear problem in several space variables. The convergence analysis, however, is carried out only for a linear one-dimensional system with continuous solutions. A precise form of the error reduction factor at each iteration is derived. Although the method is applied here to the case of spectral collocation approximation only, the idea is fairly general and can be used in a different context as well. For instance, its application to space discretization by finite differences is straight forward.

Time-domain system for identification of the natural resonant frequencies of aircraft relevant to electromagnetic compatibility testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adams, J. W.; Ondrejka, A. R.; Medley, H. W.

1987-11-01

A method of measuring the natural resonant frequencies of a structure is described. The measurement involves irradiating this structure, in this case a helicopter, with an impulsive electromagnetic (EM) field and receiving the echo reflected from the helicopter. Resonances are identified by using a mathematical algorithm based on Prony's method to operate on the digitized reflected signal. The measurement system consists of special TEM horns, pulse generators, a time-domain system, and Prony's algorithm. The frequency range covered is 5 megahertz to 250 megahertz. This range is determined by antenna and circuit characteristics. The measurement system is demonstrated, and measured data from several different helicopters are presented in different forms. These different forms are needed to determine which of the resonant frequencies are real and which are false. The false frequencies are byproducts of Prony's algorithm.

Comparison of frequency-domain and time-domain rotorcraft vibration control methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, N. K.

1984-01-01

Active control of rotor-induced vibration in rotorcraft has received significant attention recently. Two classes of techniques have been proposed. The more developed approach works with harmonic analysis of measured time histories and is called the frequency-domain approach. The more recent approach computes the control input directly using the measured time history data and is called the time-domain approach. The report summarizes the results of a theoretical investigation to compare the two approaches. Five specific areas were addressed: (1) techniques to derive models needed for control design (system identification methods), (2) robustness with respect to errors, (3) transient response, (4) susceptibility to noise, and (5) implementation difficulties. The system identification methods are more difficult for the time-domain models. The time-domain approach is more robust (e.g., has higher gain and phase margins) than the frequency-domain approach. It might thus be possible to avoid doing real-time system identification in the time-domain approach by storing models at a number of flight conditions. The most significant error source is the variation in open-loop vibrations caused by pilot inputs, maneuvers or gusts. The implementation requirements are similar except that the time-domain approach can be much simpler to implement if real-time system identification were not necessary.

Estimating soil hydraulic properties from soil moisture time series by inversion of a dual-permeability model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalla Valle, Nicolas; Wutzler, Thomas; Meyer, Stefanie; Potthast, Karin; Michalzik, Beate

2017-04-01

Dual-permeability type models are widely used to simulate water fluxes and solute transport in structured soils. These models contain two spatially overlapping flow domains with different parameterizations or even entirely different conceptual descriptions of flow processes. They are usually able to capture preferential flow phenomena, but a large set of parameters is needed, which are very laborious to obtain or cannot be measured at all. Therefore, model inversions are often used to derive the necessary parameters. Although these require sufficient input data themselves, they can use measurements of state variables instead, which are often easier to obtain and can be monitored by automated measurement systems. In this work we show a method to estimate soil hydraulic parameters from high frequency soil moisture time series data gathered at two different measurement depths by inversion of a simple one dimensional dual-permeability model. The model uses an advection equation based on the kinematic wave theory to describe the flow in the fracture domain and a Richards equation for the flow in the matrix domain. The soil moisture time series data were measured in mesocosms during sprinkling experiments. The inversion consists of three consecutive steps: First, the parameters of the water retention function were assessed using vertical soil moisture profiles in hydraulic equilibrium. This was done using two different exponential retention functions and the Campbell function. Second, the soil sorptivity and diffusivity functions were estimated from Boltzmann-transformed soil moisture data, which allowed the calculation of the hydraulic conductivity function. Third, the parameters governing flow in the fracture domain were determined using the whole soil moisture time series. The resulting retention functions were within the range of values predicted by pedotransfer functions apart from very dry conditions, where all retention functions predicted lower matrix potentials. The diffusivity function predicted values of a similar range as shown in other studies. Overall, the model was able to emulate soil moisture time series for low measurement depths, but deviated increasingly at larger depths. This indicates that some of the model parameters are not constant throughout the profile. However, overall seepage fluxes were still predicted correctly. In the near future we will apply the inversion method to lower frequency soil moisture data from different sites to evaluate the model's ability to predict preferential flow seepage fluxes at the field scale.

Nondestructive Evaluation of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites Using Reflective Terahertz Imaging

PubMed Central

Zhang, Jin; Li, Wei; Cui, Hong-Liang; Shi, Changcheng; Han, Xiaohui; Ma, Yuting; Chen, Jiandong; Chang, Tianying; Wei, Dongshan; Zhang, Yumin; Zhou, Yufeng

2016-01-01

Terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) imaging is considered a nondestructive evaluation method for composite materials used for examining various defects of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites and fire-retardant coatings in the reflective imaging modality. We demonstrate that hidden defects simulated by Teflon artificial inserts are imaged clearly in the perpendicular polarization mode. The THz TDS technique is also used to measure the thickness of thin fire-retardant coatings on CFRP composites with a typical accuracy of about 10 micrometers. In addition, coating debonding is successfully imaged based on the time-delay difference of the time-domain waveforms between closely adhered and debonded sample locations. PMID:27314352

Estimating time-dependent connectivity in marine systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Defne, Zafer; Ganju, Neil K.; Aretxabaleta, Alfredo

2016-01-01

Hydrodynamic connectivity describes the sources and destinations of water parcels within a domain over a given time. When combined with biological models, it can be a powerful concept to explain the patterns of constituent dispersal within marine ecosystems. However, providing connectivity metrics for a given domain is a three-dimensional problem: two dimensions in space to define the sources and destinations and a time dimension to evaluate connectivity at varying temporal scales. If the time scale of interest is not predefined, then a general approach is required to describe connectivity over different time scales. For this purpose, we have introduced the concept of a “retention clock” that highlights the change in connectivity through time. Using the example of connectivity between protected areas within Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, we show that a retention clock matrix is an informative tool for multitemporal analysis of connectivity.

Optimal sensor placement for time-domain identification using a wavelet-based genetic algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahdavi, Seyed Hossein; Razak, Hashim Abdul

2016-06-01

This paper presents a wavelet-based genetic algorithm strategy for optimal sensor placement (OSP) effective for time-domain structural identification. Initially, the GA-based fitness evaluation is significantly improved by using adaptive wavelet functions. Later, a multi-species decimal GA coding system is modified to be suitable for an efficient search around the local optima. In this regard, a local operation of mutation is introduced in addition with regeneration and reintroduction operators. It is concluded that different characteristics of applied force influence the features of structural responses, and therefore the accuracy of time-domain structural identification is directly affected. Thus, the reliable OSP strategy prior to the time-domain identification will be achieved by those methods dealing with minimizing the distance of simulated responses for the entire system and condensed system considering the force effects. The numerical and experimental verification on the effectiveness of the proposed strategy demonstrates the considerably high computational performance of the proposed OSP strategy, in terms of computational cost and the accuracy of identification. It is deduced that the robustness of the proposed OSP algorithm lies in the precise and fast fitness evaluation at larger sampling rates which result in the optimum evaluation of the GA-based exploration and exploitation phases towards the global optimum solution.

Time Domains of the Hypoxic Ventilatory Response and Their Molecular Basis

PubMed Central

Pamenter, Matthew E.; Powell, Frank L.

2016-01-01

Ventilatory responses to hypoxia vary widely depending on the pattern and length of hypoxic exposure. Acute, prolonged, or intermittent hypoxic episodes can increase or decrease breathing for seconds to years, both during the hypoxic stimulus, and also after its removal. These myriad effects are the result of a complicated web of molecular interactions that underlie plasticity in the respiratory control reflex circuits and ultimately control the physiology of breathing in hypoxia. Since the time domains of the physiological hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) were identified, considerable research effort has gone toward elucidating the underlying molecular mechanisms that mediate these varied responses. This research has begun to describe complicated and plastic interactions in the relay circuits between the peripheral chemoreceptors and the ventilatory control circuits within the central nervous system. Intriguingly, many of these molecular pathways seem to share key components between the different time domains, suggesting that varied physiological HVRs are the result of specific modifications to overlapping pathways. This review highlights what has been discovered regarding the cell and molecular level control of the time domains of the HVR, and highlights key areas where further research is required. Understanding the molecular control of ventilation in hypoxia has important implications for basic physiology and is emerging as an important component of several clinical fields. PMID:27347896

Phase-space topography characterization of nonlinear ultrasound waveforms.

PubMed

Dehghan-Niri, Ehsan; Al-Beer, Helem

2018-03-01

Fundamental understanding of ultrasound interaction with material discontinuities having closed interfaces has many engineering applications such as nondestructive evaluation of defects like kissing bonds and cracks in critical structural and mechanical components. In this paper, to analyze the acoustic field nonlinearities due to defects with closed interfaces, the use of a common technique in nonlinear physics, based on a phase-space topography construction of ultrasound waveform, is proposed. The central idea is to complement the "time" and "frequency" domain analyses with the "phase-space" domain analysis of nonlinear ultrasound waveforms. A nonlinear time series method known as pseudo phase-space topography construction is used to construct equivalent phase-space portrait of measured ultrasound waveforms. Several nonlinear models are considered to numerically simulate nonlinear ultrasound waveforms. The phase-space response of the simulated waveforms is shown to provide different topographic information, while the frequency domain shows similar spectral behavior. Thus, model classification can be substantially enhanced in the phase-space domain. Experimental results on high strength aluminum samples show that the phase-space transformation provides a unique detection and classification capabilities. The Poincaré map of the phase-space domain is also used to better understand the nonlinear behavior of ultrasound waveforms. It is shown that the analysis of ultrasound nonlinearities is more convenient and informative in the phase-space domain than in the frequency domain. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tomographic reconstruction of melanin structures of optical coherence tomography via the finite-difference time-domain simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Shi-Hao; Wang, Shiang-Jiu; Tseng, Snow H.

2015-03-01

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides high resolution, cross-sectional image of internal microstructure of biological tissue. We use the Finite-Difference Time-Domain method (FDTD) to analyze the data acquired by OCT, which can help us reconstruct the refractive index of the biological tissue. We calculate the refractive index tomography and try to match the simulation with the data acquired by OCT. Specifically, we try to reconstruct the structure of melanin, which has complex refractive indices and is the key component of human pigment system. The results indicate that better reconstruction can be achieved for homogenous sample, whereas the reconstruction is degraded for samples with fine structure or with complex interface. Simulation reconstruction shows structures of the Melanin that may be useful for biomedical optics applications.

Modeling laser-induced periodic surface structures: Finite-difference time-domain feedback simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Skolski, J. Z. P., E-mail: j.z.p.skolski@utwente.nl; Vincenc Obona, J.; Römer, G. R. B. E.

2014-03-14

A model predicting the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSSs) is presented. That is, the finite-difference time domain method is used to study the interaction of electromagnetic fields with rough surfaces. In this approach, the rough surface is modified by “ablation after each laser pulse,” according to the absorbed energy profile, in order to account for inter-pulse feedback mechanisms. LIPSSs with a periodicity significantly smaller than the laser wavelength are found to “grow” either parallel or orthogonal to the laser polarization. The change in orientation and periodicity follow from the model. LIPSSs with a periodicity larger than the wavelengthmore » of the laser radiation and complex superimposed LIPSS patterns are also predicted by the model.« less

User's manual for three dimensional FDTD version B code for scattering from frequency-dependent dielectric materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1992-01-01

The Penn State Finite Difference Time Domain Electromagnetic Code Version B is a three dimensional numerical electromagnetic scattering code based upon the Finite Difference Time Domain Technique (FDTD). The supplied version of the code is one version of our current three dimensional FDTD code set. This manual provides a description of the code and corresponding results for several scattering problems. The manual is organized into 14 sections: introduction, description of the FDTD method, operation, resource requirements, Version B code capabilities, a brief description of the default scattering geometry, a brief description of each subroutine, a description of the include file, a discussion of radar cross section computations, a discussion of some scattering results, a sample problem setup section, a new problem checklist, references and figure titles.

Time-domain simulation of constitutive relations for nonlinear acoustics including relaxation for frequency power law attenuation media modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiménez, Noé; Camarena, Francisco; Redondo, Javier; Sánchez-Morcillo, Víctor; Konofagou, Elisa E.

2015-10-01

We report a numerical method for solving the constitutive relations of nonlinear acoustics, where multiple relaxation processes are included in a generalized formulation that allows the time-domain numerical solution by an explicit finite differences scheme. Thus, the proposed physical model overcomes the limitations of the one-way Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) type models and, due to the Lagrangian density is implicitly included in the calculation, the proposed method also overcomes the limitations of Westervelt equation in complex configurations for medical ultrasound. In order to model frequency power law attenuation and dispersion, such as observed in biological media, the relaxation parameters are fitted to both exact frequency power law attenuation/dispersion media and also empirically measured attenuation of a variety of tissues that does not fit an exact power law. Finally, a computational technique based on artificial relaxation is included to correct the non-negligible numerical dispersion of the finite difference scheme, and, on the other hand, improve stability trough artificial attenuation when shock waves are present. This technique avoids the use of high-order finite-differences schemes leading to fast calculations. The present algorithm is especially suited for practical configuration where spatial discontinuities are present in the domain (e.g. axisymmetric domains or zero normal velocity boundary conditions in general). The accuracy of the method is discussed by comparing the proposed simulation solutions to one dimensional analytical and k-space numerical solutions.

Comparative structure-function characterization of the saposin-like domains from potato, barley, cardoon and Arabidopsis aspartic proteases.

PubMed

Bryksa, Brian C; Grahame, Douglas A; Yada, Rickey Y

2017-05-01

The present study characterized the aspartic protease saposin-like domains of four plant species, Solanum tuberosum (potato), Hordeum vulgare L. (barley), Cynara cardunculus L. (cardoon; artichoke thistle) and Arabidopsis thaliana, in terms of bilayer disruption and fusion, and structure pH-dependence. Comparison of the recombinant saposin-like domains revealed that each induced leakage of bilayer vesicles composed of a simple phospholipid mixture with relative rates Arabidopsis>barley>cardoon>potato. When compared for leakage of bilayer composed of a vacuole-like phospholipid mixture, leakage was approximately five times higher for potato saposin-like domain compared to the others. In terms of fusogenic activity, distinctions between particle size profiles were noted among the four proteins, particularly for potato saposin-like domain. Bilayer fusion assays in reducing conditions resulted in altered fusion profiles except in the case of cardoon saposin-like domain which was virtually unchanged. Secondary structure profiles were similar across all four proteins under different pH conditions, although cardoon saposin-like domain appeared to have higher overall helix structure. Furthermore, increases in Trp emission upon protein-bilayer interactions suggested that protein structure rearrangements equilibrated with half-times ranging from 52 to 120s, with cardoon saposin-like domain significantly slower than the other three species. Overall, the present findings serve as a foundation for future studies seeking to delineate protein structural features and motifs in protein-bilayer interactions based upon variability in plant aspartic protease saposin-like domain structures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Cross-Domain Collaborative Filtering Algorithm Based on Feature Construction and Locally Weighted Linear Regression

PubMed Central

Jiang, Feng; Han, Ji-zhong

2018-01-01

Cross-domain collaborative filtering (CDCF) solves the sparsity problem by transferring rating knowledge from auxiliary domains. Obviously, different auxiliary domains have different importance to the target domain. However, previous works cannot evaluate effectively the significance of different auxiliary domains. To overcome this drawback, we propose a cross-domain collaborative filtering algorithm based on Feature Construction and Locally Weighted Linear Regression (FCLWLR). We first construct features in different domains and use these features to represent different auxiliary domains. Thus the weight computation across different domains can be converted as the weight computation across different features. Then we combine the features in the target domain and in the auxiliary domains together and convert the cross-domain recommendation problem into a regression problem. Finally, we employ a Locally Weighted Linear Regression (LWLR) model to solve the regression problem. As LWLR is a nonparametric regression method, it can effectively avoid underfitting or overfitting problem occurring in parametric regression methods. We conduct extensive experiments to show that the proposed FCLWLR algorithm is effective in addressing the data sparsity problem by transferring the useful knowledge from the auxiliary domains, as compared to many state-of-the-art single-domain or cross-domain CF methods. PMID:29623088

A Cross-Domain Collaborative Filtering Algorithm Based on Feature Construction and Locally Weighted Linear Regression.

PubMed

Yu, Xu; Lin, Jun-Yu; Jiang, Feng; Du, Jun-Wei; Han, Ji-Zhong

2018-01-01

Cross-domain collaborative filtering (CDCF) solves the sparsity problem by transferring rating knowledge from auxiliary domains. Obviously, different auxiliary domains have different importance to the target domain. However, previous works cannot evaluate effectively the significance of different auxiliary domains. To overcome this drawback, we propose a cross-domain collaborative filtering algorithm based on Feature Construction and Locally Weighted Linear Regression (FCLWLR). We first construct features in different domains and use these features to represent different auxiliary domains. Thus the weight computation across different domains can be converted as the weight computation across different features. Then we combine the features in the target domain and in the auxiliary domains together and convert the cross-domain recommendation problem into a regression problem. Finally, we employ a Locally Weighted Linear Regression (LWLR) model to solve the regression problem. As LWLR is a nonparametric regression method, it can effectively avoid underfitting or overfitting problem occurring in parametric regression methods. We conduct extensive experiments to show that the proposed FCLWLR algorithm is effective in addressing the data sparsity problem by transferring the useful knowledge from the auxiliary domains, as compared to many state-of-the-art single-domain or cross-domain CF methods.

A New Method of Using Sensor Arrays for Gas Leakage Location Based on Correlation of the Time-Space Domain of Continuous Ultrasound

PubMed Central

Bian, Xu; Zhang, Yu; Li, Yibo; Gong, Xiaoyue; Jin, Shijiu

2015-01-01

This paper proposes a time-space domain correlation-based method for gas leakage detection and location. It acquires the propagated signal on the skin of the plate by using a piezoelectric acoustic emission (AE) sensor array. The signal generated from the gas leakage hole (which diameter is less than 2 mm) is time continuous. By collecting and analyzing signals from different sensors’ positions in the array, the correlation among those signals in the time-space domain can be achieved. Then, the directional relationship between the sensor array and the leakage source can be calculated. The method successfully solves the real-time orientation problem of continuous ultrasonic signals generated from leakage sources (the orientation time is about 15 s once), and acquires high accuracy location information of leakage sources by the combination of multiple sets of orientation results. According to the experimental results, the mean value of the location absolute error is 5.83 mm on a one square meter plate, and the maximum location error is generally within a ±10 mm interval. Meanwhile, the error variance is less than 20.17. PMID:25860070

A new method of using sensor arrays for gas leakage location based on correlation of the time-space domain of continuous ultrasound.

PubMed

Bian, Xu; Zhang, Yu; Li, Yibo; Gong, Xiaoyue; Jin, Shijiu

2015-04-09

This paper proposes a time-space domain correlation-based method for gas leakage detection and location. It acquires the propagated signal on the skin of the plate by using a piezoelectric acoustic emission (AE) sensor array. The signal generated from the gas leakage hole (which diameter is less than 2 mm) is time continuous. By collecting and analyzing signals from different sensors' positions in the array, the correlation among those signals in the time-space domain can be achieved. Then, the directional relationship between the sensor array and the leakage source can be calculated. The method successfully solves the real-time orientation problem of continuous ultrasonic signals generated from leakage sources (the orientation time is about 15 s once), and acquires high accuracy location information of leakage sources by the combination of multiple sets of orientation results. According to the experimental results, the mean value of the location absolute error is 5.83 mm on a one square meter plate, and the maximum location error is generally within a ±10 mm interval. Meanwhile, the error variance is less than 20.17.

Single-domain angiotensin I converting enzyme (kininase II): characterization and properties.

PubMed

Deddish, P A; Wang, L X; Jackman, H L; Michel, B; Wang, J; Skidgel, R A; Erdös, E G

1996-12-01

Somatic angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE; kininase II) has two active sites, in two (N and C) domains. We studied the active centers with separate N-domain ACE (N-ACE), testicular C-domain ACE (germinal ACE) and, as control, renal somatic ACE. Germinal ACE cleaved the nonapeptide bradykinin about two times faster than N-ACE in 20 mM Cl-. Bradykinin1-7 was hydrolyzed further to bradykinin1-5 by N-ACE four times faster in the absence of Cl-, but at 300 mM Cl- the C-domain hydrolyzed it twice as fast. The hematopoietic system regulatory peptide acetyl-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro was split to two dipeptides by N-ACE, depending on the chloride concentration, 8 to 24 times faster than by germinal ACE; at 100 mM Cl-, the Kcat with N-ACE was eight times higher. One millimolar 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene inhibited germinal ACE 96% but it inhibited N-ACE by only 31%. [3H]Ramiprilat was displaced by other unlabeled ACE inhibitors to establish their relative affinities. Captopril had the lowest IC50 (0.5 nM) with N-ACE and the highest IC50 (8.3 nM) with the germinal ACE. The IC50 values of ramiprilat and quinaprilat were about the same with both active sites. The association and dissociation constants of [3H]ramiprilat indicated faster association with and faster dissociation from N-ACE than from germinal ACE. After exposure to alkali or moderate heat, somatic ACE was cleaved by plasmin and kallikrein, releasing N-ACE and apparently inactivating the C-domain. These studies affirm the differences in the activity, stability and inhibition of the two active sites of ACE.

In vivo neuronal synthesis and axonal transport of Kunitz protease inhibitor (KPI)-containing forms of the amyloid precursor protein.

PubMed

Moya, K L; Confaloni, A M; Allinquant, B

1994-11-01

We have shown previously that the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is synthesized in retinal ganglion cells and is rapidly transported down the axons, and that different molecular weight forms of the precursor have different developmental time courses. Some APP isoforms contain a Kunitz protease inhibitor (KPI) domain, and APP that lacks the KPI domain is considered the predominant isoform in neurons. We now show that, among the various rapidly transported APPs, a 140-kDa isoform contains the KPI domain. This APP isoform is highly expressed in rapidly growing retinal axons, and it is also prominent in adult axon endings. This 140-kDa KPI-containing APP is highly sulfated compared with other axonally transported isoforms. These results show that APP with the KPI domain is a prominent isoform synthesized in neurons in vivo, and they suggest that the regulation of protease activity may be an important factor during the establishment of neuronal connections.

Different states of synaptotagmin regulate evoked versus spontaneous release

PubMed Central

Bai, Hua; Xue, Renhao; Bao, Huan; Zhang, Leili; Yethiraj, Arun; Cui, Qiang; Chapman, Edwin R.

2016-01-01

The tandem C2-domains of synaptotagmin 1 (syt) function as Ca2+-binding modules that trigger exocytosis; in the absence of Ca2+, syt inhibits spontaneous release. Here, we used proline linkers to constrain and alter the relative orientation of these C2-domains. Short poly-proline helices have a period of three, so large changes in the relative disposition of the C2-domains result from changing the length of the poly-proline linker by a single residue. The length of the linker was varied one residue at a time, revealing a periodicity of three for the ability of the linker mutants to interact with anionic phospholipids and drive evoked synaptic transmission; syt efficiently drove exocytosis when its tandem C2-domains pointed in the same direction. Analysis of spontaneous release revealed a reciprocal relationship between the activation and clamping activities of the linker mutants. Hence, different structural states of syt underlie the control of distinct forms of synaptic transmission. PMID:27001899

Spatio-temporal phase retrieval in speckle interferometry with Hilbert transform and two-dimensional phase unwrapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiangyu; Huang, Zhanhua; Zhu, Meng; He, Jin; Zhang, Hao

2014-12-01

Hilbert transform (HT) is widely used in temporal speckle pattern interferometry, but errors from low modulations might propagate and corrupt the calculated phase. A spatio-temporal method for phase retrieval using temporal HT and spatial phase unwrapping is presented. In time domain, the wrapped phase difference between the initial and current states is directly determined by using HT. To avoid the influence of the low modulation intensity, the phase information between the two states is ignored. As a result, the phase unwrapping is shifted from time domain to space domain. A phase unwrapping algorithm based on discrete cosine transform is adopted by taking advantage of the information in adjacent pixels. An experiment is carried out with a Michelson-type interferometer to study the out-of-plane deformation field. High quality whole-field phase distribution maps with different fringe densities are obtained. Under the experimental conditions, the maximum number of fringes resolvable in a 416×416 frame is 30, which indicates a 15λ deformation along the direction of loading.

[Domains of physical activity and education in São Paulo, Brazil: a serial cross-sectional study in 2003 and 2008].

PubMed

Nunes, Ana Paula de Oliveira Barbosa; Luiz, Olinda do Carmo; Barros, Marilisa Berti Azevedo; Cesar, Chester Luis Galvão; Goldbaum, Moisés

2015-08-01

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of physical activity in different domains and the association with schooling, using a serial cross-sectional population-based design comparing data from two editions of a health survey in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Participation included 1,667 adults in 2003 and 2,086 in 2008. Probabilistic sampling was performed by two-stage clusters. The long version of International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) allowed evaluating multiple domains of physical activity. Poisson regression was used. Men were more active in their leisure time and at work and women in the home. Schooling was associated directly with leisure-time activity (2003 and 2008) and inversely with work-related physical activity (2003) for men and for women in housework. The studies showed that Brazilians with less schooling are becoming less active, so that intervention strategies should consider different educational levels. Interventions in the urban space and transportation can increase the opportunities for physical activity and broaden access by the population.

Correlates of occupational, leisure and total sitting time in working adults: results from the Singapore multi-ethnic cohort.

PubMed

Uijtdewilligen, Léonie; Yin, Jason Dean-Chen; van der Ploeg, Hidde P; Müller-Riemenschneider, Falk

2017-12-13

Evidence on the health risks of sitting is accumulating. However, research identifying factors influencing sitting time in adults is limited, especially in Asian populations. This study aimed to identify socio-demographic and lifestyle correlates of occupational, leisure and total sitting time in a sample of Singapore working adults. Data were collected between 2004 and 2010 from participants of the Singapore Multi Ethnic Cohort (MEC). Medical exclusion criteria for cohort participation were cancer, heart disease, stroke, renal failure and serious mental illness. Participants who were not working over the past 12 months and without data on sitting time were excluded from the analyses. Multivariable regression analyses were used to examine cross-sectional associations of self-reported age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education, smoking, caloric intake and moderate-to-vigorous leisure time physical activity (LTPA) with self-reported occupational, leisure and total sitting time. Correlates were also studied separately for Chinese, Malays and Indians. The final sample comprised 9384 participants (54.8% male): 50.5% were Chinese, 24.0% Malay, and 25.5% Indian. For the total sample, mean occupational sitting time was 2.71 h/day, mean leisure sitting time was 2.77 h/day and mean total sitting time was 5.48 h/day. Sitting time in all domains was highest among Chinese. Age, gender, education, and caloric intake were associated with higher occupational sitting time, while ethnicity, marital status and smoking were associated with lower occupational sitting time. Marital status, smoking, caloric intake and LTPA were associated with higher leisure sitting time, while age, gender and ethnicity were associated with lower leisure sitting time. Gender, marital status, education, caloric intake and LTPA were associated with higher total sitting time, while ethnicity was associated with lower total sitting time. Stratified analyses revealed different associations within sitting domains for Indians compared to Chinese and Malays. Our findings highlight the need to focus on separate domains of sitting (occupational, leisure or total) when identifying which factors determine this behavior, and that the content of intervention programs should be tailored to domain-specific sitting rather than to sitting in general. Finally, our study showed ethnic differences and therefore we recommend to culturally target interventions.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia responses to induced emotional states: effects of RSA indices, emotion induction method, age, and sex.

PubMed

Overbeek, Thérèse J M; van Boxtel, Anton; Westerink, Joyce H D M

2012-09-01

The literature shows large inconsistencies in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) responses to induced emotional states. This may be caused by differences in emotion induction methods, RSA quantification, and non-emotional demands of the situation. In 83 healthy subjects, we studied RSA responses to pictures and film fragments eliciting six different discrete emotions relative to neutral baseline stimuli. RSA responses were quantified in the time and frequency domain and were additionally corrected for differences in mean heart rate and respiration rate, resulting in eight different RSA response measures. Subjective ratings of emotional stimuli and facial electromyographic responses indicated that pictures and film fragments elicited the intended emotions. Although RSA measures showed various emotional effects, responses were quite heterogeneous and frequently nonsignificant. They were substantially influenced by methodological factors, in particular time vs. frequency domain response measures, correction for changes in respiration rate, use of pictures vs. film fragments, and sex of participants. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bistatic scattering from a three-dimensional object above a two-dimensional randomly rough surface modeled with the parallel FDTD approach.

PubMed

Guo, L-X; Li, J; Zeng, H

2009-11-01

We present an investigation of the electromagnetic scattering from a three-dimensional (3-D) object above a two-dimensional (2-D) randomly rough surface. A Message Passing Interface-based parallel finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) approach is used, and the uniaxial perfectly matched layer (UPML) medium is adopted for truncation of the FDTD lattices, in which the finite-difference equations can be used for the total computation domain by properly choosing the uniaxial parameters. This makes the parallel FDTD algorithm easier to implement. The parallel performance with different number of processors is illustrated for one rough surface realization and shows that the computation time of our parallel FDTD algorithm is dramatically reduced relative to a single-processor implementation. Finally, the composite scattering coefficients versus scattered and azimuthal angle are presented and analyzed for different conditions, including the surface roughness, the dielectric constants, the polarization, and the size of the 3-D object.

Lagrangian statistics and flow topology in forced two-dimensional turbulence.

PubMed

Kadoch, B; Del-Castillo-Negrete, D; Bos, W J T; Schneider, K

2011-03-01

A study of the relationship between Lagrangian statistics and flow topology in fluid turbulence is presented. The topology is characterized using the Weiss criterion, which provides a conceptually simple tool to partition the flow into topologically different regions: elliptic (vortex dominated), hyperbolic (deformation dominated), and intermediate (turbulent background). The flow corresponds to forced two-dimensional Navier-Stokes turbulence in doubly periodic and circular bounded domains, the latter with no-slip boundary conditions. In the double periodic domain, the probability density function (pdf) of the Weiss field exhibits a negative skewness consistent with the fact that in periodic domains the flow is dominated by coherent vortex structures. On the other hand, in the circular domain, the elliptic and hyperbolic regions seem to be statistically similar. We follow a Lagrangian approach and obtain the statistics by tracking large ensembles of passively advected tracers. The pdfs of residence time in the topologically different regions are computed introducing the Lagrangian Weiss field, i.e., the Weiss field computed along the particles' trajectories. In elliptic and hyperbolic regions, the pdfs of the residence time have self-similar algebraic decaying tails. In contrast, in the intermediate regions the pdf has exponential decaying tails. The conditional pdfs (with respect to the flow topology) of the Lagrangian velocity exhibit Gaussian-like behavior in the periodic and in the bounded domains. In contrast to the freely decaying turbulence case, the conditional pdfs of the Lagrangian acceleration in forced turbulence show a comparable level of intermittency in both the periodic and the bounded domains. The conditional pdfs of the Lagrangian curvature are characterized, in all cases, by self-similar power-law behavior with a decay exponent of order -2.

Analysis of surface EMG baseline for detection of hidden muscle activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xu; Zhou, Ping

2014-02-01

Objective. This study explored the feasibility of detecting hidden muscle activity in surface electromyogram (EMG) baseline. Approach. Power spectral density (PSD) analysis and multi-scale entropy (MSE) analysis were used. Both analyses were applied to computer simulations of surface EMG baseline with the presence (representing activity data) or absence (representing reference data) of hidden muscle activity, as well as surface electrode array EMG baseline recordings of healthy control and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) subjects. Main results. Although the simulated reference data and the activity data yielded no distinguishable difference in the time domain, they demonstrated a significant difference in the frequency and signal complexity domains with the PSD and MSE analyses. For a comparison using pooled data, such a difference was also observed when the PSD and MSE analyses were applied to surface electrode array EMG baseline recordings of healthy control and ALS subjects, which demonstrated no distinguishable difference in the time domain. Compared with the PSD analysis, the MSE analysis appeared to be more sensitive for detecting the difference in surface EMG baselines between the two groups. Significance. The findings implied the presence of a hidden muscle activity in surface EMG baseline recordings from the ALS subjects. To promote the presented analysis as a useful diagnostic or investigatory tool, future studies are necessary to assess the pathophysiological nature or origins of the hidden muscle activity, as well as the baseline difference at the individual subject level.

Analysis of Surface EMG Baseline for Detection of Hidden Muscle Activity

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xu; Zhou, Ping

2014-01-01

Objective This study explored the feasibility of detecting hidden muscle activity in surface electromyogram (EMG) baseline. Approach Power spectral density (PSD) analysis and multi-scale entropy (MSE) analysis were used respectively. Both analyses were applied to computer simulations of surface EMG baseline with presence (representing activity data) or absence (representing reference data) of hidden muscle activity, as well as surface electrode array EMG baseline recordings of healthy control and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) subjects. Main results Although the simulated reference data and the activity data yielded no distinguishable difference in the time domain, they demonstrated a significant difference in the frequency and signal complexity domains with the PSD and MSE analyses. For a comparison using pooled data, such a difference was also observed when the PSD and MSE analyses were applied to surface electrode array EMG baseline recordings of healthy control and ALS subjects, which demonstrated no distinguishable difference in the time domain. Compared with the PSD analysis, the MSE analysis appeared to be more sensitive for detecting the difference in surface EMG baselines between the two groups. Significance The findings implied presence of hidden muscle activity in surface EMG baseline recordings from the ALS subjects. To promote the presented analysis as a useful diagnostic or investigatory tool, future studies are necessary to assess the pathophysiological nature or origins of the hidden muscle activity, as well as the baseline difference at the individual subject level. PMID:24445526

Finite-difference time-domain modelling of through-the-Earth radio signal propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ralchenko, M.; Svilans, M.; Samson, C.; Roper, M.

2015-12-01

This research seeks to extend the knowledge of how a very low frequency (VLF) through-the-Earth (TTE) radio signal behaves as it propagates underground, by calculating and visualizing the strength of the electric and magnetic fields for an arbitrary geology through numeric modelling. To achieve this objective, a new software tool has been developed using the finite-difference time-domain method. This technique is particularly well suited to visualizing the distribution of electromagnetic fields in an arbitrary geology. The frequency range of TTE radio (400-9000 Hz) and geometrical scales involved (1 m resolution for domains a few hundred metres in size) involves processing a grid composed of millions of cells for thousands of time steps, which is computationally expensive. Graphics processing unit acceleration was used to reduce execution time from days and weeks, to minutes and hours. Results from the new modelling tool were compared to three cases for which an analytic solution is known. Two more case studies were done featuring complex geologic environments relevant to TTE communications that cannot be solved analytically. There was good agreement between numeric and analytic results. Deviations were likely caused by numeric artifacts from the model boundaries; however, in a TTE application in field conditions, the uncertainty in the conductivity of the various geologic formations will greatly outweigh these small numeric errors.

Frequency domain kinetic of positron-electron annihilation in the MgO-Al2O3 spinel-type ceramics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fl'unt, Orest; Klym, Halyna; Ingram, Adam

2018-03-01

In this work, the kinetic of positron-electron annihilation in the MgO-Al2O3 spinel-type ceramics sintered at different temperatures (1100, 1200 and 1400 °C) has been calculated and analyzed in a frequency domain. The spectra of real (in-phase) and imaginary (quadrature) components of positron-electron annihilation kinetic have been obtained numerically from usual temporal characteristics using integral Fourier transform. The numerical calculations were carried out using cubic spline interpolation of the pulse characteristics of MgO-Al2O3 ceramics in time domain with following analytical calculations of integrals. The obtained spectra as real so imaginary part of MgO-Al2O3 ceramics in frequency domain almost good obey a Debye law denying correlation between elementary positron annihilation processes. Complex diagrams of frequency domain responses of as-prepared samples have a shape of semicircles with close characteristic frequencies. Some deviation on low-frequency side of the semicircles is observed confirming an availability of longer time kinetic processes. Sintering temperature dependencies of the relaxation times and characteristic frequencies of positron-electron annihilation processes have been obtained. It is shown that position of large maxima on the frequency dependencies of imaginary part corresponds to fast average relaxation lifetime representing the most intensive interaction process of positrons with small cavity traps in solids.

Photonic time crystals.

PubMed

Zeng, Lunwu; Xu, Jin; Wang, Chengen; Zhang, Jianhua; Zhao, Yuting; Zeng, Jing; Song, Runxia

2017-12-07

When space (time) translation symmetry is spontaneously broken, the space crystal (time crystal) forms; when permittivity and permeability periodically vary with space (time), the photonic crystal (photonic time crystal) forms. We proposed the concept of photonic time crystal and rewritten the Maxwell's equations. Utilizing Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method, we simulated electromagnetic wave propagation in photonic time crystal and photonic space-time crystal, the simulation results show that more intensive scatter fields can obtained in photonic time crystal and photonic space-time crystal.

A prognostic model for temporal courses that combines temporal abstraction and case-based reasoning.

PubMed

Schmidt, Rainer; Gierl, Lothar

2005-03-01

Since clinical management of patients and clinical research are essentially time-oriented endeavours, reasoning about time has become a hot topic in medical informatics. Here we present a method for prognosis of temporal courses, which combines temporal abstractions with case-based reasoning. It is useful for application domains where neither well-known standards, nor known periodicity, nor a complete domain theory exist. We have used our method in two prognostic applications. The first one deals with prognosis of the kidney function for intensive care patients. The idea is to elicit impairments on time, especially to warn against threatening kidney failures. Our second application deals with a completely different domain, namely geographical medicine. Its intention is to compute early warnings against approaching infectious diseases, which are characterised by irregular cyclic occurrences. So far, we have applied our program on influenza and bronchitis. In this paper, we focus on influenza forecast and show first experimental results.

Time Domain Propagation of Quantum and Classical Systems using a Wavelet Basis Set Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lombardini, Richard; Nowara, Ewa; Johnson, Bruce

2015-03-01

The use of an orthogonal wavelet basis set (Optimized Maximum-N Generalized Coiflets) to effectively model physical systems in the time domain, in particular the electromagnetic (EM) pulse and quantum mechanical (QM) wavefunction, is examined in this work. Although past research has demonstrated the benefits of wavelet basis sets to handle computationally expensive problems due to their multiresolution properties, the overlapping supports of neighboring wavelet basis functions poses problems when dealing with boundary conditions, especially with material interfaces in the EM case. Specifically, this talk addresses this issue using the idea of derivative matching creating fictitious grid points (T.A. Driscoll and B. Fornberg), but replaces the latter element with fictitious wavelet projections in conjunction with wavelet reconstruction filters. Two-dimensional (2D) systems are analyzed, EM pulse incident on silver cylinders and the QM electron wave packet circling the proton in a hydrogen atom system (reduced to 2D), and the new wavelet method is compared to the popular finite-difference time-domain technique.

Gratitude From Early Adulthood to Old Age.

PubMed

Allemand, Mathias; Hill, Patrick L

2016-02-01

Are there age differences in gratitude from early adulthood to old age? The current studies tested several ways by which an association between age and dispositional gratitude may present, by considering multiple measures on both fronts. We used data from three cross-sectional studies (total N = 1,736; total age range: 19-94). The results indicated that (a) age effects in gratitude are more likely to occur for subjective age in terms of future time perspective (i.e., people's perceptions of their remaining opportunities and time) than chronological age; (b) chronological age effects are more domain specific than general in nature; and (c) they are more likely to occur for the instrumental domain as compared to the interpersonal domain. Finally, the results indicated that (d) perceived future time, particularly with respect to remaining opportunities, mediates the relation between chronological age and general gratitude. Overall, the findings suggest that gratitude is subject to a variety of developmental influences across adulthood. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Acoustic emission source localization based on distance domain signal representation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gawronski, M.; Grabowski, K.; Russek, P.; Staszewski, W. J.; Uhl, T.; Packo, P.

2016-04-01

Acoustic emission is a vital non-destructive testing technique and is widely used in industry for damage detection, localisation and characterization. The latter two aspects are particularly challenging, as AE data are typically noisy. What is more, elastic waves generated by an AE event, propagate through a structural path and are significantly distorted. This effect is particularly prominent for thin elastic plates. In these media the dispersion phenomenon results in severe localisation and characterization issues. Traditional Time Difference of Arrival methods for localisation techniques typically fail when signals are highly dispersive. Hence, algorithms capable of dispersion compensation are sought. This paper presents a method based on the Time - Distance Domain Transform for an accurate AE event localisation. The source localisation is found through a minimization problem. The proposed technique focuses on transforming the time signal to the distance domain response, which would be recorded at the source. Only, basic elastic material properties and plate thickness are used in the approach, avoiding arbitrary parameters tuning.

Underwater Advanced Time-Domain Electromagnetic System

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-03

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT The overall objective of the project is to design , build and demonstrate an underwater advanced time -domain...Description The overall objective of the project is to design , build and demonstrate an underwater advanced time - domain electromagnetic (TEM) system...Electromagnetic System Design (July, 2015), and in the Underwater Advanced Time -Domain Electromagnetic System Evaluation Plan (October, 2016). A

Time-domain simulation of damped impacted plates. II. Numerical model and results.

PubMed

Lambourg, C; Chaigne, A; Matignon, D

2001-04-01

A time-domain model for the flexural vibrations of damped plates was presented in a companion paper [Part I, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109, 1422-1432 (2001)]. In this paper (Part II), the damped-plate model is extended to impact excitation, using Hertz's law of contact, and is solved numerically in order to synthesize sounds. The numerical method is based on the use of a finite-difference scheme of second order in time and fourth order in space. As a consequence of the damping terms, the stability and dispersion properties of this scheme are modified, compared to the undamped case. The numerical model is used for the time-domain simulation of vibrations and sounds produced by impact on isotropic and orthotropic plates made of various materials (aluminum, glass, carbon fiber and wood). The efficiency of the method is validated by comparisons with analytical and experimental data. The sounds produced show a high degree of similarity with real sounds and allow a clear recognition of each constitutive material of the plate without ambiguity.

Time Domain Radar Laboratory Operating System Development and Transient EM Analysis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-09-01

polarization of the return, arg used. Other similar methods use amplitude and phase differences or special properties of Rayleigh region scattering. All these...3ptias Inverse Scattering ... 19 2. "!xact" Inverse Scattering !Nethod .. 20 3. Other Methods ................... 21 C. REVIEW OF TDRL PROGRESS AT SPS...explicit independant variable in.most methods . In the past, frequency domain analysis has been the primary means of analyzing aan-monochromatic EM

Parallel deterministic neutronics with AMR in 3D

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clouse, C.; Ferguson, J.; Hendrickson, C.

1997-12-31

AMTRAN, a three dimensional Sn neutronics code with adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) has been parallelized over spatial domains and energy groups and runs on the Meiko CS-2 with MPI message passing. Block refined AMR is used with linear finite element representations for the fluxes, which allows for a straight forward interpretation of fluxes at block interfaces with zoning differences. The load balancing algorithm assumes 8 spatial domains, which minimizes idle time among processors.

Study Time: Temporal Orientations of Freshmen Students and Computing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Kenneth T.; McClard, Anne Page

1993-01-01

Examines student domains of study and time and how these relate to use of innovative computing facilities in a dormitory for 61 first-year college students at Brown University in Providence (Rhode Island). This ethnographic study points out how student conceptions of time differ from those of others and how this affects their use of personal…

On the Analysis Methods for the Time Domain and Frequency Domain Response of a Buried Objects*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poljak, Dragan; Šesnić, Silvestar; Cvetković, Mario

2014-05-01

There has been a continuous interest in the analysis of ground-penetrating radar systems and related applications in civil engineering [1]. Consequently, a deeper insight of scattering phenomena occurring in a lossy half-space, as well as the development of sophisticated numerical methods based on Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method, Finite Element Method (FEM), Boundary Element Method (BEM), Method of Moments (MoM) and various hybrid methods, is required, e.g. [2], [3]. The present paper deals with certain techniques for time and frequency domain analysis, respectively, of buried conducting and dielectric objects. Time domain analysis is related to the assessment of a transient response of a horizontal straight thin wire buried in a lossy half-space using a rigorous antenna theory (AT) approach. The AT approach is based on the space-time integral equation of the Pocklington type (time domain electric field integral equation for thin wires). The influence of the earth-air interface is taken into account via the simplified reflection coefficient arising from the Modified Image Theory (MIT). The obtained results for the transient current induced along the electrode due to the transmitted plane wave excitation are compared to the numerical results calculated via an approximate transmission line (TL) approach and the AT approach based on the space-frequency variant of the Pocklington integro-differential approach, respectively. It is worth noting that the space-frequency Pocklington equation is numerically solved via the Galerkin-Bubnov variant of the Indirect Boundary Element Method (GB-IBEM) and the corresponding transient response is obtained by the aid of inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The results calculated by means of different approaches agree satisfactorily. Frequency domain analysis is related to the assessment of frequency domain response of dielectric sphere using the full wave model based on the set of coupled electric field integral equations for surfaces. The numerical solution is carried out by means of the improved variant of the Method of Moments (MoM) providing numerically stable and an efficient procedure for the extraction of singularities arising in integral expressions. The proposed analysis method is compared to the results obtained by using some commercial software packages. A satisfactory agreement has been achieved. Both approaches discussed throughout this work and demonstrated on canonical geometries could be also useful for benchmark purpose. References [1] L. Pajewski et al., Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar in Civil Engineering - COST Action TU1208, 2013. [2] U. Oguz, L. Gurel, Frequency Responses of Ground-Penetrating Radars Operating Over Highly Lossy Grounds, IEEE Trans. Geosci. and Remote sensing, Vol. 40, No 6, 2002. [3] D.Poljak, Advanced Modeling in Computational electromagnetic Compatibility, John Wiley and Sons, New York 2007. *This work benefited from networking activities carried out within the EU funded COST Action TU1208 "Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar."

Palaeogeographic evolution of the central segment of the South Atlantic during Early Cretaceous times: palaeotopographic and geodynamic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaboureau, A. C.; Guillocheau, F.; Robin, C.; Rohais, S.; Moulin, M.; Aslanian, D.

2012-04-01

The tectonic and sedimentary evolution of the Early Cretaceous rift of the central segment of the South Atlantic Ocean is debated. Our objective is to better constraint the timing of its evolution by drawing palaeogeographic and deformation maps. Eight palaeogeographic and deformations maps were drawn from the Berriasian to the Middle-Late Aptian, based on a biostratigraphic (ostracodes and pollens) chart recalibrated on absolute ages (chemostratigraphy, interstratified volcanics, Re-Os dating of the organic matter). The central segment of the South Atlantic is composed of two domains that have a different history in terms of deformation and palaeogeography. The southern domain includes Namibe, Santos and Campos Basins. The northern domain extends from Espirito Santo and North Kwanza Basins, in the South, to Sergipe-Alagoas and North Gabon Basins to the North. Extension started in the northern domain during Late Berriasian (Congo-Camamu Basin to Sergipe-Alagoas-North Gabon Basins) and migrated southward. At that time, the southern domain was not a subsiding domain. This is time of emplacement of the Parana-Etendeka Trapp (Late Hauterivian-Early Barremian). Extension started in this southern domain during Early Barremian. The brittle extensional period is shorter in the South (5-6 Ma, Barremian to base Aptian) than in the North (19 to 20 Myr, Upper Berriasian to Base Aptian). From Late Berriasian to base Aptian, the northern domain evolves from a deep lake with lateral highs to a shallower one, organic-rich with no more highs. The lake migrates southward in two steps, until Valanginian at the border between the northern and southern domains, until Early Barremian, North of Walvis Ridge. The Sag phase is of Middle to Late Aptian age. In the southern domain, the transition between the brittle rift and the sag phase is continuous. In the northern domain, this transition corresponds to a hiatus of Early to Middle Aptian age, possible period of mantle exhumation. Marine influences were clearly occurring since the Early Aptian in the Northern domain and the Campos Basin. They seem sharp, brief flooding coming from the North, i.e. from the Tethys-Central Atlantic, trough a seaway crossing South America from Sao Luis, Parnaiba, Araripe and Almada basins (Arai, 1989). In the absence of data, the importance of those marine flooding during the Middle Aptian in the Santos Basin is still discussed. Keywords: South Atlantic Ocean, Early Cretaceous, Rift, Palaeogeography, Geodynamic

A Big Five Personality Typology in Adolescents with Congenital Heart Disease: Prospective Associations with Psychosocial Functioning and Perceived Health.

PubMed

Rassart, Jessica; Luyckx, Koen; Goossens, Eva; Oris, Leen; Apers, Silke; Moons, Philip

2016-06-01

This study aimed (1) to identify different personality types in adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD), and (2) to relate these personality types to psychosocial functioning and several domains of perceived health, both concurrently and prospectively. Hence, this study aimed to expand previous research by adopting a person-centered approach to personality through focusing on personality types rather than singular traits. Adolescents with CHD were selected from the database of pediatric and congenital cardiology of the University Hospitals Leuven. A total of 366 adolescents (15-20 years old) with CHD participated at time 1. These adolescents completed questionnaires on the Big Five personality traits, depressive symptoms, loneliness, and generic and disease-specific domains of health. Nine months later, 313 patients again completed questionnaires. Cluster analysis at time 1 revealed three personality types: resilients (37 %), undercontrollers (34 %), and overcontrollers (29 %), closely resembling typologies obtained in previous community samples. Resilients, under-, and overcontrollers did not differ in terms of disease complexity, but differed on depressive symptoms, loneliness, and generic and disease-specific domains of perceived health at both time-points. Overall, resilients showed the most favorable outcomes and overcontrollers the poorest, with undercontrollers scoring in-between. Personality assessment can help clinicians in identifying adolescents at risk for physical and psychosocial difficulties later in time. In this study, both over- and undercontrollers were identified as high-risk groups. Our findings show that both personality traits and types should be taken into account to obtain a detailed view on the associations between personality and health.

Replication domains are self-interacting structural chromatin units of human chromosomes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arneodo, Alain

2011-03-01

In higher eukaryotes, the absence of specific sequence motifs marking the origins of replication has been a serious hindrance to the understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the initiation and the maintenance of the replication program in different cell types. In silico analysis of nucleotide compositional skew has predicted the existence, in the germline, of replication N-domains bordered by putative replication origins and where the skew decreases rather linearly as the signature of a progressive inversion of the average fork polarity. Here, from the demonstration that the average fork polarity can be directly extracted from the derivative of replication timing profiles, we develop a wavelet-based pattern recognition methodology to delineate replication U-domains where the replication timing profile is shaped as a U and its derivative as a N. Replication U-domains are robustly found in seven cell lines as covering a significant portion (40-50%) of the human genome where the replication timing data actually displays some plasticity between cell lines. The early replication initiation zones at U-domains borders are found to be hypersensitive to DNase I cleavage, to be associated with transcriptional activity and to present a significant enrichment in insular-binding proteins CTCF, the hallmark of an open chromatin structure. A comparative analysis of genome-wide chromatin interaction (HiC) data shows that replication-U domains correspond to self-interacting structural high order chromatin units of megabase characteristic size. Taken together, these findings provide evidence that the epigenetic compartmentalization of the human genome into autonomous replication U-domains comes along with an extensive remodelling of the threedimensional chromosome architecture during development or in specific diseases. The observed cell specific conservation of the replication timing between the human and mouse genomes strongly suggests that this chromosome organization into self-interacting structural and functional units is a general feature of mammalian organisms.

Evolutionary Pattern and Regulation Analysis to Support Why Diversity Functions Existed within PPAR Gene Family Members

PubMed Central

Yan, Xiping; Wang, Guosong; Liu, Hehe; Gan, Xiang; Zhang, Tao; Wang, Jiwen; Li, Liang

2015-01-01

Peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor (PPAR) gene family members exhibit distinct patterns of distribution in tissues and differ in functions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the evolutionary impacts on diversity functions of PPAR members and the regulatory differences on gene expression patterns. 63 homology sequences of PPAR genes from 31 species were collected and analyzed. The results showed that three isolated types of PPAR gene family may emerge from twice times of gene duplication events. The conserved domains of HOLI (ligand binding domain of hormone receptors) domain and ZnF_C4 (C4 zinc finger in nuclear in hormone receptors) are essential for keeping basic roles of PPAR gene family, and the variant domains of LCRs may be responsible for their divergence in functions. The positive selection sites in HOLI domain are benefit for PPARs to evolve towards diversity functions. The evolutionary variants in the promoter regions and 3′ UTR regions of PPARs result into differential transcription factors and miRNAs involved in regulating PPAR members, which may eventually affect their expressions and tissues distributions. These results indicate that gene duplication event, selection pressure on HOLI domain, and the variants on promoter and 3′ UTR are essential for PPARs evolution and diversity functions acquired. PMID:25961030

Evolutionary Pattern and Regulation Analysis to Support Why Diversity Functions Existed within PPAR Gene Family Members.

PubMed

Zhou, Tianyu; Yan, Xiping; Wang, Guosong; Liu, Hehe; Gan, Xiang; Zhang, Tao; Wang, Jiwen; Li, Liang

2015-01-01

Peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor (PPAR) gene family members exhibit distinct patterns of distribution in tissues and differ in functions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the evolutionary impacts on diversity functions of PPAR members and the regulatory differences on gene expression patterns. 63 homology sequences of PPAR genes from 31 species were collected and analyzed. The results showed that three isolated types of PPAR gene family may emerge from twice times of gene duplication events. The conserved domains of HOLI (ligand binding domain of hormone receptors) domain and ZnF_C4 (C4 zinc finger in nuclear in hormone receptors) are essential for keeping basic roles of PPAR gene family, and the variant domains of LCRs may be responsible for their divergence in functions. The positive selection sites in HOLI domain are benefit for PPARs to evolve towards diversity functions. The evolutionary variants in the promoter regions and 3' UTR regions of PPARs result into differential transcription factors and miRNAs involved in regulating PPAR members, which may eventually affect their expressions and tissues distributions. These results indicate that gene duplication event, selection pressure on HOLI domain, and the variants on promoter and 3' UTR are essential for PPARs evolution and diversity functions acquired.

D Semantic Labeling of ALS Data Based on Domain Adaption by Transferring and Fusing Random Forest Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, J.; Yao, W.; Zhang, J.; Li, Y.

2018-04-01

Labeling 3D point cloud data with traditional supervised learning methods requires considerable labelled samples, the collection of which is cost and time expensive. This work focuses on adopting domain adaption concept to transfer existing trained random forest classifiers (based on source domain) to new data scenes (target domain), which aims at reducing the dependence of accurate 3D semantic labeling in point clouds on training samples from the new data scene. Firstly, two random forest classifiers were firstly trained with existing samples previously collected for other data. They were different from each other by using two different decision tree construction algorithms: C4.5 with information gain ratio and CART with Gini index. Secondly, four random forest classifiers adapted to the target domain are derived through transferring each tree in the source random forest models with two types of operations: structure expansion and reduction-SER and structure transfer-STRUT. Finally, points in target domain are labelled by fusing the four newly derived random forest classifiers using weights of evidence based fusion model. To validate our method, experimental analysis was conducted using 3 datasets: one is used as the source domain data (Vaihingen data for 3D Semantic Labelling); another two are used as the target domain data from two cities in China (Jinmen city and Dunhuang city). Overall accuracies of 85.5 % and 83.3 % for 3D labelling were achieved for Jinmen city and Dunhuang city data respectively, with only 1/3 newly labelled samples compared to the cases without domain adaption.

Does Self-management Counseling in Patients with Heart Failure Improve Quality of Life? Findings from the Heart Failure Adherence and Retention Trial (HART)

PubMed Central

Grady, Kathleen L.; Mendes de Leon, Carlos F.; Kozak, Andrea T.; Cursio, John F.; Richardson, DeJuran; Avery, Elizabeth; Calvin, James E.; Powell, Lynda H.

2013-01-01

Purpose Heart failure (HF) is associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The purpose of our study is to determine the effect of a self-management intervention on HRQOL domains across time, overall and in pre-specified demographic, clinical, and psychosocial subgroups of HF patients. Methods HART was a single-center, multi-hospital randomized trial. Patients (n=902) were randomized either to a self-management intervention with provision of HF educational information or an enhanced education control group which received the same HF educational materials. HRQOL was measured by the Quality of Life Index, Cardiac Version, modified and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey physical functioning scale. Analyses included descriptive statistics and mixed-effects regression models. Results In general, overall, study participants’ HRQOL improved over time. However, no significant differences in HRQOL domain were detected between treatment groups at baseline or across time (p>0.05). Subgroup analyses demonstrated no differences by treatment arm for change in HRQOL from baseline to 3 years later. Conclusions We conclude that in our cohort of patients, the self-management intervention had no benefit over enhanced education in improving domains of HRQOL and HRQOL for specified HF subgroups. PMID:23743855

Spatially constrained Bayesian inversion of frequency- and time-domain electromagnetic data from the Tellus projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiyan, Duygu; Rath, Volker; Delhaye, Robert

2017-04-01

The frequency- and time-domain airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data collected under the Tellus projects of the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) which represent a wealth of information on the multi-dimensional electrical structure of Ireland's near-surface. Our project, which was funded by GSI under the framework of their Short Call Research Programme, aims to develop and implement inverse techniques based on various Bayesian methods for these densely sampled data. We have developed a highly flexible toolbox using Python language for the one-dimensional inversion of AEM data along the flight lines. The computational core is based on an adapted frequency- and time-domain forward modelling core derived from the well-tested open-source code AirBeo, which was developed by the CSIRO (Australia) and the AMIRA consortium. Three different inversion methods have been implemented: (i) Tikhonov-type inversion including optimal regularisation methods (Aster el al., 2012; Zhdanov, 2015), (ii) Bayesian MAP inversion in parameter and data space (e.g. Tarantola, 2005), and (iii) Full Bayesian inversion with Markov Chain Monte Carlo (Sambridge and Mosegaard, 2002; Mosegaard and Sambridge, 2002), all including different forms of spatial constraints. The methods have been tested on synthetic and field data. This contribution will introduce the toolbox and present case studies on the AEM data from the Tellus projects.

A time-domain finite element boundary integral approach for elastic wave scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, F.; Lowe, M. J. S.; Skelton, E. A.; Craster, R. V.

2018-04-01

The response of complex scatterers, such as rough or branched cracks, to incident elastic waves is required in many areas of industrial importance such as those in non-destructive evaluation and related fields; we develop an approach to generate accurate and rapid simulations. To achieve this we develop, in the time domain, an implementation to efficiently couple the finite element (FE) method within a small local region, and the boundary integral (BI) globally. The FE explicit scheme is run in a local box to compute the surface displacement of the scatterer, by giving forcing signals to excitation nodes, which can lie on the scatterer itself. The required input forces on the excitation nodes are obtained with a reformulated FE equation, according to the incident displacement field. The surface displacements computed by the local FE are then projected, through time-domain BI formulae, to calculate the scattering signals with different modes. This new method yields huge improvements in the efficiency of FE simulations for scattering from complex scatterers. We present results using different shapes and boundary conditions, all simulated using this approach in both 2D and 3D, and then compare with full FE models and theoretical solutions to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of this numerical approach.

Nature and Content of Contemporary Economics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brimmer, Andrew F.

Economics does not have sharply delineated boundaries, but the domain has been defined broadly, and differently, from time-to-time. Currently, the contents of economics can be divided into the following broad areas: macroeconomics, microeconomics, and development economics. Most economists specialize in one or more of the more narrowly defined…

Future time perspective: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Kooij, Dorien T A M; Kanfer, Ruth; Betts, Matt; Rudolph, Cort W

2018-04-23

The ability to foresee, anticipate, and plan for future desired outcomes is crucial for well-being, motivation, and behavior. However, theories in organizational psychology do not incorporate time-related constructs such as Future Time Perspective (FTP), and research on FTP remains disjointed and scattered, with different domains focusing on different aspects of the construct, using different measures, and assessing different antecedents and consequences. In this review and meta-analysis, we aim to clarify the FTP construct, advance its theoretical development, and demonstrate its importance by (a) integrating theory and empirical findings across different domains of research to identify major outcomes and antecedents of FTP, and (b) empirically examining whether and how these variables are moderated by FTP measures and dimensions. Results of a meta-analysis of k = 212 studies reveal significant relationships between FTP and major classes of consequences (i.e., those related to achievement, well-being, health behavior, risk behavior, and retirement planning), and between antecedents and FTP, as well as moderating effects of different FTP measures and dimensions. Highlighting the importance of FTP for organizational psychology theories, our findings demonstrate that FTP predicts these outcomes over and above the big five personality traits and mediates the associations between these personality traits and outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The development of efficient numerical time-domain modeling methods for geophysical wave propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Lieyuan

This Ph.D. dissertation focuses on the numerical simulation of geophysical wave propagation in the time domain including elastic waves in solid media, the acoustic waves in fluid media, and the electromagnetic waves in dielectric media. This thesis shows that a linear system model can describe accurately the physical processes of those geophysical waves' propagation and can be used as a sound basis for modeling geophysical wave propagation phenomena. The generalized stability condition for numerical modeling of wave propagation is therefore discussed in the context of linear system theory. The efficiency of a series of different numerical algorithms in the time-domain for modeling geophysical wave propagation are discussed and compared. These algorithms include the finite-difference time-domain method, pseudospectral time domain method, alternating directional implicit (ADI) finite-difference time domain method. The advantages and disadvantages of these numerical methods are discussed and the specific stability condition for each modeling scheme is carefully derived in the context of the linear system theory. Based on the review and discussion of these existing approaches, the split step, ADI pseudospectral time domain (SS-ADI-PSTD) method is developed and tested for several cases. Moreover, the state-of-the-art stretched-coordinate perfect matched layer (SCPML) has also been implemented in SS-ADI-PSTD algorithm as the absorbing boundary condition for truncating the computational domain and absorbing the artificial reflection from the domain boundaries. After algorithmic development, a few case studies serve as the real-world examples to verify the capacities of the numerical algorithms and understand the capabilities and limitations of geophysical methods for detection of subsurface contamination. The first case is a study using ground penetrating radar (GPR) amplitude variation with offset (AVO) for subsurface non-aqueous-liquid (NAPL) contamination. The numerical AVO study reveals that the normalized residual polarization (NRP) variation with offset does not respond to subsurface NAPL existence when the offset is close to or larger than its critical value (which corresponds to critical incident angle) because the air and head waves dominate the recorded wave field and severely interfere with reflected waves in the TEz wave field. Thus it can be concluded that the NRP AVO/GPR method is invalid when source-receiver angle offset is close to or greater than its critical value due to incomplete and severely distorted reflection information. In other words, AVO is not a promising technique for detection of the subsurface NAPL, as claimed by some researchers. In addition, the robustness of the newly developed numerical algorithms is also verified by the AVO study for randomly-arranged layered media. Meanwhile, this case study also demonstrates again that the full-wave numerical modeling algorithms are superior to ray tracing method. The second case study focuses on the effect of the existence of a near-surface fault on the vertically incident P- and S- plane waves. The modeling results show that both P-wave vertical incidence and S-wave vertical incidence cases are qualified fault indicators. For the plane S-wave vertical incidence case, the horizontal location of the upper tip of the fault (the footwall side) can be identified without much effort, because all the recorded parameters on the surface including the maximum velocities and the maximum accelerations, and even their ratios H/V, have shown dramatic changes when crossing the upper tip of the fault. The centers of the transition zone of the all the curves of parameters are almost directly above the fault tip (roughly the horizontal center of the model). Compared with the case of the vertically incident P-wave source, it has been found that the S-wave vertical source is a better indicator for fault location, because the horizontal location of the tip of that fault cannot be clearly identified with the ratio of the horizontal to vertical velocity for the P-wave incident case.

A Time Domain Impedance Probe For Ultra-Fast Measurements of Electron Parameters in the Ionosphere: Results From A NASA USIP Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, D. C.; Spencer, E. A.; Gollapalli, R.; Kerrigan, B.

2016-12-01

A plasma impedance probe is used to obtain plasma parameters in the ionosphere by measuring the magnitude, shape and location of resonances in the frequency spectrum when a probe structure is driven with RF excitation. We have designed and developed a new Time Domain Impedance Probe (TDIP) capable of making measurements of absolute electron density and electron neutral collision frequency at temporal and spatial resolutions not previously attained. A single measurement can be made in a time as short as 100 microseconds, which yields much higher spatial resolution than a frequency sweep method. This method essentially consists of applying a small amplitude time limited voltage signal into a probe and measuring the resulting current response. The frequency bandwidth of the voltage signal is selected in order that the electron plasma resonances are observable. A prototype of the new instrument was flown at 08:45 EST on March 1 2016 on a NASA Undergraduate Student Instrument Progam (USIP) sounding rocket launched out of Wallops Flight Facility (Flight time was around 20 minutes). Here we analyze the data from the sounding rocket experiment, using an adaptive system identification technique to compare the measured data with analytical formulas obtained from a theoretical consideration of the time domain response. The analytical formula is calibrated to a plasma fluid finite difference time domain (PFFDTD) numerical computation before using it to analyze the rocket data from 85 km to 170 km on both upleg and downleg. Our results show that the technique works as advertised, but several issues including payload charging and signal rectification remains to be resolved. A plasma impedance probe is used to obtain plasma parameters in the ionosphere by measuring the magnitude, shape and location of resonances in the frequency spectrum when a probe structure is driven with RF excitation. We have designed and developed a new Time Domain Impedance Probe (TDIP) capable of making measurements of absolute electron density and electron neutral collision frequency at temporal and spatial resolutions not previously attained. A single measurement can be made in a time as short as 100 microseconds, which yields much higher spatial resolution than a frequency sweep method. This method essentially consists of applying a small amplitude time limited voltage signal into a probe and measuring the resulting current response. The frequency bandwidth of the voltage signal is selected in order that the electron plasma resonances are observable. A prototype of the new instrument was flown at 08:45 EST on March 1 2016 on a NASA Undergraduate Student Instrument Progam (USIP) sounding rocket launched out of Wallops Flight Facility (Flight time was around 20 minutes). Here we analyze the data from the sounding rocket experiment, using an adaptive system identification technique to compare the measured data with analytical formulas obtained from a theoretical consideration of the time domain response. The analytical formula is calibrated to a plasma fluid finite difference time domain (PFFDTD) numerical computation before using it to analyze the rocket data from 85 km to 170 km on both upleg and downleg. Our results show that the technique works as advertised, but several issues including payload charging and signal rectification remains to be resolved.

Spontaneous Unfolding-Refolding of Fibronectin Type III Domains Assayed by Thiol Exchange

PubMed Central

Shah, Riddhi; Ohashi, Tomoo; Erickson, Harold P.; Oas, Terrence G.

2017-01-01

Globular proteins are not permanently folded but spontaneously unfold and refold on time scales that can span orders of magnitude for different proteins. A longstanding debate in the protein-folding field is whether unfolding rates or folding rates correlate to the stability of a protein. In the present study, we have determined the unfolding and folding kinetics of 10 FNIII domains. FNIII domains are one of the most common protein folds and are present in 2% of animal proteins. FNIII domains are ideal for this study because they have an identical seven-strand β-sandwich structure, but they vary widely in sequence and thermodynamic stability. We assayed thermodynamic stability of each domain by equilibrium denaturation in urea. We then assayed the kinetics of domain opening and closing by a technique known as thiol exchange. For this we introduced a buried Cys at the identical location in each FNIII domain and measured the kinetics of labeling with DTNB over a range of urea concentrations. A global fit of the kinetics data gave the kinetics of spontaneous unfolding and refolding in zero urea. We found that the folding rates were relatively similar, ∼0.1–1 s−1, for the different domains. The unfolding rates varied widely and correlated with thermodynamic stability. Our study is the first to address this question using a set of domains that are structurally homologous but evolved with widely varying sequence identity and thermodynamic stability. These data add new evidence that thermodynamic stability correlates primarily with unfolding rate rather than folding rate. The study also has implications for the question of whether opening of FNIII domains contributes to the stretching of fibronectin matrix fibrils. PMID:27909052

Necessary and sufficient condition for the realization of the complex wavelet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keita, Alpha; Qing, Qianqin; Wang, Nengchao

1997-04-01

Wavelet theory is a whole new signal analysis theory in recent years, and the appearance of which is attracting lots of experts in many different fields giving it a deepen study. Wavelet transformation is a new kind of time. Frequency domain analysis method of localization in can-be- realized time domain or frequency domain. It has many perfect characteristics that many other kinds of time frequency domain analysis, such as Gabor transformation or Viginier. For example, it has orthogonality, direction selectivity, variable time-frequency domain resolution ratio, adjustable local support, parsing data in little amount, and so on. All those above make wavelet transformation a very important new tool and method in signal analysis field. Because the calculation of complex wavelet is very difficult, in application, real wavelet function is used. In this paper, we present a necessary and sufficient condition that the real wavelet function can be obtained by the complex wavelet function. This theorem has some significant values in theory. The paper prepares its technique from Hartley transformation, then, it gives the complex wavelet was a signal engineering expert. His Hartley transformation, which also mentioned by Hartley, had been overlooked for about 40 years, for the social production conditions at that time cannot help to show its superiority. Only when it came to the end of 70s and the early 80s, after the development of the fast algorithm of Fourier transformation and the hardware implement to some degree, the completely some positive-negative transforming method was coming to take seriously. W transformation, which mentioned by Zhongde Wang, pushed the studying work of Hartley transformation and its fast algorithm forward. The kernel function of Hartley transformation.

Pattern, growth, and aging in aggregation kinetics of a Vicsek-like active matter model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Subir K.

2017-01-01

Via molecular dynamics simulations, we study kinetics in a Vicsek-like phase-separating active matter model. Quantitative results, for isotropic bicontinuous pattern, are presented on the structure, growth, and aging. These are obtained via the two-point equal-time density-density correlation function, the average domain length, and the two-time density autocorrelation function. Both the correlation functions exhibit basic scaling properties, implying self-similarity in the pattern dynamics, for which the average domain size exhibits a power-law growth in time. The equal-time correlation has a short distance behavior that provides reasonable agreement between the corresponding structure factor tail and the Porod law. The autocorrelation decay is a power-law in the average domain size. Apart from these basic similarities, the overall quantitative behavior of the above-mentioned observables is found to be vastly different from those of the corresponding passive limit of the model which also undergoes phase separation. The functional forms of these have been quantified. An exceptionally rapid growth in the active system occurs due to fast coherent motion of the particles, mean-squared-displacements of which exhibit multiple scaling regimes, including a long time ballistic one.

Symmetrical refolding of protein domains and subunits: example of the dimeric two-domain 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenases.

PubMed

Gráczer, Eva; Varga, Andrea; Melnik, Bogdan; Semisotnov, Gennady; Závodszky, Péter; Vas, Mária

2009-02-10

The refolding mechanism of the homodimeric two-domain 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase (IPMDH) from the organisms adapted to different temperatures, Thermus thermophilus (Tt), Escherichia coli (Ec), and Vibrio sp. I5 (Vib), is described. In all three cases, instead of a self-template mechanism, the high extent of symmetry and cooperativity in folding of subunits and domains have been concluded from the following experimental findings: The complex time course of refolding, monitored by Trp fluorescence, consists of a fast (the rate constant varies as 16.5, 25.0, and 11.7 min-1 in the order of Tt, Ec, and Vib IPMDHs) and a slow (the rate constants are 0.11, 0.80, and 0.23 min-1 for the three different species) first-order process. However, a burst increase of Trp fluorescence anisotropy to the value of the native states indicates that in all three cases the association of the two polypeptide chains occurs at the beginning of refolding. This dimeric species binds the substrate IPM, but the native-like interactions of the tertiary and quaternary structures are only formed during the slow phase of refolding, accompanied by further increase of protein fluorescence and appearance of FRET between Trp side chain(s) and the bound NADH. Joining the contacting arms of each subunit also takes place exclusively during this slow phase. To monitor refolding of each domain within the intact molecule of T. thermophilus IPMDH, Trp's (located in separate domains) were systematically replaced with Phe's. The refolding processes of the mutants were followed by measuring changes in Trp fluorescence and in FRET between the particular Trp and NADH. The high similarity of time courses (both in biphasicity and in their rates) strongly suggests cooperative folding of the domains during formation of the native three-dimensional structure of IPMDH.

Motivational power of future time perspective: Meta-analyses in education, work, and health.

PubMed

Andre, Lucija; van Vianen, Annelies E M; Peetsma, Thea T D; Oort, Frans J

2018-01-01

Future time perspective (FTP) may predict individual attitudes and behaviors. However, FTP research includes different FTP conceptualizations and outcomes which hinder generalizing its findings. To solve the inconsistencies in FTP research and generalize the magnitude of FTP as a driver of motivation and behavior, we conducted the first systematical synthesis of FTP relationships in three crucial life domains. Our meta-analyses of FTP studies in education (k = 28), work (k = 17), and health (k = 32) involved N = 31,558 participants, and used a conceptual model for grouping FTP constructs. To address different outcome types, we applied the Theory of Planned Behavior when coding the studies. FTP relationships with outcomes were small-to-medium, were generalizable across domains, and were strongest when the FTP construct included a mixture of cognition, behavioral intention, and affect and, in education, when the FTP measure was domain specific rather than general. There were cross-cultural differences in FTP-outcome relationships. The strength of the FTP-outcome types relationship varied for attitudes, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention, and behaviors. The lowest effect sizes were found for FTP predicting actual behaviors in education, work, and health and between FTP and health attitudes. Theoretical implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.

Motivational power of future time perspective: Meta-analyses in education, work, and health

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Future time perspective (FTP) may predict individual attitudes and behaviors. However, FTP research includes different FTP conceptualizations and outcomes which hinder generalizing its findings. To solve the inconsistencies in FTP research and generalize the magnitude of FTP as a driver of motivation and behavior, we conducted the first systematical synthesis of FTP relationships in three crucial life domains. Our meta-analyses of FTP studies in education (k = 28), work (k = 17), and health (k = 32) involved N = 31,558 participants, and used a conceptual model for grouping FTP constructs. To address different outcome types, we applied the Theory of Planned Behavior when coding the studies. FTP relationships with outcomes were small-to-medium, were generalizable across domains, and were strongest when the FTP construct included a mixture of cognition, behavioral intention, and affect and, in education, when the FTP measure was domain specific rather than general. There were cross-cultural differences in FTP-outcome relationships. The strength of the FTP-outcome types relationship varied for attitudes, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention, and behaviors. The lowest effect sizes were found for FTP predicting actual behaviors in education, work, and health and between FTP and health attitudes. Theoretical implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed. PMID:29364917

Damage assessment in reinforced concrete using nonlinear vibration techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Den Abeele, K.; De Visscher, J.

2000-07-01

Reinforced concrete (RC) structures are subject to microcrack initiation and propagation at load levels far below the actual failure load. In this paper, nonlinear vibration techniques are applied to investigate stages of progressive damage in RC beams induced by static loading tests. At different levels of damage, a modal analysis is carried out, assuming the structure to behave linearly. At the same time, measurement of resonant frequencies and damping ratios as function of vibration amplitude are performed using a frequency domain technique as well as a time domain technique. We compare the results of the linear and nonlinear techniques, and value them against the visual damage evaluation.

FDTD-ANT User Manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zimmerman, Martin L.

1995-01-01

This manual explains the theory and operation of the finite-difference time domain code FDTD-ANT developed by Analex Corporation at the NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. This code can be used for solving electromagnetic problems that are electrically small or medium (on the order of 1 to 50 cubic wavelengths). Calculated parameters include transmission line impedance, relative effective permittivity, antenna input impedance, and far-field patterns in both the time and frequency domains. The maximum problem size may be adjusted according to the computer used. This code has been run on the DEC VAX and 486 PC's and on workstations such as the Sun Sparc and the IBM RS/6000.

Self-match based on polling scheme for passive optical network monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xuan; Guo, Hao; Jia, Xinhong; Liao, Qinghua

2018-06-01

We propose a self-match based on polling scheme for passive optical network monitoring. Each end-user is equipped with an optical matcher that exploits only the specific length patchcord and two different fiber Bragg gratings with 100% reflectivity. The simple and low-cost scheme can greatly simplify the final recognition processing of the network link status and reduce the sensitivity of the photodetector. We analyze the time-domain relation between reflected pulses and establish the calculation model to evaluate the false alarm rate. The feasibility of the proposed scheme and the validity of the time-domain relation analysis are experimentally demonstrated.

Simulation of ultrasonic and EMAT arrays using FEM and FDTD.

PubMed

Xie, Yuedong; Yin, Wuliang; Liu, Zenghua; Peyton, Anthony

2016-03-01

This paper presents a method which combines electromagnetic simulation and ultrasonic simulation to build EMAT array models. For a specific sensor configuration, Lorentz forces are calculated using the finite element method (FEM), which then can feed through to ultrasonic simulations. The propagation of ultrasound waves is numerically simulated using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to describe their propagation within homogenous medium and their scattering phenomenon by cracks. Radiation pattern obtained with Hilbert transform on time domain waveforms is proposed to characterise the sensor in terms of its beam directivity and field distribution along the steering angle. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Domain-Specific and Unspecific Reaction Times in Experienced Team Handball Goalkeepers and Novices

PubMed Central

Helm, Fabian; Reiser, Mathias; Munzert, Jörn

2016-01-01

In our everyday environments, we are constantly having to adapt our behavior to changing conditions. Hence, processing information is a fundamental cognitive activity, especially the linking together of perceptual and action processes. In this context, expertise research in the sport domain has concentrated on arguing that superior processing performance is driven by an advantage to be found in anticipatory processes (see Williams et al., 2011, for a review). This has resulted in less attention being paid to the benefits coming from basic internal perceptual-motor processing. In general, research on reaction time (RT) indicates that practicing a RT task leads to an increase in processing speed (Mowbray and Rhoades, 1959; Rabbitt and Banerji, 1989). Against this background, the present study examined whether the speed of internal processing is dependent on or independent from domain-specific motor expertise in unpredictable stimulus–response tasks and in a double stimulus–response paradigm. Thirty male participants (15 team handball goalkeepers and 15 novices) performed domain-unspecific simple or choice stimulus–response (CSR) tasks as well as CSR tasks that were domain-specific only for goalkeepers. As expected, results showed significantly faster RTs for goalkeepers on domain-specific tasks, whereas novices’ RTs were more frequently excessively long. However, differences between groups in the double stimulus-response paradigm were not significant. It is concluded that the reported expertise advantage might be due to recalling stored perceptual-motor representations for the domain-specific tasks, implying that experience with (practice of) a motor task explicitly enhances the internal processing of other related domain-specific tasks. PMID:27445879

Domain-Specific and Unspecific Reaction Times in Experienced Team Handball Goalkeepers and Novices.

PubMed

Helm, Fabian; Reiser, Mathias; Munzert, Jörn

2016-01-01

In our everyday environments, we are constantly having to adapt our behavior to changing conditions. Hence, processing information is a fundamental cognitive activity, especially the linking together of perceptual and action processes. In this context, expertise research in the sport domain has concentrated on arguing that superior processing performance is driven by an advantage to be found in anticipatory processes (see Williams et al., 2011, for a review). This has resulted in less attention being paid to the benefits coming from basic internal perceptual-motor processing. In general, research on reaction time (RT) indicates that practicing a RT task leads to an increase in processing speed (Mowbray and Rhoades, 1959; Rabbitt and Banerji, 1989). Against this background, the present study examined whether the speed of internal processing is dependent on or independent from domain-specific motor expertise in unpredictable stimulus-response tasks and in a double stimulus-response paradigm. Thirty male participants (15 team handball goalkeepers and 15 novices) performed domain-unspecific simple or choice stimulus-response (CSR) tasks as well as CSR tasks that were domain-specific only for goalkeepers. As expected, results showed significantly faster RTs for goalkeepers on domain-specific tasks, whereas novices' RTs were more frequently excessively long. However, differences between groups in the double stimulus-response paradigm were not significant. It is concluded that the reported expertise advantage might be due to recalling stored perceptual-motor representations for the domain-specific tasks, implying that experience with (practice of) a motor task explicitly enhances the internal processing of other related domain-specific tasks.

A finite difference-time domain technique for modeling narrow apertures in conducting scatterers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Demarest, Kenneth R.

1987-01-01

The finite difference-time domain (FDTD) technique has proven to be a valuable tool for the calculation of the transient and steady state scattering characteristics of relatively complex scatterer and source configurations. In spite of its usefulness, it exhibits serious deficiencies when used to analyze geometries that contain fine detail. An FDTD technique is described that utilizes Babinet's principle to decouple the regions on both sides of the aperture. The result is an FDTD technique that is capable of modeling apertures that are much smaller than the spatial grid used in the analysis and yet is not perturbed by numerical noise when used in the 'scattered field' mode. Numerical results are presented that show the field penetration through cavity-backed apertures that are much smaller than the spatial grid used during the solution.

User's manual for two dimensional FDTD version TEA and TMA codes for scattering from frequency-independent dielectic materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1991-01-01

The Penn State Finite Difference Time Domain Electromagnetic Scattering Code Versions TEA and TMA are two dimensional numerical electromagnetic scattering codes based upon the Finite Difference Time Domain Technique (FDTD) first proposed by Yee in 1966. The supplied version of the codes are two versions of our current two dimensional FDTD code set. This manual provides a description of the codes and corresponding results for the default scattering problem. The manual is organized into eleven sections: introduction, Version TEA and TMA code capabilities, a brief description of the default scattering geometry, a brief description of each subroutine, a description of the include files (TEACOM.FOR TMACOM.FOR), a section briefly discussing scattering width computations, a section discussing the scattering results, a sample problem set section, a new problem checklist, references and figure titles.

User's manual for two dimensional FDTD version TEA and TMA codes for scattering from frequency-independent dielectric materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1991-01-01

The Penn State Finite Difference Time Domain Electromagnetic Scattering Code Versions TEA and TMA are two dimensional electromagnetic scattering codes based on the Finite Difference Time Domain Technique (FDTD) first proposed by Yee in 1966. The supplied version of the codes are two versions of our current FDTD code set. This manual provides a description of the codes and corresponding results for the default scattering problem. The manual is organized into eleven sections: introduction, Version TEA and TMA code capabilities, a brief description of the default scattering geometry, a brief description of each subroutine, a description of the include files (TEACOM.FOR TMACOM.FOR), a section briefly discussing scattering width computations, a section discussing the scattering results, a sample problem setup section, a new problem checklist, references, and figure titles.

Finite-difference time-domain analysis of photonic nanojets from liquid-crystal-containing microcylinder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsui, Tatsunosuke; Okajima, Akiko

2014-01-01

The photonic nanojet (PNJ) from a microcylinder with liquid crystals (LCs) showing tangential molecular alignment inside the microcylinder has been numerically analyzed on the basis of the finite-difference time-domain method. By introducing a small degree of birefringence, the characteristics of the PNJ, such as propagation length and polarization state, can be drastically changed. The azimuth angle and the ellipticity of the elliptically polarized PNJ obtained from the LC microcylinder changes within the propagation lengths in the micrometer range even in the isotropic matrix, which might be attributed to the jet like spatial profile of the PNJ. By using LC microcylinders or microspheres, we may obtain a rich variety of PNJs with unique polarization characteristics, which might open a new avenue for the development of novel optical devices with electrical tunability.

LASER APPLICATIONS AND OTHER TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS: Time-domain polarisation scrambler on one bulk LiNbO3 crystal with quadrupole electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davydov, B. L.; Mironov, V. Yu

2010-02-01

As distinct from the classic Billings depolariser, a simple time-domain polarisation scrambler can be made on one crystal possessing a threefold axis among its symmetry elements and displaying a linear electro-optical effect (Pockels effect). We demonstrate a polarisation scrambler on a LiNbO3 uniaxial crystal with two pairs of electrodes to which two harmonic voltages identical in amplitude and differing in phase by 90° are applied. The residual degree of polarisation of the depolarised light, quantified by the polarisation extinction ratio, is less than 0.1 dB. Tolerances on the crystal orientation and the phase difference between the control voltages are estimated. The quality of the crystal is shown to be critical to the performance of the scrambler.

User's manual for three dimensional FDTD version C code for scattering from frequency-independent dielectric and magnetic materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1991-01-01

The Penn State Finite Difference Time Domain Electromagnetic Scattering Code Version C is a three dimensional numerical electromagnetic scattering code based upon the Finite Difference Time Domain Technique (FDTD). The supplied version of the code is one version of our current three dimensional FDTD code set. This manual provides a description of the code and corresponding results for several scattering problems. The manual is organized into fourteen sections: introduction, description of the FDTD method, operation, resource requirements, Version C code capabilities, a brief description of the default scattering geometry, a brief description of each subroutine, a description of the include file (COMMONC.FOR), a section briefly discussing Radar Cross Section (RCS) computations, a section discussing some scattering results, a sample problem setup section, a new problem checklist, references and figure titles.

User's manual for three dimensional FDTD version D code for scattering from frequency-dependent dielectric and magnetic materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1991-01-01

The Penn State Finite Difference Time Domain Electromagnetic Scattering Code Version D is a three dimensional numerical electromagnetic scattering code based upon the Finite Difference Time Domain Technique (FDTD). The supplied version of the code is one version of our current three dimensional FDTD code set. This manual provides a description of the code and corresponding results for several scattering problems. The manual is organized into fourteen sections: introduction, description of the FDTD method, operation, resource requirements, Version D code capabilities, a brief description of the default scattering geometry, a brief description of each subroutine, a description of the include file (COMMOND.FOR), a section briefly discussing Radar Cross Section (RCS) computations, a section discussing some scattering results, a sample problem setup section, a new problem checklist, references and figure titles.

User's manual for three dimensional FDTD version A code for scattering from frequency-independent dielectric materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1992-01-01

The Penn State Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) Electromagnetic Scattering Code Version A is a three dimensional numerical electromagnetic scattering code based on the Finite Difference Time Domain technique. The supplied version of the code is one version of our current three dimensional FDTD code set. The manual provides a description of the code and the corresponding results for the default scattering problem. The manual is organized into 14 sections: introduction, description of the FDTD method, operation, resource requirements, Version A code capabilities, a brief description of the default scattering geometry, a brief description of each subroutine, a description of the include file (COMMONA.FOR), a section briefly discussing radar cross section (RCS) computations, a section discussing the scattering results, a sample problem setup section, a new problem checklist, references, and figure titles.

User's manual for three dimensional FDTD version C code for scattering from frequency-independent dielectric and magnetic materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1992-01-01

The Penn State Finite Difference Time Domain Electromagnetic Scattering Code Version C is a three-dimensional numerical electromagnetic scattering code based on the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) technique. The supplied version of the code is one version of our current three-dimensional FDTD code set. The manual given here provides a description of the code and corresponding results for several scattering problems. The manual is organized into 14 sections: introduction, description of the FDTD method, operation, resource requirements, Version C code capabilities, a brief description of the default scattering geometry, a brief description of each subroutine, a description of the include file (COMMONC.FOR), a section briefly discussing radar cross section computations, a section discussing some scattering results, a new problem checklist, references, and figure titles.

User's manual for three dimensional FDTD version B code for scattering from frequency-dependent dielectric materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beggs, John H.; Luebbers, Raymond J.; Kunz, Karl S.

1991-01-01

The Penn State Finite Difference Time Domain Electromagnetic Scattering Code Version B is a three dimensional numerical electromagnetic scattering code based upon the Finite Difference Time Domain Technique (FDTD). The supplied version of the code is one version of our current three dimensional FDTD code set. This manual provides a description of the code and corresponding results for several scattering problems. The manual is organized into fourteen sections: introduction, description of the FDTD method, operation, resource requirements, Version B code capabilities, a brief description of the default scattering geometry, a brief description of each subroutine, a description of the include file (COMMONB.FOR), a section briefly discussing Radar Cross Section (RCS) computations, a section discussing some scattering results, a sample problem setup section, a new problem checklist, references and figure titles.

Using Topdown Conceptual Analysis To Accelerate The Learning Of New Domains For Knowledge Engineers & Domain Experts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xuan, Albert L.; Shinghal, Rajjan

1989-03-01

As the need for knowledge-based systems increases, an increasing number of domain experts are becoming interested in taking more active part in the building of knowledge-based systems. However, such a domain expert often must deal with a large number of unfamiliar terms concepts, facts, procedures and principles based on different approaches and schools of thought. He (for brevity, we shall use masculine pronouns for both genders) may need the help of a knowledge engineer (KE) in building the knowledge-based system but may encounter a number of problems. For instance, much of the early interaction between him and the knowl edge engineer may be spent in educating each other about their seperate kinds of expertise. Since the knowledge engineer will usually be ignorant of the knowledge domain while the domain expert (DE) will have little knowledge about knowledge-based systems, a great deal of time will be wasted on these issues ad the DE and the KE train each other to the point where a fruitful interaction can occur. In some situations, it may not even be possible for the DE to find a suitable KE to work with because he has no time to train the latter in his domain. This will engender the need for the DE to be more knowledgeable about knowledge-based systems and for the KE to find methods and techniques which will allow them to learn new domains as fast as they can. In any event, it is likely that the process of building knowledge-based systems will be smooth, er and more efficient if the domain expert is knowledgeable about the methods and techniques of knowledge-based systems building.

Research on the Effect of Electrical Signals on Growth of Sansevieria under Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Lighting Environment

PubMed Central

Tian, Liguo; Meng, Qinghao; Wang, Liping; Dong, Jianghui; Wu, Hai

2015-01-01

The plant electrical signal has some features, e.g. weak, low-frequency and time-varying. To detect changes in plant electrical signals, LED light source was used to create a controllable light environment in this study. The electrical signal data were collected from Sansevieria leaves under the different illumination conditions, and the data was analyzed in time domain, frequency domain and time–frequency domain, respectively. These analyses are helpful to explore the relationship between changes in the light environment and electrical signals in Sansevieria leaves. The changes in the plant electrical signal reflected the changes in the intensity of photosynthesis. In this study, we proposed a new method to express plant photosynthetic intensity as a function of the electrical signal. That is, the plant electrical signal can be used to describe the state of plant growth. PMID:26121469

Ultrasonic test of resistance spot welds based on wavelet package analysis.

PubMed

Liu, Jing; Xu, Guocheng; Gu, Xiaopeng; Zhou, Guanghao

2015-02-01

In this paper, ultrasonic test of spot welds for stainless steel sheets has been studied. It is indicated that traditional ultrasonic signal analysis in either time domain or frequency domain remains inadequate to evaluate the nugget diameter of spot welds. However, the method based on wavelet package analysis in time-frequency domain can easily distinguish the nugget from the corona bond by extracting high-frequency signals in different positions of spot welds, thereby quantitatively evaluating the nugget diameter. The results of ultrasonic test fit the actual measured value well. Mean value of normal distribution of error statistics is 0.00187, and the standard deviation is 0.1392. Furthermore, the quality of spot welds was evaluated, and it is showed ultrasonic nondestructive test based on wavelet packet analysis can be used to evaluate the quality of spot welds, and it is more reliable than single tensile destructive test. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

a Unified Matrix Polynomial Approach to Modal Identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allemang, R. J.; Brown, D. L.

1998-04-01

One important current focus of modal identification is a reformulation of modal parameter estimation algorithms into a single, consistent mathematical formulation with a corresponding set of definitions and unifying concepts. Particularly, a matrix polynomial approach is used to unify the presentation with respect to current algorithms such as the least-squares complex exponential (LSCE), the polyreference time domain (PTD), Ibrahim time domain (ITD), eigensystem realization algorithm (ERA), rational fraction polynomial (RFP), polyreference frequency domain (PFD) and the complex mode indication function (CMIF) methods. Using this unified matrix polynomial approach (UMPA) allows a discussion of the similarities and differences of the commonly used methods. the use of least squares (LS), total least squares (TLS), double least squares (DLS) and singular value decomposition (SVD) methods is discussed in order to take advantage of redundant measurement data. Eigenvalue and SVD transformation methods are utilized to reduce the effective size of the resulting eigenvalue-eigenvector problem as well.

Laser-plasma interactions with a Fourier-Bessel particle-in-cell method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andriyash, Igor A., E-mail: igor.andriyash@gmail.com; LOA, ENSTA ParisTech, CNRS, Ecole polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay, 828 bd des Maréchaux, 91762 Palaiseau cedex; Lehe, Remi

A new spectral particle-in-cell (PIC) method for plasma modeling is presented and discussed. In the proposed scheme, the Fourier-Bessel transform is used to translate the Maxwell equations to the quasi-cylindrical spectral domain. In this domain, the equations are solved analytically in time, and the spatial derivatives are approximated with high accuracy. In contrast to the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) methods, that are used commonly in PIC, the developed method does not produce numerical dispersion and does not involve grid staggering for the electric and magnetic fields. These features are especially valuable in modeling the wakefield acceleration of particles in plasmas.more » The proposed algorithm is implemented in the code PLARES-PIC, and the test simulations of laser plasma interactions are compared to the ones done with the quasi-cylindrical FDTD PIC code CALDER-CIRC.« less

Identifying student mental models from their response pattern to a physics multiple-choice test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montenegro Maggio, Maximiliano Jose

Previous work has shown that students present different misconceptions across different but similar physical situations, but the cause of these differences is still not clear. In this study, a novel analysis method was introduced to help to gain a better understanding of how different physical situations affect students' responses and learning. This novel analysis groups students into mental model groups (MMG) by similarities in their responses to multiple-choice test items, under the assumption that they have similar mental models. The Mass and Energy Conservation test was developed to probe the common misconception that objects with greater mass fall faster than objects with lesser mass across four physical situations and four knowledge sub-domains: information, dynamics, work, and energy. The test was applied before and after energy instruction to 144 college students in a large Midwestern university attending a calculus-based introductory physics course. Test time along with instruction and physical situation were the two factors. It was found that physical situation did not have a significant effect on mental models: The number of MMGs identified and the fraction of students belonging to the same MMG were not significantly different (p > .05) across physical situations. However, there was a significant effect of test time on mental models (p < .05): the fraction of students belonging to the same MMG changed from the pretest to the posttest, in that the MMG representing higher performance became predominant than the MMG with lower performance for the posttest results. A MANOVA for the average scores for each sub-domain and physical situation combination was applied to validate the previous results. It was found that a significant effect (p < .01) by physical situation resulted due to a lower average dynamics sub-domain score for the friction physical-situation attribute when compared to the no-friction physical-situation attribute. A significant effect (p < .01) was found for test time. This was due to an increase of the average energy sub-domain score from the pretest to the posttest. No significant interaction effect ( p > .05) was found. The MANOVA results obtained can be explained through the change in proportion of the MMGs present in the sample.

Pulse analysis of acoustic emission signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houghton, J. R.; Packman, P. F.

1977-01-01

A method for the signature analysis of pulses in the frequency domain and the time domain is presented. Fourier spectrum, Fourier transfer function, shock spectrum and shock spectrum ratio were examined in the frequency domain analysis and pulse shape deconvolution was developed for use in the time domain analysis. Comparisons of the relative performance of each analysis technique are made for the characterization of acoustic emission pulses recorded by a measuring system. To demonstrate the relative sensitivity of each of the methods to small changes in the pulse shape, signatures of computer modeled systems with analytical pulses are presented. Optimization techniques are developed and used to indicate the best design parameter values for deconvolution of the pulse shape. Several experiments are presented that test the pulse signature analysis methods on different acoustic emission sources. These include acoustic emission associated with (a) crack propagation, (b) ball dropping on a plate, (c) spark discharge, and (d) defective and good ball bearings. Deconvolution of the first few micro-seconds of the pulse train is shown to be the region in which the significant signatures of the acoustic emission event are to be found.

Longitudinal stability of social competence indicators in a Portuguese sample: Q-sort profiles of social competence, measures of social engagement, and peer sociometric acceptance.

PubMed

Santos, António J; Vaughn, Brian E; Peceguina, Inês; Daniel, João R

2014-03-01

This study examines the temporal stability (over 3 years) of individual differences in 3 domains relevant to preschool children's social competence: social engagement/motivation, profiles of behavior and personality attributes characteristic of socially competent young children, and peer acceptance. Each domain was measured with multiple indicators. Sociometric status categories (Asher & Dodge, 1986) and reciprocated friendships were derived from sociometric data. Composites for social competence domains were significantly associated across all time points. Within age-periods, social competence domains were associated with both sociometric and friendship status categories; however, neither sociometric status nor reciprocated friendships were stable over time. Nevertheless, analyses examining the social competence antecedents to reciprocated friendship at age-4 and age-5 suggested that more socially competent children in the prior year were more likely to have a reciprocated friendship in the current year. Popular and rejected sociometric status categories were also associated with social competence indicators in prior years, but this was most clearly seen at age-5. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Pulse analysis of acoustic emission signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houghton, J. R.; Packman, P. F.

1977-01-01

A method for the signature analysis of pulses in the frequency domain and the time domain is presented. Fourier spectrum, Fourier transfer function, shock spectrum and shock spectrum ratio were examined in the frequency domain analysis, and pulse shape deconvolution was developed for use in the time domain analysis. Comparisons of the relative performance of each analysis technique are made for the characterization of acoustic emission pulses recorded by a measuring system. To demonstrate the relative sensitivity of each of the methods to small changes in the pulse shape, signatures of computer modeled systems with analytical pulses are presented. Optimization techniques are developed and used to indicate the best design parameters values for deconvolution of the pulse shape. Several experiments are presented that test the pulse signature analysis methods on different acoustic emission sources. These include acoustic emissions associated with: (1) crack propagation, (2) ball dropping on a plate, (3) spark discharge and (4) defective and good ball bearings. Deconvolution of the first few micro-seconds of the pulse train are shown to be the region in which the significant signatures of the acoustic emission event are to be found.

The 1994 international transatlantic two-way satellite time and frequency transfer experiment: Preliminary results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deyoung, James A.; Klepczynski, William J.; Mckinley, Angela Davis; Powell, William M.; Mai, Phu V.; Hetzel, P.; Bauch, A.; Davis, J. A.; Pearce, P. R.; Baumont, Francoise S.

1995-01-01

The international transatlantic time and frequency transfer experiment was designed by participating laboratories and has been implemented during 1994 to test the international communications path involving a large number of transmitting stations. This paper will present empirically determined clock and time scale differences, time and frequency domain instabilities, and a representative power spectral density analysis. The experiments by the method of co-location which will allow absolute calibration of the participating laboratories have been performed. Absolute time differences and accuracy levels of this experiment will be assessed in the near future.

Cyberspace security system

DOEpatents

Abercrombie, Robert K; Sheldon, Frederick T; Ferragut, Erik M

2014-06-24

A system evaluates reliability, performance and/or safety by automatically assessing the targeted system's requirements. A cost metric quantifies the impact of failures as a function of failure cost per unit of time. The metrics or measurements may render real-time (or near real-time) outcomes by initiating active response against one or more high ranked threats. The system may support or may be executed in many domains including physical domains, cyber security domains, cyber-physical domains, infrastructure domains, etc. or any other domains that are subject to a threat or a loss.

Thermal runaway and microwave heating in thin cylindrical domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, Michael J.

2002-04-01

The behaviour of the solution to two nonlinear heating problems in a thin cylinder of revolution of variable cross-sectional area is analysed using asymptotic and numerical methods. The first problem is to calculate the fold point, corresponding to the onset of thermal runaway, for a steady-state nonlinear elliptic equation that arises in combustion theory. In the limit of thin cylindrical domains, it is shown that the onset of thermal runaway can be delayed when a circular cylindrical domain is perturbed into a dumbell shape. Numerical values for the fold point for different domain shapes are obtained asymptotically and numerically. The second problem that is analysed is a nonlinear parabolic equation modelling the microwave heating of a ceramic cylinder by a known electric field. The basic model in a thin circular cylindrical domain was analysed in Booty & Kriegsmann (Meth. Appl. Anal. 4 (1994) p. 403). Their analysis is extended to treat thin cylindrical domains of variable cross-section. It is shown that the steady-state and dynamic behaviours of localized regions of high temperature, called hot-spots, depend on a competition between the maxima of the electric field and the maximum deformation of the circular cylinder. For a dumbell-shaped region it is shown that two disconnected hot-spot regions can occur. Depending on the parameters in the model, these regions, ultimately, either merge as time increases or else remain as disconnected regions for all time.

Holographic imaging based on time-domain data of natural-fiber-containing materials

DOEpatents

Bunch, Kyle J.; McMakin, Douglas L.

2012-09-04

Methods and apparatuses for imaging material properties in natural-fiber-containing materials can utilize time-domain data. In particular, images can be constructed that provide quantified measures of localized moisture content. For example, one or more antennas and at least one transceiver can be configured to collect time-domain data from radiation interacting with the natural-fiber-containing materials. The antennas and the transceivers are configured to transmit and receive electromagnetic radiation at one or more frequencies, which are between 50 MHz and 1 THz, according to a time-domain impulse function. A computing device is configured to transform the time-domain data to frequency-domain data, to apply a synthetic imaging algorithm for constructing a three-dimensional image of the natural-fiber-containing materials, and to provide a quantified measure of localized moisture content based on a pre-determined correlation of moisture content to frequency-domain data.

Additive Interaction between Heterogeneous Environmental Quality Domains (Air, Water, Land, Sociodemographic, and Built Environment) on Preterm Birth.

PubMed

Grabich, Shannon C; Rappazzo, Kristen M; Gray, Christine L; Jagai, Jyotsna S; Jian, Yun; Messer, Lynne C; Lobdell, Danelle T

2016-01-01

Environmental exposures often occur in tandem; however, epidemiological research often focuses on singular exposures. Statistical interactions among broad, well-characterized environmental domains have not yet been evaluated in association with health. We address this gap by conducting a county-level cross-sectional analysis of interactions between Environmental Quality Index (EQI) domain indices on preterm birth in the Unites States from 2000 to 2005. The EQI, a county-level index constructed for the 2000-2005 time period, was constructed from five domain-specific indices (air, water, land, built, and sociodemographic) using principal component analyses. County-level preterm birth rates ( n  = 3141) were estimated using live births from the National Center for Health Statistics. Linear regression was used to estimate prevalence differences (PDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing worse environmental quality to the better quality for each model for (a) each individual domain main effect, (b) the interaction contrast, and (c) the two main effects plus interaction effect (i.e., the "net effect") to show departure from additivity for the all U.S. counties. Analyses were also performed for subgroupings by four urban/rural strata. We found the suggestion of antagonistic interactions but no synergism, along with several purely additive (i.e., no interaction) associations. In the non-stratified model, we observed antagonistic interactions, between the sociodemographic/air domains [net effect (i.e., the association, including main effects and interaction effects) PD: -0.004 (95% CI: -0.007, 0.000), interaction contrast: -0.013 (95% CI: -0.020, -0.007)] and built/air domains [net effect PD: 0.008 (95% CI 0.004, 0.011), interaction contrast: -0.008 (95% CI: -0.015, -0.002)]. Most interactions were between the air domain and other respective domains. Interactions differed by urbanicity, with more interactions observed in non-metropolitan regions. Observed antagonistic associations may indicate that those living in areas with multiple detrimental domains may have other interfering factors reducing the burden of environmental exposure. This study is the first to explore interactions across different environmental domains and demonstrates the utility of the EQI to examine the relationship between environmental domain interactions and human health. While we did observe some departures from additivity, many observed effects were additive. This study demonstrated that interactions between environmental domains should be considered in future analyses.

Fractional Brownian motion and motion governed by the fractional Langevin equation in confined geometries.

PubMed

Jeon, Jae-Hyung; Metzler, Ralf

2010-02-01

Motivated by subdiffusive motion of biomolecules observed in living cells, we study the stochastic properties of a non-Brownian particle whose motion is governed by either fractional Brownian motion or the fractional Langevin equation and restricted to a finite domain. We investigate by analytic calculations and simulations how time-averaged observables (e.g., the time-averaged mean-squared displacement and displacement correlation) are affected by spatial confinement and dimensionality. In particular, we study the degree of weak ergodicity breaking and scatter between different single trajectories for this confined motion in the subdiffusive domain. The general trend is that deviations from ergodicity are decreased with decreasing size of the movement volume and with increasing dimensionality. We define the displacement correlation function and find that this quantity shows distinct features for fractional Brownian motion, fractional Langevin equation, and continuous time subdiffusion, such that it appears an efficient measure to distinguish these different processes based on single-particle trajectory data.

Stabilization of an immunoglobulin fold domain by an engineered disulfide bond at the buried hydrophobic region.

PubMed

Hagihara, Yoshihisa; Mine, Shouhei; Uegaki, Koichi

2007-12-14

We report for the first time the stabilization of an immunoglobulin fold domain by an engineered disulfide bond. In the llama single-domain antibody, which has human chorionic gonadotropin as its specific antigen, Ala49 and Ile70 are buried in the structure. A mutant with an artificial disulfide bond at this position showed a 10 degrees C higher midpoint temperature of thermal unfolding than that without the extra disulfide bond. The modified domains exhibited an antigen binding affinity comparable with that of the wild-type domain. Ala49 and Ile70 are conserved in camel and llama single-domain antibody frameworks. Therefore, domains against different antigens are expected to be stabilized by the engineered disulfide bond examined here. In addition to the effect of the loop constraints in the unfolded state, thermodynamic analysis indicated that internal interaction and hydration also control the stability of domains with disulfide bonds. The change in physical properties resulting from mutation often causes unpredictable and destabilizing effects on these interactions. The introduction of a hydrophobic cystine into the hydrophobic region maintains the hydrophobicity of the protein and is expected to minimize the unfavorable mutational effects.

Classification of Alzheimer's Patients through Ubiquitous Computing.

PubMed

Nieto-Reyes, Alicia; Duque, Rafael; Montaña, José Luis; Lage, Carmen

2017-07-21

Functional data analysis and artificial neural networks are the building blocks of the proposed methodology that distinguishes the movement patterns among c's patients on different stages of the disease and classifies new patients to their appropriate stage of the disease. The movement patterns are obtained by the accelerometer device of android smartphones that the patients carry while moving freely. The proposed methodology is relevant in that it is flexible on the type of data to which it is applied. To exemplify that, it is analyzed a novel real three-dimensional functional dataset where each datum is observed in a different time domain. Not only is it observed on a difference frequency but also the domain of each datum has different length. The obtained classification success rate of 83 % indicates the potential of the proposed methodology.

Predictive value of cognition for different domains of outcome in recent-onset schizophrenia.

PubMed

Holthausen, Esther A E; Wiersma, Durk; Cahn, Wiepke; Kahn, René S; Dingemans, Peter M; Schene, Aart H; van den Bosch, Robert J

2007-01-15

The aim of this study was to see whether and how cognition predicts outcome in recent-onset schizophrenia in a large range of domains such as course of illness, self-care, interpersonal functioning, vocational functioning and need for care. At inclusion, 115 recent-onset patients were tested on a cognitive battery and 103 patients participated in the follow-up 2 years after inclusion. Differences in outcome between cognitively normal and cognitively impaired patients were also analysed. Cognitive measures at inclusion did not predict number of relapses, activities of daily living and interpersonal functioning. Time in psychosis or in full remission, as well as need for care, were partly predicted by specific cognitive measures. Although statistically significant, the predictive value of cognition with regard to clinical outcome was limited. There was a significant difference between patients with and without cognitive deficits in competitive employment status and vocational functioning. The predictive value of cognition for different social outcome domains varies. It seems that cognition most strongly predicts work performance, where having a cognitive deficit, regardless of the nature of the deficit, acts as a rate-limiting factor.

The grit effect: predicting retention in the military, the workplace, school and marriage

PubMed Central

Eskreis-Winkler, Lauren; Shulman, Elizabeth P.; Beal, Scott A.; Duckworth, Angela L.

2013-01-01

Remaining committed to goals is necessary (albeit not sufficient) to attaining them, but very little is known about domain-general individual differences that contribute to sustained goal commitment. The current investigation examines the association between grit, defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, other individual difference variables, and retention in four different contexts: the military, workplace sales, high school, and marriage. Grit predicted retention over and beyond established context-specific predictors of retention (e.g., intelligence, physical aptitude, Big Five personality traits, job tenure) and demographic variables in each setting. Grittier soldiers were more likely to complete an Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) selection course, grittier sales employees were more likely to keep their jobs, grittier students were more likely to graduate from high school, and grittier men were more likely to stay married. The relative predictive validity of grit compared to other traditional predictors of retention is examined in each of the four studies. These findings suggest that in addition to domain-specific influences, there may be domain-general individual differences which influence commitment to diverse life goals over time. PMID:24550863

The grit effect: predicting retention in the military, the workplace, school and marriage.

PubMed

Eskreis-Winkler, Lauren; Shulman, Elizabeth P; Beal, Scott A; Duckworth, Angela L

2014-01-01

Remaining committed to goals is necessary (albeit not sufficient) to attaining them, but very little is known about domain-general individual differences that contribute to sustained goal commitment. The current investigation examines the association between grit, defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, other individual difference variables, and retention in four different contexts: the military, workplace sales, high school, and marriage. Grit predicted retention over and beyond established context-specific predictors of retention (e.g., intelligence, physical aptitude, Big Five personality traits, job tenure) and demographic variables in each setting. Grittier soldiers were more likely to complete an Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) selection course, grittier sales employees were more likely to keep their jobs, grittier students were more likely to graduate from high school, and grittier men were more likely to stay married. The relative predictive validity of grit compared to other traditional predictors of retention is examined in each of the four studies. These findings suggest that in addition to domain-specific influences, there may be domain-general individual differences which influence commitment to diverse life goals over time.

Who Dares, Who Errs? Disentangling Cognitive and Motivational Roots of Age Differences in Decisions Under Risk.

PubMed

Pachur, Thorsten; Mata, Rui; Hertwig, Ralph

2017-04-01

We separate for the first time the roles of cognitive and motivational factors in shaping age differences in decision making under risk. Younger and older adults completed gain, loss, and mixed-domain choice problems as well as measures of cognitive functioning and affect. The older adults' decision quality was lower than the younger adults' in the loss domain, and this age difference was attributable to the older adults' lower cognitive abilities. In addition, the older adults chose the more risky option more often than the younger adults in the gain and mixed domains; this difference in risk aversion was attributable to less pronounced negative affect among the older adults. Computational modeling with a hierarchical Bayesian implementation of cumulative prospect theory revealed that the older adults had higher response noise and more optimistic decision weights for gains than did the younger adults. Moreover, the older adults showed no loss aversion, a finding that supports a positivity-focus (rather than a loss-prevention) view of motivational reorientation in older age.

Human operator identification model and related computer programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kessler, K. M.; Mohr, J. N.

1978-01-01

Four computer programs which provide computational assistance in the analysis of man/machine systems are reported. The programs are: (1) Modified Transfer Function Program (TF); (2) Time Varying Response Program (TVSR); (3) Optimal Simulation Program (TVOPT); and (4) Linear Identification Program (SCIDNT). The TV program converts the time domain state variable system representative to frequency domain transfer function system representation. The TVSR program computes time histories of the input/output responses of the human operator model. The TVOPT program is an optimal simulation program and is similar to TVSR in that it produces time histories of system states associated with an operator in the loop system. The differences between the two programs are presented. The SCIDNT program is an open loop identification code which operates on the simulated data from TVOPT (or TVSR) or real operator data from motion simulators.

Detection and characterization of cultural noise sources in magnetotelluric data: individual and joint analysis of the polarization attributes of the electric and magnetic field time-series in the time-frequency domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escalas, M.; Queralt, P.; Ledo, J.; Marcuello, A.

2012-04-01

Magnetotelluric (MT) method is a passive electromagnetic technique, which is currently used to characterize sites for the geological storage of CO2. These later ones are usually located nearby industrialized, urban or farming areas, where man-made electromagnetic (EM) signals contaminate the MT data. The identification and characterization of the artificial EM sources which generate the so-called "cultural noise" is an important challenge to obtain the most reliable results with the MT method. The polarization attributes of an EM signal (tilt angle, ellipticity and phase difference between its orthogonal components) are related to the character of its source. In a previous work (Escalas et al. 2011), we proposed a method to distinguish natural signal from cultural noise in the raw MT data. It is based on the polarization analysis of the MT time-series in the time-frequency domain, using a wavelet scheme. We developed an algorithm to implement the method, and was tested with both synthetic and field data. In 2010, we carried out a controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) experiment in the Hontomín site (the Research Laboratory on Geological Storage of CO2 in Spain). MT time-series were contaminated at different frequencies with the signal emitted by a controlled artificial EM source: two electric dipoles (1 km long, arranged in North-South and East-West directions). The analysis with our algorithm of the electric field time-series acquired in this experiment was successful: the polarization attributes of both the natural and artificial signal were obtained in the time-frequency domain, highlighting their differences. The processing of the magnetic field time-series acquired in the Hontomín experiment has been done in the present work. This new analysis of the polarization attributes of the magnetic field data has provided additional information to detect the contribution of the artificial source in the measured data. Moreover, the joint analysis of the polarization attributes of the electric and magnetic field has been crucial to fully characterize the properties and the location of the noise source. Escalas, M., Queralt, P., Ledo, J., Marcuello, A., 2011. Identification of cultural noise sources in magnetotelluric data: estimating polarization attributes in the time-frequency domain using wavelet analysis. Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 13, EGU2011-6085. EGU General Assembly 2011.

Garnet film rotator applied in polarizing microscope for domain image modulation (abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wakabayashi, K.; Numata, T.; Inokuchi, S.

1991-04-01

A garnet film polarization rotator placed before the analyzer in a polarizing microscope was investigated to obtain the difference image of a positive and a negative one of magnetic domain in real time along with an image processor. In the difference image, a nonmagnetic image can be reduced and hence the weak magnetic contrast enhanced. Theoretical calculation of S/N and contrast C of the domain image as a function of the rotation shows they take maxima at the rotation angle of 2.6° and 0.1°, respectively, with the extinction ratio of e=4×10-6 of a polarizing microscope. Thus, since the thickness of the garnet film required is 1 μm or so, the absorption by the garnet rotator does not bring a serious problem even in a visible region for the domain observation. The optimum rotation of the rotator for a high quality observation was obtained by a quantitative study of images obtained experimentally as well as by a visual evaluation. A magnetically unsaturated garnet film with perpendicular magnetization (i.e., multidomain) was employed as a rotator, in which the polarization rotation angle θm of the undeflected beam with respect to the light diffraction could be continuously varied by an applied magnetic field. The dependences of S/N and C on θm were measured, resulting in a well agreement between the measured and the calculated. The visually best image was obtained at θm=0.5° which made the product of S/N and C maximum. The domain image of the Kerr rotation angle of θk=0.22° was observed in S/N=47 dB and C=0.4 when Ar+ laser (λ=515 nm) of tenths of a watt was employed as a light source. Since the domain image with 47 dB S/N does not need an image summation for a noise reduction, a garnet film rotator makes it possible to invert the contrast of a domain image in a real time for an improved domain observation.

3D airborne EM modeling based on the spectral-element time-domain (SETD) method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, X.; Yin, C.; Huang, X.; Liu, Y.; Zhang, B., Sr.; Cai, J.; Liu, L.

2017-12-01

In the field of 3D airborne electromagnetic (AEM) modeling, both finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and finite-element time-domain (FETD) method have limitations that FDTD method depends too much on the grids and time steps, while FETD requires large number of grids for complex structures. We propose a time-domain spectral-element (SETD) method based on GLL interpolation basis functions for spatial discretization and Backward Euler (BE) technique for time discretization. The spectral-element method is based on a weighted residual technique with polynomials as vector basis functions. It can contribute to an accurate result by increasing the order of polynomials and suppressing spurious solution. BE method is a stable tine discretization technique that has no limitation on time steps and can guarantee a higher accuracy during the iteration process. To minimize the non-zero number of sparse matrix and obtain a diagonal mass matrix, we apply the reduced order integral technique. A direct solver with its speed independent of the condition number is adopted for quickly solving the large-scale sparse linear equations system. To check the accuracy of our SETD algorithm, we compare our results with semi-analytical solutions for a three-layered earth model within the time lapse 10-6-10-2s for different physical meshes and SE orders. The results show that the relative errors for magnetic field B and magnetic induction are both around 3-5%. Further we calculate AEM responses for an AEM system over a 3D earth model in Figure 1. From numerical experiments for both 1D and 3D model, we draw the conclusions that: 1) SETD can deliver an accurate results for both dB/dt and B; 2) increasing SE order improves the modeling accuracy for early to middle time channels when the EM field diffuses fast so the high-order SE can model the detailed variation; 3) at very late time channels, increasing SE order has little improvement on modeling accuracy, but the time interval plays important roles. This research is supported by Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (41530320), China Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists (41404093), and Key National Research Project of China (2016YFC0303100, 2017YFC0601900). Figure 1: (a) AEM system over a 3D earth model; (b) magnetic field Bz; (c) magnetic induction dBz/dt.

Efficient Processing of Data for Locating Lightning Strikes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Medelius, Pedro J.; Starr, Stan

2003-01-01

Two algorithms have been devised to increase the efficiency of processing of data in lightning detection and ranging (LDAR) systems so as to enable the accurate location of lightning strikes in real time. In LDAR, the location of a lightning strike is calculated by solving equations for the differences among the times of arrival (DTOAs) of the lightning signals at multiple antennas as functions of the locations of the antennas and the speed of light. The most difficult part of the problem is computing the DTOAs from digitized versions of the signals received by the various antennas. One way (a time-domain approach) to determine the DTOAs is to compute cross-correlations among variously differentially delayed replicas of the digitized signals and to select, as the DTOAs, those differential delays that yield the maximum correlations. Another way (a frequency-domain approach) to determine the DTOAs involves the computation of cross-correlations among Fourier transforms of variously differentially phased replicas of the digitized signals, along with utilization of the relationship among phase difference, time delay, and frequency.

Total and domain-specific sitting time among employees in desk-based work settings in Australia.

PubMed

Bennie, Jason A; Pedisic, Zeljko; Timperio, Anna; Crawford, David; Dunstan, David; Bauman, Adrian; van Uffelen, Jannique; Salmon, Jo

2015-06-01

To describe the total and domain-specific daily sitting time among a sample of Australian office-based employees. In April 2010, paper-based surveys were provided to desk-based employees (n=801) in Victoria, Australia. Total daily and domain-specific (work, leisure-time and transport-related) sitting time (minutes/day) were assessed by validated questionnaires. Differences in sitting time were examined across socio-demographic (age, sex, occupational status) and lifestyle characteristics (physical activity levels, body mass index [BMI]) using multiple linear regression analyses. The median (95% confidence interval [CI]) of total daily sitting time was 540 (531-557) minutes/day. Insufficiently active adults (median=578 minutes/day, [95%CI: 564-602]), younger adults aged 18-29 years (median=561 minutes/day, [95%CI: 540-577]) reported the highest total daily sitting times. Occupational sitting time accounted for almost 60% of total daily sitting time. In multivariate analyses, total daily sitting time was negatively associated with age (unstandardised regression coefficient [B]=-1.58, p<0.001) and overall physical activity (minutes/week) (B=-0.03, p<0.001) and positively associated with BMI (B=1.53, p=0.038). Desk-based employees reported that more than half of their total daily sitting time was accrued in the work setting. Given the high contribution of occupational sitting to total daily sitting time among desk-based employees, interventions should focus on the work setting. © 2014 Public Health Association of Australia.

Identifying interactions in the time and frequency domains in local and global networks - A Granger Causality Approach.

PubMed

Zou, Cunlu; Ladroue, Christophe; Guo, Shuixia; Feng, Jianfeng

2010-06-21

Reverse-engineering approaches such as Bayesian network inference, ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and information theory are widely applied to deriving causal relationships among different elements such as genes, proteins, metabolites, neurons, brain areas and so on, based upon multi-dimensional spatial and temporal data. There are several well-established reverse-engineering approaches to explore causal relationships in a dynamic network, such as ordinary differential equations (ODE), Bayesian networks, information theory and Granger Causality. Here we focused on Granger causality both in the time and frequency domain and in local and global networks, and applied our approach to experimental data (genes and proteins). For a small gene network, Granger causality outperformed all the other three approaches mentioned above. A global protein network of 812 proteins was reconstructed, using a novel approach. The obtained results fitted well with known experimental findings and predicted many experimentally testable results. In addition to interactions in the time domain, interactions in the frequency domain were also recovered. The results on the proteomic data and gene data confirm that Granger causality is a simple and accurate approach to recover the network structure. Our approach is general and can be easily applied to other types of temporal data.

Accurate determination of the diffusion coefficient of proteins by Fourier analysis with whole column imaging detection.

PubMed

Zarabadi, Atefeh S; Pawliszyn, Janusz

2015-02-17

Analysis in the frequency domain is considered a powerful tool to elicit precise information from spectroscopic signals. In this study, the Fourier transformation technique is employed to determine the diffusion coefficient (D) of a number of proteins in the frequency domain. Analytical approaches are investigated for determination of D from both experimental and data treatment viewpoints. The diffusion process is modeled to calculate diffusion coefficients based on the Fourier transformation solution to Fick's law equation, and its results are compared to time domain results. The simulations characterize optimum spatial and temporal conditions and demonstrate the noise tolerance of the method. The proposed model is validated by its application for the electropherograms from the diffusion path of a set of proteins. Real-time dynamic scanning is conducted to monitor dispersion by employing whole column imaging detection technology in combination with capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF) and the imaging plug flow (iPF) experiment. These experimental techniques provide different peak shapes, which are utilized to demonstrate the Fourier transformation ability in extracting diffusion coefficients out of irregular shape signals. Experimental results confirmed that the Fourier transformation procedure substantially enhanced the accuracy of the determined values compared to those obtained in the time domain.

Physical activity levels of economically disadvantaged women living in the Olympic city of Rio de Janeiro.

PubMed

de Sousa-Mast, Fabiana R; Reis, Arianne C; Sperandei, Sandro; Gurgel, Luilma A; Vieira, Marcelo C; Pühse, Uwe

2016-07-01

The objective of this study was to analyze the physical activity patterns of women living in a low-income community located in close proximity to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Park. Data (N = 140) were collected in June and July 2012 using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Findings indicated that the majority (54.8%) of participants reported high levels of physical activity. The domains that contributed the most to this pattern were occupational and household physical activity. Significantly, 88.1% of participants reported low physical activity levels during their leisure-time. In the transport-related domain, participants were relatively more active, but more than half of them (57%) spent less than 600 MET-minutes/week in this domain. The results highlighted the discrepancies between different physical activity domains. In addition, the findings also suggested that low-income women in our study engaged little in physical activity during their leisure time. Therefore, the proposed commitments found in the Rio de Janeiro Candidature File to host the 2016 Olympic Games to increase sport/physical activity participation within low-income communities in Rio de Janeiro need to be implemented effectively if this physical activity behavior during self-directed time is to be changed.

Self-force via m-mode regularization and 2+1D evolution. II. Scalar-field implementation on Kerr spacetime

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dolan, Sam R.; Barack, Leor; Wardell, Barry

2011-10-15

This is the second in a series of papers aimed at developing a practical time-domain method for self-force calculations in Kerr spacetime. The key elements of the method are (i) removal of a singular part of the perturbation field with a suitable analytic 'puncture' based on the Detweiler-Whiting decomposition, (ii) decomposition of the perturbation equations in azimuthal (m-)modes, taking advantage of the axial symmetry of the Kerr background, (iii) numerical evolution of the individual m-modes in 2+1 dimensions with a finite-difference scheme, and (iv) reconstruction of the physical self-force from the mode sum. Here we report an implementation of themore » method to compute the scalar-field self-force along circular equatorial geodesic orbits around a Kerr black hole. This constitutes a first time-domain computation of the self-force in Kerr geometry. Our time-domain code reproduces the results of a recent frequency-domain calculation by Warburton and Barack, but has the added advantage of being readily adaptable to include the backreaction from the self-force in a self-consistent manner. In a forthcoming paper--the third in the series--we apply our method to the gravitational self-force (in the Lorenz gauge).« less

Influence of Kohn singularity on the occurrence scattering time in degenerate quantum collisional plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Myoung-Jae; Jung, Young-Dae

2017-10-01

The influence of Kohn singularity on the occurrence scattering time for the electron-ion interaction is investigated in degenerate quantum collisional plasmas. The first-order eikonal analysis is used to obtain the scattering amplitude and the occurrence scattering time. The result shows that the Friedel oscillation due to the Kohn singularity suppresses the advance phenomena of occurrence scattering time in both forward and backward scattering domains. It is shown that the increase of plasmon energy would reduce the time advance for both forward and backward scattering domains. However, the increase of Fermi energy would enhance the phenomena of time advance. It is also found that the time advance with high collision frequency is larger than that with low collision frequency for the forward scattering domain and vice versa for the backward scattering domain. We have shown that the time advance is stronger in general for the forward scattering domain than that for the backward scattering domain.

Time-domain damping models in structural acoustics using digital filtering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parret-Fréaud, Augustin; Cotté, Benjamin; Chaigne, Antoine

2016-02-01

This paper describes a new approach in order to formulate well-posed time-domain damping models able to represent various frequency domain profiles of damping properties. The novelty of this approach is to represent the behavior law of a given material directly in a discrete-time framework as a digital filter, which is synthesized for each material from a discrete set of frequency-domain data such as complex modulus through an optimization process. A key point is the addition of specific constraints to this process in order to guarantee stability, causality and verification of thermodynamics second law when transposing the resulting discrete-time behavior law into the time domain. Thus, this method offers a framework which is particularly suitable for time-domain simulations in structural dynamics and acoustics for a wide range of materials (polymers, wood, foam, etc.), allowing to control and even reduce the distortion effects induced by time-discretization schemes on the frequency response of continuous-time behavior laws.

Investigations of a Cretaceous limestone with spectral induced polarization and scanning electron microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johansson, Sara; Sparrenbom, Charlotte; Fiandaca, Gianluca; Lindskog, Anders; Olsson, Per-Ivar; Dahlin, Torleif; Rosqvist, Håkan

2017-02-01

Characterization of varying bedrock properties is a common need in various contexts, ranging from large infrastructure pre-investigations to environmental protection. A direct current resistivity and time domain induced polarization (IP) survey aiming to characterize properties of a Cretaceous limestone was carried out in the Kristianstad basin, Sweden. The time domain IP data was processed with a recently developed method in order to suppress noise from the challenging urban setting in the survey area. The processing also enabled extraction of early decay times resulting in broader spectra of the time decays and inversion for Cole-Cole parameters. The aims of this study is to investigate if large-scale geoelectrical variations as well as small-scale structural and compositional variations exist within the Kristianstad limestone, and to evaluate the usefulness of Cole-Cole inverted IP data in early time ranges for bedrock characterization. The inverted sections showed variations within the limestone that could be caused by variations in texture and composition. Samples from a deep drilling in the Kristianstad basin were investigated with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and the results showed that varying amounts of pyrite, glauconite and clay matrix were present at different levels in the limestone. The local high IP anomalies in the limestone could be caused by these minerals otherwise the IP responses were generally weak. There were also differences in the texture of the limestone at different levels, governed by fossil shapes and composition, proportions of calcareous cement and matrix as well as amount of silicate grains. Textural variations may have implications on the variation in Cole-Cole relaxation time and frequency factor. However, more research is needed in order to directly connect microgeometrical properties in limestone to spectral IP responses. The results from this study show that it is possible to recover useable spectral information from early decay times. We also show that under certain conditions (e.g. relatively short relaxation times in the subsurface), it is possible to extract spectral information from time domain IP data measured with on-off times as short as 1 s.

Short-time fractional Fourier methods for the time-frequency representation of chirp signals.

PubMed

Capus, Chris; Brown, Keith

2003-06-01

The fractional Fourier transform (FrFT) provides a valuable tool for the analysis of linear chirp signals. This paper develops two short-time FrFT variants which are suited to the analysis of multicomponent and nonlinear chirp signals. Outputs have similar properties to the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) but show improved time-frequency resolution. The FrFT is a parameterized transform with parameter, a, related to chirp rate. The two short-time implementations differ in how the value of a is chosen. In the first, a global optimization procedure selects one value of a with reference to the entire signal. In the second, a values are selected independently for each windowed section. Comparative variance measures based on the Gaussian function are given and are shown to be consistent with the uncertainty principle in fractional domains. For appropriately chosen FrFT orders, the derived fractional domain uncertainty relationship is minimized for Gaussian windowed linear chirp signals. The two short-time FrFT algorithms have complementary strengths demonstrated by time-frequency representations for a multicomponent bat chirp, a highly nonlinear quadratic chirp, and an output pulse from a finite-difference sonar model with dispersive change. These representations illustrate the improvements obtained in using FrFT based algorithms compared to the STFT.

Autonomic nervous functions in fetal type Minamata disease patients: assessment of heart rate variability.

PubMed

Oka, Tomoko; Matsukura, Makoto; Okamoto, Miwako; Harada, Noriaki; Kitano, Takao; Miike, Teruhisa; Futatsuka, Makoto

2002-12-01

In order to assess the cardiovascular autonomic nervous functions in patients with fetal type Minamata disease (FMD), we investigated blood pressure (BP), and conducted time and frequency domain analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). Subjects were 9 patients in Meisuien recognized as FMD, and 13 healthy age matched control subjects. HRV and BP were assessed after subjects rested in a supine position for 10 minutes. Electrocardiographic (ECG) data were collected for 3 minutes during natural breathing. Time domain analysis (the average of R-R intervals [Mean RR], standard deviation of R-R intervals [SD RR], coefficient of variation [CV]), and frequency domain analysis by fast Fourier transformation (FFT) (power of low frequency [LF] and high frequency [HF] component, expressed in normalized units[nu]) were then conducted. In the time domain analysis, the mean RR of the FMD group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Neither SD RR nor CV showed significant differences between the two groups, but both tended to be lower in the FMD group. In the frequency domain analysis, the HF component of the FMD group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Pulse pressure (PP) was significantly lower in the FMD subjects. These findings suggest that parasympathetic nervous dysfunction might exist in FMD patients, who were exposed to high doses of methylmercury (MeHg) during the prenatal period. Decrease of PP might be due to degenerative changes of blood vessels driven by exposure to high doses of MeHg.

ManUniCast: A Community Weather and Air-Quality Forecasting Teaching Portal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schultz, David M.; Anderson, Stuart; Fairman, Jonathan G.; Lowe, Douglas; McFiggans, Gordon; Lee, Elsa; Seo-Zindy, Ryo

2014-05-01

Manunicast was borne out of the needs of our teaching program: students were entering a world where environmental prediction via numerical model was an essential skill, but were not exposed to the production or output of such models. Our site is an educational testbed to explain to students and the public how weather, air-quality, and air-chemistry forecasts are made using real-time predictions as examples. As far as we know, this site provides the first freely available real-time predictions for the UK. We perform two simulations a day over three domains using the most popular, freely available, community atmospheric mesoscale and chemistry models WRF-ARW and WRF-Chem: 1. a WRF-ARW domain over the North Atlantic and western Europe (20-km horizontal grid spacing) 2. a WRF-ARW domain over the UK and Ireland (4-km grid spacing, nested within the 20-km domain) 3. a WRF-Chem domain over the UK and Ireland (12-km grid spacing) Called ManUniCast (Manchester University Forecast), we offer a suite of products from horizontal maps, time series at stations (meteograms), skew-T-logp charts, and cross sections to help students better visualize the weather and the relationships between the various fields more effectively, specifically through the ability to overlay and fade between different plotted products. This presentation discusses how we funded and built ManUniCast, the struggles we faced, and its use in our classes.

Frequency-Domain Multiplexing Readout with a Self-Trigger System for Pulse Signals from Kinetic Inductance Detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, Y.; Ishino, H.; Kibayashi, A.; Kida, Y.; Hidehira, N.; Komatsu, K.; Hazumi, M.; Sato, N.; Sakai, K.; Yamamori, H.; Hirayama, F.; Kohjiro, S.

2018-04-01

We present the development of a frequency-domain multiplexing readout of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) for pulse signals with a self-trigger system. The KIDs consist of an array of superconducting resonators that have different resonant frequencies individually, allowing us to read out multiple channels in the frequency domain with a single wire using a microwave-frequency comb. The energy deposited to the resonators break Cooper pairs, changing the kinetic inductance and, hence, the amplitude and the phase of the probing microwaves. For some applications such as X-ray detections, the deposited energy is detected as a pulse signal shaped by the time constants of the quasiparticle lifetime, the resonator quality factor, and the ballistic phonon lifetime in the substrate, ranging from microseconds to milliseconds. A readout system commonly used converts the frequency-domain data to the time-domain data. For the short pulse signals, the data rate may exceed the data transfer bandwidth, as the short time constant pulses require us to have a high sampling rate. In order to overcome this circumstance, we have developed a KID readout system that contains a self-trigger system to extract relevant signal data and reduces the total data rate with a commercial off-the-shelf FPGA board. We have demonstrated that the system can read out pulse signals of 15 resonators simultaneously with about 10 Hz event rate by irradiating α particles from ^{241} Am to the silicon substrate on whose surface aluminum KID resonators are formed.

Analysis in natural time domain of geoelectric time series monitored prior two strong earthquakes occurred in Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramírez-Rojas, A.; Flores-Marquez, L. E.

2009-12-01

The short-time prediction of seismic phenomena is currently an important problem in the scientific community. In particular, the electromagnetic processes associated with seismic events take in great interest since the VAN method was implemented. The most important features of this methodology are the seismic electrical signals (SES) observed prior to strong earthquakes. SES has been observed in the electromagnetic series linked to EQs in Greece, Japan and Mexico. By mean of the so-called natural time domain, introduced by Varotsos et al. (2001), they could characterize signals of dichotomic nature observed in different systems, like SES and ionic current fluctuations in membrane channels. In this work we analyze SES observed in geoelectric time series monitored in Guerrero, México. Our analysis concern with two strong earthquakes occurred, on October 24, 1993 (M=6.6) and September 14, 1995 (M=7.3). The time series of the first one displayed a seismic electric signal six days before the main shock and for the second case the time series displayed dichotomous-like fluctuations some months before the EQ. In this work we present the first results of the analysis in natural time domain for the two cases which seems to be agreeing with the results reported by Varotsos. P. Varotsos, N. Sarlis, and E. Skordas, Practica of the Athens Academy 76, 388 (2001).

Graphics-processing-unit-accelerated finite-difference time-domain simulation of the interaction between ultrashort laser pulses and metal nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikolskiy, V. P.; Stegailov, V. V.

2018-01-01

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) serve as important tools for many modern technologies. However, the proper microscopic models of the interaction between ultrashort laser pulses and metal NPs are currently not very well developed in many cases. One part of the problem is the description of the warm dense matter that is formed in NPs after intense irradiation. Another part of the problem is the description of the electromagnetic waves around NPs. Description of wave propagation requires the solution of Maxwell’s equations and the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is the classic approach for solving them. There are many commercial and free implementations of FDTD, including the open source software that supports graphics processing unit (GPU) acceleration. In this report we present the results on the FDTD calculations for different cases of the interaction between ultrashort laser pulses and metal nanoparticles. Following our previous results, we analyze the efficiency of the GPU acceleration of the FDTD algorithm.

Implementations of three OCT angiography (OCTA) methods with 1.7 MHz A-scan rate OCT system on imaging of human retinal and choroidal vasculature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poddar, Raju; Werner, John S.

2018-06-01

We present noninvasive depth-resolved imaging of human retinal and choroidal microcirculation with an ultrahigh-speed (1.7 MHz A-scans/s), Fourier-domain mode locked (FDML) swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) system having a central wavelength of 1065 nm. Three OCT angiography (OCTA) motion based contrast methods, namely phase variance (PV), amplitude decorrelation (AD) and Joint Spectral and Time domain OCT (STdOCT) were implemented. The OCTA imaging was performed with a field of view of 16° (5 mm × 5 mm) and 30° (9 mm × 9 mm), on the retina. A qualitative comparison of images obtained with all three OCTA methods is demonstrated using the same eye of a healthy volunteer. Different parameters, namely acquisition time, scanning area, and scanning density, are discussed. The phase-variance OCTA (PV-OCTA) method produced relatively better results than the other two. Different features regarding the retinal and choroidal vessels are described in different subjects.

Light Scattering by Gaussian Particles: A Solution with Finite-Difference Time Domain Technique

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sun, W.; Nousiainen, T.; Fu, Q.; Loeb, N. G.; Videen, G.; Muinonen, K.

2003-01-01

The understanding of single-scattering properties of complex ice crystals has significance in atmospheric radiative transfer and remote-sensing applications. In this work, light scattering by irregularly shaped Gaussian ice crystals is studied with the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique. For given sample particle shapes and size parameters in the resonance region, the scattering phase matrices and asymmetry factors are calculated. It is found that the deformation of the particle surface can significantly smooth the scattering phase functions and slightly reduce the asymmetry factors. The polarization properties of irregular ice crystals are also significantly different from those of spherical cloud particles. These FDTD results could provide a reference for approximate light-scattering models developed for irregular particle shapes and can have potential applications in developing a much simpler practical light scattering model for ice clouds angular-distribution models and for remote sensing of ice clouds and aerosols using polarized light. (copyright) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temperature evolution of polar states in GdMn2O5 and Gd0.8Ce0.2Mn2O5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanina, V. A.; Golovenchits, E. I.; Khannanov, B. Kh.; Scheglov, M. P.; Zalesskii, V. G.

2014-11-01

The polar order along the c axis is revealed in GdMn2O5 and Gd0.8Ce0.2Mn2O5 at T ≤ T C1 ≈ 160 K for the first time. This polar order is induced by the charge disproportion in the 2D superstructures emerged due to phase separation. The dynamic state with restricted polar domains of different sizes is found at T > T C1 which is typical of the diffuse ferroelectric phase transition. At the lowest temperatures ( T < 40 K) two polar orders of different origins with perpendicular orientations (along the b and c axes) coexist. The 1D superlattices studied by us earlier in the set of RMn2O5 multiferroics are the charged domain walls which separate of these polar order domains.

Stability and Change in Risk-Taking Propensity Across the Adult Lifespan

PubMed Central

Josef, Anika K.; Richter, David; Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R.; Wagner, Gert G.; Hertwig, Ralph; Mata, Rui

2016-01-01

Can risk-taking propensity be thought of as a trait that captures individual differences across domains, measures, and time? Studying stability in risk-taking propensities across the lifespan can help to answer such questions by uncovering parallel, or divergent, trajectories across domains and measures. We contribute to this effort by using data from respondents aged 18 to 85 in the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and by examining (1) differential stability, (2) mean-level differences, and (3) individual-level changes in self-reported general (N = 44,076) and domain-specific (N =11,903) risk-taking propensities across adulthood. In addition, we investigate (4) the correspondence between cross-sectional trajectories of self-report and behavioral measures of social (trust game; N = 646) and nonsocial (monetary gamble; N = 433) risk taking. The results suggest that risk-taking propensity can be understood as a trait with moderate stability. Results show reliable mean-level differences across the lifespan, with risk-taking propensities typically decreasing with age, although significant variation emerges across domains and individuals. Interestingly, the mean-level trajectory for behavioral measures of social and nonsocial risk taking was similar to those obtained from self-reported risk, despite small correlations between task behavior and self-reports. Individual-level analyses suggest a link between changes in risk-taking propensities both across domains and in relation to changes in some of the Big Five personality traits. Overall, these results raise important questions concerning the role of common processes or events that shape the lifespan development of risk-taking across domains as well as other major personality facets. PMID:26820061

Association Between Gait and Dual Task With Cognitive Domains in Older People With Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Ansai, Juliana Hotta; Andrade, Larissa Pires de; Rossi, Paulo Giusti; Almeida, Mariana Luciano; Carvalho Vale, Francisco Assis; Rebelatto, José Rubens

2017-09-13

The authors investigated whether impaired gait and dual-task performances are associated with specific cognitive domains among older people with preserved cognition (PC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). The sample comprised 40 older adults with PC, 40 with MCI, and 38 with mild AD. The assessment consisted of gait (measured by 10-m walk test and Timed Up and Go Test [TUGT]), dual task (measured by TUGT associated with a cognitive-motor task of calling a phone number), and cognition (domains of the Addenbrooke Cognitive Examination-Revised and Frontal Assessment Battery [FAB]). For data analysis, the Pearson product-moment correlation and the backward stepwise linear regression were conducted. Language, fluency, and visuospatial domains predicted the 10-m walk test measure specifically in PC, MCI, and AD groups. Only the visuospatial domain was independently associated with the TUGT measure in the MCI and AD groups. FAB score, language domain, and FAB score and fluency domain were the strongest predictors for the isolated cognitive-motor task measure in the PC, MCI, and AD groups, respectively. The visuospatial domain was independently associated with the dual-task test measure in all 3 groups. The study findings demonstrate the influence of specific cognitive domains in daily mobility tasks in people with different cognitive profiles.

Regional climate projections for the MENA-CORDEX domain: analysis of projected temperature and precipitation changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hänsler, Andreas; Weber, Torsten; Eggert, Bastian; Saeed, Fahad; Jacob, Daniela

2014-05-01

Within the CORDEX initiative a multi-model suite of regionalized climate change information will be made available for several regions of the world. The German Climate Service Center (CSC) is taking part in this initiative by applying the regional climate model REMO to downscale global climate projections of different coupled general circulation models (GCMs) for several CORDEX domains. Also for the MENA-CORDEX domain, a set of regional climate change projections has been established at the CSC by downscaling CMIP5 projections of the Max-Planck-Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) for the scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 with the regional model REMO for the time period from 1950 to 2100 to a horizontal resolution of 0.44 degree. In this study we investigate projected changes in future climate conditions over the domain towards the end of the 21st century. Focus in the analysis is given to projected changes in the temperature and rainfall characteristics and their differences for the two scenarios will be highlighted.

Runaway evolution of the male-specific exon of the doublesex gene in Diptera.

PubMed

Hughes, Austin L

2011-02-01

In Diptera (Insecta), alternatively spliced male-specific and female-specific products of the doublesex (dsx) gene play a key role in regulating development of the adult genital structures from the genital disc. Analysis of the pattern of nucleotide substitution of different domains of the dsx gene in 29 dipteran species showed that, over short evolutionary times, purifying selection predominated on the domain common to both sexes, the female-specific exons, and the and male-specific exon. However, over longer the evolutionary time frames represented by between-family comparisons, the male-specific exon accumulated nonsynonymous substitutions at a much more rapid rate than either the common domain or the female-specific exon. Overall, the accumulation of nonsynonymous substitutions in the male-specific exon occurred at a significantly greater than linear rate relative to the common domain, whereas the accumulation of nonsynonymous substitutions in the female-specific exon occurred at less than linear rate relative to the common domain. The evolution of the male-specific exon of dsx thus shows a pattern reminiscent of that seen in the "runaway" evolution of male secondary sexual characters at the morphological level, consistent with the hypothesis that female choice is an important factor in the morphological diversification of insect male genitalia. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Promoting A-Priori Interoperability of HLA-Based Simulations in the Space Domain: The SISO Space Reference FOM Initiative

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moller, Bjorn; Garro, Alfredo; Falcone, Alberto; Crues, Edwin Z.; Dexter, Daniel E.

2016-01-01

Distributed and Real-Time Simulation plays a key-role in the Space domain being exploited for missions and systems analysis and engineering as well as for crew training and operational support. One of the most popular standards is the 1516-2010 IEEE Standard for Modeling and Simulation (M&S) High Level Architecture (HLA). HLA supports the implementation of distributed simulations (called Federations) in which a set of simulation entities (called Federates) can interact using a Run-Time Infrastructure (RTI). In a given Federation, a Federate can publish and/or subscribes objects and interactions on the RTI only in accordance with their structures as defined in a FOM (Federation Object Model). Currently, the Space domain is characterized by a set of incompatible FOMs that, although meet the specific needs of different organizations and projects, increases the long-term cost for interoperability. In this context, the availability of a reference FOM for the Space domain will enable the development of interoperable HLA-based simulators for related joint projects and collaborations among worldwide organizations involved in the Space domain (e.g. NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, and JAXA). The paper presents a first set of results achieved by a SISO standardization effort that aims at providing a Space Reference FOM for international collaboration on Space systems simulations.

In silico evolution of the hunchback gene indicates redundancy in cis-regulatory organization and spatial gene expression

PubMed Central

Zagrijchuk, Elizaveta A.; Sabirov, Marat A.; Holloway, David M.; Spirov, Alexander V.

2014-01-01

Biological development depends on the coordinated expression of genes in time and space. Developmental genes have extensive cis-regulatory regions which control their expression. These regions are organized in a modular manner, with different modules controlling expression at different times and locations. Both how modularity evolved and what function it serves are open questions. We present a computational model for the cis-regulation of the hunchback (hb) gene in the fruit fly (Drosophila). We simulate evolution (using an evolutionary computation approach from computer science) to find the optimal cis-regulatory arrangements for fitting experimental hb expression patterns. We find that the cis-regulatory region tends to readily evolve modularity. These cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) do not tend to control single spatial domains, but show a multi-CRM/multi-domain correspondence. We find that the CRM-domain correspondence seen in Drosophila evolves with a high probability in our model, supporting the biological relevance of the approach. The partial redundancy resulting from multi-CRM control may confer some biological robustness against corruption of regulatory sequences. The technique developed on hb could readily be applied to other multi-CRM developmental genes. PMID:24712536

Same but not alike: Structure, flexibility and energetics of domains in multi-domain proteins are influenced by the presence of other domains

PubMed Central

Vishwanath, Sneha

2018-01-01

The majority of the proteins encoded in the genomes of eukaryotes contain more than one domain. Reasons for high prevalence of multi-domain proteins in various organisms have been attributed to higher stability and functional and folding advantages over single-domain proteins. Despite these advantages, many proteins are composed of only one domain while their homologous domains are part of multi-domain proteins. In the study presented here, differences in the properties of protein domains in single-domain and multi-domain systems and their influence on functions are discussed. We studied 20 pairs of identical protein domains, which were crystallized in two forms (a) tethered to other proteins domains and (b) tethered to fewer protein domains than (a) or not tethered to any protein domain. Results suggest that tethering of domains in multi-domain proteins influences the structural, dynamic and energetic properties of the constituent protein domains. 50% of the protein domain pairs show significant structural deviations while 90% of the protein domain pairs show differences in dynamics and 12% of the residues show differences in the energetics. To gain further insights on the influence of tethering on the function of the domains, 4 pairs of homologous protein domains, where one of them is a full-length single-domain protein and the other protein domain is a part of a multi-domain protein, were studied. Analyses showed that identical and structurally equivalent functional residues show differential dynamics in homologous protein domains; though comparable dynamics between in-silico generated chimera protein and multi-domain proteins were observed. From these observations, the differences observed in the functions of homologous proteins could be attributed to the presence of tethered domain. Overall, we conclude that tethered domains in multi-domain proteins not only provide stability or folding advantages but also influence pathways resulting in differences in function or regulatory properties. PMID:29432415

Same but not alike: Structure, flexibility and energetics of domains in multi-domain proteins are influenced by the presence of other domains.

PubMed

Vishwanath, Sneha; de Brevern, Alexandre G; Srinivasan, Narayanaswamy

2018-02-01

The majority of the proteins encoded in the genomes of eukaryotes contain more than one domain. Reasons for high prevalence of multi-domain proteins in various organisms have been attributed to higher stability and functional and folding advantages over single-domain proteins. Despite these advantages, many proteins are composed of only one domain while their homologous domains are part of multi-domain proteins. In the study presented here, differences in the properties of protein domains in single-domain and multi-domain systems and their influence on functions are discussed. We studied 20 pairs of identical protein domains, which were crystallized in two forms (a) tethered to other proteins domains and (b) tethered to fewer protein domains than (a) or not tethered to any protein domain. Results suggest that tethering of domains in multi-domain proteins influences the structural, dynamic and energetic properties of the constituent protein domains. 50% of the protein domain pairs show significant structural deviations while 90% of the protein domain pairs show differences in dynamics and 12% of the residues show differences in the energetics. To gain further insights on the influence of tethering on the function of the domains, 4 pairs of homologous protein domains, where one of them is a full-length single-domain protein and the other protein domain is a part of a multi-domain protein, were studied. Analyses showed that identical and structurally equivalent functional residues show differential dynamics in homologous protein domains; though comparable dynamics between in-silico generated chimera protein and multi-domain proteins were observed. From these observations, the differences observed in the functions of homologous proteins could be attributed to the presence of tethered domain. Overall, we conclude that tethered domains in multi-domain proteins not only provide stability or folding advantages but also influence pathways resulting in differences in function or regulatory properties.

Infected cell protein 0 functional domains and their coordination in herpes simplex virus replication

PubMed Central

Gu, Haidong

2016-01-01

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) is a ubiquitous human pathogen that establishes latent infection in ganglia neurons. Its unique life cycle requires a balanced “conquer and compromise” strategy to deal with the host anti-viral defenses. One of HSV-1 α (immediate early) gene products, infected cell protein 0 (ICP0), is a multifunctional protein that interacts with and modulates a wide range of cellular defensive pathways. These pathways may locate in different cell compartments, which then migrate or exchange factors upon stimulation, for the purpose of a concerted and effective defense. ICP0 is able to simultaneously attack multiple host pathways by either degrading key restrictive factors or modifying repressive complexes. This is a viral protein that contains an E3 ubiquitin ligase, translocates among different cell compartments and interacts with major defensive complexes. The multiple functional domains of ICP0 can work independently and at the same time coordinate with each other. Dissecting the functional domains of ICP0 and delineating the coordination of these domains will help us understand HSV-1 pathogenicity as well as host defense mechanisms. This article focuses on describing individual ICP0 domains, their biochemical properties and their implication in HSV-1 infection. By putting individual domain functions back into the picture of host anti-viral defense network, this review seeks to elaborate the complex interactions between HSV-1 and its host. PMID:26870669

Cerebral autoregulation in the preterm newborn using near-infrared spectroscopy: a comparison of time-domain and frequency-domain analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eriksen, Vibeke R.; Hahn, Gitte H.; Greisen, Gorm

2015-03-01

The aim was to compare two conventional methods used to describe cerebral autoregulation (CA): frequency-domain analysis and time-domain analysis. We measured cerebral oxygenation (as a surrogate for cerebral blood flow) and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) in 60 preterm infants. In the frequency domain, outcome variables were coherence and gain, whereas the cerebral oximetry index (COx) and the regression coefficient were the outcome variables in the time domain. Correlation between coherence and COx was poor. The disagreement between the two methods was due to the MAP and cerebral oxygenation signals being in counterphase in three cases. High gain and high coherence may arise spuriously when cerebral oxygenation decreases as MAP increases; hence, time-domain analysis appears to be a more robust-and simpler-method to describe CA.

Small FDIRC designs

DOE PAGES

Dey, B.; Ratcliff, B.; Va’vra, J.

2017-02-16

In this article, we explore the angular resolution limits attainable in small FDIRC designs taking advantage of the new highly pixelated detectors that are now available. Since the basic FDIRC design concept attains its particle separation performance mostly in the angular domain as measured by two-dimensional pixels, this paper relies primarily on a pixel-based analysis, with additional chromatic corrections using the time domain, requiring single photon timing resolution at a level of 100–200 ps only. This approach differs from other modern DIRC design concepts such as TOP or TORCH detectors, whose separation performances rely more strongly on time-dependent analyses. Inmore » conclusion, we find excellent single photon resolution with a geometry where individual bars are coupled to a single plate, which is coupled in turn to a cylindrical lens focusing camera.« less

Small FDIRC designs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dey, B.; Ratcliff, B.; Va’vra, J.

In this article, we explore the angular resolution limits attainable in small FDIRC designs taking advantage of the new highly pixelated detectors that are now available. Since the basic FDIRC design concept attains its particle separation performance mostly in the angular domain as measured by two-dimensional pixels, this paper relies primarily on a pixel-based analysis, with additional chromatic corrections using the time domain, requiring single photon timing resolution at a level of 100–200 ps only. This approach differs from other modern DIRC design concepts such as TOP or TORCH detectors, whose separation performances rely more strongly on time-dependent analyses. Inmore » conclusion, we find excellent single photon resolution with a geometry where individual bars are coupled to a single plate, which is coupled in turn to a cylindrical lens focusing camera.« less

Time domain analysis of coherent terahertz synchrotron radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hübers, H.-W.; Semenov, A.; Holldack, K.; Schade, U.; Wüstefeld, G.; Gol'tsman, G.

2005-10-01

The time structure of coherent terahertz synchrotron radiation at the electron storage ring of the Berliner Elektronensynchrotron und Speicherring Gesellschaft has been analyzed with a fast superconducting hot-electron bolometer. The emission from a single bunch of electrons was found to last ˜1500ps at frequencies around 0.4THz, which is much longer than the length of an electron bunch in the time domain (˜5ps). It is suggested that this is caused by multiple reflections at the walls of the beam line. The quadratic increase of the power with the number of electrons in the bunch as predicted for coherent synchrotron radiation and the transition from stable to bursting radiation were determined from a single storage ring fill pattern of bunches with different populations.

Influence of Domain Shift Factors on Deep Segmentation of the Drivable Path of AN Autonomous Vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bormans, R. P. A.; Lindenbergh, R. C.; Karimi Nejadasl, F.

2018-05-01

One of the biggest challenges for an autonomous vehicle (and hence the WEpod) is to see the world as humans would see it. This understanding is the base for a successful and reliable future of autonomous vehicles. Real-world data and semantic segmentation generally are used to achieve full understanding of its surroundings. However, deploying a pretrained segmentation network to a new, previously unseen domain will not attain similar performance as it would on the domain where it is trained on due to the differences between the domains. Although research is done concerning the mitigation of this domain shift, the factors that cause these differences are not yet fully explored. We filled this gap with the investigation of several factors. A base network was created by a two-step finetuning procedure on a convolutional neural network (SegNet) which is pretrained on CityScapes (a dataset for semantic segmentation). The first tuning step is based on RobotCar (road scenery dataset recorded in Oxford, UK) while afterwards this network is fine-tuned for a second time but now on the KITTI (road scenery dataset recorded in Germany) dataset. With this base, experiments are used to obtain the importance of factors such as horizon line, colour and training order for a successful domain adaptation. In this case the domain adaptation is from the KITTI and RobotCar domain to the WEpod domain. For evaluation, groundtruth labels are created in a weakly-supervised setting. Negative influence was obtained for training on greyscale images instead of RGB images. This resulted in drops of IoU values up to 23.9 % for WEpod test images. The training order is a main contributor for domain adaptation with an increase in IoU of 4.7 %. This shows that the target domain (WEpod) is more closely related to RobotCar than to KITTI.

Transient analysis of intercalation electrodes for parameter estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devan, Sheba

An essential part of integrating batteries as power sources in any application, be it a large scale automotive application or a small scale portable application, is an efficient Battery Management System (BMS). The combination of a battery with the microprocessor based BMS (called "smart battery") helps prolong the life of the battery by operating in the optimal regime and provides accurate information regarding the battery to the end user. The main purposes of BMS are cell protection, monitoring and control, and communication between different components. These purposes are fulfilled by tracking the change in the parameters of the intercalation electrodes in the batteries. Consequently, the functions of the BMS should be prompt, which requires the methodology of extracting the parameters to be efficient in time. The traditional transient techniques applied so far may not be suitable due to reasons such as the inability to apply these techniques when the battery is under operation, long experimental time, etc. The primary aim of this research work is to design a fast, accurate and reliable technique that can be used to extract parameter values of the intercalation electrodes. A methodology based on analysis of the short time response to a sinusoidal input perturbation, in the time domain is demonstrated using a porous electrode model for an intercalation electrode. It is shown that the parameters associated with the interfacial processes occurring in the electrode can be determined rapidly, within a few milliseconds, by measuring the response in the transient region. The short time analysis in the time domain is then extended to a single particle model that involves bulk diffusion in the solid phase in addition to interfacial processes. A systematic procedure for sequential parameter estimation using sensitivity analysis is described. Further, the short time response and the input perturbation are transformed into the frequency domain using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to generate impedance spectra to derive immediate qualitative information regarding the nature of the system. The short time analysis technique gives the ability to perform both time domain and frequency domain analysis using data measured within short durations.

Biot-Savart helicity versus physical helicity: A topological description of ideal flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahihi, Taliya; Eshraghi, Homayoon

2014-08-01

For an isentropic (thus compressible) flow, fluid trajectories are considered as orbits of a family of one parameter, smooth, orientation-preserving, and nonsingular diffeomorphisms on a compact and smooth-boundary domain in the Euclidian 3-space which necessarily preserve a finite measure, later interpreted as the fluid mass. Under such diffeomorphisms the Biot-Savart helicity of the pushforward of a divergence-free and tangent to the boundary vector field is proved to be conserved and since these circumstances present an isentropic flow, the conservation of the "Biot-Savart helicity" is established for such flows. On the other hand, the well known helicity conservation in ideal flows which here we call it "physical helicity" is found to be an independent constant with respect to the Biot-Savart helicity. The difference between these two helicities reflects some topological features of the domain as well as the velocity and vorticity fields which is discussed and is shown for simply connected domains the two helicities coincide. The energy variation of the vorticity field is shown to be formally the same as for the incompressible flow obtained before. For fluid domains consisting of several disjoint solid tori, at each time, the harmonic knot subspace of smooth vector fields on the fluid domain is found to have two independent base sets with a special type of orthogonality between these two bases by which a topological description of the vortex and velocity fields depending on the helicity difference is achieved since this difference is shown to depend only on the harmonic knot parts of velocity, vorticity, and its Biot-Savart vector field. For an ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) flow three independent constant helicities are reviewed while the helicity of magnetic potential is generalized for non-simply connected domains by inserting a special harmonic knot field in the dynamics of the magnetic potential. It is proved that the harmonic knot part of the vorticity in hydrodynamics and the magnetic field in MHD is presented by constant coefficients (fluxes) when expanded in terms of one of the time dependent base functions.

Thyroid peroxidase autoantibody fingerprints. II. A longitudinal study in postpartum thyroiditis.

PubMed

Jaume, J C; Parkes, A B; Lazarus, J H; Hall, R; Costante, G; McLachlan, S M; Rapoport, B

1995-03-01

It is not known whether epitopes recognized by autoantibodies in an individual remain constant or change over time, especially during perturbations of the humoral immune response. To address this question, we studied the epitopic profile ("fingerprint") of autoantibodies to thyroid peroxidase (TPO) in the sera of 19 women during the postpartum period. Fingerprints were determined in competition studies using 4 recombinant F(ab). At delivery and at 3 time intervals over the subsequent 9-12 months, the pool of F(ab) inhibited autoantibody binding to TPO by 80-100%, consistent with the definition by these F(ab) of a TPO immunodominant region (A1, A2, B1, and B2 domains). Despite a wide spectrum among individuals, the TPO epitopic fingerprints for all 19 women were relatively unchanged throughout the postpartum period. Fingerprint constancy occurred regardless of fluctuations in serum TPO autoantibody levels. When assessed numerically as a ratio of inhibition by the A domain F(ab) to inhibition by the B domain F(ab), the A/B domain ratios in individual women ranged from 0.2 (predominantly B domain) to more than 3.0 (predominantly A domain). However, for each individual woman, the A/B epitopic ratio was conserved throughout the study interval. Our TPO autoantibody epitopic fingerprint data have potential implications for understanding the humoral autoimmune response in man. First, the present study indicates a remarkable lack of spreading of B cell epitopes during a state of perturbation of the immune system over a period of 1 yr. Second, and perhaps more important, despite marked variations in TPO epitopic profiles among different individuals, their constancy over time suggests that TPO autoantibody fingerprints may be inherited.

Time Domain Stability Margin Assessment Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clements, Keith

2017-01-01

The baseline stability margins for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle were generated via the classical approach of linearizing the system equations of motion and determining the gain and phase margins from the resulting frequency domain model. To improve the fidelity of the classical methods, the linear frequency domain approach can be extended by replacing static, memoryless nonlinearities with describing functions. This technique, however, does not address the time varying nature of the dynamics of a launch vehicle in flight. An alternative technique for the evaluation of the stability of the nonlinear launch vehicle dynamics along its trajectory is to incrementally adjust the gain and/or time delay in the time domain simulation until the system exhibits unstable behavior. This technique has the added benefit of providing a direct comparison between the time domain and frequency domain tools in support of simulation validation.

Time-Domain Stability Margin Assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clements, Keith

2016-01-01

The baseline stability margins for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle were generated via the classical approach of linearizing the system equations of motion and determining the gain and phase margins from the resulting frequency domain model. To improve the fidelity of the classical methods, the linear frequency domain approach can be extended by replacing static, memoryless nonlinearities with describing functions. This technique, however, does not address the time varying nature of the dynamics of a launch vehicle in flight. An alternative technique for the evaluation of the stability of the nonlinear launch vehicle dynamics along its trajectory is to incrementally adjust the gain and/or time delay in the time domain simulation until the system exhibits unstable behavior. This technique has the added benefit of providing a direct comparison between the time domain and frequency domain tools in support of simulation validation.

A Combined Time Domain Impedance Probe And Plasma Wave Receiver System For Small Satellite Applications.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spencer, E. A.; Clark, D. C.; Vadepu, S. K.; Patra, S.

2017-12-01

A Time Domain Impedance Probe (TDIP) measures electron density and electron neutral collision frequencies in the ionosphere. This instrument has been tested on a sounding rocket flight and is now being further developed to fly on a NASA Undergraduate Student Instrument Program (USIP) cubesat to be launched out of the ISS in 2019. Here we report on the development of a new combined TDIP and plasma wave instrument that can be used on cubesat platforms to measure local electron parameters, and also to receive or transmit electron scale waves. This combined instrument can be used to study short time and space scale phenomena in the upper ionosphere using only RF signals. The front end analog circuitry is dual-purposed to perform active or passive probing of the ambient plasma. Two dipole antennas are used, one is optimzed for impedance measurements, while the other is optimized for transmitter-receiver performance. We show our circuit realization, and initial results from laboratory measurements using the TDIP prototype modified for receiver function. We also show Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulations of an electrically long antenna immersed in a magnetized plasma used to optimize the transmitter receiver performance.

Ultra-Long-Distance Hybrid BOTDA/Ф-OTDR

PubMed Central

Fu, Yun; Zhu, Richeng; Xue, Naitian; Lu, Chongyu; Zhang, Bin; Yang, Le; Atubga, David; Rao, Yunjiang

2018-01-01

In the distributed optical fiber sensing (DOFS) domain, simultaneous measurement of vibration and temperature/strain based on Rayleigh scattering and Brillouin scattering in fiber could have wide applications. However, there are certain challenges for the case of ultra-long sensing range, including the interplay of different scattering mechanisms, the interaction of two types of sensing signals, and the competition of pump power. In this paper, a hybrid DOFS system, which can simultaneously measure temperature/strain and vibration over 150 km, is elaborately designed via integrating the Brillouin optical time-domain analyzer (BOTDA) and phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Ф-OTDR). Distributed Raman and Brillouin amplifications, frequency division multiplexing (FDM), wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), and time division multiplexing (TDM) are delicately fused to accommodate ultra-long-distance BOTDA and Ф-OTDR. Consequently, the sensing range of the hybrid system is 150.62 km, and the spatial resolution of BOTDA and Ф-OTDR are 9 m and 30 m, respectively. The measurement uncertainty of the BOTDA is ± 0.82 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such hybrid DOFS is realized with a hundred-kilometer length scale. PMID:29587407

Time-resolved molecular imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Junliang; Blaga, Cosmin I.; Agostini, Pierre; DiMauro, Louis F.

2016-06-01

Time-resolved molecular imaging is a frontier of ultrafast optical science and physical chemistry. In this article, we review present and future key spectroscopic and microscopic techniques for ultrafast imaging of molecular dynamics and show their differences and connections. The advent of femtosecond lasers and free electron x-ray lasers bring us closer to this goal, which eventually will extend our knowledge about molecular dynamics to the attosecond time domain.

UNAERO: A package of FORTRAN subroutines for approximating unsteady aerodynamics in the time domain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunn, H. J.

1985-01-01

This report serves as an instruction and maintenance manual for a collection of CDC CYBER FORTRAN IV subroutines for approximating the unsteady aerodynamic forces in the time domain. The result is a set of constant-coefficient first-order differential equations that approximate the dynamics of the vehicle. Provisions are included for adjusting the number of modes used for calculating the approximations so that an accurate approximation is generated. The number of data points at different values of reduced frequency can also be varied to adjust the accuracy of the approximation over the reduced-frequency range. The denominator coefficients of the approximation may be calculated by means of a gradient method or a least-squares approximation technique. Both the approximation methods use weights on the residual error. A new set of system equations, at a different dynamic pressure, can be generated without the approximations being recalculated.

Study of Initial Stages of Ball-Milling of Cu Powder Using X-ray Diffraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gayathri, N.; Mukherjee, Paramita

2018-04-01

The initial stage of size refinement of Cu powder is studied using detailed X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis to understand the mechanism of formation of nanomaterials during the ball-milling process. The study was restricted to samples obtained for milling time up to 240 min to understand the deformation mechanism at the early stages of ball milling. Various model based approaches for the analysis of the XRD were used to study the evolution of the microstructural parameters such as domain size and microstrain along the different crystallographic planes. It was seen that the domain size saturates at a low value along the (311) plane whereas the size along the (220) and (200) plane is still higher. The r.m.s microstrain showed a non-monotonic change along the different crystallographic directions up to the milling time of 240 min.

Sparkling feather reflections of a bird-of-paradise explained by finite-difference time-domain modeling

PubMed Central

Wilts, Bodo D.; Michielsen, Kristel; De Raedt, Hans; Stavenga, Doekele G.

2014-01-01

Birds-of-paradise are nature’s prime examples of the evolution of color by sexual selection. Their brilliant, structurally colored feathers play a principal role in mating displays. The structural coloration of both the occipital and breast feathers of the bird-of-paradise Lawes’ parotia is produced by melanin rodlets arranged in layers, together acting as interference reflectors. Light reflection by the silvery colored occipital feathers is unidirectional as in a classical multilayer, but the reflection by the richly colored breast feathers is three-directional and extraordinarily complex. Here we show that the reflection properties of both feather types can be quantitatively explained by finite-difference time-domain modeling using realistic feather anatomies and experimentally determined refractive index dispersion values of keratin and melanin. The results elucidate the interplay between avian coloration and vision and indicate tuning of the mating displays to the spectral properties of the avian visual system. PMID:24591592

Sparkling feather reflections of a bird-of-paradise explained by finite-difference time-domain modeling.

PubMed

Wilts, Bodo D; Michielsen, Kristel; De Raedt, Hans; Stavenga, Doekele G

2014-03-25

Birds-of-paradise are nature's prime examples of the evolution of color by sexual selection. Their brilliant, structurally colored feathers play a principal role in mating displays. The structural coloration of both the occipital and breast feathers of the bird-of-paradise Lawes' parotia is produced by melanin rodlets arranged in layers, together acting as interference reflectors. Light reflection by the silvery colored occipital feathers is unidirectional as in a classical multilayer, but the reflection by the richly colored breast feathers is three-directional and extraordinarily complex. Here we show that the reflection properties of both feather types can be quantitatively explained by finite-difference time-domain modeling using realistic feather anatomies and experimentally determined refractive index dispersion values of keratin and melanin. The results elucidate the interplay between avian coloration and vision and indicate tuning of the mating displays to the spectral properties of the avian visual system.

Size validity of plasma-metamaterial cloaking monitored by scattering wave in finite-difference time-domain method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bambina, Alexandre; Yamaguchi, Shuhei; Iwai, Akinori; Miyagi, Shigeyuki; Sakai, Osamu

2018-01-01

Limitation of the cloak-size reduction is investigated numerically by a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. A metallic pole that imitates an antenna is cloaked with an anisotropic and parameter-gradient medium against electromagnetic-wave propagation in microwave range. The cloaking structure is a metamaterial submerged in a plasma confined in a vacuum chamber made of glass. The smooth-permittivity plasma can be compressed in the radial direction, which enables us to decrease the size of the cloak. Theoretical analysis is performed numerically by comparing scattering waves in various cases; there exists a high reduction of the scattering wave when the radius of the cloak is larger than a quarter of one wavelength. This result indicates that the required size of the cloaking layer is more than an object scale in the Rayleigh scattering regime.

The SRS-Viewer: A Software Tool for Displaying and Evaluation of Pyroshock Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eberl, Stefan

2014-06-01

For the evaluation of the success of a pyroshock, the time domain and the corresponding Shock-Response- Spectra (SRS) have to be considered. The SRS-Viewer is an IABG developed software tool [1] to read data in Universal File format (*.unv) and either display or plot for each accelerometer the time domain, corresponding SRS and the specified Reference-SRS with tolerances in the background.The software calculates the "Average (AVG)", "Maximum (MAX)" and "Minimum (MIN)" SRS of any selection of accelerometers. A statistical analysis calculates the percentages of measured SRS above the specified Reference-SRS level and the percentage within the tolerance bands for comparison with the specified success criteria.Overlay plots of single accelerometers of different test runs enable to monitor the repeatability of the shock input and the integrity of the specimen. Furthermore the difference between the shock on a mass-dummy and the real test unit can be examined.

Computation of the acoustic radiation force using the finite-difference time-domain method.

PubMed

Cai, Feiyan; Meng, Long; Jiang, Chunxiang; Pan, Yu; Zheng, Hairong

2010-10-01

The computational details related to calculating the acoustic radiation force on an object using a 2-D grid finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) are presented. The method is based on propagating the stress and velocity fields through the grid and determining the energy flow with and without the object. The axial and radial acoustic radiation forces predicted by FDTD method are in excellent agreement with the results obtained by analytical evaluation of the scattering method. In particular, the results indicate that it is possible to trap the steel cylinder in the radial direction by optimizing the width of Gaussian source and the operation frequency. As the sizes of the relating objects are smaller than or comparable to wavelength, the algorithm presented here can be easily extended to 3-D and include torque computation algorithms, thus providing a highly flexible and universally usable computation engine.

A 3D staggered-grid finite difference scheme for poroelastic wave equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yijie; Gao, Jinghuai

2014-10-01

Three dimensional numerical modeling has been a viable tool for understanding wave propagation in real media. The poroelastic media can better describe the phenomena of hydrocarbon reservoirs than acoustic and elastic media. However, the numerical modeling in 3D poroelastic media demands significantly more computational capacity, including both computational time and memory. In this paper, we present a 3D poroelastic staggered-grid finite difference (SFD) scheme. During the procedure, parallel computing is implemented to reduce the computational time. Parallelization is based on domain decomposition, and communication between processors is performed using message passing interface (MPI). Parallel analysis shows that the parallelized SFD scheme significantly improves the simulation efficiency and 3D decomposition in domain is the most efficient. We also analyze the numerical dispersion and stability condition of the 3D poroelastic SFD method. Numerical results show that the 3D numerical simulation can provide a real description of wave propagation.

Pentadiagonal alternating-direction-implicit finite-difference time-domain method for two-dimensional Schrödinger equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tay, Wei Choon; Tan, Eng Leong

2014-07-01

In this paper, we have proposed a pentadiagonal alternating-direction-implicit (Penta-ADI) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method for the two-dimensional Schrödinger equation. Through the separation of complex wave function into real and imaginary parts, a pentadiagonal system of equations for the ADI method is obtained, which results in our Penta-ADI method. The Penta-ADI method is further simplified into pentadiagonal fundamental ADI (Penta-FADI) method, which has matrix-operator-free right-hand-sides (RHS), leading to the simplest and most concise update equations. As the Penta-FADI method involves five stencils in the left-hand-sides (LHS) of the pentadiagonal update equations, special treatments that are required for the implementation of the Dirichlet's boundary conditions will be discussed. Using the Penta-FADI method, a significantly higher efficiency gain can be achieved over the conventional Tri-ADI method, which involves a tridiagonal system of equations.

Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) analysis on the interaction between a metal block and a radially polarized focused beam.

PubMed

Kitamura, Kyoko; Sakai, Kyosuke; Noda, Susumu

2011-07-18

Radially polarized focused beams have attracted a great deal of attention because of their unique properties characterized by the longitudinal field. Although this longitudinal field is strongly confined to the beam axis, the energy flow, i.e., the Poynting vector, has null intensity on the axis. Hence, the interaction of the focused beam and matter has thus far been unclear. We analyzed the interactions between the focused beam and a subwavelength metal block placed at the center of the focus using three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculation. We found that most of the Poynting energy propagates through to the far-field, and that a strong enhancement of the electric field appeared on the metal surface. This enhancement is attributed to the constructive interference of the symmetric electric field and the coupling to the surface plasmon mode.

Two Theories Are Better Than One

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Robert

2008-03-01

All knowledge is of an approximate character (B. Russell, Human Knowledge, 1948, pg 497 and 507). Our formalisms abstract, idealize, and simplify (R. L. Epstein, Propositional Logics, 2001, Ch XI and E. Bender, An Intro. to Math. Modeling, 1978, pg v and 2). Each formalism is an idealization, often times approximating in its own DIFFERENT ways, each offering somewhat different coverage of the domain. Having MULTIPLE overlaping theories of a knowledge domain is then better than having just one theory (R. Jones, APS general meeting, April 2004). Theories are not unique (T. M. Mitchell, Machine Learning, 1997, pg 65-66 and Cooper, Machine Learning, vol. 9, 1992, pg 319). In the future every field will possess multiple theories of its domain and scientific work and engineering will be performed based on the ensemble predictions of ALL of these. In some cases the theories may be quite divergent, differing greatly one from the other. This idea can be considered an extension of Bohr's notion of complementarity, ``...different experimental arrangements...described by different physical concepts...together and only together exhaust the definable information we can obtain about the object.'' (H. J. Folse, The Philosophy of Neils Bohr, 1985, pg 238)

Time-domain seismic modeling in viscoelastic media for full waveform inversion on heterogeneous computing platforms with OpenCL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fabien-Ouellet, Gabriel; Gloaguen, Erwan; Giroux, Bernard

2017-03-01

Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) aims at recovering the elastic parameters of the Earth by matching recordings of the ground motion with the direct solution of the wave equation. Modeling the wave propagation for realistic scenarios is computationally intensive, which limits the applicability of FWI. The current hardware evolution brings increasing parallel computing power that can speed up the computations in FWI. However, to take advantage of the diversity of parallel architectures presently available, new programming approaches are required. In this work, we explore the use of OpenCL to develop a portable code that can take advantage of the many parallel processor architectures now available. We present a program called SeisCL for 2D and 3D viscoelastic FWI in the time domain. The code computes the forward and adjoint wavefields using finite-difference and outputs the gradient of the misfit function given by the adjoint state method. To demonstrate the code portability on different architectures, the performance of SeisCL is tested on three different devices: Intel CPUs, NVidia GPUs and Intel Xeon PHI. Results show that the use of GPUs with OpenCL can speed up the computations by nearly two orders of magnitudes over a single threaded application on the CPU. Although OpenCL allows code portability, we show that some device-specific optimization is still required to get the best performance out of a specific architecture. Using OpenCL in conjunction with MPI allows the domain decomposition of large models on several devices located on different nodes of a cluster. For large enough models, the speedup of the domain decomposition varies quasi-linearly with the number of devices. Finally, we investigate two different approaches to compute the gradient by the adjoint state method and show the significant advantages of using OpenCL for FWI.

Step-off, vertical electromagnetic responses of a deep resistivity layer buried in marine sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Hangilro; Jang, Hannuree; Lee, Ki Ha; Kim, Hee Joon

2013-04-01

A frequency-domain, marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) method has been applied successfully in deep water areas for detecting hydrocarbon (HC) reservoirs. However, a typical technique with horizontal transmitters and receivers requires large source-receiver separations with respect to the target depth. A time-domain EM system with vertical transmitters and receivers can be an alternative because vertical electric fields are sensitive to deep resistive layers. In this paper, a time-domain modelling code, with multiple source and receiver dipoles that are finite in length, has been written to investigate transient EM problems. With the use of this code, we calculate step-off responses for one-dimensional HC reservoir models. Although the vertical electric field has much smaller amplitude of signal than the horizontal field, vertical currents resulting from a vertical transmitter are sensitive to resistive layers. The modelling shows a significant difference between step-off responses of HC- and water-filled reservoirs, and the contrast can be recognized at late times at relatively short offsets. A maximum contrast occurs at more than 4 s, being delayed with the depth of the HC layer.

Hysteresis in Carbon Nanotube Transistors: Measurement and Analysis of Trap Density, Energy Level, and Spatial Distribution.

PubMed

Park, Rebecca Sejung; Shulaker, Max Marcel; Hills, Gage; Suriyasena Liyanage, Luckshitha; Lee, Seunghyun; Tang, Alvin; Mitra, Subhasish; Wong, H-S Philip

2016-04-26

We present a measurement technique, which we call the Pulsed Time-Domain Measurement, for characterizing hysteresis in carbon nanotube field-effect transistors, and demonstrate its applicability for a broad range of 1D and 2D nanomaterials beyond carbon nanotubes. The Pulsed Time-Domain Measurement enables the quantification (density, energy level, and spatial distribution) of charged traps responsible for hysteresis. A physics-based model of the charge trapping process for a carbon nanotube field-effect transistor is presented and experimentally validated using the Pulsed Time-Domain Measurement. Leveraging this model, we discover a source of traps (surface traps) unique to devices with low-dimensional channels such as carbon nanotubes and nanowires (beyond interface traps which exist in today's silicon field-effect transistors). The different charge trapping mechanisms for interface traps and surface traps are studied based on their temperature dependencies. Through these advances, we are able to quantify the interface trap density for carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (∼3 × 10(13) cm(-2) eV(-1) near midgap), and compare this against a range of previously studied dielectric/semiconductor interfaces.

[Aging explosive detection using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy].

PubMed

Meng, Kun; Li, Ze-ren; Liu, Qiao

2011-05-01

Detecting the aging situation of stock explosive is essentially meaningful to the research on the capability, security and stability of explosive. Existing aging explosive detection techniques, such as scan microscope technique, Fourier transfer infrared spectrum technique, gas chromatogram mass spectrum technique and so on, are either not able to differentiate whether the explosive is aging or not, or not able to image the structure change of the molecule. In the present paper, using the density functional theory (DFT), the absorb spectrum changes after the explosive aging were calculated, from which we can clearly find the difference of spectrum between explosive molecule and aging ones in the terahertz band. The terahertz time-domain spectrum (THz-TDS) system as well as its frequency spectrum resolution and measured range are analyzed. Combined with the existing experimental results and the essential characters of the terahertz wave, the application of THz-TDS technique to the detection of aging explosive was demonstrated from the aspects of feasibility, veracity and practicability. On the base of that, the authors advance the new method of aging explosive detection using the terahertz time-domain spectrum technique.

Distributions in the error space: goal-directed movements described in time and state-space representations.

PubMed

Fisher, Moria E; Huang, Felix C; Wright, Zachary A; Patton, James L

2014-01-01

Manipulation of error feedback has been of great interest to recent studies in motor control and rehabilitation. Typically, motor adaptation is shown as a change in performance with a single scalar metric for each trial, yet such an approach might overlook details about how error evolves through the movement. We believe that statistical distributions of movement error through the extent of the trajectory can reveal unique patterns of adaption and possibly reveal clues to how the motor system processes information about error. This paper describes different possible ordinate domains, focusing on representations in time and state-space, used to quantify reaching errors. We hypothesized that the domain with the lowest amount of variability would lead to a predictive model of reaching error with the highest accuracy. Here we showed that errors represented in a time domain demonstrate the least variance and allow for the highest predictive model of reaching errors. These predictive models will give rise to more specialized methods of robotic feedback and improve previous techniques of error augmentation.

Changes in quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) and addiction severity index (ASI) among participants in opioid substitution treatment (OST) in low and middle income countries: an international systematic review.

PubMed

Feelemyer, Jonathan P; Jarlais, Don C Des; Arasteh, Kamyar; Phillips, Benjamin W; Hagan, Holly

2014-01-01

Opioid substitution treatment (OST) can increase quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) and reduce addiction severity index (ASI) scores among participants over time. OST program participants have noted that improvement in quality of life is one of the most important variables to their reduction in drug use. However, there is little systematic understanding of WHOQOL-BREF and ASI domain changes among OST participants in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Utilizing PRISMA guidelines we conducted a systematic literature search to identify OST program studies documenting changes in WHOQOL-BREF or ASI domains for participants in buprenorphine or methadone programs in LMIC. Standardized mean differences for baseline and follow-up domain scores were compared along with relationships between domain scores, OST dosage, and length of follow-up. There were 13 OST program studies with 1801 participants from five countries eligible for inclusion in the review. Overall, statistically significant changes were noted in all four WHOQOL-BREF domain and four of the seven ASI domain scores (drug, psychological, legal, and family) documented in studies. Dosage of pharmacologic medication and length of follow-up did not affect changes in domain scores. WHOQOL-BREF and ASI domain scoring is a useful tool in measuring overall quality of life and levels of addiction among OST participants. Coupled with measurements of blood-borne infection, drug use, relapse, and overdose, WHOQOL-BREF and ASI represent equally important tools for evaluating the effects of OST over time and should be further developed as integrated tools in the evaluation of participants in LMIC. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of Disclosure of HIV Infection on Health-Related Quality of Life Among Children and Adolescents With HIV Infection

PubMed Central

Butler, Anne M.; Williams, Paige L.; Howland, Lois C.; Storm, Deborah; Hutton, Nancy; Seage, George R.

2009-01-01

Background Little is known concerning the impact of HIV status disclosure on quality of life, leaving clinicians and families to rely on research of children with other terminal illnesses. Objectives The purpose of this work was to examine the impact of HIV disclosure on pediatric quality of life and to describe the distribution of age at disclosure in a perinatally infected pediatric population. Methods A longitudinal analysis was conducted of perinatally HIV-infected youth ≥5 years of age enrolled in a prospective cohort study, Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group 219C, with ≥1 study visit before and after HIV disclosure. Age-specific quality-of-life instruments were completed by primary caregivers at routine study visits. The distribution of age at disclosure was summarized. Six quality-of-life domains were assessed, including general health perception, symptom distress, psychological status, health care utilization, physical functioning, and social/role functioning. For each domain, mixed-effects models were fit to estimate the effect of disclosure on quality of life. Results A total of 395 children with 2423 study visits were analyzed (1317 predisclosure visits and 1106 postdisclosure visits). The median age at disclosure was estimated to be 11 years. Older age at disclosure was associated with earlier year of birth. Mean domain scores were not significantly different at the last undisclosed visit compared with the first disclosed visit, with the exception of general health perception. When all of the visits were considered, 5 of 6 mean domain scores were lower after disclosure, although the differences were not significant. In mixed-effects models, disclosure did not significantly impact quality of life for any domain. Conclusions Age at disclosure decreased significantly over time. There were no statistically significant differences between predisclosure and postdisclosure quality of life; therefore, disclosure should be encouraged at an appropriate time. PMID:19255023

Discriminant Analysis of Time Series in the Presence of Within-Group Spectral Variability.

PubMed

Krafty, Robert T

2016-07-01

Many studies record replicated time series epochs from different groups with the goal of using frequency domain properties to discriminate between the groups. In many applications, there exists variation in cyclical patterns from time series in the same group. Although a number of frequency domain methods for the discriminant analysis of time series have been explored, there is a dearth of models and methods that account for within-group spectral variability. This article proposes a model for groups of time series in which transfer functions are modeled as stochastic variables that can account for both between-group and within-group differences in spectra that are identified from individual replicates. An ensuing discriminant analysis of stochastic cepstra under this model is developed to obtain parsimonious measures of relative power that optimally separate groups in the presence of within-group spectral variability. The approach possess favorable properties in classifying new observations and can be consistently estimated through a simple discriminant analysis of a finite number of estimated cepstral coefficients. Benefits in accounting for within-group spectral variability are empirically illustrated in a simulation study and through an analysis of gait variability.

Measuring and predicting prostate cancer related quality of life changes using EPIC for clinical practice.

PubMed

Chipman, Jonathan J; Sanda, Martin G; Dunn, Rodney L; Wei, John T; Litwin, Mark S; Crociani, Catrina M; Regan, Meredith M; Chang, Peter

2014-03-01

We expanded the clinical usefulness of EPIC-CP (Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite for Clinical Practice) by evaluating its responsiveness to health related quality of life changes, defining the minimally important differences for an individual patient change in each domain and applying it to a sexual outcome prediction model. In 1,201 subjects from a previously described multicenter longitudinal cohort we modeled the EPIC-CP domain scores of each treatment group before treatment, and at short-term and long-term followup. We considered a posttreatment domain score change from pretreatment of 0.5 SD or greater clinically significant and p ≤ 0.01 statistically significant. We determined the domain minimally important differences using the pooled 0.5 SD of the 2, 6, 12 and 24-month posttreatment changes from pretreatment values. We then recalibrated an EPIC-CP based nomogram model predicting 2-year post-prostatectomy functional erection from that developed using EPIC-26. For each health related quality of life domain EPIC-CP was sensitive to similar posttreatment health related quality of life changes with time, as was observed using EPIC-26. The EPIC-CP minimally important differences in changes in the urinary incontinence, urinary irritation/obstruction, bowel, sexual and vitality/hormonal domains were 1.0, 1.3, 1.2, 1.6 and 1.0, respectively. The EPIC-CP based sexual prediction model performed well (AUC 0.76). It showed robust agreement with its EPIC-26 based counterpart with 10% or less predicted probability differences between models in 95% of individuals and a mean ± SD difference of 0.0 ± 0.05 across all individuals. EPIC-CP is responsive to health related quality of life changes during convalescence and it can be used to predict 2-year post-prostatectomy sexual outcomes. It can facilitate shared medical decision making and patient centered care. Copyright © 2014 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An information theory framework for dynamic functional domain connectivity.

PubMed

Vergara, Victor M; Miller, Robyn; Calhoun, Vince

2017-06-01

Dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) analyzes time evolution of coherent activity in the brain. In this technique dynamic changes are considered for the whole brain. This paper proposes an information theory framework to measure information flowing among subsets of functional networks call functional domains. Our method aims at estimating bits of information contained and shared among domains. The succession of dynamic functional states is estimated at the domain level. Information quantity is based on the probabilities of observing each dynamic state. Mutual information measurement is then obtained from probabilities across domains. Thus, we named this value the cross domain mutual information (CDMI). Strong CDMIs were observed in relation to the subcortical domain. Domains related to sensorial input, motor control and cerebellum form another CDMI cluster. Information flow among other domains was seldom found. Other methods of dynamic connectivity focus on whole brain dFNC matrices. In the current framework, information theory is applied to states estimated from pairs of multi-network functional domains. In this context, we apply information theory to measure information flow across functional domains. Identified CDMI clusters point to known information pathways in the basal ganglia and also among areas of sensorial input, patterns found in static functional connectivity. In contrast, CDMI across brain areas of higher level cognitive processing follow a different pattern that indicates scarce information sharing. These findings show that employing information theory to formally measured information flow through brain domains reveals additional features of functional connectivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Differences in quality of life between infertile women and men in Turkey.

PubMed

Bolsoy, Nursen; Taspinar, Ayten; Kavlak, Oya; Sirin, Ahsen

2010-01-01

To examine potential differences in quality of life between infertile women and men. A descriptive, cross-sectional design. A questionnaire was used to collect individuals' sociodemographic data; the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) tool was used to collect information about quality of life. The research sample comprised 248 infertile individuals (141 women and 107 men) admitted to the clinic for the first time for diagnosis and treatment between January 1 and June 30, 2007, and who voluntarily agreed to participate. The research was conducted at the Ege University Family Planning and Infertility Research and Training Center Infertility Clinic in Izmir, Turkey. Physical health, psychological health, and social relations domain score means did not show significant differences between infertile women and infertile men (p>.05). However, score means for the environment domain were significantly higher (p<.05) for infertile women than for infertile men. Unemployed infertile men had significantly lower score means in the physical health and social relation domains (p<.01). No such significant differences were found for the other quality of life domain scores for infertile women or infertile men (p>.05). In the environmental domain, the quality of life of infertile women was greater than that of infertile men. Variables affecting quality of life of infertile individuals were seen to affect women and men in similar ways. Nurses and health care professionals caring for infertile individuals should be aware of the factors that affect quality of life and should plan to meet their care needs accordingly.

Application of wavelet multi-resolution analysis for correction of seismic acceleration records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansari, Anooshiravan; Noorzad, Assadollah; Zare, Mehdi

2007-12-01

During an earthquake, many stations record the ground motion, but only a few of them could be corrected using conventional high-pass and low-pass filtering methods and the others were identified as highly contaminated by noise and as a result useless. There are two major problems associated with these noisy records. First, since the signal to noise ratio (S/N) is low, it is not possible to discriminate between the original signal and noise either in the frequency domain or in the time domain. Consequently, it is not possible to cancel out noise using conventional filtering methods. The second problem is the non-stationary characteristics of the noise. In other words, in many cases the characteristics of the noise are varied over time and in these situations, it is not possible to apply frequency domain correction schemes. When correcting acceleration signals contaminated with high-level non-stationary noise, there is an important question whether it is possible to estimate the state of the noise in different bands of time and frequency. Wavelet multi-resolution analysis decomposes a signal into different time-frequency components, and besides introducing a suitable criterion for identification of the noise among each component, also provides the required mathematical tool for correction of highly noisy acceleration records. In this paper, the characteristics of the wavelet de-noising procedures are examined through the correction of selected real and synthetic acceleration time histories. It is concluded that this method provides a very flexible and efficient tool for the correction of very noisy and non-stationary records of ground acceleration. In addition, a two-step correction scheme is proposed for long period correction of the acceleration records. This method has the advantage of stable results in displacement time history and response spectrum.

Detection and characterization of corrosion of bridge cables by time domain reflectometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wei; Hunsperger, Robert G.; Folliard, Kevin; Chajes, Michael J.; Barot, Jignesh; Jhaveri, Darshan; Kunz, Eric

1999-02-01

In this paper, we develop and demonstrate a nondestructive evaluation technique for corrosion detection of embedded or encased steel cables. This technique utilizes time domain reflectometry (TDR), which has been traditionally used to detect electrical discontinuities in transmission lines. By applying a sensor wire along with the bridge cable, we can model the cable as an asymmetric, twin-conductor transmission line. Physical defects of the bridge cable will change the electromagnetic properties of the line and can be detected by TDR. Furthermore, different types of defects can be modeled analytically, and identified using TDR. TDR measurement results from several fabricated bridge cable sections with built-in defects are reported.

An innovative browser-based data exploration tool with simultaneous scrolling in time and wavelength domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slater, Gregory L.; Schiff, David; De Pontieu, Bart; Tarbell, Theodore D.; Freeland, Samuel L.

2017-08-01

We present Cruiser, a new web tool for the precision interactive blending of image series across time and wavelength domains. Scrolling in two dimensions enables discovery and investigation of similarities and differences in structure and evolution across multiple wavelengths. Cruiser works in the latest versions of standards compliant browsers on both desktop and IOS platforms. Co-aligned data cubes have been generated for AIA, IRIS, and Hinode SOT FG, and image data from additional instruments, both space-based and ground-based, can be data sources. The tool has several movie playing and image adjustment controls which will be described in the poster and demonstrated on a MacOS notebook and iPad.

2-D Fused Image Reconstruction approach for Microwave Tomography: a theoretical assessment using FDTD Model.

PubMed

Bindu, G; Semenov, S

2013-01-01

This paper describes an efficient two-dimensional fused image reconstruction approach for Microwave Tomography (MWT). Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) models were created for a viable MWT experimental system having the transceivers modelled using thin wire approximation with resistive voltage sources. Born Iterative and Distorted Born Iterative methods have been employed for image reconstruction with the extremity imaging being done using a differential imaging technique. The forward solver in the imaging algorithm employs the FDTD method of solving the time domain Maxwell's equations with the regularisation parameter computed using a stochastic approach. The algorithm is tested with 10% noise inclusion and successful image reconstruction has been shown implying its robustness.

Evaluation of PCMH Model Adoption on Teamwork and Impact on Patient Access and Safety

PubMed Central

Khanna, Niharika; Shaya, Fadia T.; Gaitonde, Priyanka; Abiamiri, Andrea; Steffen, Ben; Sharp, David

2016-01-01

Purpose: Each of the participating patient-centered medical home (PCMH) received coaching and participated in learning collaborative for improving teamwork. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of trainings on patient-centered teamwork. Methods: The Teamwork Perception Questionnaire (TPQ) was administered once in spring 2014 and then in fall 2015. The TPQ consists of 35 questions across 5 domains: mutual support, situation monitoring, communication, team structure, and leadership. Based on our objective we compared the frequencies of strongly agree/agree by domain. The difference was tested using chi-square test. We compared the scores on each domain (strongly agree/agree = 1; maximum score = 7) via Wilcoxon rank sum test. Results: The response rate for this survey was n = 29 (80.6%) in spring 2014, and n = 31 (86.1%) in fall 2015. We found that the practice members significantly (P < .05) strongly agreed/agreed more in fall 2015 than spring 2014 for characteristics—“staff relay relevant information in a timely manner” (64.5% vs 83.9%) and “staff follow a standardized method of sharing information when handing off patients” (67.7% vs 90.3%) under communication domain and for characteristic—“staff within my practice share information that enables timely decision making” (74.2% vs 90.3%). However, there was no statistical significant difference observed in the scores for the overall TPQ at the 2 time points. Conclusion: Despite the statistical insignificance, the observations in PCMHs across the spectrum of practices participating in the Maryland Multi-Payer Program demonstrated enhanced teamwork specifically in communication and in leadership. This we believe will continue to result in enhanced patient access to care and safety. PMID:27838621

Evaluation of PCMH Model Adoption on Teamwork and Impact on Patient Access and Safety.

PubMed

Khanna, Niharika; Shaya, Fadia T; Gaitonde, Priyanka; Abiamiri, Andrea; Steffen, Ben; Sharp, David

2017-04-01

Each of the participating patient-centered medical home (PCMH) received coaching and participated in learning collaborative for improving teamwork. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of trainings on patient-centered teamwork. The Teamwork Perception Questionnaire (TPQ) was administered once in spring 2014 and then in fall 2015. The TPQ consists of 35 questions across 5 domains: mutual support, situation monitoring, communication, team structure, and leadership. Based on our objective we compared the frequencies of strongly agree/agree by domain. The difference was tested using chi-square test. We compared the scores on each domain (strongly agree/agree = 1; maximum score = 7) via Wilcoxon rank sum test. The response rate for this survey was n = 29 (80.6%) in spring 2014, and n = 31 (86.1%) in fall 2015. We found that the practice members significantly ( P < .05) strongly agreed/agreed more in fall 2015 than spring 2014 for characteristics-"staff relay relevant information in a timely manner" (64.5% vs 83.9%) and "staff follow a standardized method of sharing information when handing off patients" (67.7% vs 90.3%) under communication domain and for characteristic-"staff within my practice share information that enables timely decision making" (74.2% vs 90.3%). However, there was no statistical significant difference observed in the scores for the overall TPQ at the 2 time points. Despite the statistical insignificance, the observations in PCMHs across the spectrum of practices participating in the Maryland Multi-Payer Program demonstrated enhanced teamwork specifically in communication and in leadership. This we believe will continue to result in enhanced patient access to care and safety.

Degradation studies on highly oriented poly(glycolic acid) fibres with different lamellar structures.

PubMed

de Oca, Horacio Montes; Farrar, David F; Ward, Ian M

2011-04-01

Highly oriented poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) fibres with an initial tensile strength of 1.1 GPa and different lamellar morphologies were prepared and studied during degradation in aqueous media at 37°C. A combination of small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering was used to study the structural changes during degradation and to generate two structural models of highly oriented PGA fibres with different lamellar morphologies. It is shown that as a result of crystallisation during degradation PGA crystals grow preferentially along the (110) and (020) directions of the crystal lattice or perpendicular to the orientation direction of the fibres. (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance measurements revealed three phases within the fibres with different relaxation times: (1) a mobile amorphous phase with a short relaxation time; (2) a semi-rigid phase with an intermediate relaxation time; (3) a rigid crystalline phase with a longer relaxation time. It is shown that the mobile amorphous phase degrades very rapidly and that it plays only a small role in the tensile mechanical behaviour of the fibres during degradation. It is shown that semi-rigid chains connecting crystalline domains are responsible for transferring the stress between crystalline domains and carrying the tensile deformation. It is proposed that once these tie molecules degrade considerably the oriented fibres very rapidly lose their strength retention. Copyright © 2010 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Architecture for time or transform domain decoding of reed-solomon codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hsu, In-Shek (Inventor); Truong, Trieu-Kie (Inventor); Deutsch, Leslie J. (Inventor); Shao, Howard M. (Inventor)

1989-01-01

Two pipeline (255,233) RS decoders, one a time domain decoder and the other a transform domain decoder, use the same first part to develop an errata locator polynomial .tau.(x), and an errata evaluator polynominal A(x). Both the time domain decoder and transform domain decoder have a modified GCD that uses an input multiplexer and an output demultiplexer to reduce the number of GCD cells required. The time domain decoder uses a Chien search and polynomial evaluator on the GCD outputs .tau.(x) and A(x), for the final decoding steps, while the transform domain decoder uses a transform error pattern algorithm operating on .tau.(x) and the initial syndrome computation S(x), followed by an inverse transform algorithm in sequence for the final decoding steps prior to adding the received RS coded message to produce a decoded output message.

Exploring inter-frame correlation analysis and wavelet-domain modeling for real-time caption detection in streaming video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jia; Tian, Yonghong; Gao, Wen

2008-01-01

In recent years, the amount of streaming video has grown rapidly on the Web. Often, retrieving these streaming videos offers the challenge of indexing and analyzing the media in real time because the streams must be treated as effectively infinite in length, thus precluding offline processing. Generally speaking, captions are important semantic clues for video indexing and retrieval. However, existing caption detection methods often have difficulties to make real-time detection for streaming video, and few of them concern on the differentiation of captions from scene texts and scrolling texts. In general, these texts have different roles in streaming video retrieval. To overcome these difficulties, this paper proposes a novel approach which explores the inter-frame correlation analysis and wavelet-domain modeling for real-time caption detection in streaming video. In our approach, the inter-frame correlation information is used to distinguish caption texts from scene texts and scrolling texts. Moreover, wavelet-domain Generalized Gaussian Models (GGMs) are utilized to automatically remove non-text regions from each frame and only keep caption regions for further processing. Experiment results show that our approach is able to offer real-time caption detection with high recall and low false alarm rate, and also can effectively discern caption texts from the other texts even in low resolutions.

Temporal Processing Capacity in High-Level Visual Cortex Is Domain Specific.

PubMed

Stigliani, Anthony; Weiner, Kevin S; Grill-Spector, Kalanit

2015-09-09

Prevailing hierarchical models propose that temporal processing capacity--the amount of information that a brain region processes in a unit time--decreases at higher stages in the ventral stream regardless of domain. However, it is unknown if temporal processing capacities are domain general or domain specific in human high-level visual cortex. Using a novel fMRI paradigm, we measured temporal capacities of functional regions in high-level visual cortex. Contrary to hierarchical models, our data reveal domain-specific processing capacities as follows: (1) regions processing information from different domains have differential temporal capacities within each stage of the visual hierarchy and (2) domain-specific regions display the same temporal capacity regardless of their position in the processing hierarchy. In general, character-selective regions have the lowest capacity, face- and place-selective regions have an intermediate capacity, and body-selective regions have the highest capacity. Notably, domain-specific temporal processing capacities are not apparent in V1 and have perceptual implications. Behavioral testing revealed that the encoding capacity of body images is higher than that of characters, faces, and places, and there is a correspondence between peak encoding rates and cortical capacities for characters and bodies. The present evidence supports a model in which the natural statistics of temporal information in the visual world may affect domain-specific temporal processing and encoding capacities. These findings suggest that the functional organization of high-level visual cortex may be constrained by temporal characteristics of stimuli in the natural world, and this temporal capacity is a characteristic of domain-specific networks in high-level visual cortex. Significance statement: Visual stimuli bombard us at different rates every day. For example, words and scenes are typically stationary and vary at slow rates. In contrast, bodies are dynamic and typically change at faster rates. Using a novel fMRI paradigm, we measured temporal processing capacities of functional regions in human high-level visual cortex. Contrary to prevailing theories, we find that different regions have different processing capacities, which have behavioral implications. In general, character-selective regions have the lowest capacity, face- and place-selective regions have an intermediate capacity, and body-selective regions have the highest capacity. These results suggest that temporal processing capacity is a characteristic of domain-specific networks in high-level visual cortex and contributes to the segregation of cortical regions. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3512412-13$15.00/0.

Minimum time search in uncertain dynamic domains with complex sensorial platforms.

PubMed

Lanillos, Pablo; Besada-Portas, Eva; Lopez-Orozco, Jose Antonio; de la Cruz, Jesus Manuel

2014-08-04

The minimum time search in uncertain domains is a searching task, which appears in real world problems such as natural disasters and sea rescue operations, where a target has to be found, as soon as possible, by a set of sensor-equipped searchers. The automation of this task, where the time to detect the target is critical, can be achieved by new probabilistic techniques that directly minimize the Expected Time (ET) to detect a dynamic target using the observation probability models and actual observations collected by the sensors on board the searchers. The selected technique, described in algorithmic form in this paper for completeness, has only been previously partially tested with an ideal binary detection model, in spite of being designed to deal with complex non-linear/non-differential sensorial models. This paper covers the gap, testing its performance and applicability over different searching tasks with searchers equipped with different complex sensors. The sensorial models under test vary from stepped detection probabilities to continuous/discontinuous differentiable/non-differentiable detection probabilities dependent on distance, orientation, and structured maps. The analysis of the simulated results of several static and dynamic scenarios performed in this paper validates the applicability of the technique with different types of sensor models.

Minimum Time Search in Uncertain Dynamic Domains with Complex Sensorial Platforms

PubMed Central

Lanillos, Pablo; Besada-Portas, Eva; Lopez-Orozco, Jose Antonio; de la Cruz, Jesus Manuel

2014-01-01

The minimum time search in uncertain domains is a searching task, which appears in real world problems such as natural disasters and sea rescue operations, where a target has to be found, as soon as possible, by a set of sensor-equipped searchers. The automation of this task, where the time to detect the target is critical, can be achieved by new probabilistic techniques that directly minimize the Expected Time (ET) to detect a dynamic target using the observation probability models and actual observations collected by the sensors on board the searchers. The selected technique, described in algorithmic form in this paper for completeness, has only been previously partially tested with an ideal binary detection model, in spite of being designed to deal with complex non-linear/non-differential sensorial models. This paper covers the gap, testing its performance and applicability over different searching tasks with searchers equipped with different complex sensors. The sensorial models under test vary from stepped detection probabilities to continuous/discontinuous differentiable/non-differentiable detection probabilities dependent on distance, orientation, and structured maps. The analysis of the simulated results of several static and dynamic scenarios performed in this paper validates the applicability of the technique with different types of sensor models. PMID:25093345

Time-Domain Impedance Boundary Conditions for Computational Aeroacoustics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tam, Christopher K. W.; Auriault, Laurent

1996-01-01

It is an accepted practice in aeroacoustics to characterize the properties of an acoustically treated surface by a quantity known as impedance. Impedance is a complex quantity. As such, it is designed primarily for frequency-domain analysis. Time-domain boundary conditions that are the equivalent of the frequency-domain impedance boundary condition are proposed. Both single frequency and model broadband time-domain impedance boundary conditions are provided. It is shown that the proposed boundary conditions, together with the linearized Euler equations, form well-posed initial boundary value problems. Unlike ill-posed problems, they are free from spurious instabilities that would render time-marching computational solutions impossible.

On chip frequency comb: Characterization and optical arbitrary waveform generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferdous, Fahmida

Recently, on-chip comb generation methods based on nonlinear optical modulation in ultrahigh quality factor monolithic micro-resonators have been demonstrated. In these methods, two pump photons are transformed into sideband photons in a four wave mixing process mediated by the Kerr nonlinearity. The essential advantages of these methods are simplicity, small size, very high repetition rates and sometimes CMOS compatibility. We investigate line-by-line pulse shaping of such combs generated in silicon nitride ring resonators. We demonstrate a simple example of optical arbitrary waveform generation (OAWG) from Kerr comb. We observe two distinct paths to comb formation which exhibit strikingly different time domain behaviors. For combs formed as a cascade of sidebands spaced by a single free spectral range (FSR) that spread from the pump, we are able to compress to nearly bandwidth limited pulses. This indicates high coherence across the spectra and provides new data on the high passive stability of the spectral phase. For combs where the initial sidebands are spaced by multiple FSRs which then fill in to give combs with single FSR spacing, the time domain data reveal partially coherent behavior. We also investigate the behaviors of a few sub-families of the partially coherent combs selected by a pulse shaper. We observe different coherence properties for different groups of comb lines. Furthermore we will discuss an ultrafast characterization techniques called dual comb electric eld cross correlation. This linear technique will provide both low optical power and broader bandwidth capability for full time domain characterization of OAWG from Kerr comb.

Molecular Cloning of Drebrin: Progress and Perspectives.

PubMed

Kojima, Nobuhiko

2017-01-01

Chicken drebrin isoforms were first identified in the optic tectum of developing brain. Although the time course of protein expression was different in each drebrin isoform, the similarity between their protein structures was suggested by biochemical analysis of purified protein. To determine their protein structures, the cloning of drebrin cDNAs was conducted. Comparison between the cDNA sequences shows that all drebrin cDNAs are identical except that the internal insertion sequences are present or absent in their sequences. Chicken drebrin are now classified into three isoforms, namely, drebrins E1, E2, and A. Genomic cloning demonstrated that the three isoforms are generated by an alternative splicing of individual exons encoding the insertion sequences from single drebrin gene. The mechanism should be precisely regulated in cell-type-specific and developmental stage-specific fashion. Drebrin protein, which is well conserved in various vertebrate species, although mammalian drebrin has only two isoforms, namely, drebrin E and drebrin A, is different from chicken drebrin that has three isoforms. Drebrin belongs to an actin-depolymerizing factor homology (ADF-H) domain protein family. Besides the ADF-H domain, drebrin has other domains, including the actin-binding domain and Homer-binding motifs. Diversity of protein isoform and multiple domains of drebrin could interact differentially with the actin cytoskeleton and other intracellular proteins and regulate diverse cellular processes.

Identifying Genetic Signatures of Natural Selection Using Pooled Population Sequencing in Picea abies

PubMed Central

Chen, Jun; Källman, Thomas; Ma, Xiao-Fei; Zaina, Giusi; Morgante, Michele; Lascoux, Martin

2016-01-01

The joint inference of selection and past demography remain a costly and demanding task. We used next generation sequencing of two pools of 48 Norway spruce mother trees, one corresponding to the Fennoscandian domain, and the other to the Alpine domain, to assess nucleotide polymorphism at 88 nuclear genes. These genes are candidate genes for phenological traits, and most belong to the photoperiod pathway. Estimates of population genetic summary statistics from the pooled data are similar to previous estimates, suggesting that pooled sequencing is reliable. The nonsynonymous SNPs tended to have both lower frequency differences and lower FST values between the two domains than silent ones. These results suggest the presence of purifying selection. The divergence between the two domains based on synonymous changes was around 5 million yr, a time similar to a recent phylogenetic estimate of 6 million yr, but much larger than earlier estimates based on isozymes. Two approaches, one of them novel and that considers both FST and difference in allele frequencies between the two domains, were used to identify SNPs potentially under diversifying selection. SNPs from around 20 genes were detected, including genes previously identified as main target for selection, such as PaPRR3 and PaGI. PMID:27172202