Combinatorial-topological framework for the analysis of global dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bush, Justin; Gameiro, Marcio; Harker, Shaun; Kokubu, Hiroshi; Mischaikow, Konstantin; Obayashi, Ippei; Pilarczyk, Paweł

2012-12-01

We discuss an algorithmic framework based on efficient graph algorithms and algebraic-topological computational tools. The framework is aimed at automatic computation of a database of global dynamics of a given m-parameter semidynamical system with discrete time on a bounded subset of the n-dimensional phase space. We introduce the mathematical background, which is based upon Conley's topological approach to dynamics, describe the algorithms for the analysis of the dynamics using rectangular grids both in phase space and parameter space, and show two sample applications.

Analysis of wave propagation and wavefront sensing in target-in-the-loop beam control systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vorontsov, Mikhail A.; Kolosov, Valeri V.

2004-10-01

Target-in-the-loop (TIL) wave propagation geometry represents perhaps the most challenging case for adaptive optics applications that are related with maximization of irradiance power density on extended remotely located surfaces in the presence of dynamically changing refractive index inhomogeneities in the propagation medium. We introduce a TIL propagation model that uses a combination of the parabolic equation describing outgoing wave propagation, and the equation describing evolution of the mutual intensity function (MIF) for the backscattered (returned) wave. The resulting evolution equation for the MIF is further simplified by the use of the smooth refractive index approximation. This approximation enables derivation of the transport equation for the returned wave brightness function, analyzed here using method characteristics (brightness function trajectories). The equations for the brightness function trajectories (ray equations) can be efficiently integrated numerically. We also consider wavefront sensors that perform sensing of speckle-averaged characteristics of the wavefront phase (TIL sensors). Analysis of the wavefront phase reconstructed from Shack-Hartmann TIL sensor measurements shows that an extended target introduces a phase modulation (target-induced phase) that cannot be easily separated from the atmospheric turbulence-related phase aberrations. We also show that wavefront sensing results depend on the extended target shape, surface roughness, and the outgoing beam intensity distribution on the target surface.

Fundamentals of Biomolecule Analysis by Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinecke, Andrea; Ryzhov, Victor

2005-01-01

Electrospray ionization (ESI) is a soft ionization technique that allows transfer of fragile biomolecules directly from solution into the gas phase. An instrumental analysis laboratory experiment is designed that would introduce the students to the ESI technique, major parameters of the ion trap mass spectrometers and some caveats in…

Frequency-phase analysis of resting-state functional MRI

PubMed Central

Goelman, Gadi; Dan, Rotem; Růžička, Filip; Bezdicek, Ondrej; Růžička, Evžen; Roth, Jan; Vymazal, Josef; Jech, Robert

2017-01-01

We describe an analysis method that characterizes the correlation between coupled time-series functions by their frequencies and phases. It provides a unified framework for simultaneous assessment of frequency and latency of a coupled time-series. The analysis is demonstrated on resting-state functional MRI data of 34 healthy subjects. Interactions between fMRI time-series are represented by cross-correlation (with time-lag) functions. A general linear model is used on the cross-correlation functions to obtain the frequencies and phase-differences of the original time-series. We define symmetric, antisymmetric and asymmetric cross-correlation functions that correspond respectively to in-phase, 90° out-of-phase and any phase difference between a pair of time-series, where the last two were never introduced before. Seed maps of the motor system were calculated to demonstrate the strength and capabilities of the analysis. Unique types of functional connections, their dominant frequencies and phase-differences have been identified. The relation between phase-differences and time-delays is shown. The phase-differences are speculated to inform transfer-time and/or to reflect a difference in the hemodynamic response between regions that are modulated by neurotransmitters concentration. The analysis can be used with any coupled functions in many disciplines including electrophysiology, EEG or MEG in neuroscience. PMID:28272522

Soft-Matter Resistive Sensor for Measuring Shear and Pressure Stresses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tepayotl-Ramirez, Daniel; Roberts, Peter; Majidi, Carmel

2013-03-01

Building on emerging paradigms in soft-matter electronics, we introduce liquid-phase electronic sensors that simultaneously measures elastic pressure and shear deformation. The sensors are com- posed of a sheet of elastomer that is embedded with fluidic channels containing eutectic Gallium- Indium (EGaIn), a metal alloy that is liquid at room temperature. Applying pressure or shear traction to the surface of the surrounding elastomer causes the elastomer to elastically deform and changes the geometry and electrical properties of the embedded liquid-phase circuit elements. We introduce analytic models that predict the electrical response of the sensor to prescribed surface tractions. These models are validated with both Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and experimental measurements.

Modelling healthcare systems with phase-type distributions.

PubMed

Fackrell, Mark

2009-03-01

Phase-type distributions constitute a very versatile class of distributions. They have been used in a wide range of stochastic modelling applications in areas as diverse as telecommunications, finance, biostatistics, queueing theory, drug kinetics, and survival analysis. Their use in modelling systems in the healthcare industry, however, has so far been limited. In this paper we introduce phase-type distributions, give a survey of where they have been used in the healthcare industry, and propose some ideas on how they could be further utilized.

Application of Concepts from Cross-Recurrence Analysis in Speech Production: An Overview and Comparison with Other Nonlinear Methods

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lancia, Leonardo; Fuchs, Susanne; Tiede, Mark

2014-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this article was to introduce an important tool, cross-recurrence analysis, to speech production applications by showing how it can be adapted to evaluate the similarity of multivariate patterns of articulatory motion. The method differs from classical applications of cross-recurrence analysis because no phase space…

Asymptotically stable phase synchronization revealed by autoregressive circle maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drepper, F. R.

2000-11-01

A specially designed of nonlinear time series analysis is introduced based on phases, which are defined as polar angles in spaces spanned by a finite number of delayed coordinates. A canonical choice of the polar axis and a related implicit estimation scheme for the potentially underlying autoregressive circle map (next phase map) guarantee the invertibility of reconstructed phase space trajectories to the original coordinates. The resulting Fourier approximated, invertibility enforcing phase space map allows us to detect conditional asymptotic stability of coupled phases. This comparatively general synchronization criterion unites two existing generalizations of the old concept and can successfully be applied, e.g., to phases obtained from electrocardiogram and airflow recordings characterizing cardiorespiratory interaction.

Adaptive phase k-means algorithm for waveform classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Chengyun; Liu, Zhining; Wang, Yaojun; Xu, Feng; Li, Xingming; Hu, Guangmin

2018-01-01

Waveform classification is a powerful technique for seismic facies analysis that describes the heterogeneity and compartments within a reservoir. Horizon interpretation is a critical step in waveform classification. However, the horizon often produces inconsistent waveform phase, and thus results in an unsatisfied classification. To alleviate this problem, an adaptive phase waveform classification method called the adaptive phase k-means is introduced in this paper. Our method improves the traditional k-means algorithm using an adaptive phase distance for waveform similarity measure. The proposed distance is a measure with variable phases as it moves from sample to sample along the traces. Model traces are also updated with the best phase interference in the iterative process. Therefore, our method is robust to phase variations caused by the interpretation horizon. We tested the effectiveness of our algorithm by applying it to synthetic and real data. The satisfactory results reveal that the proposed method tolerates certain waveform phase variation and is a good tool for seismic facies analysis.

What time does the recovery phase of geomagnetic storms start: A superposed epoch analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, A.; Zhang, Y.; Ou, J.; Luo, H.

2015-12-01

It is well known that the recovery phase of the geomagnetic storms start during Dst reaches a minimum. This present paper is a discussion of recovery phase onset of a superposed epoch analysis of 247 storm events (-450 < Dst < -50 nT). The data of the solar wind parameters, the geomagnetic index AE and Dst are by means of 1 hour OMNI database. The energy budget for the driver and decay terms introduced by Burton et al. (1975) are checked. As might be expected, the recovery phase of geomagnetic storms starts when the decay term is greater than the driver term. The balance of the decay and driver terms is also dependent on the solar wind energy input during the initial phase. In general, at the onset of the recovery phase, EK-L decreases to 70% of a maximum of EK-L.

How little data is enough? Phase-diagram analysis of sparsity-regularized X-ray computed tomography

PubMed Central

Jørgensen, J. S.; Sidky, E. Y.

2015-01-01

We introduce phase-diagram analysis, a standard tool in compressed sensing (CS), to the X-ray computed tomography (CT) community as a systematic method for determining how few projections suffice for accurate sparsity-regularized reconstruction. In CS, a phase diagram is a convenient way to study and express certain theoretical relations between sparsity and sufficient sampling. We adapt phase-diagram analysis for empirical use in X-ray CT for which the same theoretical results do not hold. We demonstrate in three case studies the potential of phase-diagram analysis for providing quantitative answers to questions of undersampling. First, we demonstrate that there are cases where X-ray CT empirically performs comparably with a near-optimal CS strategy, namely taking measurements with Gaussian sensing matrices. Second, we show that, in contrast to what might have been anticipated, taking randomized CT measurements does not lead to improved performance compared with standard structured sampling patterns. Finally, we show preliminary results of how well phase-diagram analysis can predict the sufficient number of projections for accurately reconstructing a large-scale image of a given sparsity by means of total-variation regularization. PMID:25939620

How little data is enough? Phase-diagram analysis of sparsity-regularized X-ray computed tomography.

PubMed

Jørgensen, J S; Sidky, E Y

2015-06-13

We introduce phase-diagram analysis, a standard tool in compressed sensing (CS), to the X-ray computed tomography (CT) community as a systematic method for determining how few projections suffice for accurate sparsity-regularized reconstruction. In CS, a phase diagram is a convenient way to study and express certain theoretical relations between sparsity and sufficient sampling. We adapt phase-diagram analysis for empirical use in X-ray CT for which the same theoretical results do not hold. We demonstrate in three case studies the potential of phase-diagram analysis for providing quantitative answers to questions of undersampling. First, we demonstrate that there are cases where X-ray CT empirically performs comparably with a near-optimal CS strategy, namely taking measurements with Gaussian sensing matrices. Second, we show that, in contrast to what might have been anticipated, taking randomized CT measurements does not lead to improved performance compared with standard structured sampling patterns. Finally, we show preliminary results of how well phase-diagram analysis can predict the sufficient number of projections for accurately reconstructing a large-scale image of a given sparsity by means of total-variation regularization.

On-target diagnosing of few-cycle pulses by high-order-harmonic generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brambila, Danilo S.; Husakou, Anton; Ivanov, Misha; Zhavoronkov, Nickolai

2017-12-01

We propose an approach to determine the residual phase distortion directly in the interaction region of few-cycle laser radiation with a gaseous target. We describe how the spectra of the generated high harmonics measured as a function of externally introduced dispersion into the driving few-cycle laser pulse can be used to decode small amounts of second- and third-order spectral phase, including the sign. The diagnosis is based on the analysis of several key features in the high-harmonic spectrum: the depth of spectral modulation, the position of the cutoff, and the symmetry of the spectrum with respect to the introduced dispersion. The approach is applicable to pulses without carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stabilization. Surprisingly, we find that for nearly-single-cycle pulses with nonstabilized CEP, deep spectral modulations in the harmonic spectra emerge for positively rather than negatively chirped pulses, in contrast to the case of CEP-stabilized pulses.

Automated quantification of the synchrogram by recurrence plot analysis.

PubMed

Nguyen, Chinh Duc; Wilson, Stephen James; Crozier, Stuart

2012-04-01

Recently, the concept of phase synchronization of two weakly coupled oscillators has raised a great research interest and has been applied to characterize synchronization phenomenon in physiological data. Phase synchronization of cardiorespiratory coupling is often studied by a synchrogram analysis, a graphical tool investigating the relationship between instantaneous phases of two signals. Although several techniques have been proposed to automatically quantify the synchrogram, most of them require a preselection of a phase-locking ratio by trial and error. One technique does not require this information; however, it is based on the power spectrum of phase's distribution in the synchrogram, which is vulnerable to noise. This study aims to introduce a new technique to automatically quantify the synchrogram by studying its dynamic structure. Our technique exploits recurrence plot analysis, which is a well-established tool for characterizing recurring patterns and nonstationarities in experiments. We applied our technique to detect synchronization in simulated and measured infants' cardiorespiratory data. Our results suggest that the proposed technique is able to systematically detect synchronization in noisy and chaotic data without preselecting the phase-locking ratio. By embedding phase information of the synchrogram into phase space, the phase-locking ratio is automatically unveiled as the number of attractors.

The Prospect of Responsive Spacecraft Using Aeroassisted, Trans-Atmospheric Maneuvers

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-19

skip entry aeroassisted maneuvers. By overflying a geographically diverse set of sample ground targets, comparative analysis indicates a significant... analysis . Depending on the chosen re- circularization altitude, the coupled optimal design can achieve an inclination change of 19.91 deg with 50-85...third phase also introduces the “Maneuver Performance Number” as a dimensionless means of comparative effectiveness analysis for both exo- and trans

Formative Research on the Simplifying Conditions Method (SCM) for Task Analysis and Sequencing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, YoungHwan; Reigluth, Charles M.

The Simplifying Conditions Method (SCM) is a set of guidelines for task analysis and sequencing of instructional content under the Elaboration Theory (ET). This article introduces the fundamentals of SCM and presents the findings from a formative research study on SCM. It was conducted in two distinct phases: design and instruction. In the first…

Target-in-the-loop beam control: basic considerations for analysis and wave-front sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vorontsov, Mikhail A.; Kolosov, Valeriy

2005-01-01

Target-in-the-loop (TIL) wave propagation geometry represents perhaps the most challenging case for adaptive optics applications that are related to maximization of irradiance power density on extended remotely located surfaces in the presence of dynamically changing refractive-index inhomogeneities in the propagation medium. We introduce a TIL propagation model that uses a combination of the parabolic equation describing coherent outgoing-wave propagation, and the equation describing evolution of the mutual correlation function (MCF) for the backscattered wave (return wave). The resulting evolution equation for the MCF is further simplified by use of the smooth-refractive-index approximation. This approximation permits derivation of the transport equation for the return-wave brightness function, analyzed here by the method of characteristics (brightness function trajectories). The equations for the brightness function trajectories (ray equations) can be efficiently integrated numerically. We also consider wave-front sensors that perform sensing of speckle-averaged characteristics of the wave-front phase (TIL sensors). Analysis of the wave-front phase reconstructed from Shack-Hartmann TIL sensor measurements shows that an extended target introduces a phase modulation (target-induced phase) that cannot be easily separated from the atmospheric-turbulence-related phase aberrations. We also show that wave-front sensing results depend on the extended target shape, surface roughness, and outgoing-beam intensity distribution on the target surface. For targets with smooth surfaces and nonflat shapes, the target-induced phase can contain aberrations. The presence of target-induced aberrations in the conjugated phase may result in a deterioration of adaptive system performance.

Target-in-the-loop beam control: basic considerations for analysis and wave-front sensing.

PubMed

Vorontsov, Mikhail A; Kolosov, Valeriy

2005-01-01

Target-in-the-loop (TIL) wave propagation geometry represents perhaps the most challenging case for adaptive optics applications that are related to maximization of irradiance power density on extended remotely located surfaces in the presence of dynamically changing refractive-index inhomogeneities in the propagation medium. We introduce a TIL propagation model that uses a combination of the parabolic equation describing coherent outgoing-wave propagation, and the equation describing evolution of the mutual correlation function (MCF) for the backscattered wave (return wave). The resulting evolution equation for the MCF is further simplified by use of the smooth-refractive-index approximation. This approximation permits derivation of the transport equation for the return-wave brightness function, analyzed here by the method of characteristics (brightness function trajectories). The equations for the brightness function trajectories (ray equations) can be efficiently integrated numerically. We also consider wave-front sensors that perform sensing of speckle-averaged characteristics of the wave-front phase (TIL sensors). Analysis of the wave-front phase reconstructed from Shack-Hartmann TIL sensor measurements shows that an extended target introduces a phase modulation (target-induced phase) that cannot be easily separated from the atmospheric-turbulence-related phase aberrations. We also show that wave-front sensing results depend on the extended target shape, surface roughness, and outgoing-beam intensity distribution on the target surface. For targets with smooth surfaces and nonflat shapes, the target-induced phase can contain aberrations. The presence of target-induced aberrations in the conjugated phase may result in a deterioration of adaptive system performance.

Temporal correlations in the Vicsek model with vectorial noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gulich, Damián; Baglietto, Gabriel; Rozenfeld, Alejandro F.

2018-07-01

We study the temporal correlations in the evolution of the order parameter ϕ(t) for the Vicsek model with vectorial noise by estimating its Hurst exponent H with detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). We present results on this parameter as a function of noise amplitude η introduced in simulations. We also compare with well known order-disorder phase transition for that same noise range. We find that - regardless of detrending degree - H spikes at the known coexistence noise for phase transition, and that this is due to nonstationarities introduced by the transit of the system between two well defined states with lower exponents. We statistically support this claim by successfully synthesizing equivalent cases derived from a transformed fractional Brownian motion (TfBm).

Structure analysis of turbulent liquid phase by POD and LSE techniques

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

Munir, S., E-mail: shahzad-munir@comsats.edu.pk; Muthuvalu, M. S.; Siddiqui, M. I.

2014-10-24

In this paper, vortical structures and turbulence characteristics of liquid phase in both single liquid phase and two-phase slug flow in pipes were studied. Two dimensional velocity vector fields of liquid phase were obtained by Particle image velocimetry (PIV). Two cases were considered one single phase liquid flow at 80 l/m and second slug flow by introducing gas at 60 l/m while keeping liquid flow rate same. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and Linear stochastic estimation techniques were used for the extraction of coherent structures and analysis of turbulence in liquid phase for both cases. POD has successfully revealed large energymore » containing structures. The time dependent POD spatial mode coefficients oscillate with high frequency for high mode numbers. The energy distribution of spatial modes was also achieved. LSE has pointed out the coherent structured for both cases and the reconstructed velocity fields are in well agreement with the instantaneous velocity fields.« less

Majorana Zero-Energy Mode and Fractal Structure in Fibonacci-Kitaev Chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghadimi, Rasoul; Sugimoto, Takanori; Tohyama, Takami

2017-11-01

We theoretically study a Kitaev chain with a quasiperiodic potential, where the quasiperiodicity is introduced by a Fibonacci sequence. Based on an analysis of the Majorana zero-energy mode, we find the critical p-wave superconducting pairing potential separating a topological phase and a non-topological phase. The topological phase diagram with respect to Fibonacci potentials follow a self-similar fractal structure characterized by the box-counting dimension, which is an example of the interplay of fractal and topology like the Hofstadter's butterfly in quantum Hall insulators.

Development of the Newtonian Gravity Concept Inventory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williamson, Kathryn E.; Willoughby, Shannon; Prather, Edward E.

2013-01-01

We introduce the Newtonian Gravity Concept Inventory (NGCI), a 26-item multiple-choice instrument to assess introductory general education college astronomy ("Astro 101") student understanding of Newtonian gravity. This paper describes the development of the NGCI through four phases: Planning, Construction, Quantitative Analysis, and…

Extraction and determination of biogenic amines in fermented sausages and other meat products using reversed-phase-HPLC.

PubMed

Straub, B; Schollenberger, M; Kicherer, M; Luckas, B; Hammes, W P

1993-09-01

A convenient method is described for the analysis of biogenic amines (BA) by means of reversed-phase-HPLC. The method is characterized by multi-channel UV detection (diodearray), subsequent post-column derivatization with o-phthaldialdehyde and 3-mercaptopropionic acid, and fluorescence detection. For the analysis of meat products and especially fermented sausages an optimized perchloric acid extraction process was introduced to determine putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, tyramine and 2-phenylethylamine. BA recoveries from meat ranged between 96 and 113% with a detection limit for amines of 0.5 mg/kg.

Structure identification methods for atomistic simulations of crystalline materials

DOE PAGES

Stukowski, Alexander

2012-05-28

Here, we discuss existing and new computational analysis techniques to classify local atomic arrangements in large-scale atomistic computer simulations of crystalline solids. This article includes a performance comparison of typical analysis algorithms such as common neighbor analysis (CNA), centrosymmetry analysis, bond angle analysis, bond order analysis and Voronoi analysis. In addition we propose a simple extension to the CNA method that makes it suitable for multi-phase systems. Finally, we introduce a new structure identification algorithm, the neighbor distance analysis, which is designed to identify atomic structure units in grain boundaries.

A total variation diminishing finite difference algorithm for sonic boom propagation models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sparrow, Victor W.

1993-01-01

It is difficult to accurately model the rise phases of sonic boom waveforms with traditional finite difference algorithms because of finite difference phase dispersion. This paper introduces the concept of a total variation diminishing (TVD) finite difference method as a tool for accurately modeling the rise phases of sonic booms. A standard second order finite difference algorithm and its TVD modified counterpart are both applied to the one-way propagation of a square pulse. The TVD method clearly outperforms the non-TVD method, showing great potential as a new computational tool in the analysis of sonic boom propagation.

Spectrally resolved digital holography using a white light LED

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Claus, D.; Pedrini, G.; Buchta, D.; Osten, W.

2017-06-01

This paper introduces the concept of spectrally resolved digital holography. The measurement principle and the analysis of the data will be discussed in detail. The usefulness of spectrally resolved digital holography is demonstrated for colour imaging and optical metrology with regards to the recovery of modulus information and phase information, respectively. The phase information will be used to measure the shape of an object via the application of the dual wavelength method. Based on the large degree of data available, multiple speckle de-correlated dual wavelength phase maps can be obtained, which when averaged result in a signal to noise ratio improvement.

Discriminative Cooperative Networks for Detecting Phase Transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ye-Hua; van Nieuwenburg, Evert P. L.

2018-04-01

The classification of states of matter and their corresponding phase transitions is a special kind of machine-learning task, where physical data allow for the analysis of new algorithms, which have not been considered in the general computer-science setting so far. Here we introduce an unsupervised machine-learning scheme for detecting phase transitions with a pair of discriminative cooperative networks (DCNs). In this scheme, a guesser network and a learner network cooperate to detect phase transitions from fully unlabeled data. The new scheme is efficient enough for dealing with phase diagrams in two-dimensional parameter spaces, where we can utilize an active contour model—the snake—from computer vision to host the two networks. The snake, with a DCN "brain," moves and learns actively in the parameter space, and locates phase boundaries automatically.

Biological applications of phase-contrast electron microscopy.

PubMed

Nagayama, Kuniaki

2014-01-01

Here, I review the principles and applications of phase-contrast electron microscopy using phase plates. First, I develop the principle of phase contrast based on a minimal model of microscopy, introducing a double Fourier-transform process to mathematically formulate the image formation. Next, I explain four phase-contrast (PC) schemes, defocus PC, Zernike PC, Hilbert differential contrast, and schlieren optics, as image-filtering processes in the context of the minimal model, with particular emphases on the Zernike PC and corresponding Zernike phase plates. Finally, I review applications of Zernike PC cryo-electron microscopy to biological systems such as protein molecules, virus particles, and cells, including single-particle analysis to delineate three-dimensional (3D) structures of protein and virus particles and cryo-electron tomography to reconstruct 3D images of complex protein systems and cells.

Frequency adjustment and synchrony in networks of delayed pulse-coupled oscillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishimura, Joel

2015-01-01

We introduce a system of pulse-coupled oscillators that can change both their phases and frequencies and prove that when there is a separation of time scales between phase and frequency adjustment the system converges to exact synchrony on strongly connected graphs with time delays. The analysis involves decomposing the network into a forest of tree-like structures that capture causality. These results provide a robust method of sensor net synchronization as well as demonstrate a new avenue of possible pulse-coupled oscillator research.

Identification and Modelling of the In-Plane Reinforcement Orientation Variations in a CFRP Laminate Produced by Manual Lay-Up

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davila, Yves; Crouzeix, Laurent; Douchin, Bernard; Collombet, Francis; Grunevald, Yves-Henri

2017-08-01

Reinforcement angle orientation has a significant effect on the mechanical properties of composite materials. This work presents a methodology to introduce variable reinforcement angles into finite element (FE) models of composite structures. The study of reinforcement orientation variations uses meta-models to identify and control a continuous variation across the composite ply. First, the reinforcement angle is measured through image analysis techniques of the composite plies during the lay-up phase. Image analysis results show that variations in the mean ply orientations are between -0.5 and 0.5° with standard deviations ranging between 0.34 and 0.41°. An automatic post-treatment of the images determines the global and local angle variations yielding good agreements visually and numerically between the analysed images and the identified parameters. A composite plate analysed at the end of the cooling phase is presented as a case of study. Here, the variation in residual strains induced by the variability in the reinforcement orientation are up to 28% of the strain field of the homogeneous FE model. The proposed methodology has shown its capabilities to introduce material and geometrical variability into FE analysis of layered composite structures.

Identification and Modelling of the In-Plane Reinforcement Orientation Variations in a CFRP Laminate Produced by Manual Lay-Up

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davila, Yves; Crouzeix, Laurent; Douchin, Bernard; Collombet, Francis; Grunevald, Yves-Henri

2018-06-01

Reinforcement angle orientation has a significant effect on the mechanical properties of composite materials. This work presents a methodology to introduce variable reinforcement angles into finite element (FE) models of composite structures. The study of reinforcement orientation variations uses meta-models to identify and control a continuous variation across the composite ply. First, the reinforcement angle is measured through image analysis techniques of the composite plies during the lay-up phase. Image analysis results show that variations in the mean ply orientations are between -0.5 and 0.5° with standard deviations ranging between 0.34 and 0.41°. An automatic post-treatment of the images determines the global and local angle variations yielding good agreements visually and numerically between the analysed images and the identified parameters. A composite plate analysed at the end of the cooling phase is presented as a case of study. Here, the variation in residual strains induced by the variability in the reinforcement orientation are up to 28% of the strain field of the homogeneous FE model. The proposed methodology has shown its capabilities to introduce material and geometrical variability into FE analysis of layered composite structures.

Evolution and dynamics of a matter creation model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, S.; de Haro, J.; Paliathanasis, A.; Slagter, R. J.

2016-08-01

In a flat Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) geometry, we consider the expansion of the universe powered by the gravitationally induced `adiabatic' matter creation. To demonstrate how matter creation works well with the expanding universe, we have considered a general creation rate and analysed this rate in the framework of dynamical analysis. The dynamical analysis hints the presence of a non-singular universe (without the big bang singularity) with two successive accelerated phases, one at the very early phase of the universe (I.e. inflation), and the other one describes the current accelerating universe, where this early, late accelerated phases are associated with an unstable fixed point (I.e. repeller) and a stable fixed point (attractor), respectively. We have described this phenomena by analytic solutions of the Hubble function and the scale factor of the FLRW universe. Using Jacobi last multiplier method, we have found a Lagrangian for this matter creation rate describing this scenario of the universe. To match with our early physics results, we introduce an equivalent dynamics driven by a single scalar field, discuss the associated observable parameters and compare them with the latest Planck data sets. Finally, introducing the teleparallel modified gravity, we have established an equivalent gravitational theory in the framework of matter creation.

[Multi-channel in vivo recording techniques: analysis of phase coupling between spikes and rhythmic oscillations of local field potentials].

PubMed

Wang, Ce-Qun; Chen, Qiang; Zhang, Lu; Xu, Jia-Min; Lin, Long-Nian

2014-12-25

The purpose of this article is to introduce the measurements of phase coupling between spikes and rhythmic oscillations of local field potentials (LFPs). Multi-channel in vivo recording techniques allow us to record ensemble neuronal activity and LFPs simultaneously from the same sites in the brain. Neuronal activity is generally characterized by temporal spike sequences, while LFPs contain oscillatory rhythms in different frequency ranges. Phase coupling analysis can reveal the temporal relationships between neuronal firing and LFP rhythms. As the first step, the instantaneous phase of LFP rhythms can be calculated using Hilbert transform, and then for each time-stamped spike occurred during an oscillatory epoch, we marked instantaneous phase of the LFP at that time stamp. Finally, the phase relationships between the neuronal firing and LFP rhythms were determined by examining the distribution of the firing phase. Phase-locked spikes are revealed by the non-random distribution of spike phase. Theta phase precession is a unique phase relationship between neuronal firing and LFPs, which is one of the basic features of hippocampal place cells. Place cells show rhythmic burst firing following theta oscillation within a place field. And phase precession refers to that rhythmic burst firing shifted in a systematic way during traversal of the field, moving progressively forward on each theta cycle. This relation between phase and position can be described by a linear model, and phase precession is commonly quantified with a circular-linear coefficient. Phase coupling analysis helps us to better understand the temporal information coding between neuronal firing and LFPs.

Adaptive focusing of laser radiation onto a rough reflecting surface through the turbulent and nonlinear atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vorontsov, Mikhail A.; Kolosov, Valeriy V.

2004-12-01

Target-in-the-loop (TIL) wave propagation geometry represents perhaps the most challenging case for adaptive optics applications that are related with maximization of irradiance power density on extended remotely located surfaces in the presence of dynamically changing refractive index inhomogeneities in the propagation medium. We introduce a TIL propagation model that uses a combination of the parabolic equation describing outgoing wave propagation, and the equation describing evolution of the mutual coherence function (MCF) for the backscattered (returned) wave. The resulting evolution equation for the MCF is further simplified by the use of the smooth refractive index approximation. This approximation enables derivation of the transport equation for the returned wave brightness function, analyzed here using method characteristics (brightness function trajectories). The equations for the brightness function trajectories (ray equations) can be efficiently integrated numerically. We also consider wavefront sensors that perform sensing of speckle-averaged characteristics of the wavefront phase (TIL sensors). Analysis of the wavefront phase reconstructed from Shack-Hartmann TIL sensor measurements shows that an extended target introduces a phase modulation (target-induced phase) that cannot be easily separated from the atmospheric turbulence-related phase aberrations. We also show that wavefront sensing results depend on the extended target shape, surface roughness, and the outgoing beam intensity distribution on the target surface.

Biparticle fluidized bed reactor

DOEpatents

Scott, Charles D.; Marasco, Joseph A.

1996-01-01

A fluidized bed reactor system which utilizes a fluid phase, a retained fluidized primary particulate phase, and a migratory second particulate phase. The primary particulate phase is a particle such as a gel bead containing an immobilized biocatalyst. The secondary and tertiary particulate phases, continuously introduced and removed simultaneously in the cocurrent and countercurrent mode, act in a role such as a sorbent to continuously remove a product or by-product constituent from the fluid phase. Means for introducing and removing the sorbent phases include feed screw mechanisms and multivane slurry valves.

Biparticle fluidized bed reactor

DOEpatents

Scott, C.D.; Marasco, J.A.

1996-02-27

A fluidized bed reactor system is described which utilizes a fluid phase, a retained fluidized primary particulate phase, and a migratory second particulate phase. The primary particulate phase is a particle such as a gel bead containing an immobilized biocatalyst. The secondary and tertiary particulate phases, continuously introduced and removed simultaneously in the cocurrent and countercurrent mode, act in a role such as a sorbent to continuously remove a product or by-product constituent from the fluid phase. Means for introducing and removing the sorbent phases include feed screw mechanisms and multivane slurry valves. 3 figs.

Dynamics of essential collective motions in proteins: Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stepanova, Maria

2007-11-01

A general theoretical background is introduced for characterization of conformational motions in protein molecules, and for building reduced coarse-grained models of proteins, based on the statistical analysis of their phase trajectories. Using the projection operator technique, a system of coupled generalized Langevin equations is derived for essential collective coordinates, which are generated by principal component analysis of molecular dynamic trajectories. The number of essential degrees of freedom is not limited in the theory. An explicit analytic relation is established between the generalized Langevin equation for essential collective coordinates and that for the all-atom phase trajectory projected onto the subspace of essential collective degrees of freedom. The theory introduced is applied to identify correlated dynamic domains in a macromolecule and to construct coarse-grained models representing the conformational motions in a protein through a few interacting domains embedded in a dissipative medium. A rigorous theoretical background is provided for identification of dynamic correlated domains in a macromolecule. Examples of domain identification in protein G are given and employed to interpret NMR experiments. Challenges and potential outcomes of the theory are discussed.

Phase shifting diffraction interferometer

DOEpatents

Sommargren, Gary E.

1996-01-01

An interferometer which has the capability of measuring optical elements and systems with an accuracy of .lambda./1000 where .lambda. is the wavelength of visible light. Whereas current interferometers employ a reference surface, which inherently limits the accuracy of the measurement to about .lambda./50, this interferometer uses an essentially perfect spherical reference wavefront generated by the fundamental process of diffraction. This interferometer is adjustable to give unity fringe visibility, which maximizes the signal-to-noise, and has the means to introduce a controlled prescribed relative phase shift between the reference wavefront and the wavefront from the optics under test, which permits analysis of the interference fringe pattern using standard phase extraction algorithms.

Phase shifting diffraction interferometer

DOEpatents

Sommargren, G.E.

1996-08-29

An interferometer which has the capability of measuring optical elements and systems with an accuracy of {lambda}/1000 where {lambda} is the wavelength of visible light. Whereas current interferometers employ a reference surface, which inherently limits the accuracy of the measurement to about {lambda}/50, this interferometer uses an essentially perfect spherical reference wavefront generated by the fundamental process of diffraction. This interferometer is adjustable to give unity fringe visibility, which maximizes the signal-to-noise, and has the means to introduce a controlled prescribed relative phase shift between the reference wavefront and the wavefront from the optics under test, which permits analysis of the interference fringe pattern using standard phase extraction algorithms. 8 figs.

Microminiature gas chromatograph

DOEpatents

Yu, Conrad M.

1996-01-01

A microminiature gas chromatograph (.mu.GC) comprising a least one silicon wafer, a gas injector, a column, and a detector. The gas injector has a normally closed valve for introducing a mobile phase including a sample gas in a carrier gas. The valve is fully disposed in the silicon wafer(s). The column is a microcapillary in silicon crystal with a stationary phase and is mechanically connected to receive the mobile phase from the gas injector for the molecular separation of compounds in the sample gas. The detector is mechanically connected to the column for the analysis of the separated compounds of sample gas with electronic means, e.g., ion cell, field emitter and PIN diode.

Adaptive phase extraction: incorporating the Gabor transform in the matching pursuit algorithm.

PubMed

Wacker, Matthias; Witte, Herbert

2011-10-01

Short-time Fourier transform (STFT), Gabor transform (GT), wavelet transform (WT), and the Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD) are just some examples of time-frequency analysis methods which are frequently applied in biomedical signal analysis. However, all of these methods have their individual drawbacks. The STFT, GT, and WT have a time-frequency resolution that is determined by algorithm parameters and the WVD is contaminated by cross terms. In 1993, Mallat and Zhang introduced the matching pursuit (MP) algorithm that decomposes a signal into a sum of atoms and uses a cross-term free pseudo-WVD to generate a data-adaptive power distribution in the time-frequency space. Thus, it solved some of the problems of the GT and WT but lacks phase information that is crucial e.g., for synchronization analysis. We introduce a new time-frequency analysis method that combines the MP with a pseudo-GT. Therefore, the signal is decomposed into a set of Gabor atoms. Afterward, each atom is analyzed with a Gabor analysis, where the time-domain gaussian window of the analysis matches that of the specific atom envelope. A superposition of the single time-frequency planes gives the final result. This is the first time that a complete analysis of the complex time-frequency plane can be performed in a fully data-adaptive and frequency-selective manner. We demonstrate the capabilities of our approach on a simulation and on real-life magnetoencephalogram data.

Ultrasound beam transmission using a discretely orthogonal Gaussian aperture basis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberts, R. A.

2018-04-01

Work is reported on development of a computational model for ultrasound beam transmission at an arbitrary geometry transmission interface for generally anisotropic materials. The work addresses problems encountered when the fundamental assumptions of ray theory do not hold, thereby introducing errors into ray-theory-based transmission models. Specifically, problems occur when the asymptotic integral analysis underlying ray theory encounters multiple stationary phase points in close proximity, due to focusing caused by concavity on either the entry surface or a material slowness surface. The approach presented here projects integrands over both the transducer aperture and the entry surface beam footprint onto a Gaussian-derived basis set, thereby distributing the integral over a summation of second-order phase integrals which are amenable to single stationary phase point analysis. Significantly, convergence is assured provided a sufficiently fine distribution of basis functions is used.

Improving Student Understanding of Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis via GC/MS Using a Rapid SPME-Based Method for Determination of Trihalomethanes in Drinking Water

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Shu Rong; Palmer, Peter T.

2017-01-01

This paper describes a method for determination of trihalomethanes (THMs) in drinking water via solid-phase microextraction (SPME) GC/MS as a means to develop and improve student understanding of the use of GC/MS for qualitative and quantitative analysis. In the classroom, students are introduced to SPME, GC/MS instrumentation, and the use of MS…

Structure analysis of BaCe{sub 0.8}Y{sub 0.2}O{sub 3−δ} in dry and wet atmospheres by high-temperature X-ray diffraction measurement

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

Han, Donglin, E-mail: han.donglin.8n@kyoto-u.ac.jp; Majima, Masatoshi; Uda, Tetsuya, E-mail: materials_process@aqua.mtl.kyoto-u.ac.jp

2013-09-15

High temperature X-ray diffraction measurements were performed under dry and wet atmospheres to investigate phase behavior of BaCe{sub 0.8}Y{sub 0.2}O{sub 3−δ} (BCY20). In the temperature range of 30–400 °C, BCY20 was identified to be rhombohedral and monoclinic structures in dry and wet atmospheres, respectively. Larger lattice volumes were obtained in a wet atmosphere due to a chemical expansion induced by water incorporation. A gradual change in diffraction peak shape due to a phase transformation from rhombohedral to monoclinic was observed at 300 °C when moisture was introduced into the atmosphere. These results indicated clearly the dependence of phase behavior ofmore » BCY20 on partial pressure of water vapor in atmosphere. - Graphical abstract: A BaCe{sub 0.8}Y{sub 0.2}O{sub 3−δ} rhombohedral phase transited to a monoclinic phase at 300 °C when moisture was introduced into the atmosphere. Display Omitted - Highlights: • Different structures for hydrated and dehydrated BaCe{sub 0.8}Y{sub 0.2}O{sub 3−δ} (BCY20). • Slow phase transition from rhombohedral to monoclinic at 300 °C in wet atmosphere. • Chemical expansion of BCY20 in wet atmosphere. • Importance of considering moisture when discussing phase behavior of BCY20.« less

Qualitative analysis of MTEM response using instantaneous attributes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fayemi, Olalekan; Di, Qingyun

2017-11-01

This paper introduces new technique for qualitative analysis of multi-transient electromagnetic (MTEM) earth impulse response over complex geological structures. Instantaneous phase and frequency attributes were used in place of the conventional common offset section for improved qualitative interpretation of MTEM data by obtaining more detailed information from the earth impulse response. The instantaneous attributes were used to describe the lateral variation in subsurface resistivity and the visible geological structure with respect to given offsets. Instantaneous phase attribute was obtained by converting the impulse response into a complex form using the Hilbert transform. Conversely, the polynomial phase difference (PPD) estimator was favored over the center finite difference (CFD) approximation method in calculating the instantaneous frequency attribute because it is computationally efficient and has the ability to give a smooth variation of the instantaneous frequency over a common offset section. The observed results from the instantaneous attributes were in good agreement with both the subsurface model used and the apparent resistivity section obtained from the MTEM earth impulse response. Hence, this study confirms the capability of both instantaneous phase and frequency attributes as highly effective tools for MTEM qualitative analysis.

Development of Michelson interferometer based spatial phase-shift digital shearography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Xin

Digital shearography is a non-contact, full field, optical measurement method, which has the capability of directly measuring the gradient of deformation. For high measurement sensitivity, phase evaluation method has to be introduced into digital shearography by phase-shift technique. Catalog by phase-shift method, digital phase-shift shearography can be divided into Temporal Phase-Shift Digital Shearography (TPS-DS) and Spatial Phase-Shift Digital Shearography (SPS-DS). TPS-DS is the most widely used phase-shift shearography system, due to its simple algorithm, easy operation and good phase-map quality. However, the application of TPS-DS is only limited in static/step-by-step loading measurement situation, due to its multi-step shifting process. In order to measure the strain under dynamic/continuous loading situation, a SPS-DS system has to be developed. This dissertation aims to develop a series of Michelson Interferometer based SPS-DS measurement methods to achieve the strain measurement by using only a single pair of speckle pattern images. The Michelson Interferometer based SPS-DS systems utilize special designed optical setup to introduce extra carrier frequency into the laser wavefront. The phase information corresponds to the strain field can be separated on the Fourier domain using a Fourier Transform and can further be evaluated with a Windowed Inverse Fourier Transform. With different optical setups and carrier frequency arrangements, the Michelson Interferometer based SPS-DS method is capable to achieve a variety of measurement tasks using only single pair of speckle pattern images. Catalog by the aimed measurand, these capable measurement tasks can be divided into five categories: 1) measurement of out-of-plane strain field with small shearing amount; 2) measurement of relative out-of-plane deformation field with big shearing amount; 3) simultaneous measurement of relative out-of-plane deformation field and deformation gradient field by using multiple carrier frequencies; 4) simultaneous measurement of two directional strain field using dual measurement channels 5) measurement of pure in-plane strain and pure out-of-plane strain with multiple carrier frequencies. The basic theory, optical path analysis, preliminary studies, results analysis and research plan are shown in detail in this dissertation.

Studies in astronomical time series analysis. IV - Modeling chaotic and random processes with linear filters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scargle, Jeffrey D.

1990-01-01

While chaos arises only in nonlinear systems, standard linear time series models are nevertheless useful for analyzing data from chaotic processes. This paper introduces such a model, the chaotic moving average. This time-domain model is based on the theorem that any chaotic process can be represented as the convolution of a linear filter with an uncorrelated process called the chaotic innovation. A technique, minimum phase-volume deconvolution, is introduced to estimate the filter and innovation. The algorithm measures the quality of a model using the volume covered by the phase-portrait of the innovation process. Experiments on synthetic data demonstrate that the algorithm accurately recovers the parameters of simple chaotic processes. Though tailored for chaos, the algorithm can detect both chaos and randomness, distinguish them from each other, and separate them if both are present. It can also recover nonminimum-delay pulse shapes in non-Gaussian processes, both random and chaotic.

Relationships between autofocus methods for SAR and self-survey techniques for SONAR. [Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)

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

Wahl, D.E.; Jakowatz, C.V. Jr.; Ghiglia, D.C.

1991-01-01

Autofocus methods in SAR and self-survey techniques in SONAR have a common mathematical basis in that they both involve estimation and correction of phase errors introduced by sensor position uncertainties. Time delay estimation and correlation methods have been shown to be effective in solving the self-survey problem for towed SONAR arrays. Since it can be shown that platform motion errors introduce similar time-delay estimation problems in SAR imaging, the question arises as to whether such techniques could be effectively employed for autofocus of SAR imagery. With a simple mathematical model for motion errors in SAR, we will show why suchmore » correlation/time-delay techniques are not nearly as effective as established SAR autofocus algorithms such as phase gradient autofocus or sub-aperture based methods. This analysis forms an important bridge between signal processing methodologies for SAR and SONAR. 5 refs., 4 figs.« less

Development and Characterization of Sr-Containing Glass-Ceramic Composites Based on Biogenic Hydroxyapatite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuda, Oleksii; Pinchuk, Nataliia; Bykov, Oleksandr; Tomila, Tamara; Olifan, Olena; Golovkova, Maryna

2018-05-01

Composite materials based on hydroxyapatite are widely used for bone tissue engineering. There is evidence of a positive effect of the presence of strontium in osteoplastic materials in the case of a Ca/Sr certain ratio. To examine the effect of the addition of Sr2+, a study was made by introducing it into the material composition based on biogenic hydroxyapatite and sodium borosilicate glass (50/50% wt.). The strontium was introduced into the composition in an amount of 1% wt. Composite materials were obtained at final sintering temperatures of 780 °C and a sintering time of 1 h. The effect of additions of glass phase and strontium affect changes in the crystal lattice of biogenic hydroxyapatite was investigated with the help of X-ray phase analysis, IR spectroscopy. Also the behavior of composites in vitro in physiological solution was studied.

Inference of Time-Evolving Coupled Dynamical Systems in the Presence of Noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stankovski, Tomislav; Duggento, Andrea; McClintock, Peter V. E.; Stefanovska, Aneta

2012-07-01

A new method is introduced for analysis of interactions between time-dependent coupled oscillators, based on the signals they generate. It distinguishes unsynchronized dynamics from noise-induced phase slips and enables the evolution of the coupling functions and other parameters to be followed. It is based on phase dynamics, with Bayesian inference of the time-evolving parameters achieved by shaping the prior densities to incorporate knowledge of previous samples. The method is tested numerically and applied to reveal and quantify the time-varying nature of cardiorespiratory interactions.

Dense grid sibling frames with linear phase filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdelnour, Farras

2013-09-01

We introduce new 5-band dyadic sibling frames with dense time-frequency grid. Given a lowpass filter satisfying certain conditions, the remaining filters are obtained using spectral factorization. The analysis and synthesis filterbanks share the same lowpass and bandpass filters but have different and oversampled highpass filters. This leads to wavelets approximating shift-invariance. The filters are FIR, have linear phase, and the resulting wavelets have vanishing moments. The filters are designed using spectral factorization method. The proposed method leads to smooth limit functions with higher approximation order, and computationally stable filterbanks.

Using time-frequency analysis to determine time-resolved detonation velocity with microwave interferometry.

PubMed

Kittell, David E; Mares, Jesus O; Son, Steven F

2015-04-01

Two time-frequency analysis methods based on the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and continuous wavelet transform (CWT) were used to determine time-resolved detonation velocities with microwave interferometry (MI). The results were directly compared to well-established analysis techniques consisting of a peak-picking routine as well as a phase unwrapping method (i.e., quadrature analysis). The comparison is conducted on experimental data consisting of transient detonation phenomena observed in triaminotrinitrobenzene and ammonium nitrate-urea explosives, representing high and low quality MI signals, respectively. Time-frequency analysis proved much more capable of extracting useful and highly resolved velocity information from low quality signals than the phase unwrapping and peak-picking methods. Additionally, control of the time-frequency methods is mainly constrained to a single parameter which allows for a highly unbiased analysis method to extract velocity information. In contrast, the phase unwrapping technique introduces user based variability while the peak-picking technique does not achieve a highly resolved velocity result. Both STFT and CWT methods are proposed as improved additions to the analysis methods applied to MI detonation experiments, and may be useful in similar applications.

The Iron-Iron Carbide Phase Diagram: A Practical Guide to Some Descriptive Solid State Chemistry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Gary J.; Leighly, H. P., Jr.

1982-01-01

Discusses the solid state chemistry of iron and steel in terms of the iron-iron carbide phase diagram. Suggests that this is an excellent way of introducing the phase diagram (equilibrium diagram) to undergraduate students while at the same time introducing the descriptive solid state chemistry of iron and steel. (Author/JN)

Characterizing the correlations between local phase fractions of gas-liquid two-phase flow with wire-mesh sensor.

PubMed

Tan, C; Liu, W L; Dong, F

2016-06-28

Understanding of flow patterns and their transitions is significant to uncover the flow mechanics of two-phase flow. The local phase distribution and its fluctuations contain rich information regarding the flow structures. A wire-mesh sensor (WMS) was used to study the local phase fluctuations of horizontal gas-liquid two-phase flow, which was verified through comparing the reconstructed three-dimensional flow structure with photographs taken during the experiments. Each crossing point of the WMS is treated as a node, so the measurement on each node is the phase fraction in this local area. An undirected and unweighted flow pattern network was established based on connections that are formed by cross-correlating the time series of each node under different flow patterns. The structure of the flow pattern network reveals the relationship of the phase fluctuations at each node during flow pattern transition, which is then quantified by introducing the topological index of the complex network. The proposed analysis method using the WMS not only provides three-dimensional visualizations of the gas-liquid two-phase flow, but is also a thorough analysis for the structure of flow patterns and the characteristics of flow pattern transition. This article is part of the themed issue 'Supersensing through industrial process tomography'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Characterizing the correlations between local phase fractions of gas–liquid two-phase flow with wire-mesh sensor

PubMed Central

Liu, W. L.; Dong, F.

2016-01-01

Understanding of flow patterns and their transitions is significant to uncover the flow mechanics of two-phase flow. The local phase distribution and its fluctuations contain rich information regarding the flow structures. A wire-mesh sensor (WMS) was used to study the local phase fluctuations of horizontal gas–liquid two-phase flow, which was verified through comparing the reconstructed three-dimensional flow structure with photographs taken during the experiments. Each crossing point of the WMS is treated as a node, so the measurement on each node is the phase fraction in this local area. An undirected and unweighted flow pattern network was established based on connections that are formed by cross-correlating the time series of each node under different flow patterns. The structure of the flow pattern network reveals the relationship of the phase fluctuations at each node during flow pattern transition, which is then quantified by introducing the topological index of the complex network. The proposed analysis method using the WMS not only provides three-dimensional visualizations of the gas–liquid two-phase flow, but is also a thorough analysis for the structure of flow patterns and the characteristics of flow pattern transition. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Supersensing through industrial process tomography’. PMID:27185959

An Undergraduate Field Experiment for Measuring Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke in Indoor Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marsella, Adam M.; Huang, Jiping; Ellis, David A.; Mabury, Scott A.

1999-12-01

An undergraduate field experiment is described for the measurement of nicotine and various carbonyl compounds arising from environmental tobacco smoke. Students are introduced to practical techniques in HPLC-UV and GC-NPD. Also introduced are current methods in personal air sampling using small and portable field sampling pumps. Carbonyls (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, and acetone) are sampled with silica solid-phase extraction cartridges impregnated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine, eluted, and analyzed by HPLC-UV (360-380 nm). Nicotine is sampled using XAD-2 cartridges, extracted, and analyzed by GC-NPD. Students gain an appreciation for the problems associated with measuring ubiquitous pollutants such as formaldehyde, as well as the issue of chromatographic peak resolution when trying to resolve closely eluting peaks. By allowing the students to formulate their own hypothesis and sampling scheme, critical thinking and problem solving are developed in addition to analysis skills. As an experiment in analytical environmental chemistry, this laboratory introduces the application of field sampling and analysis techniques to the undergraduate lab.

Lindemann histograms as a new method to analyse nano-patterns and phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makey, Ghaith; Ilday, Serim; Tokel, Onur; Ibrahim, Muhamet; Yavuz, Ozgun; Pavlov, Ihor; Gulseren, Oguz; Ilday, Omer

The detection, observation, and analysis of material phases and atomistic patterns are of great importance for understanding systems exhibiting both equilibrium and far-from-equilibrium dynamics. As such, there is intense research on phase transitions and pattern dynamics in soft matter, statistical and nonlinear physics, and polymer physics. In order to identify phases and nano-patterns, the pair correlation function is commonly used. However, this approach is limited in terms of recognizing competing patterns in dynamic systems, and lacks visualisation capabilities. In order to solve these limitations, we introduce Lindemann histogram quantification as an alternative method to analyse solid, liquid, and gas phases, along with hexagonal, square, and amorphous nano-pattern symmetries. We show that the proposed approach based on Lindemann parameter calculated per particle maps local number densities to material phase or particles pattern. We apply the Lindemann histogram method on dynamical colloidal self-assembly experimental data and identify competing patterns.

Influence of beam-loaded effects on phase-locking in the high power microwave oscillator

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

Li, Zhenghong; Zhou, Zhigang; Qiu, Rong

2014-06-15

Owing to the power limitation of a single device, much more attentions are focused on developing high power microwave (HPM) oscillators that can be phase-locked to the external signal in the recent HPM researches. Although the phase-locking is proved to be feasible in the conventional devices (such as magnetrons), challenges still exist in the HPM devices due to beam-loaded effects, which are more obvious in HPM devices because of its high current and the low Q-factor of the device. A simple structured HPM oscillator (Bitron) is introduced to study such effects on the phase-locking in the HPM oscillator. The self-consistentmore » analysis is carried out to study such effects together with particle in cell simulations. Then the modified Adler equation is established for the phase-locking HPM oscillator. Finally, conditions for the phase-locking in the HPM oscillator are given.« less

An Experiment to Introduce Mass Transfer Concepts Using a Commercial Hollow Fiber Blood Oxygenator

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McIver, Keith; Merrill, Thomas; Farrell, Stephanie

2017-01-01

A commercial hollow fiber blood oxygenation laboratory experiment was used to introduce lower level engineering students to mass balances in a two-phase system. Using measured values of concentration and flow rate, students calculated the rate of mass transfer from the gas phase and into the liquid phase, and compared the two values to determine…

Analyzing lease/purchase options.

PubMed

Ciolek, D; Mace, J D

1998-01-01

The authors' previous article, "Equipment Acquisition Using Various Forms of Leasing," covers information necessary for selecting among the different kinds of leases. This article explains how to reach a proper financial analysis, preferably using two phases. Using a representative example, the article guides the reader through the first phase and introduces the elements needing review in the second phase. Key elements include pretax aftertax and cash flow analyses. Different organizations use different yardsticks to measure the financials of a transaction, but in general, cash is king. Therefore, the most widely used comparison is the purchase versus lease IRR (internal rate of return) produced by measuring the cash flow of the purchase case compared to the cash flow of the lease case.

Microminiature gas chromatograph

DOEpatents

Yu, C.M.

1996-12-10

A microminiature gas chromatograph ({mu}GC) comprising a least one silicon wafer, a gas injector, a column, and a detector. The gas injector has a normally closed valve for introducing a mobile phase including a sample gas in a carrier gas. The valve is fully disposed in the silicon wafer(s). The column is a microcapillary in silicon crystal with a stationary phase and is mechanically connected to receive the mobile phase from the gas injector for the molecular separation of compounds in the sample gas. The detector is mechanically connected to the column for the analysis of the separated compounds of sample gas with electronic means, e.g., ion cell, field emitter and PIN diode. 7 figs.

Complete Hamiltonian analysis of cosmological perturbations at all orders II: non-canonical scalar field

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

Nandi, Debottam; Shankaranarayanan, S., E-mail: debottam@iisertvm.ac.in, E-mail: shanki@iisertvm.ac.in

2016-10-01

In this work, we present a consistent Hamiltonian analysis of cosmological perturbations for generalized non-canonical scalar fields. In order to do so, we introduce a new phase-space variable that is uniquely defined for different non-canonical scalar fields. We also show that this is the simplest and efficient way of expressing the Hamiltonian. We extend the Hamiltonian approach of [1] to non-canonical scalar field and obtain an unique expression of speed of sound in terms of phase-space variable. In order to invert generalized phase-space Hamilton's equations to Euler-Lagrange equations of motion, we prescribe a general inversion formulae and show that ourmore » approach for non-canonical scalar field is consistent. We also obtain the third and fourth order interaction Hamiltonian for generalized non-canonical scalar fields and briefly discuss the extension of our method to generalized Galilean scalar fields.« less

Automated thermal mapping techniques using chromatic image analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buck, Gregory M.

1989-01-01

Thermal imaging techniques are introduced using a chromatic image analysis system and temperature sensitive coatings. These techniques are used for thermal mapping and surface heat transfer measurements on aerothermodynamic test models in hypersonic wind tunnels. Measurements are made on complex vehicle configurations in a timely manner and at minimal expense. The image analysis system uses separate wavelength filtered images to analyze surface spectral intensity data. The system was initially developed for quantitative surface temperature mapping using two-color thermographic phosphors but was found useful in interpreting phase change paint and liquid crystal data as well.

Recent progress of chiral stationary phases for separation of enantiomers in gas chromatography.

PubMed

Xie, Sheng-Ming; Yuan, Li-Ming

2017-01-01

Chromatography techniques based on chiral stationary phases are widely used for the separation of enantiomers. In particular, gas chromatography has developed rapidly in recent years due to its merits such as fast analysis speed, lower consumption of stationary phases and analytes, higher column efficiency, making it a better choice for chiral separation in diverse industries. This article summarizes recent progress of novel chiral stationary phases based on cyclofructan derivatives and chiral porous materials including chiral metal-organic frameworks, chiral porous organic frameworks, chiral inorganic mesoporous materials, and chiral porous organic cages in gas chromatography, covering original research papers published since 2010. The chiral recognition properties and mechanisms of separation toward enantiomers are also introduced. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Analysis of cross-correlations in electroencephalogram signals as an approach to proactive diagnosis of schizophrenia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Timashev, Serge F.; Panischev, Oleg Yu.; Polyakov, Yuriy S.; Demin, Sergey A.; Kaplan, Alexander Ya.

2012-02-01

We apply flicker-noise spectroscopy (FNS), a time series analysis method operating on structure functions and power spectrum estimates, to study the clinical electroencephalogram (EEG) signals recorded in children/adolescents (11 to 14 years of age) with diagnosed schizophrenia-spectrum symptoms at the National Center for Psychiatric Health (NCPH) of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. The EEG signals for these subjects were compared with the signals for a control sample of chronically depressed children/adolescents. The purpose of the study is to look for diagnostic signs of subjects' susceptibility to schizophrenia in the FNS parameters for specific electrodes and cross-correlations between the signals simultaneously measured at different points on the scalp. Our analysis of EEG signals from scalp-mounted electrodes at locations F3 and F4, which are symmetrically positioned in the left and right frontal areas of cerebral cortex, respectively, demonstrates an essential role of frequency-phase synchronization, a phenomenon representing specific correlations between the characteristic frequencies and phases of excitations in the brain. We introduce quantitative measures of frequency-phase synchronization and systematize the values of FNS parameters for the EEG data. The comparison of our results with the medical diagnoses for 84 subjects performed at NCPH makes it possible to group the EEG signals into 4 categories corresponding to different risk levels of subjects' susceptibility to schizophrenia. We suggest that the introduced quantitative characteristics and classification of cross-correlations may be used for the diagnosis of schizophrenia at the early stages of its development.

Tunable Weyl and Dirac states in the nonsymmorphic compound CeSbTe.

PubMed

Schoop, Leslie M; Topp, Andreas; Lippmann, Judith; Orlandi, Fabio; Müchler, Lukas; Vergniory, Maia G; Sun, Yan; Rost, Andreas W; Duppel, Viola; Krivenkov, Maxim; Sheoran, Shweta; Manuel, Pascal; Varykhalov, Andrei; Yan, Binghai; Kremer, Reinhard K; Ast, Christian R; Lotsch, Bettina V

2018-02-01

Recent interest in topological semimetals has led to the proposal of many new topological phases that can be realized in real materials. Next to Dirac and Weyl systems, these include more exotic phases based on manifold band degeneracies in the bulk electronic structure. The exotic states in topological semimetals are usually protected by some sort of crystal symmetry, and the introduction of magnetic order can influence these states by breaking time-reversal symmetry. We show that we can realize a rich variety of different topological semimetal states in a single material, CeSbTe. This compound can exhibit different types of magnetic order that can be accessed easily by applying a small field. Therefore, it allows for tuning the electronic structure and can drive it through a manifold of topologically distinct phases, such as the first nonsymmorphic magnetic topological phase with an eightfold band crossing at a high-symmetry point. Our experimental results are backed by a full magnetic group theory analysis and ab initio calculations. This discovery introduces a realistic and promising platform for studying the interplay of magnetism and topology. We also show that we can generally expand the numbers of space groups that allow for high-order band degeneracies by introducing antiferromagnetic order.

Equilibrium properties and phase diagram of two-dimensional Yukawa systems

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

Hartmann, P.; Donko, Z.; Kutasi, K.

Properties of two-dimensional strongly coupled Yukawa systems are explored through molecular dynamics simulations. An effective coupling coefficient {gamma}{sup *} for the liquid phase is introduced on the basis of the constancy of the first peak amplitude of the pair-correlation functions. Thermodynamic quantities are calculated from the pair-correlation function. The solid-liquid transition of the system is investigated through the analysis of the bond-angular order parameter. The static structure function satisfies consistency relation, attesting to the reliability of the computational method. The response is shown to be governed by the correlational part of the inverse compressibility. An analysis of the velocity autocorrelationmore » demonstrates that this latter also exhibits a universal behavior.« less

Wave-optics uncertainty propagation and regression-based bias model in GNSS radio occultation bending angle retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorbunov, Michael E.; Kirchengast, Gottfried

2018-01-01

A new reference occultation processing system (rOPS) will include a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) retrieval chain with integrated uncertainty propagation. In this paper, we focus on wave-optics bending angle (BA) retrieval in the lower troposphere and introduce (1) an empirically estimated boundary layer bias (BLB) model then employed to reduce the systematic uncertainty of excess phases and bending angles in about the lowest 2 km of the troposphere and (2) the estimation of (residual) systematic uncertainties and their propagation together with random uncertainties from excess phase to bending angle profiles. Our BLB model describes the estimated bias of the excess phase transferred from the estimated bias of the bending angle, for which the model is built, informed by analyzing refractivity fluctuation statistics shown to induce such biases. The model is derived from regression analysis using a large ensemble of Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) RO observations and concurrent European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analysis fields. It is formulated in terms of predictors and adaptive functions (powers and cross products of predictors), where we use six main predictors derived from observations: impact altitude, latitude, bending angle and its standard deviation, canonical transform (CT) amplitude, and its fluctuation index. Based on an ensemble of test days, independent of the days of data used for the regression analysis to establish the BLB model, we find the model very effective for bias reduction and capable of reducing bending angle and corresponding refractivity biases by about a factor of 5. The estimated residual systematic uncertainty, after the BLB profile subtraction, is lower bounded by the uncertainty from the (indirect) use of ECMWF analysis fields but is significantly lower than the systematic uncertainty without BLB correction. The systematic and random uncertainties are propagated from excess phase to bending angle profiles, using a perturbation approach and the wave-optical method recently introduced by Gorbunov and Kirchengast (2015), starting with estimated excess phase uncertainties. The results are encouraging and this uncertainty propagation approach combined with BLB correction enables a robust reduction and quantification of the uncertainties of excess phases and bending angles in the lower troposphere.

Advanced complex trait analysis.

PubMed

Gray, A; Stewart, I; Tenesa, A

2012-12-01

The Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA) software package can quantify the contribution of genetic variation to phenotypic variation for complex traits. However, as those datasets of interest continue to increase in size, GCTA becomes increasingly computationally prohibitive. We present an adapted version, Advanced Complex Trait Analysis (ACTA), demonstrating dramatically improved performance. We restructure the genetic relationship matrix (GRM) estimation phase of the code and introduce the highly optimized parallel Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms (BLAS) library combined with manual parallelization and optimization. We introduce the Linear Algebra PACKage (LAPACK) library into the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) analysis stage. For a test case with 8999 individuals and 279,435 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we reduce the total runtime, using a compute node with two multi-core Intel Nehalem CPUs, from ∼17 h to ∼11 min. The source code is fully available under the GNU Public License, along with Linux binaries. For more information see http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/software-products/acta. a.gray@ed.ac.uk Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Lifting degeneracy in holographic characterization of colloidal particles using multi-color imaging.

PubMed

Ruffner, David B; Cheong, Fook Chiong; Blusewicz, Jaroslaw M; Philips, Laura A

2018-05-14

Micrometer sized particles can be accurately characterized using holographic video microscopy and Lorenz-Mie fitting. In this work, we explore some of the limitations in holographic microscopy and introduce methods for increasing the accuracy of this technique with the use of multiple wavelengths of laser illumination. Large high index particle holograms have near degenerate solutions that can confuse standard fitting algorithms. Using a model based on diffraction from a phase disk, we explain the source of these degeneracies. We introduce multiple color holography as an effective approach to distinguish between degenerate solutions and provide improved accuracy for the holographic analysis of sub-visible colloidal particles.

Analysis of off-axis incoherent digital holographic microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quan, Xiangyu; Matoba, Osamu; Awatsuji, Yasuhiro

2017-05-01

Off-axis incoherent digital holography that enables single-shot three-dimensional (3D) distribution is introduced in the paper. Conventional fluorescence microscopy images 3D fields by sectioning, this prevents instant imaging of fast reactions of living cells. In order to realize digital holography from incoherent light, we adapted common path configuration to achieve the best temporal coherence. And by introducing gratings, we shifted the direction of each light to achieve off-axis interference. Simulations and preliminary experiments using LED light have confirmed the results. We expect to use this method to realize 3D phase imaging and fluorescent imaging at the same time from the same biological sample.

Solid phase pegylation of hemoglobin.

PubMed

Suo, Xiaoyan; Zheng, Chunyang; Yu, Pengzhan; Lu, Xiuling; Ma, Guanghui; Su, Zhiguo

2009-01-01

A solid phase conjugation process was developed for attachment of polyethylene glycol to hemoglobin molecule. Bovine hemoglobin was loaded onto an ion exchange chromatography column and adsorbed by the solid medium. Succinimidyl carbonate mPEG was introduced in the mobile phase after the adsorption. Pegylation took place between the hemoglobin on the solid phase, and the pegylation reagent in the liquid phase. A further elution was carried out to separate the pegylated and the unpegylated protein. Analysis by HPSEC, SDS-PAGE, and MALLS demonstrated that the fractions eluted from the solid phase contained well-defined components. Pegylated hemoglobin with one PEG chain was obtained with the yield of 75%, in comparison to the yield of 30% in the liquid phase pegylation. The P(50) values of the mono-pegylated hemoglobin, prepared with SC-mPEG 5 kDa, 10 kDa and 20 kDa, were 19.97, 20.23 and 20.54 mmHg, which were much closer to the value of red blood cells than that of pegylated hemoglobin prepared with the conventional method.

Retrieval of complex χ(2) parts for quantitative analysis of sum-frequency generation intensity spectra

PubMed Central

Hofmann, Matthias J.; Koelsch, Patrick

2015-01-01

Vibrational sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy has become an established technique for in situ surface analysis. While spectral recording procedures and hardware have been optimized, unique data analysis routines have yet to be established. The SFG intensity is related to probing geometries and properties of the system under investigation such as the absolute square of the second-order susceptibility χ(2)2. A conventional SFG intensity measurement does not grant access to the complex parts of χ(2) unless further assumptions have been made. It is therefore difficult, sometimes impossible, to establish a unique fitting solution for SFG intensity spectra. Recently, interferometric phase-sensitive SFG or heterodyne detection methods have been introduced to measure real and imaginary parts of χ(2) experimentally. Here, we demonstrate that iterative phase-matching between complex spectra retrieved from maximum entropy method analysis and fitting of intensity SFG spectra (iMEMfit) leads to a unique solution for the complex parts of χ(2) and enables quantitative analysis of SFG intensity spectra. A comparison between complex parts retrieved by iMEMfit applied to intensity spectra and phase sensitive experimental data shows excellent agreement between the two methods. PMID:26450297

Bayesian hierarchical models for smoothing in two-phase studies, with application to small area estimation.

PubMed

Ross, Michelle; Wakefield, Jon

2015-10-01

Two-phase study designs are appealing since they allow for the oversampling of rare sub-populations which improves efficiency. In this paper we describe a Bayesian hierarchical model for the analysis of two-phase data. Such a model is particularly appealing in a spatial setting in which random effects are introduced to model between-area variability. In such a situation, one may be interested in estimating regression coefficients or, in the context of small area estimation, in reconstructing the population totals by strata. The efficiency gains of the two-phase sampling scheme are compared to standard approaches using 2011 birth data from the research triangle area of North Carolina. We show that the proposed method can overcome small sample difficulties and improve on existing techniques. We conclude that the two-phase design is an attractive approach for small area estimation.

Selectivity enhancement in photoacoustic gas analysis via phase-sensitive detection at high modulation frequency

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kosterev, Anatoliy (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A method for detecting a target fluid in a fluid sample comprising a first fluid and the target fluid using photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS), comprises a) providing a light source configured to introduce an optical signal having at least one wavelength into the fluid sample; b) modulating the optical signal at a desired modulation frequency such that the optical signal generates an acoustic signal in the fluid sample; c) measuring the acoustic signal in a resonant acoustic detector; and d) using the phase of the acoustic signal to detect the presence of the target fluid.

Phenotypic diversity of diploid and haploid Emiliania huxleyi cells and of cells in different growth phases revealed by comparative metabolomics.

PubMed

Mausz, Michaela A; Pohnert, Georg

2015-01-01

In phytoplankton a high species diversity of microalgae co-exists at a given time. But diversity is not only reflected by the species composition. Within these species different life phases as well as different metabolic states can cause additional diversity. One important example is the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi. Diploid cells play an important role in marine ecosystems since they can form massively abundant algal blooms but in addition the less abundant haploid life phase of E. huxleyi occurs in lower quantities. Both life phases may fulfill different functions in the plankton. We hypothesize that in addition to the functional diversity caused by this life phase transition the growth stage of cells can also influence the metabolic composition and thus the ecological impact of E. huxleyi. Here we introduce a metabolomic survey in dependence of life phases as well as different growth phases to reveal such changes. The comparative metabolomic approach is based on the extraction of intracellular metabolites from intact microalgae, derivatization and analysis by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Automated data processing and statistical analysis using canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP) revealed unique metabolic profiles for each life phase. Concerning the correlations of metabolites to growth phases, complex patterns were observed. As for example the saccharide mannitol showed its highest concentration in the exponential phase, whereas fatty acids were correlated to stationary and sterols to declining phase. These results are indicative for specific ecological roles of these stages of E. huxleyi and are discussed in the context of previous physiological and ecological studies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Symmetry transition via tetravalent impurity and investigations on magnetic properties of Li0.5Fe2.5O4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kounsalye, Jitendra S.; Kharat, Prashant B.; Chavan, Apparao R.; Humbe, Ashok V.; Borade, R. M.; Jadhav, K. M.

2018-04-01

The present study, deals with the phase symmetry transformation of lithium ferrite after introducing tetravalent (Ti4+) impurity. The sol-gel auto combustion technique was adopted for the synthesis of nanoparticle samples with generic chemical formula Li0.5Fe2.5O4 and Li0.55Ti0.10Fe2.35O4. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique for structural analysis. The XRD patterns show the single phase cubic structure without any impurity phase but the P4332 to Fd-3m transformation was observed after introducing Ti4+ impurity. The Nano size of the synthesized particles was confirmed by crystallite size ( 20nm) calculated using Debye-Scherrer's formula. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies shows shifting of band frequencies which reflect the structural changes after tetravalent substitutional impurities. The magnetic properties were studied through pulse field hysteresis loop (M-H loop) technique at room temperature, the M-H loops showdecrease in magnetic properties afternonmagnetic Ti4+ ion substitution. This is attributed to transition of inverse spinel structure of lithium ferrite to random spinel structure.

Sol-gel titania-coated needles for solid phase dynamic extraction-GC/MS analysis of desomorphine and desocodeine.

PubMed

Su, Chi-Ju; Srimurugan, Sankarewaran; Chen, Chinpiao; Shu, Hun-Chi

2011-01-01

Novel sol-gel titania film coated needles for solid-phase dynamic extraction (SPDE)-GC/MS analysis of desomorphine and desocodeine are described. The high thermal stability of titania film permits efficient extraction and analysis of poorly volatile opiate drugs. The influences of sol-gel reaction time, coating layer, extraction and desorption time and temperature on the SPDE needle performance were investigated. The deuterium labeled internal standard was introduced either during the extraction of analyte or directly injected to GC after the extraction process. The latter method was shown to be more sensitive for the analysis of water and urine samples containing opiate drugs. The proposed conditions provided a wide linear range (from 5-5000 ppb), and satisfactory linearity, with R(2) values from 0.9958 to 0.9999, and prominent sensitivity, LOQs (1.0-5.0 ng/g). The sol-gel titania film coated needle with SPDE-GC/MS will be a promising technique for desomorphine and desocodeine analysis in urine.

Synchrony and entrainment properties of robust circadian oscillators

PubMed Central

Bagheri, Neda; Taylor, Stephanie R.; Meeker, Kirsten; Petzold, Linda R.; Doyle, Francis J.

2008-01-01

Systems theoretic tools (i.e. mathematical modelling, control, and feedback design) advance the understanding of robust performance in complex biological networks. We highlight phase entrainment as a key performance measure used to investigate dynamics of a single deterministic circadian oscillator for the purpose of generating insight into the behaviour of a population of (synchronized) oscillators. More specifically, the analysis of phase characteristics may facilitate the identification of appropriate coupling mechanisms for the ensemble of noisy (stochastic) circadian clocks. Phase also serves as a critical control objective to correct mismatch between the biological clock and its environment. Thus, we introduce methods of investigating synchrony and entrainment in both stochastic and deterministic frameworks, and as a property of a single oscillator or population of coupled oscillators. PMID:18426774

Towards the control of the modal energy transfer in transverse mode instabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stihler, Christoph; Jauregui, Cesar; Tünnermann, Andreas; Limpert, Jens

2018-02-01

Thermally-induced refractive index gratings (RIG) in high-power fiber laser systems lead to transverse mode instabilities (TMI) above a certain average power threshold. The effect of TMI is currently the main limitation for the further average power scaling of fiber lasers and amplifiers with nearly diffraction-limited beam quality. In this work we experimentally investigate, for the first time, the growth of the RIG strength by introducing a phase-shift between the RIG and the modal interference pattern in a fiber amplifier. The experiments reveal that the RIG is strong enough to couple energy between different transverse modes even at powers significantly below the TMI threshold, provided that the introduced phase-shift is high enough. This indicates that, as the strength of the RIG further increases with increasing average output power, the RIG becomes more and more sensitive to even small noise-induced phase-shifts, which ultimately trigger TMI. Furthermore, it is shown that a beam cleaning also occurs when a positive phase-shift is introduced, even above the TMI threshold. This finding will pave the way for the development of a new class of mitigation strategies for TMI, which key feature is the control of the introduced phase-shift.

The formation and structure of Fe-Mn-Ni-Si solute clusters and G-phase precipitates in steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, D. J. M.; Burr, P. A.; Middleburgh, S. C.; Whiting, T. M.; Burke, M. G.; Wenman, M. R.

2018-07-01

Solute clustering and G-phase precipitation cause hardening phenomena observed in some low alloy and stainless steels, respectively. Density functional theory was used to investigate the energetic driving force for the formation of these precipitates, capturing temperature effects through analysis of the system's configurational and magnetic entropies. It is shown that enrichment of Mn, Ni and Si is thermodynamically favourable compared to the dilute ferrite matrix of a typical A508 low alloy steel. We predict the ordered G-phase to form preferentially rather than a structure with B2-type ordering when the Fe content of the system falls below 10-18 at. %. The B2 → G-phase transformation is predicted to occur spontaneously when vacancies are introduced into the B2 structure in the absence of Fe.

A Bayesian predictive two-stage design for phase II clinical trials.

PubMed

Sambucini, Valeria

2008-04-15

In this paper, we propose a Bayesian two-stage design for phase II clinical trials, which represents a predictive version of the single threshold design (STD) recently introduced by Tan and Machin. The STD two-stage sample sizes are determined specifying a minimum threshold for the posterior probability that the true response rate exceeds a pre-specified target value and assuming that the observed response rate is slightly higher than the target. Unlike the STD, we do not refer to a fixed experimental outcome, but take into account the uncertainty about future data. In both stages, the design aims to control the probability of getting a large posterior probability that the true response rate exceeds the target value. Such a probability is expressed in terms of prior predictive distributions of the data. The performance of the design is based on the distinction between analysis and design priors, recently introduced in the literature. The properties of the method are studied when all the design parameters vary.

Temporal Genetic Dynamics of an Invasive Species, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), in an Early Phase of Establishment.

PubMed

Yang, Xian-Ming; Lou, Heng; Sun, Jing-Tao; Zhu, Yi-Ming; Xue, Xiao-Feng; Hong, Xiao-Yue

2015-07-03

Many species can successfully colonize new areas despite their propagules having low genetic variation. We assessed whether the decreased genetic diversity could result in temporal fluctuations of genetic parameters of the new populations of an invasive species, western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, using mitochondrial and microsatellite markers. This study was conducted in eight localities from four climate regions in China, where F. occidentalis was introduced in the year 2000 and had lower genetic diversity than its native populations. We also tested the level of genetic differentiation in these introduced populations. The genetic diversity of the samples at different years in the same locality was not significantly different from each other in most localities. FST and STRUCTURE analysis also showed that most temporal population comparisons from the same sites were not significantly differentiated. Our results showed that the invasive populations of F. occidentalis in China can maintain temporal stability in genetic composition at an early phase of establishment despite having lower genetic diversity than in their native range.

Vacuum to Antimatter-Rocket Interstellar Explorer System (VARIES): A Proposed Program for an Interstellar Rendezvous and Return Architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obousy, R.

While interstellar missions have been explored in the literature, one mission architecture has not received much attention, namely the interstellar rendezvous and return mission that could be accomplished on timescales comparable with a working scientist's career. Such a mission would involve an initial boost phase followed by a coasting phase to the target system. Next would be the deceleration and rendezvous phase, which would be followed by a period of scientific data gathering. Finally, there would be a second boost phase, aimed at returning the spacecraft back to the solar system, and subsequent coasting and deceleration phases upon return to our solar system. Such a mission would represent a precursor to a future manned interstellar mission; which in principle could safely return any astronauts back to Earth. In this paper a novel architecture is proposed that would allow for an unmanned interstellar rendezvous and return mission. The approach utilized for the Vacuum to Antimatter-Rocket Interstellar Explorer System (VARIES) would lead to system components and mission approaches that could be utilized for autonomous operation of other deep-space probes. Engineering solutions for such a mission will have a significant impact on future exploration and sample return missions for the outer planets. This paper introduces the general concept, with a mostly qualitative analysis. However, a full research program is introduced, and as this program progresses, more quantitative papers will be released.

Correction of Motion Artifacts From Shuttle Mode Computed Tomography Acquisitions for Body Perfusion Imaging Applications.

PubMed

Ghosh, Payel; Chandler, Adam G; Altinmakas, Emre; Rong, John; Ng, Chaan S

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of shuttle-mode computed tomography (CT) technology for body perfusion applications by quantitatively assessing and correcting motion artifacts. Noncontrast shuttle-mode CT scans (10 phases, 2 nonoverlapping bed locations) were acquired from 4 patients on a GE 750HD CT scanner. Shuttling effects were quantified using Euclidean distances (between-phase and between-bed locations) of corresponding fiducial points on the shuttle and reference phase scans (prior to shuttle mode). Motion correction with nonrigid registration was evaluated using sum-of-squares differences and distances between centers of segmented volumes of interest on shuttle and references images. Fiducial point analysis showed an average shuttling motion of 0.85 ± 1.05 mm (between-bed) and 1.18 ± 1.46 mm (between-phase), respectively. The volume-of-interest analysis of the nonrigid registration results showed improved sum-of-squares differences from 2950 to 597, between-bed distance from 1.64 to 1.20 mm, and between-phase distance from 2.64 to 1.33 mm, respectively, averaged over all cases. Shuttling effects introduced during shuttle-mode CT acquisitions can be computationally corrected for body perfusion applications.

Multivariate singular spectrum analysis and the road to phase synchronization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groth, Andreas; Ghil, Michael

2010-05-01

Singular spectrum analysis (SSA) and multivariate SSA (M-SSA) are based on the classical work of Kosambi (1943), Loeve (1945) and Karhunen (1946) and are closely related to principal component analysis. They have been introduced into information theory by Bertero, Pike and co-workers (1982, 1984) and into dynamical systems analysis by Broomhead and King (1986a,b). Ghil, Vautard and associates have applied SSA and M-SSA to the temporal and spatio-temporal analysis of short and noisy time series in climate dynamics and other fields in the geosciences since the late 1980s. M-SSA provides insight into the unknown or partially known dynamics of the underlying system by decomposing the delay-coordinate phase space of a given multivariate time series into a set of data-adaptive orthonormal components. These components can be classified essentially into trends, oscillatory patterns and noise, and allow one to reconstruct a robust "skeleton" of the dynamical system's structure. For an overview we refer to Ghil et al. (Rev. Geophys., 2002). In this talk, we present M-SSA in the context of synchronization analysis and illustrate its ability to unveil information about the mechanisms behind the adjustment of rhythms in coupled dynamical systems. The focus of the talk is on the special case of phase synchronization between coupled chaotic oscillators (Rosenblum et al., PRL, 1996). Several ways of measuring phase synchronization are in use, and the robust definition of a reasonable phase for each oscillator is critical in each of them. We illustrate here the advantages of M-SSA in the automatic identification of oscillatory modes and in drawing conclusions about the transition to phase synchronization. Without using any a priori definition of a suitable phase, we show that M-SSA is able to detect phase synchronization in a chain of coupled chaotic oscillators (Osipov et al., PRE, 1996). Recently, Muller et al. (PRE, 2005) and Allefeld et al. (Intl. J. Bif. Chaos, 2007) have demonstrated the usefulness of principal component analysis in detecting phase synchronization from multivariate time series. The present talk provides a generalization of this idea and presents a robust implementation thereof via M-SSA.

Collective behavior of coupled nonuniform stochastic oscillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assis, Vladimir R. V.; Copelli, Mauro

2012-02-01

Theoretical studies of synchronization are usually based on models of coupled phase oscillators which, when isolated, have constant angular frequency. Stochastic discrete versions of these uniform oscillators have also appeared in the literature, with equal transition rates among the states. Here we start from the model recently introduced by Wood et al. [K. Wood, C. Van den Broeck, R. Kawai, K. Lindenberg, Universality of synchrony: critical behavior in a discrete model of stochastic phase-coupled oscillators, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 (2006) 145701], which has a collectively synchronized phase, and parametrically modify the phase-coupled oscillators to render them (stochastically) nonuniform. We show that, depending on the nonuniformity parameter 0≤α≤1, a mean field analysis predicts the occurrence of several phase transitions. In particular, the phase with collective oscillations is stable for the complete graph only for α≤α‧<1. At α=1 the oscillators become excitable elements and the system has an absorbing state. In the excitable regime, no collective oscillations were found in the model.

Rocketdyne automated dynamics data analysis and management system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tarn, Robert B.

1988-01-01

An automated dynamics data analysis and management systems implemented on a DEC VAX minicomputer cluster is described. Multichannel acquisition, Fast Fourier Transformation analysis, and an online database have significantly improved the analysis of wideband transducer responses from Space Shuttle Main Engine testing. Leakage error correction to recover sinusoid amplitudes and correct for frequency slewing is described. The phase errors caused by FM recorder/playback head misalignment are automatically measured and used to correct the data. Data compression methods are described and compared. The system hardware is described. Applications using the data base are introduced, including software for power spectral density, instantaneous time history, amplitude histogram, fatigue analysis, and rotordynamics expert system analysis.

Entropy Production in Collisionless Systems. II. Arbitrary Phase-space Occupation Numbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, Eric I.; Williams, Liliya L. R.

2012-04-01

We present an analysis of two thermodynamic techniques for determining equilibria of self-gravitating systems. One is the Lynden-Bell (LB) entropy maximization analysis that introduced violent relaxation. Since we do not use the Stirling approximation, which is invalid at small occupation numbers, our systems have finite mass, unlike LB's isothermal spheres. (Instead of Stirling, we utilize a very accurate smooth approximation for ln x!.) The second analysis extends entropy production extremization to self-gravitating systems, also without the use of the Stirling approximation. In addition to the LB statistical family characterized by the exclusion principle in phase space, and designed to treat collisionless systems, we also apply the two approaches to the Maxwell-Boltzmann (MB) families, which have no exclusion principle and hence represent collisional systems. We implicitly assume that all of the phase space is equally accessible. We derive entropy production expressions for both families and give the extremum conditions for entropy production. Surprisingly, our analysis indicates that extremizing entropy production rate results in systems that have maximum entropy, in both LB and MB statistics. In other words, both thermodynamic approaches lead to the same equilibrium structures.

Digital Speckle Photography of Subpixel Displacements of Speckle Structures Based on Analysis of Their Spatial Spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maksimova, L. A.; Ryabukho, P. V.; Mysina, N. Yu.; Lyakin, D. V.; Ryabukho, V. P.

2018-04-01

We have investigated the capabilities of the method of digital speckle interferometry for determining subpixel displacements of a speckle structure formed by a displaceable or deformable object with a scattering surface. An analysis of spatial spectra of speckle structures makes it possible to perform measurements with a subpixel accuracy and to extend the lower boundary of the range of measurements of displacements of speckle structures to the range of subpixel values. The method is realized on the basis of digital recording of the images of undisplaced and displaced speckle structures, their spatial frequency analysis using numerically specified constant phase shifts, and correlation analysis of spatial spectra of speckle structures. Transformation into the frequency range makes it possible to obtain quantities to be measured with a subpixel accuracy from the shift of the interference-pattern minimum in the diffraction halo by introducing an additional phase shift into the complex spatial spectrum of the speckle structure or from the slope of the linear plot of the function of accumulated phase difference in the field of the complex spatial spectrum of the displaced speckle structure. The capabilities of the method have been investigated in natural experiment.

Direct magnetic field estimation based on echo planar raw data.

PubMed

Testud, Frederik; Splitthoff, Daniel Nicolas; Speck, Oliver; Hennig, Jürgen; Zaitsev, Maxim

2010-07-01

Gradient recalled echo echo planar imaging is widely used in functional magnetic resonance imaging. The fast data acquisition is, however, very sensitive to field inhomogeneities which manifest themselves as artifacts in the images. Typically used correction methods have the common deficit that the data for the correction are acquired only once at the beginning of the experiment, assuming the field inhomogeneity distribution B(0) does not change over the course of the experiment. In this paper, methods to extract the magnetic field distribution from the acquired k-space data or from the reconstructed phase image of a gradient echo planar sequence are compared and extended. A common derivation for the presented approaches provides a solid theoretical basis, enables a fair comparison and demonstrates the equivalence of the k-space and the image phase based approaches. The image phase analysis is extended here to calculate the local gradient in the readout direction and improvements are introduced to the echo shift analysis, referred to here as "k-space filtering analysis." The described methods are compared to experimentally acquired B(0) maps in phantoms and in vivo. The k-space filtering analysis presented in this work demonstrated to be the most sensitive method to detect field inhomogeneities.

Introducing Students to Surface Modification and Phase Transfer of Nanoparticles with a Laboratory Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alkilany, Alaaldin M.; Mansour, Sara; Amro, Hamza M.; Pelaz, Beatriz; Soliman, Mahmoud G.; Hinman, Joshua G.; Dennison, Jordan M.; Parak, Wolfgang J.; Murphy, Catherine J.

2017-01-01

A simple, reliable, and cost-effective experiment is presented in which students synthesized citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (GNPs), functionalized them with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), and transferred the PEG-GNPs from water to the organic phase dichloromethane. The experiment introduces students to nanotechnology with foci on important…

Circular carrier squeezing interferometry: Suppressing phase shift error in simultaneous phase-shifting point-diffraction interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Donghui; Chen, Lei; Li, Jinpeng; Sun, Qinyuan; Zhu, Wenhua; Anderson, James; Zhao, Jian; Schülzgen, Axel

2018-03-01

Circular carrier squeezing interferometry (CCSI) is proposed and applied to suppress phase shift error in simultaneous phase-shifting point-diffraction interferometer (SPSPDI). By introducing a defocus, four phase-shifting point-diffraction interferograms with circular carrier are acquired, and then converted into linear carrier interferograms by a coordinate transform. Rearranging the transformed interferograms into a spatial-temporal fringe (STF), so the error lobe will be separated from the phase lobe in the Fourier spectrum of the STF, and filtering the phase lobe to calculate the extended phase, when combined with the corresponding inverse coordinate transform, exactly retrieves the initial phase. Both simulations and experiments validate the ability of CCSI to suppress the ripple error generated by the phase shift error. Compared with carrier squeezing interferometry (CSI), CCSI is effective on some occasions in which a linear carrier is difficult to introduce, and with the added benefit of eliminating retrace error.

Coherent beam combining in atmospheric channels using gated backscatter.

PubMed

Naeh, Itay; Katzir, Abraham

2016-02-01

This paper introduces the concept of atmospheric channels and describes a possible approach for the coherent beam combining of lasers of an optical phased array (OPA) in a turbulent atmosphere. By using the recently introduced sparse spectrum harmonic augmentation method, a comprehensive simulative investigation was performed and the exceptional properties of the atmospheric channels were numerically demonstrated. Among the interesting properties are the ability to guide light in a confined manner in a refractive channel, the ability to gather different sources to the same channel, and the ability to maintain a constant relative phase within the channel between several sources. The newly introduced guiding properties combined with a suggested method for channel probing and phase measurement by aerosol backscattered radiation allows coherence improvement of the phased array's elements and energy refocusing at the location of the channel in order to increase power in the bucket without feedback from the target. The method relies on the electronic focusing, electronic scanning, and time gating of the OPA, combined with elements of the relative phase measurements.

Advanced electron microscopy methods for the analysis of MgB2 superconductor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Birajdar, B.; Peranio, N.; Eibl, O.

2008-02-01

Advanced electron microscopy methods used for the analysis of superconducting MgB2 wires and tapes are described. The wires and tapes were prepared by the powder in tube method using different processing technologies and thoroughly characterised for their superconducting properties within the HIPERMAG project. Microstructure analysis on μm to nm length scales is necessary to understand the superconducting properties of MgB2. For the MgB2 phase analysis on μm scale an analytical SEM, and for the analysis on nm scale a energy-filtered STEM is used. Both the microscopes were equipped with EDX detector and field emission gun. Electron microscopy and spectroscopy of MgB2 is challenging because of the boron analysis, carbon and oxygen contamination, and the presence of large number of secondary phases. Advanced electron microscopy involves, combined SEM, EPMA and TEM analysis with artefact free sample preparation, elemental mapping and chemical quantification of point spectra. Details of the acquisition conditions and achieved accuracy are presented. Ex-situ wires show oxygen-free MgB2 colonies (a colony is a dense arrangement of several MgB2 grains) embedded in a porous and oxygen-rich matrix, introducing structural granularity. In comparison, in-situ wires are generally more dense, but show inhibited MgB2 phase formation with significantly higher fraction of B-rich secondary phases. SiC additives in the in-situ wires forms Mg2Si secondary phases. The advanced electron microscopy has been used to extract the microstructure parameters like colony size, B-rich secondary phase fraction, O mole fraction and MgB2 grain size, and establish a microstructure-critical current density model [1]. In summary, conventional secondary electron imaging in SEM and diffraction contrast imaging in the TEM are by far not sufficient and advanced electron microscopy methods are essential for the analysis of superconducting MgB2 wires and tapes.

Multiple main-belt asteroid mission options for a Mariner Mark II spacecraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sauer, Carl G., Jr.; Yen, Chen-Wan L.

This paper presents the trajectory options available for a MMII spacecraft mission to asteroids and introduces systematic methods of uncovering attractive mission opportunities. The analysis presented considers multiple synchronous gravity assists of Mars and introduces a terminal resonant or phasing orbit; a concept useful for both increasing the number of asteroid rendezvous targets attainable during a launch opportunity, and also in increasing the number of potential asteroid flybys. Systematic examinations of the requirements for superior asteroidal alignments are made and a comprehensive set of asteroid rendezvous opportunities for the 1998 to 2010 period are presented. Examples of candidate missions involving one or more rendezvous and several flybys are also presented.

Multiple main-belt asteroid mission options for a Mariner Mark II spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sauer, Carl G., Jr.; Yen, Chen-Wan L.

1990-01-01

This paper presents the trajectory options available for a MMII spacecraft mission to asteroids and introduces systematic methods of uncovering attractive mission opportunities. The analysis presented considers multiple synchronous gravity assists of Mars and introduces a terminal resonant or phasing orbit; a concept useful for both increasing the number of asteroid rendezvous targets attainable during a launch opportunity, and also in increasing the number of potential asteroid flybys. Systematic examinations of the requirements for superior asteroidal alignments are made and a comprehensive set of asteroid rendezvous opportunities for the 1998 to 2010 period are presented. Examples of candidate missions involving one or more rendezvous and several flybys are also presented.

Consequence of reputation in the Sznajd consensus model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crokidakis, Nuno; Forgerini, Fabricio L.

2010-07-01

In this work we study a modified version of the Sznajd sociophysics model. In particular we introduce reputation, a mechanism that limits the capacity of persuasion of the agents. The reputation is introduced as a score which is time-dependent, and its introduction avoid dictatorship (all spins parallel) for a wide range of parameters. The relaxation time follows a log-normal-like distribution. In addition, we show that the usual phase transition also occurs, as in the standard model, and it depends on the initial concentration of individuals following an opinion, occurring at a initial density of up spins greater than 1/2. The transition point is determined by means of a finite-size scaling analysis.

Global distortion of GPS networks associated with satellite antenna model errors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cardellach, E.; Elósegui, P.; Davis, J. L.

2007-07-01

Recent studies of the GPS satellite phase center offsets (PCOs) suggest that these have been in error by ˜1 m. Previous studies had shown that PCO errors are absorbed mainly by parameters representing satellite clock and the radial components of site position. On the basis of the assumption that the radial errors are equal, PCO errors will therefore introduce an error in network scale. However, PCO errors also introduce distortions, or apparent deformations, within the network, primarily in the radial (vertical) component of site position that cannot be corrected via a Helmert transformation. Using numerical simulations to quantify the effects of PCO errors, we found that these PCO errors lead to a vertical network distortion of 6-12 mm per meter of PCO error. The network distortion depends on the minimum elevation angle used in the analysis of the GPS phase observables, becoming larger as the minimum elevation angle increases. The steady evolution of the GPS constellation as new satellites are launched, age, and are decommissioned, leads to the effects of PCO errors varying with time that introduce an apparent global-scale rate change. We demonstrate here that current estimates for PCO errors result in a geographically variable error in the vertical rate at the 1-2 mm yr-1 level, which will impact high-precision crustal deformation studies.

Global Distortion of GPS Networks Associated with Satellite Antenna Model Errors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cardellach, E.; Elosequi, P.; Davis, J. L.

2007-01-01

Recent studies of the GPS satellite phase center offsets (PCOs) suggest that these have been in error by approx.1 m. Previous studies had shown that PCO errors are absorbed mainly by parameters representing satellite clock and the radial components of site position. On the basis of the assumption that the radial errors are equal, PCO errors will therefore introduce an error in network scale. However, PCO errors also introduce distortions, or apparent deformations, within the network, primarily in the radial (vertical) component of site position that cannot be corrected via a Helmert transformation. Using numerical simulations to quantify the effects of PC0 errors, we found that these PCO errors lead to a vertical network distortion of 6-12 mm per meter of PCO error. The network distortion depends on the minimum elevation angle used in the analysis of the GPS phase observables, becoming larger as the minimum elevation angle increases. The steady evolution of the GPS constellation as new satellites are launched, age, and are decommissioned, leads to the effects of PCO errors varying with time that introduce an apparent global-scale rate change. We demonstrate here that current estimates for PCO errors result in a geographically variable error in the vertical rate at the 1-2 mm/yr level, which will impact high-precision crustal deformation studies.

Identification of phases, symmetries and defects through local crystallography

DOE PAGES

Belianinov, Alex; He, Qian; Kravchenko, Mikhail; ...

2015-07-20

Here we report that advances in electron and probe microscopies allow 10 pm or higher precision in measurements of atomic positions. This level of fidelity is sufficient to correlate the length (and hence energy) of bonds, as well as bond angles to functional properties of materials. Traditionally, this relied on mapping locally measured parameters to macroscopic variables, for example, average unit cell. This description effectively ignores the information contained in the microscopic degrees of freedom available in a high-resolution image. Here we introduce an approach for local analysis of material structure based on statistical analysis of individual atomic neighbourhoods. Clusteringmore » and multivariate algorithms such as principal component analysis explore the connectivity of lattice and bond structure, as well as identify minute structural distortions, thus allowing for chemical description and identification of phases. This analysis lays the framework for building image genomes and structure–property libraries, based on conjoining structural and spectral realms through local atomic behaviour.« less

Monitoring by forward scatter radar techniques: an improved second-order analytical model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falconi, Marta Tecla; Comite, Davide; Galli, Alessandro; Marzano, Frank S.; Pastina, Debora; Lombardo, Pierfrancesco

2017-10-01

In this work, a second-order phase approximation is introduced to provide an improved analytical model of the signal received in forward scatter radar systems. A typical configuration with a rectangular metallic object illuminated while crossing the baseline, in far- or near-field conditions, is considered. An improved second-order model is compared with a simplified one already proposed by the authors and based on a paraxial approximation. A phase error analysis is carried out to investigate benefits and limitations of the second-order modeling. The results are validated by developing full-wave numerical simulations implementing the relevant scattering problem on a commercial tool.

Method and apparatus for simultaneously measuring a plurality of spectral wavelengths present in electromagnetic radiation

DOEpatents

Buican, Tudor N.; Martin, John C.

1990-01-01

An apparatus and method simultaneously measures a plurality of spectral wavelengths present in electromagnetic radiation. A modulatable birefringent optical element is employed to divide a polarized light beam into two components, thereby producing a phase difference in two resulting light beams such that the two beams can be made to interfere with one another when recombined, the interference pattern providing the wavelength information required for the analysis of the incident light. The interferometer thus created performs in a similar manner to a Michelson interferometer, but with no moving parts, and with a resolution dependent on the degree of phase shift introduced by the modulator.

The case for introducing pre-registered confirmatory pharmacological pre-clinical studies.

PubMed

Kiwanuka, Olivia; Bellander, Bo-Michael; Hånell, Anders

2018-05-01

When evaluating the design of pre-clinical studies in the field of traumatic brain injury, we found substantial differences compared to phase III clinical trials, which in part may explain the difficulties in translating promising experimental drugs into approved treatments. By using network analysis, we also found cases where a large proportion of the studies evaluating a pre-clinical treatment was performed by inter-related researchers, which is potentially problematic. Subjecting all pre-clinical trials to the rigor of a phase III clinical trial is, however, likely not practically achievable. Instead, we repeat the call for a distinction to be made between exploratory and confirmatory pre-clinical studies.

Lipidomics by Supercritical Fluid Chromatography

PubMed Central

Laboureur, Laurent; Ollero, Mario; Touboul, David

2015-01-01

This review enlightens the role of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) in the field of lipid analysis. SFC has been popular in the late 1980s and 1990s before almost disappearing due to the commercial success of liquid chromatography (LC). It is only 20 years later that a regain of interest appeared when new commercial instruments were introduced. As SFC is fully compatible with the injection of extracts in pure organic solvent, this technique is perfectly suitable for lipid analysis and can be coupled with either highly universal (UV or evaporative light scattering) or highly specific (mass spectrometry) detection methods. A short history of the use of supercritical fluids as mobile phase for the separation oflipids will be introduced first. Then, the advantages and drawbacks of SFC are discussed for each class of lipids (fatty acyls, glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids, sterols, prenols, polyketides) defined by the LIPID MAPS consortium. PMID:26090714

Augmenting Phase Space Quantization to Introduce Additional Physical Effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robbins, Matthew P. G.

Quantum mechanics can be done using classical phase space functions and a star product. The state of the system is described by a quasi-probability distribution. A classical system can be quantized in phase space in different ways with different quasi-probability distributions and star products. A transition differential operator relates different phase space quantizations. The objective of this thesis is to introduce additional physical effects into the process of quantization by using the transition operator. As prototypical examples, we first look at the coarse-graining of the Wigner function and the damped simple harmonic oscillator. By generalizing the transition operator and star product to also be functions of the position and momentum, we show that additional physical features beyond damping and coarse-graining can be introduced into a quantum system, including the generalized uncertainty principle of quantum gravity phenomenology, driving forces, and decoherence.

The quantum-field renormalization group in the problem of a growing phase boundary

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

Antonov, N.V.; Vasil`ev, A.N.

1995-09-01

Within the quantum-field renormalization-group approach we examine the stochastic equation discussed by S.I. Pavlik in describing a randomly growing phase boundary. We show that, in contrast to Pavlik`s assertion, the model is not multiplicatively renormalizable and that its consistent renormalization-group analysis requires introducing an infinite number of counterterms and the respective coupling constants ({open_quotes}charge{close_quotes}). An explicit calculation in the one-loop approximation shows that a two-dimensional surface of renormalization-group points exits in the infinite-dimensional charge space. If the surface contains an infrared stability region, the problem allows for scaling with the nonuniversal critical dimensionalities of the height of the phase boundarymore » and time, {delta}{sub h} and {delta}{sub t}, which satisfy the exact relationship 2 {delta}{sub h}= {delta}{sub t} + d, where d is the dimensionality of the phase boundary. 23 refs., 1 tab.« less

Inflow performance relationship for perforated wells producing from solution gas drive reservoir

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

Sukarno, P.; Tobing, E.L.

1995-10-01

The IPR curve equations, which are available today, are developed for open hole wells. In the application of Nodal System Analysis in perforated wells, an accurate calculation of pressure loss in the perforation is very important. Nowadays, the equation which is widely used is Blount, Jones and Glaze equation, to estimate pressure loss across perforation. This equation is derived for single phase flow, either oil or gas, therefore it is not suitable for two-phase production wells. In this paper, an IPR curve equation for perforated wells, producing from solution gas drive reservoir, is introduced. The equation has been developed usingmore » two phase single well simulator combine to two phase flow in perforation equation, derived by Perez and Kelkar. A wide range of reservoir rock and fluid properties and perforation geometry are used to develop the equation statistically.« less

Configuration-shape-size optimization of space structures by material redistribution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vandenbelt, D. N.; Crivelli, L. A.; Felippa, C. A.

1993-01-01

This project investigates the configuration-shape-size optimization (CSSO) of orbiting and planetary space structures. The project embodies three phases. In the first one the material-removal CSSO method introduced by Kikuchi and Bendsoe (KB) is further developed to gain understanding of finite element homogenization techniques as well as associated constrained optimization algorithms that must carry along a very large number (thousands) of design variables. In the CSSO-KB method an optimal structure is 'carved out' of a design domain initially filled with finite elements, by allowing perforations (microholes) to develop, grow and merge. The second phase involves 'materialization' of space structures from the void, thus reversing the carving process. The third phase involves analysis of these structures for construction and operational constraints, with emphasis in packaging and deployment. The present paper describes progress in selected areas of the first project phase and the start of the second one.

Towards a better control of optics cleanliness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berlioz, P.

2017-11-01

The contamination of optics can considerably degrade the transmission and scattering of spacecraft optics. To prevent efficiently optics from contamination involves introducing since design phase requirements on materials and protections (covers…). Then, integration and test phase demands to implement heavy and stringent means (clean room, specific garment, covers…) and a permanent monitoring by fine contamination measurement of instrument environment and surfaces. Contamination budgets are drawn the project along, first prediction budgets based on analysis and potentially modeling, during design phase, then actual budgets based on contamination measurement during integration and test phase. Finally, the risk still exists to have to clean optics because of hazardous contamination, furthermore to dismount them. The cleanliness engineering set at ASTRIUM Toulouse is presented here, including the contamination monitoring via witness samples measured by IR spectrometry and via counters. ASTRIUM is presently focusing attention on no contact cleaning like the promising UV-ozone process.

Phase-encoded measurement device independent quantum key distribution without a shared reference frame

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhuo-Dan, Zhu; Shang-Hong, Zhao; Chen, Dong; Ying, Sun

2018-07-01

In this paper, a phase-encoded measurement device independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) protocol without a shared reference frame is presented, which can generate secure keys between two parties while the quantum channel or interferometer introduces an unknown and slowly time-varying phase. The corresponding secret key rate and single photons bit error rate is analysed, respectively, with single photons source (SPS) and weak coherent source (WCS), taking finite-key analysis into account. The numerical simulations show that the modified phase-encoded MDI-QKD protocol has apparent superiority both in maximal secure transmission distance and key generation rate while possessing the improved robustness and practical security in the high-speed case. Moreover, the rejection of the frame-calibrating part will intrinsically reduce the consumption of resources as well as the potential security flaws of practical MDI-QKD systems.

Dynamic Fracture in Brittle Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-02-01

Stress analysis in oxidation problems usually follows the approach of introducing a known eigenstrain in the constitutive equation for elastic stress...deformation behavior in the oxide. The eigenstrain is assumed to be independent of time and position; it is the strain that would be observed in an...imaginary stress-free phase transformation. The total strain of the oxide is the sum of elastic strain and this eigenstrain . As shown in [13], the principal

pH recycling aqueous two-phase systems applied in extraction of Maitake β-Glucan and mechanism analysis using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance.

PubMed

Hou, Huiyun; Cao, Xuejun

2015-07-31

In this paper, a recycling aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) based on two pH-response copolymers PADB and PMDM were used in purification of β-Glucan from Grifola frondosa. The main parameters, such as polymer concentration, type and concentration of salt, extraction temperature and pH, were investigated to optimize partition conditions. The results demonstrated that β-Glucan was extracted into PADB-rich phase, while impurities were extracted into PMDM-rich phase. In this 2.5% PADB/2.5% PMDM ATPS, 7.489 partition coefficient and 96.92% extraction recovery for β-Glucan were obtained in the presence of 30mmol/L KBr, at pH 8.20, 30°C. The phase-forming copolymers could be recycled by adjusting pH, with recoveries of over 96.0%. Furthermore, the partition mechanism of Maitake β-Glucan in PADB/PMDM aqueous two-phase systems was studied. Fourier transform infrared spectra, ForteBio Octet system and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) were introduced for elucidating the partition mechanism of β-Glucan. Especially, LF-NMR was firstly used in the mechanism analysis in partition of aqueous two-phase systems. The change of transverse relaxation time (T2) in ATPS could reflect the interaction between polymers and β-Glucan. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Concept analysis of professional commitment in Iranian nurses

PubMed Central

Jafaragaee, Fateme; Parvizy, Soroor; Mehrdad, Neda; Rafii, Forough

2012-01-01

Aim: Professional commitment has been widely discussed during the last decade. There is no comprehensive definition about “professional commitment in Iranian nurses.” Hence, this study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the concept of professional commitment in Iranian nurses. Materials and Methods: Hybrid model was used in three phases. Firstly, in the theoretical phase, data were retrieved from the CINHAl, MEDLINE, PubMed, OVID, Google scholar, and SID databases. The literature search used the keywords “professional commitment” and “nursing.” The final sample included 27 papers published in English between 2001 and 2011.Secondly, in the fieldwork phase, deep interviews with five clinical nurses were carried out, and thirdly, in the final analytical phase, the obtained data from theoretical and fieldwork phases were combined and a comprehensive analysis was conducted. Results: Loyalty and tendency to remain in the profession and responsibility to the professional issues were extracted in theoretical phase. Commitment to promote caring abilities, satisfying of being a nurse, and belonging to the nursing profession were obtained in fieldwork phase. Finally, two main themes including “commitment to offering the best nursing care” and “commitment to promotion of the nursing profession” were extracted. Conclusion: Nursing is a humanistic profession; it has some particular characteristics due to the profession’s nature. In this paper, a definition composed of two main dimensions of professional commitment in nursing has been introduced. PMID:23922592

Visualizing and improving the robustness of phase retrieval algorithms

DOE PAGES

Tripathi, Ashish; Leyffer, Sven; Munson, Todd; ...

2015-06-01

Coherent x-ray diffractive imaging is a novel imaging technique that utilizes phase retrieval and nonlinear optimization methods to image matter at nanometer scales. We explore how the convergence properties of a popular phase retrieval algorithm, Fienup's HIO, behave by introducing a reduced dimensionality problem allowing us to visualize and quantify convergence to local minima and the globally optimal solution. We then introduce generalizations of HIO that improve upon the original algorithm's ability to converge to the globally optimal solution.

Visualizing and improving the robustness of phase retrieval algorithms

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

Tripathi, Ashish; Leyffer, Sven; Munson, Todd

Coherent x-ray diffractive imaging is a novel imaging technique that utilizes phase retrieval and nonlinear optimization methods to image matter at nanometer scales. We explore how the convergence properties of a popular phase retrieval algorithm, Fienup's HIO, behave by introducing a reduced dimensionality problem allowing us to visualize and quantify convergence to local minima and the globally optimal solution. We then introduce generalizations of HIO that improve upon the original algorithm's ability to converge to the globally optimal solution.

Introducing Evidence-Based Principles to Guide Collaborative Approaches to Evaluation: Results of an Empirical Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shulha, Lyn M.; Whitmore, Elizabeth; Cousins, J. Bradley; Gilbert, Nathalie; al Hudib, Hind

2016-01-01

This article introduces a set of evidence-based principles to guide evaluation practice in contexts where evaluation knowledge is collaboratively produced by evaluators and stakeholders. The data from this study evolved in four phases: two pilot phases exploring the desirability of developing a set of principles; an online questionnaire survey…

Insight into the collagen assembly in the presence of lysine and glutamic acid: An in vitro study.

PubMed

Liu, Xinhua; Dan, Nianhua; Dan, Weihua

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of two different charged amino acids in collagen chains, lysine and glutamic acid, on the fibrillogenesis process of collagen molecules. The turbidity, zeta potential, and fiber diameter analysis suggest that introducing the positively charged lysine into collagen might improve the sizes or amounts of the self-assembled collagen fibrils significantly. Conversely, the negatively charged glutamic acid might restrict the self-assembly of collagen building blocks into a higher order structure. Meanwhile, the optimal fibrillogenesis condition is achieved when the concentration of lysine reaches to 1mM. Both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) analysis indicates that compared to pure collagen fibrils, the reconstructed collagen-lysine co-fibrils exhibit a higher degree of inter-fiber entanglements with more straight and longer fibrils. Noted that the specific D-period patterns of the reconstructed collagen fibrils could be clearly discernible and the width of D-banding increases steadily after introducing lysine. Besides, the kinetic and thermodynamic collagen self-assembly analysis confirms that the rate constants of both the first and second assembly phase decrease after introducing lysine, and lysine could promote the process of collagen fibrillogenesis obeying the laws of thermodynamics. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cluster formation and phase separation in heteronuclear Janus dumbbells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munaò, G.; O'Toole, P.; Hudson, T. S.; Costa, D.; Caccamo, C.; Sciortino, F.; Giacometti, A.

2015-06-01

We have recently investigated the phase behavior of model colloidal dumbbells constituted by two identical tangent hard spheres, with the first being surrounded by an attractive square-well interaction (Janus dumbbells, Munaó et al 2014 Soft Matter 10 5269). Here we extend our previous analysis by introducing in the model the size asymmetry of the hard-core diameters and study the enriched phase scenario thereby obtained. By employing standard Monte Carlo simulations we show that in such ‘heteronuclear Janus dumbbells’ a larger hard-sphere site promotes the formation of clusters, whereas in the opposite condition a gas-liquid phase separation takes place, with a narrow interval of intermediate asymmetries wherein the two phase behaviors may compete. In addition, some peculiar geometrical arrangements, such as lamellæ, are observed only around the perfectly symmetric case. A qualitative agreement is found with recent experimental results, where it is shown that the roughness of molecular surfaces in heterogeneous dimers leads to the formation of colloidal micelles.

Simultaneous phase-shifting interferometry study based on the common-path Fizeau interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Feng-wei; Wu, Yong-qian

2014-09-01

A simultaneous phase-shifting interferometry(SPSI) based on the common-path Fizeau interferometer has been discussed.In this system,two orthogonal polarized beams, using as the reference beam and test beam ,are detached by a particular Wollaston prism at a very small angle,then four equal sub-beams are achieved by a combination of three non-polarizing beam splitters(NPBS),and the phase shifts are introduced by four polarizers whose polarization azimuths are 0°, 45°, 90°, 135° with the horizontal direction respectively,the four phase shift interferograms are collected simultaneously by controlling the CCDs working at the same time .The SPSI principle is studied at first,then is the error analysis, finally we emulate the process of surface recovery by four steps phase shifts algorithm,the results indicate that, to ensure the feasibility of the SPSI system, we have to control the polarization azimuth error of the polarizer in +/- 0.5°.

Testing for Granger Causality in the Frequency Domain: A Phase Resampling Method.

PubMed

Liu, Siwei; Molenaar, Peter

2016-01-01

This article introduces phase resampling, an existing but rarely used surrogate data method for making statistical inferences of Granger causality in frequency domain time series analysis. Granger causality testing is essential for establishing causal relations among variables in multivariate dynamic processes. However, testing for Granger causality in the frequency domain is challenging due to the nonlinear relation between frequency domain measures (e.g., partial directed coherence, generalized partial directed coherence) and time domain data. Through a simulation study, we demonstrate that phase resampling is a general and robust method for making statistical inferences even with short time series. With Gaussian data, phase resampling yields satisfactory type I and type II error rates in all but one condition we examine: when a small effect size is combined with an insufficient number of data points. Violations of normality lead to slightly higher error rates but are mostly within acceptable ranges. We illustrate the utility of phase resampling with two empirical examples involving multivariate electroencephalography (EEG) and skin conductance data.

A model for wave propagation in a porous solid saturated by a three-phase fluid.

PubMed

Santos, Juan E; Savioli, Gabriela B

2016-02-01

This paper presents a model to describe the propagation of waves in a poroelastic medium saturated by a three-phase viscous, compressible fluid. Two capillary relations between the three fluid phases are included in the model by introducing Lagrange multipliers in the principle of virtual complementary work. This approach generalizes that of Biot for single-phase fluids and allows to determine the strain energy density, identify the generalized strains and stresses, and derive the constitutive relations of the system. The kinetic and dissipative energy density functions are obtained assuming that the relative flow within the pore space is of laminar type and obeys Darcy's law for three-phase flow in porous media. After deriving the equations of motion, a plane wave analysis predicts the existence of four compressional waves, denoted as type I, II, III, and IV waves, and one shear wave. Numerical examples showing the behavior of all waves as function of saturation and frequency are presented.

Thermally-actuated, phase change flow control for microfluidic systems.

PubMed

Chen, Zongyuan; Wang, Jing; Qian, Shizhi; Bau, Haim H

2005-11-01

An easy to implement, thermally-actuated, noninvasive method for flow control in microfluidic devices is described. This technique takes advantage of the phase change of the working liquid itself-the freezing and melting of a portion of a liquid slug-to noninvasively close and open flow passages (referred to as a phase change valve). The valve was designed for use in a miniature diagnostic system for detecting pathogens in oral fluids at the point of care. The paper describes the modeling, construction, and characteristics of the valve. The experimental results favorably agree with theoretical predictions. In addition, the paper demonstrates the use of the phase change valves for flow control, sample metering and distribution into multiple analysis paths, sealing of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) chamber, and sample introduction into and withdrawal from a closed loop. The phase change valve is electronically addressable, does not require any moving parts, introduces only minimal dead volume, is leakage and contamination free, and is biocompatible.

Obtaining phase velocity of turbulent boundary layer pressure fluctuations at high subsonic Mach number from wind tunnel data affected by strong background noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haxter, Stefan; Brouwer, Jens; Sesterhenn, Jörn; Spehr, Carsten

2017-08-01

Boundary layer measurements at high subsonic Mach number are evaluated in order to obtain the dominant phase velocities of boundary layer pressure fluctuations. The measurements were performed in a transonic wind tunnel which had a very strong background noise. The phase velocity was taken from phase inclination and from the convective peak in one- and two-dimensional wavenumber spectra. An approach was introduced to remove the acoustic noise from the data by applying a method based on CLEAN-SC on the two-dimensional spectra, thereby increasing the frequency range where information about the boundary layer was retrievable. A comparison with prediction models showed some discrepancies in the low-frequency range. Therefore, pressure data from a DNS calculation was used to substantiate the results of the analysis in this frequency range. Using the measured data, the DNS results and a review of the models used for comparison it was found that the phase velocity decreases at low frequencies.

Interferometric space-mode multiplexing based on binary phase plates and refractive phase shifters.

PubMed

Liñares, Jesús; Prieto-Blanco, Xesús; Moreno, Vicente; Montero-Orille, Carlos; Mouriz, Dolores; Nistal, María C; Barral, David

2017-05-15

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) that includes in an arm either a reflective image inverter or a Gouy phase shifter (RGPS) can (de)multiplex many types of modes of a few mode fiber without fundamental loss. The use of RGPSs in combination with binary phase plates for multiplexing purposes is studied for the first time, showing that the particular RGPS that shifts π the odd modes only multiplexes accurately low order modes. To overcome such a restriction, we present a new exact refractive image inverter, more compact and flexible than its reflective counterpart. Moreover, we show that these interferometers remove or reduce the crosstalk that the binary phase plates could introduce between the multiplexed modes. Finally, an experimental analysis of a MZI with both an approximated and an exact refractive image inverter is presented for the case of a bimodal multiplexing. Likewise, it is proven experimentally that a RGPS that shifts π/2 demultiplexes two odd modes which can not be achieved by any image inverter.

Phase-amplitude reduction of transient dynamics far from attractors for limit-cycling systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirasaka, Sho; Kurebayashi, Wataru; Nakao, Hiroya

2017-02-01

Phase reduction framework for limit-cycling systems based on isochrons has been used as a powerful tool for analyzing the rhythmic phenomena. Recently, the notion of isostables, which complements the isochrons by characterizing amplitudes of the system state, i.e., deviations from the limit-cycle attractor, has been introduced to describe the transient dynamics around the limit cycle [Wilson and Moehlis, Phys. Rev. E 94, 052213 (2016)]. In this study, we introduce a framework for a reduced phase-amplitude description of transient dynamics of stable limit-cycling systems. In contrast to the preceding study, the isostables are treated in a fully consistent way with the Koopman operator analysis, which enables us to avoid discontinuities of the isostables and to apply the framework to system states far from the limit cycle. We also propose a new, convenient bi-orthogonalization method to obtain the response functions of the amplitudes, which can be interpreted as an extension of the adjoint covariant Lyapunov vector to transient dynamics in limit-cycling systems. We illustrate the utility of the proposed reduction framework by estimating the optimal injection timing of external input that efficiently suppresses deviations of the system state from the limit cycle in a model of a biochemical oscillator.

"Partners in Science": A Model Cooperative Program Introducing High School Teachers and Students to Leading-Edge Pharmaceutical Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woska, Joseph R., Jr.; Collins, Danielle M.; Canney, Brian J.; Arcario, Erin L.; Reilly, Patricia L.

2005-01-01

"Partners in Science" is a cooperative program between Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and area high schools in the community surrounding our Connecticut campus. It is a two-phase program that introduces high school students and teachers to the world of drug discovery and leading-edge pharmaceutical research. Phase 1 involves…

Using Single Drop Microextraction for Headspace Analysis with Gas Chromatography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riccio, Daniel; Wood, Derrick C.; Miller, James M.

2008-07-01

Headspace (HS) gas chromatography (GC) is commonly used to analyze samples that contain non-volatiles. In 1996, a new sampling technique called single drop microextraction, SDME, was introduced, and in 2001 it was applied to HS analysis. It is a simple technique that uses equipment normally found in the undergraduate laboratory, making it ideal for instructional use, especially to illustrate HS analysis or as an alternative to solid-phase microextraction (SPME) to which it is very similar. The basic principles and practice of HS-GC using SDME are described, including a complete review of the literature. Some possible experiments are suggested using water and N -methylpyrrolidone (NMP) as solvents.

Sustainable Design Approach: A case study of BIM use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdelhameed, Wael

2017-11-01

Achieving sustainable design in areas such as energy-efficient design depends largely on the accuracy of the analysis performed after the design is completed with all its components and material details. There are different analysis approaches and methods that predict relevant values and metrics such as U value, energy use and energy savings. Although certain differences in the accuracy of these approaches and methods have been recorded, this research paper does not focus on such matter, where determining the reason for discrepancies between those approaches and methods is difficult, because all error sources act simultaneously. The research paper rather introduces an approach through which BIM, building information modelling, can be utilised during the initial phases of the designing process, by analysing the values and metrics of sustainable design before going into the design details of a building. Managing all of the project drawings in a single file, BIM -building information modelling- is well known as one digital platform that offers a multidisciplinary detailed design -AEC model (Barison and Santos, 2010, Welle et.al., 2011). The paper presents in general BIM use in the early phases of the design process, in order to achieve certain required areas of sustainable design. The paper proceeds to introduce BIM use in specific areas such as site selection, wind velocity and building orientation, in terms of reaching the farther possible sustainable solution. In the initial phases of designing, material details and building components are not fully specified or selected yet. The designer usually focuses on zoning, topology, circulations, and other design requirements. The proposed approach employs the strategies and analysis of BIM use during those initial design phases in order to have the analysis and results of each solution or alternative design. The stakeholders and designers would have a better effective decision making process with a full clarity of each alternative's consequences. The architect would settle down and proceed in the alternative design of the best sustainable analysis. In later design stages, using the sustainable types of materials such as insulation, cladding, etc., and applying sustainable building components such as doors, windows, etc. would add more improvements and enhancements in reaching better values and metrics. The paper describes the methodology of this design approach through BIM strategies adopted in design creation. Case studies of architectural designs are used to highlight the details and benefits of this proposed approach.

Mutual information and phase dependencies: measures of reduced nonlinear cardiorespiratory interactions after myocardial infarction.

PubMed

Hoyer, Dirk; Leder, Uwe; Hoyer, Heike; Pompe, Bernd; Sommer, Michael; Zwiener, Ulrich

2002-01-01

The heart rate variability (HRV) is related to several mechanisms of the complex autonomic functioning such as respiratory heart rate modulation and phase dependencies between heart beat cycles and breathing cycles. The underlying processes are basically nonlinear. In order to understand and quantitatively assess those physiological interactions an adequate coupling analysis is necessary. We hypothesized that nonlinear measures of HRV and cardiorespiratory interdependencies are superior to the standard HRV measures in classifying patients after acute myocardial infarction. We introduced mutual information measures which provide access to nonlinear interdependencies as counterpart to the classically linear correlation analysis. The nonlinear statistical autodependencies of HRV were quantified by auto mutual information, the respiratory heart rate modulation by cardiorespiratory cross mutual information, respectively. The phase interdependencies between heart beat cycles and breathing cycles were assessed basing on the histograms of the frequency ratios of the instantaneous heart beat and respiratory cycles. Furthermore, the relative duration of phase synchronized intervals was acquired. We investigated 39 patients after acute myocardial infarction versus 24 controls. The discrimination of these groups was improved by cardiorespiratory cross mutual information measures and phase interdependencies measures in comparison to the linear standard HRV measures. This result was statistically confirmed by means of logistic regression models of particular variable subsets and their receiver operating characteristics.

An innovative approach to the analysis of 3-[4-(2-methylpropyl)phenyl]propanoic acid as an impurity of ibuprofen on a carbon-coated zirconia stationary phase.

PubMed

Kalafut, P; Kucera, R; Klimes, J; Sochor, J

2009-07-12

3-[4-(2-Methylpropyl)phenyl]propanoic acid has been introduced as impurity F to the European Pharmacopoeia in its Supplement 4.2. In contrast to other impurities, which are evaluated by HPLC, the content of impurity F is determined by gas chromatography after previous derivatization. Thus a novel reversed-phase HPLC method was developed to simplify the evaluation of pharmacopoeial impurity F of ibuprofen. Favourable properties of zirconia stationary phases were employed for this purpose. The HPLC separation was achieved on a Zr-CARB column (150 mm x 4.6mm i.d., 5 microm) using the mobile phase acetonitrile-phosphate buffer (pH 3.5, 25 mM) (38:62, v/v), temperature 80 degrees C and the flow rate 1.2 ml min(-1). The fluorescence detection was employed to enhance the sensitivity of the method. Optimal detection parameters were chosen on the basis of fluorescence spectra of the analytes. The excitation and emission wavelengths were 220 nm and 285 nm, respectively. The analysis was completed within 25 min. The subsequent validation of the method confirmed the applicability of method for the analytical assay of impurity F.

Modeling mass transfer and reaction of dilute solutes in a ternary phase system by the lattice Boltzmann method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Yu-Hang; Bai, Lin; Luo, Kai-Hong; Jin, Yong; Cheng, Yi

2017-04-01

In this work, we propose a general approach for modeling mass transfer and reaction of dilute solute(s) in incompressible three-phase flows by introducing a collision operator in lattice Boltzmann (LB) method. An LB equation was used to simulate the solute dynamics among three different fluids, in which the newly expanded collision operator was used to depict the interface behavior of dilute solute(s). The multiscale analysis showed that the presented model can recover the macroscopic transport equations derived from the Maxwell-Stefan equation for dilute solutes in three-phase systems. Compared with the analytical equation of state of solute and dynamic behavior, these results are proven to constitute a generalized framework to simulate solute distributions in three-phase flows, including compound soluble in one phase, compound adsorbed on single-interface, compound in two phases, and solute soluble in three phases. Moreover, numerical simulations of benchmark cases, such as phase decomposition, multilayered planar interfaces, and liquid lens, were performed to test the stability and efficiency of the model. Finally, the multiphase mass transfer and reaction in Janus droplet transport in a straight microchannel were well reproduced.

Analysis of an all-digital maximum likelihood carrier phase and clock timing synchronizer for eight phase-shift keying modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Degaudenzi, Riccardo; Vanghi, Vieri

1994-02-01

In all-digital Trellis-Coded 8PSK (TC-8PSK) demodulator well suited for VLSI implementation, including maximum likelihood estimation decision-directed (MLE-DD) carrier phase and clock timing recovery, is introduced and analyzed. By simply removing the trellis decoder the demodulator can efficiently cope with uncoded 8PSK signals. The proposed MLE-DD synchronization algorithm requires one sample for the phase and two samples per symbol for the timing loop. The joint phase and timing discriminator characteristics are analytically derived and numerical results checked by means of computer simulations. An approximated expression for steady-state carrier phase and clock timing mean square error has been derived and successfully checked with simulation findings. Synchronizer deviation from the Cramer Rao bound is also discussed. Mean acquisition time for the digital synchronizer has also been computed and checked, using the Monte Carlo simulation technique. Finally, TC-8PSK digital demodulator performance in terms of bit error rate and mean time to lose lock, including digital interpolators and synchronization loops, is presented.

Generalization of the Poincare sphere to process 2D displacement signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sciammarella, Cesar A.; Lamberti, Luciano

2017-06-01

Traditionally the multiple phase method has been considered as an essential tool for phase information recovery. The in-quadrature phase method that theoretically is an alternative pathway to achieve the same goal failed in actual applications. The authors in a previous paper dealing with 1D signals have shown that properly implemented the in-quadrature method yields phase values with the same accuracy than the multiple phase method. The present paper extends the methodology developed in 1D to 2D. This extension is not a straight forward process and requires the introduction of a number of additional concepts and developments. The concept of monogenic function provides the necessary tools required for the extension process. The monogenic function has a graphic representation through the Poincare sphere familiar in the field of Photoelasticity and through the developments introduced in this paper connected to the analysis of displacement fringe patterns. The paper is illustrated with examples of application that show that multiple phases method and the in-quadrature are two aspects of the same basic theoretical model.

An improved ring removal procedure for in-line x-ray phase contrast tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massimi, Lorenzo; Brun, Francesco; Fratini, Michela; Bukreeva, Inna; Cedola, Alessia

2018-02-01

The suppression of ring artifacts in x-ray computed tomography (CT) is a required step in practical applications; it can be addressed by introducing refined digital low pass filters within the reconstruction process. However, these filters may introduce additional ringing artifacts when simultaneously imaging pure phase objects and elements having a non-negligible absorption coefficient. Ringing originates at sharp interfaces, due to the truncation of spatial high frequencies, and severely affects qualitative and quantitative analysis of the reconstructed slices. In this work, we discuss the causes of ringing artifacts, and present a general compensation procedure to account for it. The proposed procedure has been tested with CT datasets of the mouse central nervous system acquired at different synchrotron radiation facilities. The results demonstrate that the proposed method compensates for ringing artifacts induced by low pass ring removal filters. The effectiveness of the ring suppression filters is not altered; the proposed method can thus be considered as a framework to improve the ring removal step, regardless of the specific filter adopted or the imaged sample.

Improved dichotomous search frequency offset estimator for burst-mode continuous phase modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhai, Wen-Chao; Li, Zan; Si, Jiang-Bo; Bai, Jun

2015-11-01

A data-aided technique for carrier frequency offset estimation with continuous phase modulation (CPM) in burst-mode transmission is presented. The proposed technique first exploits a special pilot sequence, or training sequence, to form a sinusoidal waveform. Then, an improved dichotomous search frequency offset estimator is introduced to determine the frequency offset using the sinusoid. Theoretical analysis and simulation results indicate that our estimator is noteworthy in the following aspects. First, the estimator can operate independently of timing recovery. Second, it has relatively low outlier, i.e., the minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) required to guarantee estimation accuracy. Finally, the most important property is that our estimator is complexity-reduced compared to the existing dichotomous search methods: it eliminates the need for fast Fourier transform (FFT) and modulation removal, and exhibits faster convergence rate without accuracy degradation. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61301179), the Doctorial Programs Foundation of the Ministry of Education, China (Grant No. 20110203110011), and the Programme of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities, China (Grant No. B08038).

Temporal Genetic Dynamics of an Invasive Species, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), in an Early Phase of Establishment

PubMed Central

Yang, Xian-Ming; Lou, Heng; Sun, Jing-Tao; Zhu, Yi-Ming; Xue, Xiao-Feng; Hong, Xiao-Yue

2015-01-01

Many species can successfully colonize new areas despite their propagules having low genetic variation. We assessed whether the decreased genetic diversity could result in temporal fluctuations of genetic parameters of the new populations of an invasive species, western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, using mitochondrial and microsatellite markers. This study was conducted in eight localities from four climate regions in China, where F. occidentalis was introduced in the year 2000 and had lower genetic diversity than its native populations. We also tested the level of genetic differentiation in these introduced populations. The genetic diversity of the samples at different years in the same locality was not significantly different from each other in most localities. FST and STRUCTURE analysis also showed that most temporal population comparisons from the same sites were not significantly differentiated. Our results showed that the invasive populations of F. occidentalis in China can maintain temporal stability in genetic composition at an early phase of establishment despite having lower genetic diversity than in their native range. PMID:26138760

An improved ring removal procedure for in-line x-ray phase contrast tomography.

PubMed

Massimi, Lorenzo; Brun, Francesco; Fratini, Michela; Bukreeva, Inna; Cedola, Alessia

2018-02-12

The suppression of ring artifacts in x-ray computed tomography (CT) is a required step in practical applications; it can be addressed by introducing refined digital low pass filters within the reconstruction process. However, these filters may introduce additional ringing artifacts when simultaneously imaging pure phase objects and elements having a non-negligible absorption coefficient. Ringing originates at sharp interfaces, due to the truncation of spatial high frequencies, and severely affects qualitative and quantitative analysis of the reconstructed slices. In this work, we discuss the causes of ringing artifacts, and present a general compensation procedure to account for it. The proposed procedure has been tested with CT datasets of the mouse central nervous system acquired at different synchrotron radiation facilities. The results demonstrate that the proposed method compensates for ringing artifacts induced by low pass ring removal filters. The effectiveness of the ring suppression filters is not altered; the proposed method can thus be considered as a framework to improve the ring removal step, regardless of the specific filter adopted or the imaged sample.

Data-analysis driven comparison of analytic and numerical coalescing binary waveforms: Nonspinning case

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

Pan Yi; Buonanno, Alessandra; McWilliams, Sean T.

2008-01-15

We compare waveforms obtained by numerically evolving nonspinning binary black holes to post-Newtonian (PN) template families currently used in the search for gravitational waves by ground-based detectors. We find that the time-domain 3.5PN template family, which includes the inspiral phase, has fitting factors (FFs) {>=}0.96 for binary systems with total mass M=10-20M{sub {center_dot}}. The time-domain 3.5PN effective-one-body template family, which includes the inspiral, merger, and ring-down phases, gives satisfactory signal-matching performance with FFs {>=}0.96 for binary systems with total mass M=10-120M{sub {center_dot}}. If we introduce a cutoff frequency properly adjusted to the final black-hole ring-down frequency, we find that themore » frequency-domain stationary-phase-approximated template family at 3.5PN order has FFs {>=}0.96 for binary systems with total mass M=10-20M{sub {center_dot}}. However, to obtain high matching performances for larger binary masses, we need to either extend this family to unphysical regions of the parameter space or introduce a 4PN order coefficient in the frequency-domain gravitational wave (GW) phase. Finally, we find that the phenomenological Buonanno-Chen-Vallisneri family has FFs {>=}0.97 with total mass M=10-120M{sub {center_dot}}. The main analyses use the noise-spectral density of LIGO, but several tests are extended to VIRGO and advanced LIGO noise-spectral densities.« less

Doppler radar with multiphase modulation of transmitted and reflected signal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shores, Paul W. (Inventor); Griffin, John W. (Inventor); Kobayashi, Herbert S. (Inventor)

1989-01-01

A microwave radar signal is generated and split by a circulator. A phase shifter introduces a series of phase shifts into a first part of the split signal which is then transmitted by antenna. A like number of phase shifts is introduced by the phase shifter into the return signal from the target. The circulator delivers the phase shifted return signal and the leakage signal from the circulator to a mixer which generates an IF signal output at the Doppler frequency. The IF signal is amplified, filtered, counted per unit of time, and the result displayed to provide indications of target sense and range rate. An oscillator controls rate of phase shift in the transmitted and received radar signals and provides a time base for the counter. The phase shift magnitude increases may be continuous and linear or discrete functions of time.

A rapid hydrolysis method and DABS-Cl derivatization for complete amino acid analysis of octreotide acetate by reversed phase HPLC.

PubMed

Akhlaghi, Yousef; Ghaffari, Solmaz; Attar, Hossein; Alamir Hoor, Amir

2015-11-01

Octreotide as a synthetic cyclic octapeptide is a somatostatin analog with longer half-life and more selectivity for inhibition of the growth hormone. The acetate salt of octreotide is currently used for medical treatment of somatostatin-related disorders such as endocrine and carcinoid tumors, acromegaly, and gigantism. Octreotide contains both cysteine and tryptophan residues which make the hydrolysis part of its amino acid analysis procedure very challenging. The current paper introduces a fast and additive-free method which preserves tryptophan and cysteine residues during the hydrolysis. Using only 6 M HCl, this hydrolysis process is completed in 30 min at 150 °C. This fast hydrolysis method followed by pre-column derivatization of the released amino acids with 4-N,N-dimethylaminoazobenzene-4'-sulfonyl chloride (DABS-Cl) which takes only 20 min, makes it possible to do the complete amino acid analysis of an octreotide sample in a few hours. The highly stable-colored DABS-Cl derivatives can be detected in 436 nm in a reversed phase chromatographic system, which eliminates spectral interferences to a great extent. The amino acid analysis of octreotide acetate including hydrolysis, derivatization, and reversed phase HPLC determination was validated according to International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) guidelines.

STEM_CELL: a software tool for electron microscopy: part 2--analysis of crystalline materials.

PubMed

Grillo, Vincenzo; Rossi, Francesca

2013-02-01

A new graphical software (STEM_CELL) for analysis of HRTEM and STEM-HAADF images is here introduced in detail. The advantage of the software, beyond its graphic interface, is to put together different analysis algorithms and simulation (described in an associated article) to produce novel analysis methodologies. Different implementations and improvements to state of the art approach are reported in the image analysis, filtering, normalization, background subtraction. In particular two important methodological results are here highlighted: (i) the definition of a procedure for atomic scale quantitative analysis of HAADF images, (ii) the extension of geometric phase analysis to large regions up to potentially 1μm through the use of under sampled images with aliasing effects. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fusible pellet transport and storage of heat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bahrami, P. A.

1982-01-01

A new concept for both transport and storage of heat at high temperatures and heat fluxes is introduced and the first steps in analysis of its feasibility is taken. The concept utilizes the high energy storage capability of materials undergoing change of phase. The phase change material, for example a salt, is encapsulated in corrosion resistant sealed pellets and transported in a carrier fluid to heat source and storage. Calculations for heat transport from a typical solar collector indicate that the pellet mass flow rates are relatively small and that the required pumping power is only a small fraction of the energy transport capability of the system. Salts and eutectic salt mixtures as candidate phase change materials are examined and discussed. Finally, the time periods for melting or solidification of sodium chloride pellets is investigated and reported.

Fusible pellet transport and storage of heat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahrami, P. A.

1982-06-01

A new concept for both transport and storage of heat at high temperatures and heat fluxes is introduced and the first steps in analysis of its feasibility is taken. The concept utilizes the high energy storage capability of materials undergoing change of phase. The phase change material, for example a salt, is encapsulated in corrosion resistant sealed pellets and transported in a carrier fluid to heat source and storage. Calculations for heat transport from a typical solar collector indicate that the pellet mass flow rates are relatively small and that the required pumping power is only a small fraction of the energy transport capability of the system. Salts and eutectic salt mixtures as candidate phase change materials are examined and discussed. Finally, the time periods for melting or solidification of sodium chloride pellets is investigated and reported.

Layer-oriented simulation tool.

PubMed

Arcidiacono, Carmelo; Diolaiti, Emiliano; Tordi, Massimiliano; Ragazzoni, Roberto; Farinato, Jacopo; Vernet, Elise; Marchetti, Enrico

2004-08-01

The Layer-Oriented Simulation Tool (LOST) is a numerical simulation code developed for analysis of the performance of multiconjugate adaptive optics modules following a layer-oriented approach. The LOST code computes the atmospheric layers in terms of phase screens and then propagates the phase delays introduced in the natural guide stars' wave fronts by using geometrical optics approximations. These wave fronts are combined in an optical or numerical way, including the effects of wave-front sensors on measurements in terms of phase noise. The LOST code is described, and two applications to layer-oriented modules are briefly presented. We have focus on the Multiconjugate adaptive optics demonstrator to be mounted upon the Very Large Telescope and on the Near-IR-Visible Adaptive Interferometer for Astronomy (NIRVANA) interferometric system to be installed on the combined focus of the Large Binocular Telescope.

Effect of spatial bias on the nonequilibrium phase transition in a system of coagulating and fragmenting particles.

PubMed

Rajesh, R; Krishnamurthy, Supriya

2002-10-01

We examine the effect of spatial bias on a nonequilibrium system in which masses on a lattice evolve through the elementary moves of diffusion, coagulation, and fragmentation. When there is no preferred directionality in the motion of the masses, the model is known to exhibit a nonequilibrium phase transition between two different types of steady state, in all dimensions. We show analytically that introducing a preferred direction in the motion of the masses inhibits the occurrence of the phase transition in one dimension, in the thermodynamic limit. A finite-size system, however, continues to show a signature of the original transition, and we characterize the finite-size scaling implications of this. Our analysis is supported by numerical simulations. In two dimensions, bias is shown to be irrelevant.

Dynamical analysis of surface-insulated planar wire array Z-pinches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yang; Sheng, Liang; Hei, Dongwei; Li, Xingwen; Zhang, Jinhai; Li, Mo; Qiu, Aici

2018-05-01

The ablation and implosion dynamics of planar wire array Z-pinches with and without surface insulation are compared and discussed in this paper. This paper first presents a phenomenological model named the ablation and cascade snowplow implosion (ACSI) model, which accounts for the ablation and implosion phases of a planar wire array Z-pinch in a single simulation. The comparison between experimental data and simulation results shows that the ACSI model could give a fairly good description about the dynamical characteristics of planar wire array Z-pinches. Surface insulation introduces notable differences in the ablation phase of planar wire array Z-pinches. The ablation phase is divided into two stages: insulation layer ablation and tungsten wire ablation. The two-stage ablation process of insulated wires is simulated in the ACSI model by updating the formulas describing the ablation process.

Experimental Analysis of Mast Lifting and Bending Forces on Vibration Patterns Before and After Pinion Reinstallation in an OH-58 Transmission Test Rig

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huff, Edward M.; Barszcz, Eric; Turner, Irem Y.; Lewicki, David; Decker, Harry; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

As part of a cooperative research program between NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Glenn Research Center, and the U.S. Army Laboratories, a series of experiments are being performed on the 500 HP OH-58a Transmission Test Rig at NASA Glenn Research Center. The findings reported in this paper were drawn from Phase 1 of a two-phase experiment, and are focused on the vibration response of an undamaged pinion gear and planetary system operating in situ in the transmission test rig. Phase 2 of the experiment, which is reported elsewhere, introduced a seeded fault into the pinion gear and tracked its progress in real-time. Based on methods presented here, further experimental research will be conducted to examine planetary system faults.

Vibrational spectra of water solutions of azoles from QM/MM calculations: effects of solvation.

PubMed

Tanzi, Luana; Ramondo, Fabio; Guidoni, Leonardo

2012-10-18

Using microsolvation models and mixed quantum/classical ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the vibrational properties of two azoles in water solution: pyrazole and oxazole. The effects of the water-azole hydrogen bonding are rationalized by an extensive comparison between structural parameters and harmonic frequencies obtained by microsolvation models. Following the effective normal-mode analysis introduced by Martinez et al. [Martinez et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2006, 125, 144106], we identify the vibrational frequencies of the solutes using the decomposition of the vibrational density of states of the gas phase and solution dynamics. The calculated shifts from gas phase to solution are fairly in agreement with the available experimental data.

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of methadone hydrochloride oral solution.

PubMed

Beasley, T H; Ziegler, H W

1977-12-01

A direct and rapid high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for methadone hydrochloride in a flavored oral solution dosage form is described. A syrup sample, one part diluted with three parts of water, is introduced onto a column packed with octadecylsilane bonded on 10 micrometer porous silica gel (reversed phase). A formic acid-ammonium formate-buffered mobile phase is linear programmed with acetonitrile. The absorbance is monitored continuously at 280 or 254 nm, using a flow-through, UV, double-beam photometer. An aqueous methadone hydrochloride solution is used for external standardization. The relative standard deviation was not more than 1.0%. Drug recovery from a syrup base was better than 99.8%.

Probing metamaterials with structured light

DOE PAGES

Xu, Yun; Sun, Jingbo; Walasik, Wiktor; ...

2016-11-03

Photonic metamaterials and metasurfaces are nanostructured optical materials engineered to enable properties that have not been found in nature. Optical characterization of these structures is a challenging task. We report a reliable technique that is particularly useful for characterization of phase properties introduced by small and spatially inhomogeneous samples of metamaterials and metasurfaces. The proposed structured light, or vortex based interferometric method is used to directly visualize phase changes introduced by subwavelength-thick nanostructures. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed technique, we designed and fabricated several metasurface samples consisting of metal nano-antennas introducing different phase shifts and experimentallymore » measured phase shifts of the transmitted light. The experimental results are in good agreement with numerical simulations and with the designed properties of the antenna arrays. Finally, due to the presence of the singularity in the vortex beam, one of the potential applications of the proposed approach based on structured light is step-by-step probing of small fractions of the micro-scale samples or images.« less

Scaling analysis of field-tuned superconductor-insulator transition in two-dimensional tantalum thin films.

PubMed

Park, Sungyu; Shin, Junghyun; Kim, Eunseong

2017-02-20

The superconductor-insulator (SI) transition in two-dimensional Ta thin films is investigated by controlling both film thickness and magnetic field. An intriguing metallic phase appears between a superconducting and an insulating phase within a range of film thickness and magnetic field. The temperature and electric field scaling analyses are performed to investigate the nature of the SI transition in the thickness-tuned metallic and superconducting samples. The critical exponents product of νz obtained from the temperature scaling analysis is found to be approximately 0.67 in the entire range of film thickness. On the other hand, an apparent discrepancy is measured in the product of ν(z + 1) by the electric filed analysis. The product values are found to be about 1.37 for the superconducting films and about 1.86 for the metallic films respectively. We find that the discrepancy is the direct consequence of electron heating that introduces additional dissipation channels in the metallic Ta films.

Thermal Analysis of the European XFEL Intersection Control Rack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Concha, P.; Vazquez, C.

2014-04-01

The three undulator segments of the European X-ray Free Electron Laser contain a total of 88 intersections cells. Each intersection accommodates a quadrupole magnet on top of a high precision X-Y positioning table, a beam position monitor, four air coil correctors and a phase shifter. The Intersection Control Rack is an electrical cabinet containing the necessary electronics to control both the quadrupole and the phase shifter movements (which are stepper motor based) with a repeatability of less than 1 um and 10 um, respectively. Four different cabinets have been extensively tested to ensure that they meet specifications. These tests include a thermal analysis to study position measurements dependence on the temperature. This paper introduces a description of the thermal issue, analyses the causes and consequences of heating, presents the results of the different tests performed, and concludes the best design and operating conditions to achieve a good performance.

Aggregative Learning Method and Its Application for Communication Quality Evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akhmetov, Dauren F.; Kotaki, Minoru

2007-12-01

In this paper, so-called Aggregative Learning Method (ALM) is proposed to improve and simplify the learning and classification abilities of different data processing systems. It provides a universal basis for design and analysis of mathematical models of wide class. A procedure was elaborated for time series model reconstruction and analysis for linear and nonlinear cases. Data approximation accuracy (during learning phase) and data classification quality (during recall phase) are estimated from introduced statistic parameters. The validity and efficiency of the proposed approach have been demonstrated through its application for monitoring of wireless communication quality, namely, for Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) system. Low memory and computation resources were shown to be needed for the procedure realization, especially for data classification (recall) stage. Characterized with high computational efficiency and simple decision making procedure, the derived approaches can be useful for simple and reliable real-time surveillance and control system design.

Using incident response trees as a tool for risk management of online financial services.

PubMed

Gorton, Dan

2014-09-01

The article introduces the use of probabilistic risk assessment for modeling the incident response process of online financial services. The main contribution is the creation of incident response trees, using event tree analysis, which provides us with a visual tool and a systematic way to estimate the probability of a successful incident response process against the currently known risk landscape, making it possible to measure the balance between front-end and back-end security measures. The model is presented using an illustrative example, and is then applied to the incident response process of a Swedish bank. Access to relevant data is verified and the applicability and usability of the proposed model is verified using one year of historical data. Potential advantages and possible shortcomings are discussed, referring to both the design phase and the operational phase, and future work is presented. © 2014 Society for Risk Analysis.

Ergodic theory and visualization. II. Fourier mesochronic plots visualize (quasi)periodic sets

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

Levnajić, Zoran; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106; Mezić, Igor

We present an application and analysis of a visualization method for measure-preserving dynamical systems introduced by I. Mezić and A. Banaszuk [Physica D 197, 101 (2004)], based on frequency analysis and Koopman operator theory. This extends our earlier work on visualization of ergodic partition [Z. Levnajić and I. Mezić, Chaos 20, 033114 (2010)]. Our method employs the concept of Fourier time average [I. Mezić and A. Banaszuk, Physica D 197, 101 (2004)], and is realized as a computational algorithms for visualization of periodic and quasi-periodic sets in the phase space. The complement of periodic phase space partition contains chaotic zone,more » and we show how to identify it. The range of method's applicability is illustrated using well-known Chirikov standard map, while its potential in illuminating higher-dimensional dynamics is presented by studying the Froeschlé map and the Extended Standard Map.« less

Ergodic theory and visualization. II. Fourier mesochronic plots visualize (quasi)periodic sets.

PubMed

Levnajić, Zoran; Mezić, Igor

2015-05-01

We present an application and analysis of a visualization method for measure-preserving dynamical systems introduced by I. Mezić and A. Banaszuk [Physica D 197, 101 (2004)], based on frequency analysis and Koopman operator theory. This extends our earlier work on visualization of ergodic partition [Z. Levnajić and I. Mezić, Chaos 20, 033114 (2010)]. Our method employs the concept of Fourier time average [I. Mezić and A. Banaszuk, Physica D 197, 101 (2004)], and is realized as a computational algorithms for visualization of periodic and quasi-periodic sets in the phase space. The complement of periodic phase space partition contains chaotic zone, and we show how to identify it. The range of method's applicability is illustrated using well-known Chirikov standard map, while its potential in illuminating higher-dimensional dynamics is presented by studying the Froeschlé map and the Extended Standard Map.

Automatic neuron segmentation and neural network analysis method for phase contrast microscopy images.

PubMed

Pang, Jincheng; Özkucur, Nurdan; Ren, Michael; Kaplan, David L; Levin, Michael; Miller, Eric L

2015-11-01

Phase Contrast Microscopy (PCM) is an important tool for the long term study of living cells. Unlike fluorescence methods which suffer from photobleaching of fluorophore or dye molecules, PCM image contrast is generated by the natural variations in optical index of refraction. Unfortunately, the same physical principles which allow for these studies give rise to complex artifacts in the raw PCM imagery. Of particular interest in this paper are neuron images where these image imperfections manifest in very different ways for the two structures of specific interest: cell bodies (somas) and dendrites. To address these challenges, we introduce a novel parametric image model using the level set framework and an associated variational approach which simultaneously restores and segments this class of images. Using this technique as the basis for an automated image analysis pipeline, results for both the synthetic and real images validate and demonstrate the advantages of our approach.

Nanosatellite constellation deployment using on-board magnetic torquer interaction with space plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Ji Hyun; Matsuzawa, Shinji; Inamori, Takaya; Jeung, In-Seuck

2018-04-01

One of the advantages that drive nanosatellite development is the potential of multi-point observation through constellation operation. However, constellation deployment of nanosatellites has been a challenge, as thruster operations for orbit maneuver were limited due to mass, volume, and power. Recently, a de-orbiting mechanism using magnetic torquer interaction with space plasma has been introduced, so-called plasma drag. As no additional hardware nor propellant is required, plasma drag has the potential in being used as constellation deployment method. In this research, a novel constellation deployment method using plasma drag is proposed. Orbit decay rate of the satellites in a constellation is controlled using plasma drag in order to achieve a desired phase angle and phase angle rate. A simplified 1D problem is formulated for an elementary analysis of the constellation deployment time. Numerical simulations are further performed for analytical analysis assessment and sensitivity analysis. Analytical analysis and numerical simulation results both agree that the constellation deployment time is proportional to the inverse square root of magnetic moment, the square root of desired phase angle and the square root of satellite mass. CubeSats ranging from 1 to 3 U (1-3 kg nanosatellites) are examined in order to investigate the feasibility of plasma drag constellation on nanosatellite systems. The feasibility analysis results show that plasma drag constellation is feasible on CubeSats, which open up the possibility of CubeSat constellation missions.

High speed phase retrieval of in-line holograms by the assistance of corresponding off-axis holograms.

PubMed

Orzó, László

2015-06-29

Retrieving correct phase information from an in-line hologram is difficult as the object wave field and the diffractions of the zero order and the conjugate object term overlap. The existing iterative numerical phase retrieval methods are slow, especially in the case of high Fresnel number systems. Conversely, the reconstruction of the object wave field from an off-axis hologram is simple, but due to the applied spatial frequency filtering the achievable resolution is confined. Here, a new, high-speed algorithm is introduced that efficiently incorporates the data of an auxiliary off-axis hologram in the phase retrieval of the corresponding in-line hologram. The efficiency of the introduced combined phase retrieval method is demonstrated by simulated and measured holograms.

Adjustment of Adaptive Gain with Bounded Linear Stability Analysis to Improve Time-Delay Margin for Metrics-Driven Adaptive Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bakhtiari-Nejad, Maryam; Nguyen, Nhan T.; Krishnakumar, Kalmanje Srinvas

2009-01-01

This paper presents the application of Bounded Linear Stability Analysis (BLSA) method for metrics driven adaptive control. The bounded linear stability analysis method is used for analyzing stability of adaptive control models, without linearizing the adaptive laws. Metrics-driven adaptive control introduces a notion that adaptation should be driven by some stability metrics to achieve robustness. By the application of bounded linear stability analysis method the adaptive gain is adjusted during the adaptation in order to meet certain phase margin requirements. Analysis of metrics-driven adaptive control is evaluated for a linear damaged twin-engine generic transport model of aircraft. The analysis shows that the system with the adjusted adaptive gain becomes more robust to unmodeled dynamics or time delay.

Cavity-enhanced Raman spectroscopy with optical feedback cw diode lasers for gas phase analysis and spectroscopy.

PubMed

Salter, Robert; Chu, Johnny; Hippler, Michael

2012-10-21

A variant of cavity-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (CERS) is introduced, in which diode laser radiation at 635 nm is coupled into an external linear optical cavity composed of two highly reflective mirrors. Using optical feedback stabilisation, build-up of circulating laser power by 3 orders of magnitude occurs. Strong Raman signals are collected in forward scattering geometry. Gas phase CERS spectra of H(2), air, CH(4) and benzene are recorded to demonstrate the potential for analytical applications and fundamental molecular studies. Noise equivalent limits of detection in the ppm by volume range (1 bar sample) can be achieved with excellent linearity with a 10 mW excitation laser, with sensitivity increasing with laser power and integration time. The apparatus can be operated with battery powered components and can thus be very compact and portable. Possible applications include safety monitoring of hydrogen gas levels, isotope tracer studies (e.g., (14)N/(15)N ratios), observing isotopomers of hydrogen (e.g., radioactive tritium), and simultaneous multi-component gas analysis. CERS has the potential to become a standard method for sensitive gas phase Raman spectroscopy.

Coded excitation for infrared non-destructive testing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics.

PubMed

Mulaveesala, Ravibabu; Venkata Ghali, Subbarao

2011-05-01

This paper proposes a Barker coded excitation for defect detection using infrared non-destructive testing. Capability of the proposed excitation scheme is highlighted with recently introduced correlation based post processing approach and compared with the existing phase based analysis by taking the signal to noise ratio into consideration. Applicability of the proposed scheme has been experimentally validated on a carbon fiber reinforced plastic specimen containing flat bottom holes located at different depths.

A guideline for analyzing circadian wheel-running behavior in rodents under different lighting conditions

PubMed Central

Jud, Corinne; Schmutz, Isabelle; Hampp, Gabriele; Oster, Henrik

2005-01-01

Most behavioral experiments within circadian research are based on the analysis of locomotor activity. This paper introduces scientists to chronobiology by explaining the basic terminology used within the field. Furthermore, it aims to assist in designing, carrying out, and evaluating wheel-running experiments with rodents, particularly mice. Since light is an easily applicable stimulus that provokes strong effects on clock phase, the paper focuses on the application of different lighting conditions. PMID:16136228

Thermal Stability Analysis for a Heliocentric Gravitational Radiation Detection Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Folkner, W.; McElroy, P.; Miyake, R.; Bender, P.; Stebbins, R.; Supper, W.

1994-01-01

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission is designed for detailed studies of low-frequency gravitational radiation. The mission is currently a candidate for ESA's post-Horizon 2000 program. Thermal noise affects the measurement in at least two ways. Thermal variation of the length of the optical cavity to which the lasers are stabilized introduces phase variations in the interferometer signal, which have to be corrected for by using data from the two arms separately.

Geometric, Statistical, and Topological Modeling of Intrinsic Data Manifolds: Application to 3D Shapes

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

representation to a simple curve in 3D by using the Whitney embedding theorem. In a very ludic way, we propose to combine phases one and two to...elimination principle which takes advantage of the designed parametrization. To further refine discrimination among objects, we introduce a post...packing numbers and design of principal curves. IEEE transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intel- ligence, 22(3):281-297, 2000. [68] M. H. Yang, Face

Improved nonlinear prediction method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adenan, Nur Hamiza; Md Noorani, Mohd Salmi

2014-06-01

The analysis and prediction of time series data have been addressed by researchers. Many techniques have been developed to be applied in various areas, such as weather forecasting, financial markets and hydrological phenomena involving data that are contaminated by noise. Therefore, various techniques to improve the method have been introduced to analyze and predict time series data. In respect of the importance of analysis and the accuracy of the prediction result, a study was undertaken to test the effectiveness of the improved nonlinear prediction method for data that contain noise. The improved nonlinear prediction method involves the formation of composite serial data based on the successive differences of the time series. Then, the phase space reconstruction was performed on the composite data (one-dimensional) to reconstruct a number of space dimensions. Finally the local linear approximation method was employed to make a prediction based on the phase space. This improved method was tested with data series Logistics that contain 0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 30% of noise. The results show that by using the improved method, the predictions were found to be in close agreement with the observed ones. The correlation coefficient was close to one when the improved method was applied on data with up to 10% noise. Thus, an improvement to analyze data with noise without involving any noise reduction method was introduced to predict the time series data.

Analysis of Short and Long Range Atomic Order in Nanocrystalline Diamonds with Application of Powder Diffractometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Palosz, B.; Grzanka, E.; Stelmakh, S.; Pielaszek, R.; Bismayer, U.; Neuefiend, J.; Weber, H.-P.; Proffen, T.; VonDreele, R.; Palosz, W.;

Determination of a Two-Phase Structure of Nanocrystals: GaN and SiC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Palosz, W.; Grzanka, E.; Gierlotka, S.; Stelmakh, S.; Pielaszek, R.; Lojkowski, W.; Bismayer, U.; Neuefeind, J.; Weber, H.-P.; Janik, J. F.;

All optical coherent receiver for self-homodyne detection of digitally phase modulated optical signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiasaleh, Kamran

1994-02-01

A novel optical phase-locked loop (OPLL) system for the self-homodyne detection of digitally phase modulated optical signals is introduced. A Mach-Zehnder type interferometer is used to self-homodyne binary phase-modulated optical signals with an external phase modulator inserted in the control arm of the interferometer.

Microscopic optical path length difference and polarization measurement system for cell analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satake, H.; Ikeda, K.; Kowa, H.; Hoshiba, T.; Watanabe, E.

2018-03-01

In recent years, noninvasive, nonstaining, and nondestructive quantitative cell measurement techniques have become increasingly important in the medical field. These cell measurement techniques enable the quantitative analysis of living cells, and are therefore applied to various cell identification processes, such as those determining the passage number limit during cell culturing in regenerative medicine. To enable cell measurement, we developed a quantitative microscopic phase imaging system based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer that measures the optical path length difference distribution without phase unwrapping using optical phase locking. The applicability of our phase imaging system was demonstrated by successful identification of breast cancer cells amongst normal cells. However, the cell identification method using this phase imaging system exhibited a false identification rate of approximately 7%. In this study, we implemented a polarimetric imaging system by introducing a polarimetric module to one arm of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer of our conventional phase imaging system. This module was comprised of a quarter wave plate and a rotational polarizer on the illumination side of the sample, and a linear polarizer on the optical detector side. In addition, we developed correction methods for the measurement errors of the optical path length and birefringence phase differences that arose through the influence of elements other than cells, such as the Petri dish. As the Petri dish holding the fluid specimens was transparent, it did not affect the amplitude information; however, the optical path length and birefringence phase differences were affected. Therefore, we proposed correction of the optical path length and birefringence phase for the influence of elements other than cells, as a prerequisite for obtaining highly precise phase and polarimetric images.

Method and apparatus for large motor control

DOEpatents

Rose, Chris R [Santa Fe, NM; Nelson, Ronald O [White Rock, NM

2003-08-12

Apparatus and method for providing digital signal processing method for controlling the speed and phase of a motor involves inputting a reference signal having a frequency and relative phase indicative of a time based signal; modifying the reference signal to introduce a slew-rate limited portion of each cycle of the reference signal; inputting a feedback signal having a frequency and relative phase indicative of the operation of said motor; modifying the feedback signal to introduce a slew-rate limited portion of each cycle of the feedback signal; analyzing the modified reference signal and the modified feedback signal to determine the frequency of the modified reference signal and of the modified feedback signal and said relative phase between said modified reference signal and said modified feedback signal; and outputting control signals to the motor for adjusting said speed and phase of the motor based on the frequency determination and determination of the relative phase.

Dynamic analysis of CO₂ labeling and cell respiration using membrane-inlet mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Yang, Tae Hoon

2014-01-01

Here, we introduce a mass spectrometry-based analytical method and relevant technical details for dynamic cell respiration and CO2 labeling analysis. Such measurements can be utilized as additional information and constraints for model-based (13)C metabolic flux analysis. Dissolved dynamics of oxygen consumption and CO2 mass isotopomer evolution from (13)C-labeled tracer substrates through different cellular processes can be precisely measured on-line using a miniaturized reactor system equipped with a membrane-inlet mass spectrometer. The corresponding specific rates of physiologically relevant gases and CO2 mass isotopomers can be quantified within a short-term range based on the liquid-phase dynamics of dissolved fermentation gases.

Consistent multiphase-field theory for interface driven multidomain dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tóth, Gyula I.; Pusztai, Tamás; Gránásy, László

2015-11-01

We present a multiphase-field theory for describing pattern formation in multidomain and/or multicomponent systems. The construction of the free energy functional and the dynamic equations is based on criteria that ensure mathematical and physical consistency. We first analyze previous multiphase-field theories and identify their advantageous and disadvantageous features. On the basis of this analysis, we introduce a way of constructing the free energy surface and derive a generalized multiphase description for arbitrary number of phases (or domains). The presented approach retains the variational formalism, reduces (or extends) naturally to lower (or higher) number of fields on the level of both the free energy functional and the dynamic equations, enables the use of arbitrary pairwise equilibrium interfacial properties, penalizes multiple junctions increasingly with the number of phases, ensures non-negative entropy production and the convergence of the dynamic solutions to the equilibrium solutions, and avoids the appearance of spurious phases on binary interfaces. The approach is tested for multicomponent phase separation and grain coarsening.

Phase transformation strengthening of high-temperature superalloys

PubMed Central

Smith, T. M.; Esser, B. D.; Antolin, N.; Carlsson, A.; Williams, R. E. A.; Wessman, A.; Hanlon, T.; Fraser, H. L.; Windl, W.; McComb, D. W.; Mills, M. J.

2016-01-01

Decades of research has been focused on improving the high-temperature properties of nickel-based superalloys, an essential class of materials used in the hot section of jet turbine engines, allowing increased engine efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions. Here we introduce a new ‘phase-transformation strengthening' mechanism that resists high-temperature creep deformation in nickel-based superalloys, where specific alloying elements inhibit the deleterious deformation mode of nanotwinning at temperatures above 700 °C. Ultra-high-resolution structure and composition analysis via scanning transmission electron microscopy, combined with density functional theory calculations, reveals that a superalloy with higher concentrations of the elements titanium, tantalum and niobium encourage a shear-induced solid-state transformation from the γ′ to η phase along stacking faults in γ′ precipitates, which would normally be the precursors of deformation twins. This nanoscale η phase creates a low-energy structure that inhibits thickening of stacking faults into twins, leading to significant improvement in creep properties. PMID:27874007

Double-image storage optimized by cross-phase modulation in a cold atomic system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Tianhui; Xie, Min

2017-09-01

A tripod-type cold atomic system driven by double-probe fields and a coupling field is explored to store double images based on the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). During the storage time, an intensity-dependent signal field is applied further to extend the system with the fifth level involved, then the cross-phase modulation is introduced for coherently manipulating the stored images. Both analytical analysis and numerical simulation clearly demonstrate a tunable phase shift with low nonlinear absorption can be imprinted on the stored images, which effectively can improve the visibility of the reconstructed images. The phase shift and the energy retrieving rate of the probe fields are immune to the coupling intensity and the atomic optical density. The proposed scheme can easily be extended to the simultaneous storage of multiple images. This work may be exploited toward the end of EIT-based multiple-image storage devices for all-optical classical and quantum information processings.

Coplanar three-beam interference and phase edge dislocations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patorski, Krzysztof; SłuŻewski, Łukasz; Trusiak, Maciej; Pokorski, Krzysztof

2016-12-01

We present a comprehensive analysis of grating three-beam interference to discover a broad range of the ratio of amplitudes A of +/-1 diffraction orders and the zero order amplitude C providing phase edge dislocations. We derive a condition A/C > 0.5 for the occurrence of phase edge dislocations in three-beam interference self-image planes. In the boundary case A/C = 0.5 singularity conditions are met in those planes (once per interference field period), but the zero amplitude condition is not accompanied by an abrupt phase change. For A/C > 0.5 two adjacent singularities in a single field period show opposite sign topological charges. The occurrence of edge dislocations for selected values of A/C was verified by processing fork fringes obtained by introducing the fourth beam in the plane perpendicular to the one containing three coplanar diffraction orders. Two fork pattern processing methods are described, 2D CWT (two-dimensional continuous wavelet transform) and 2D spatial differentiation.

Spatial-temporal-covariance-based modeling, analysis, and simulation of aero-optics wavefront aberrations.

PubMed

Vogel, Curtis R; Tyler, Glenn A; Wittich, Donald J

2014-07-01

We introduce a framework for modeling, analysis, and simulation of aero-optics wavefront aberrations that is based on spatial-temporal covariance matrices extracted from wavefront sensor measurements. Within this framework, we present a quasi-homogeneous structure function to analyze nonhomogeneous, mildly anisotropic spatial random processes, and we use this structure function to show that phase aberrations arising in aero-optics are, for an important range of operating parameters, locally Kolmogorov. This strongly suggests that the d5/3 power law for adaptive optics (AO) deformable mirror fitting error, where d denotes actuator separation, holds for certain important aero-optics scenarios. This framework also allows us to compute bounds on AO servo lag error and predictive control error. In addition, it provides us with the means to accurately simulate AO systems for the mitigation of aero-effects, and it may provide insight into underlying physical processes associated with turbulent flow. The techniques introduced here are demonstrated using data obtained from the Airborne Aero-Optics Laboratory.

Interpreting the handling qualities of aircraft with stability and control augmentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hodgkinson, J.; Potsdam, E. H.; Smith, R. E.

1990-01-01

The general process of designing an aircraft for good flying qualities is first discussed. Lessons learned are pointed out, with piloted evaluation emerging as a crucial element. Two sources of rating variability in performing these evaluations are then discussed. First, the finite endpoints of the Cooper-Harper scale do not bias parametric statistical analyses unduly. Second, the wording of the scale does introduce some scatter. Phase lags generated by augmentation systems, as represented by equivalent time delays, often cause poor flying qualities. An analysis is introduced which allows a designer to relate any level of time delay to a probability of loss of aircraft control. This view of time delays should, it is hoped, allow better visibility of the time delays in the design process.

New Insight into Phase Formation of MxMg2Al4+xSi5−xO18:Eu2+ Solid Solution Phosphors and Its Luminescence Properties

PubMed Central

Zhou, Jun; Xia, Zhiguo; Chen, Mingyue; Molokeev, Maxim S.; Liu, Quanlin

2015-01-01

Here we reported the phase formation of MxMg2Al4+xSi5−xO18:Eu2+ (M = K, Rb) solid solution phosphors, where M+ ions were introduced into the void channels of Mg2Al4Si5O18 via Al3+/Si4+ substitution to keep the charge balance. XRD results revealed that the as-prepared phosphors with different M+ contents were iso-structural with Mg2Al4Si5O18 phase. The combined analysis of the Rietveld refinement and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) results proved that M+ ions were surely introduced into the intrinsic channels in Mg2Al4Si5O18. The emission peaks of MxMg2Al4+xSi5−xO18:Eu2+ (M = K, Rb) phosphors with various x values performed a systematic red-shift tendency, which was ascribed to the elongation of [MgO6] octahedra. The temperature stable photoluminescence and internal quantum efficiency (QE) of MxMg2Al4+xSi5−xO18:Eu2+ (M = K, Rb) phosphors were enhanced owing to the filling of M+ in the void channels suggesting a new insight to design the solid solution phosphors with improved photoluminescence properties. PMID:26190348

How to save the rarest Darwin's finch from extinction: the mangrove finch on Isabela Island

PubMed Central

Fessl, Birgit; Young, Glyn H.; Young, Richard P.; Rodríguez-Matamoros, Jorge; Dvorak, Michael; Tebbich, Sabine; Fa, John E.

2010-01-01

Habitat destruction and predation by invasive alien species has led to the disappearance of several island populations of Darwin's finches but to date none of the 13 recognized species have gone extinct. However, driven by rapid economic growth in the Galápagos, the effects of introduced species have accelerated and severely threatened these iconic birds. The critically endangered mangrove finch (Camarhynchus heliobates) is now confined to three small mangroves on Isabela Island. During 2006–2009, we assessed its population status and monitored nesting success, both before and after rat poisoning. Population size was estimated at around only 100 birds for the two main breeding sites, with possibly 5–10 birds surviving at a third mangrove. Before rat control, 54 per cent of nests during incubation phase were predated with only 18 per cent of nests producing fledglings. Post-rat control, nest predation during the incubation phase fell to 30 per cent with 37 per cent of nests producing fledglings. During the nestling phase, infestation by larvae of the introduced parasitic fly (Philornis downsi) caused 14 per cent additional mortality. Using population viability analysis, we simulated the probability of population persistence under various scenarios of control and showed that with effective management of these invasive species, mangrove finch populations should start to recover. PMID:20194165

Chaotic behavior in Casimir oscillators: A case study for phase-change materials.

PubMed

Tajik, Fatemeh; Sedighi, Mehdi; Khorrami, Mohammad; Masoudi, Amir Ali; Palasantzas, George

2017-10-01

Casimir forces between material surfaces at close proximity of less than 200 nm can lead to increased chaotic behavior of actuating devices depending on the strength of the Casimir interaction. We investigate these phenomena for phase-change materials in torsional oscillators, where the amorphous to crystalline phase transitions lead to transitions between high and low Casimir force and torque states, respectively, without material compositions. For a conservative system bifurcation curve and Poincare maps analysis show the absence of chaotic behavior but with the crystalline phase (high force-torque state) favoring more unstable behavior and stiction. However, for a nonconservative system chaotic behavior can take place introducing significant risk for stiction, which is again more pronounced for the crystalline phase. The latter illustrates the more general scenario that stronger Casimir forces and torques increase the possibility for chaotic behavior. The latter is making it impossible to predict whether stiction or stable actuation will occur on a long-term basis, and it is setting limitations in the design of micronano devices operating at short-range nanoscale separations.

Quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe sample preparation approach for pesticide residue analysis using traditional detectors in chromatography: A review.

PubMed

Rahman, Md Musfiqur; Abd El-Aty, A M; Kim, Sung-Woo; Shin, Sung Chul; Shin, Ho-Chul; Shim, Jae-Han

2017-01-01

In pesticide residue analysis, relatively low-sensitivity traditional detectors, such as UV, diode array, electron-capture, flame photometric, and nitrogen-phosphorus detectors, have been used following classical sample preparation (liquid-liquid extraction and open glass column cleanup); however, the extraction method is laborious, time-consuming, and requires large volumes of toxic organic solvents. A quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method was introduced in 2003 and coupled with selective and sensitive mass detectors to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks. Compared to traditional detectors, mass spectrometers are still far more expensive and not available in most modestly equipped laboratories, owing to maintenance and cost-related issues. Even available, traditional detectors are still being used for analysis of residues in agricultural commodities. It is widely known that the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe method is incompatible with conventional detectors owing to matrix complexity and low sensitivity. Therefore, modifications using column/cartridge-based solid-phase extraction instead of dispersive solid-phase extraction for cleanup have been applied in most cases to compensate and enable the adaptation of the extraction method to conventional detectors. In gas chromatography, the matrix enhancement effect of some analytes has been observed, which lowers the limit of detection and, therefore, enables gas chromatography to be compatible with the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction method. For liquid chromatography with a UV detector, a combination of column/cartridge-based solid-phase extraction and dispersive solid-phase extraction was found to reduce the matrix interference and increase the sensitivity. A suitable double-layer column/cartridge-based solid-phase extraction might be the perfect solution, instead of a time-consuming combination of column/cartridge-based solid-phase extraction and dispersive solid-phase extraction. Therefore, replacing dispersive solid-phase extraction with column/cartridge-based solid-phase extraction in the cleanup step can make the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction method compatible with traditional detectors for more sensitive, effective, and green analysis. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Phase shifting interferometer

DOEpatents

Sommargren, Gary E.

1999-01-01

An interferometer which has the capability of measuring optical elements and systems with an accuracy of .lambda./1000 where .lambda. is the wavelength of visible light. Whereas current interferometers employ a reference surface, which inherently limits the accuracy of the measurement to about .lambda./50, this interferometer uses an essentially perfect spherical reference wavefront generated by the fundamental process of diffraction. Whereas current interferometers illuminate the optic to be tested with an aberrated wavefront which also limits the accuracy of the measurement, this interferometer uses an essentially perfect spherical measurement wavefront generated by the fundamental process of diffraction. This interferometer is adjustable to give unity fringe visibility, which maximizes the signal-to-noise, and has the means to introduce a controlled prescribed relative phase shift between the reference wavefront and the wavefront from the optics under test, which permits analysis of the interference fringe pattern using standard phase extraction algorithms.

Phase shifting interferometer

DOEpatents

Sommargren, G.E.

1999-08-03

An interferometer is disclosed which has the capability of measuring optical elements and systems with an accuracy of {lambda}/1000 where {lambda} is the wavelength of visible light. Whereas current interferometers employ a reference surface, which inherently limits the accuracy of the measurement to about {lambda}/50, this interferometer uses an essentially perfect spherical reference wavefront generated by the fundamental process of diffraction. Whereas current interferometers illuminate the optic to be tested with an aberrated wavefront which also limits the accuracy of the measurement, this interferometer uses an essentially perfect spherical measurement wavefront generated by the fundamental process of diffraction. This interferometer is adjustable to give unity fringe visibility, which maximizes the signal-to-noise, and has the means to introduce a controlled prescribed relative phase shift between the reference wavefront and the wavefront from the optics under test, which permits analysis of the interference fringe pattern using standard phase extraction algorithms. 11 figs.

Graphical Representations and Cluster Algorithms for Ice Rule Vertex Models.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shtengel, Kirill; Chayes, L.

2002-03-01

We introduce a new class of polymer models which is closely related to loop models, recently a topic of intensive studies. These particular models arise as graphical representations for ice-rule vertex models. The associated cluster algorithms provide a unification and generalisation of most of the existing algorithms. For many lattices, percolation in the polymer models evidently indicates first order phase transitions in the vertex models. Critical phases can be understood as being susceptible to colour symmetry breaking in the polymer models. The analysis includes, but is certainly not limited to the square lattice six-vertex model. In particular, analytic criteria can be found for low temperature phases in other even coordinated 2D lattices such as the triangular lattice, or higher dimensional lattices such as the hyper-cubic lattices of arbitrary dimensionality. Finally, our approach can be generalised to the vertex models that do not obey the ice rule, such as the eight-vertex model.

On estimating the phase of periodic waveform in additive Gaussian noise, part 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rauch, L. L.

1984-11-01

Motivated by advances in signal processing technology that support more complex algorithms, a new look is taken at the problem of estimating the phase and other parameters of a periodic waveform in additive Gaussian noise. The general problem was introduced and the maximum a posteriori probability criterion with signal space interpretation was used to obtain the structures of optimum and some suboptimum phase estimators for known constant frequency and unknown constant phase with an a priori distribution. Optimal algorithms are obtained for some cases where the frequency is a parameterized function of time with the unknown parameters and phase having a joint a priori distribution. In the last section, the intrinsic and extrinsic geometry of hypersurfaces is introduced to provide insight to the estimation problem for the small noise and large noise cases.

On Estimating the Phase of Periodic Waveform in Additive Gaussian Noise, Part 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rauch, L. L.

1984-01-01

Motivated by advances in signal processing technology that support more complex algorithms, a new look is taken at the problem of estimating the phase and other parameters of a periodic waveform in additive Gaussian noise. The general problem was introduced and the maximum a posteriori probability criterion with signal space interpretation was used to obtain the structures of optimum and some suboptimum phase estimators for known constant frequency and unknown constant phase with an a priori distribution. Optimal algorithms are obtained for some cases where the frequency is a parameterized function of time with the unknown parameters and phase having a joint a priori distribution. In the last section, the intrinsic and extrinsic geometry of hypersurfaces is introduced to provide insight to the estimation problem for the small noise and large noise cases.

Phase-Controlled Polarization Modulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chuss, D. T.; Wollack, E. J.; Novak, G.; Moseley, S. H.; Pisano, G.; Krejny, M.; U-Yen, K.

2012-01-01

We report technology development of millimeter/submillimeter polarization modulators that operate by introducing a a variable, controlled phase delay between two orthogonal polarization states. The variable-delay polarization modulator (VPM) operates via the introduction of a variable phase delay between two linear orthogonal polarization states, resulting in a variable mapping of a single linear polarization into a combination of that Stokes parameter and circular (Stokes V) polarization. Characterization of a prototype VPM is presented at 350 and 3000 microns. We also describe a modulator in which a variable phase delay is introduced between right- and left- circular polarization states. In this architecture, linear polarization is fully modulated. Each of these devices consists of a polarization diplexer parallel to and in front of a movable mirror. Modulation involves sub-wavelength translations of the mirror that change the magnitude of the phase delay.

The interface character distribution of cold-rolled and annealed duplex stainless steel

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

Fang, Xiaoying, E-mail: fxy@sdut.edu.cn

The interface character distributions (ICDs) of cold-rolled and annealed duplex stainless steel specimens, previously solid-solution-heated (SHT) at 1573 K and 1323 K, are investigated using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and five-parameter analysis (FPA). For the δ-ferrite phase, high concentrations of low angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) are developed, and the boundary planes are predominantly oriented on (111). High angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) with misorientations ranging from 50{sup o} to 60° are mostly pure tilt boundaries, and the boundary planes are primarily located on (112). For the austenite phase, very high density of coherent twin boundaries are introduced, implying that the boundarymore » planes are exactly oriented on (111). The phase boundary character distribution (PBPD) appears to be connected with the K-S and N-W orientation relationships (ORs) terminating on (110) {sub F}‖(111) {sub A} and (110){sub F}‖(hkl){sub A}, respectively. - Highlights: •Five-parameter analysis was used to determine interface character distribution. •ICD results of statistical meaning were achieved. •Initial microstructure has a significant effect on ICD. •Low and high angle GBs in δ phase prefer in (111) and (112) planes, respectively. •K-S phase boundaries terminate on (110){sub F}‖(111){sub A} while N-W ones on (110){sub F}‖(hkl){sub A}.« less

A phase coherence approach to identifying co-located earthquakes and tremor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawthorne, J. C.; Ampuero, J.-P.

2018-05-01

We present and use a phase coherence approach to identify seismic signals that have similar path effects but different source time functions: co-located earthquakes and tremor. The method used is a phase coherence-based implementation of empirical matched field processing, modified to suit tremor analysis. It works by comparing the frequency-domain phases of waveforms generated by two sources recorded at multiple stations. We first cross-correlate the records of the two sources at a single station. If the sources are co-located, this cross-correlation eliminates the phases of the Green's function. It leaves the relative phases of the source time functions, which should be the same across all stations so long as the spatial extent of the sources are small compared with the seismic wavelength. We therefore search for cross-correlation phases that are consistent across stations as an indication of co-located sources. We also introduce a method to obtain relative locations between the two sources, based on back-projection of interstation phase coherence. We apply this technique to analyse two tremor-like signals that are thought to be composed of a number of earthquakes. First, we analyse a 20 s long seismic precursor to a M 3.9 earthquake in central Alaska. The analysis locates the precursor to within 2 km of the mainshock, and it identifies several bursts of energy—potentially foreshocks or groups of foreshocks—within the precursor. Second, we examine several minutes of volcanic tremor prior to an eruption at Redoubt Volcano. We confirm that the tremor source is located close to repeating earthquakes identified earlier in the tremor sequence. The amplitude of the tremor diminishes about 30 s before the eruption, but the phase coherence results suggest that the tremor may persist at some level through this final interval.

Qualitative dynamical analysis of chaotic plasma perturbations model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elsadany, A. A.; Elsonbaty, Amr; Agiza, H. N.

2018-06-01

In this work, an analytical framework to understand nonlinear dynamics of plasma perturbations model is introduced. In particular, we analyze the model presented by Constantinescu et al. [20] which consists of three coupled ODEs and contains three parameters. The basic dynamical properties of the system are first investigated by the ways of bifurcation diagrams, phase portraits and Lyapunov exponents. Then, the normal form technique and perturbation methods are applied so as to the different types of bifurcations that exist in the model are investigated. It is proved that pitcfork, Bogdanov-Takens, Andronov-Hopf bifurcations, degenerate Hopf and homoclinic bifurcation can occur in phase space of the model. Also, the model can exhibit quasiperiodicity and chaotic behavior. Numerical simulations confirm our theoretical analytical results.

Stability of the accelerated expansion in nonlinear electrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharif, M.; Mumtaz, Saadia

2017-02-01

This paper is devoted to the phase space analysis of an isotropic and homogeneous model of the universe by taking a noninteracting mixture of the electromagnetic and viscous radiating fluids whose viscous pressure satisfies a nonlinear version of the Israel-Stewart transport equation. We establish an autonomous system of equations by introducing normalized dimensionless variables. In order to analyze the stability of the system, we find corresponding critical points for different values of the parameters. We also evaluate the power-law scale factor whose behavior indicates different phases of the universe in this model. It is concluded that the bulk viscosity as well as electromagnetic field enhances the stability of the accelerated expansion of the isotropic and homogeneous model of the universe.

Improved chip design for integrated solid-phase microextraction in on-line proteomic sample preparation.

PubMed

Bergkvist, Jonas; Ekström, Simon; Wallman, Lars; Löfgren, Mikael; Marko-Varga, György; Nilsson, Johan; Laurell, Thomas

2002-04-01

A recently introduced silicon microextraction chip (SMEC), used for on-line proteomic sample preparation, has proved to facilitate the process of protein identification by sample clean up and enrichment of peptides. It is demonstrated that a novel grid-SMEC design improves the operating characteristics for solid-phase microextraction, by reducing dispersion effects and thereby improving the sample preparation conditions. The structures investigated in this paper are treated both numerically and experimentally. The numerical approach is based on finite element analysis of the microfluidic flow in the microchip. The analysis is accomplished by use of the computational fluid dynamics-module FLOTRAN in the ANSYS software package. The modeling and analysis of the previously reported weir-SMEC design indicates some severe drawbacks, that can be reduced by changing the microextraction chip geometry to the grid-SMEC design. The overall analytical performance was thereby improved and also verified by experimental work. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectra of model peptides extracted from both the weir-SMEC and the new grid-SMEC support the numerical analysis results. Further use of numerical modeling and analysis of the SMEC structures is also discussed and suggested in this work.

Parametric amplification in quasi-PT symmetric coupled waveguide structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Q.; Ahmed, A.; Dadap, J. I.; Osgood, R. M., Jr.; El-Ganainy, R.

2016-12-01

The concept of non-Hermitian parametric amplification was recently proposed as a means to achieve an efficient energy conversion throughout the process of nonlinear three wave mixing in the absence of phase matching. Here we investigate this effect in a waveguide coupler arrangement whose characteristics are tailored to introduce passive PT symmetry only for the idler component. By means of analytical solutions and numerical analysis, we demonstrate the utility of these novel schemes and obtain the optimal design conditions for these devices.

Smart Hydrogel Particles: Biomarker Harvesting: One-step affinity purification, size exclusion, and protection against degradation

PubMed Central

Luchini, Alessandra; Geho, David H.; Bishop, Barney; Tran, Duy; Xia, Cassandra; Dufour, Robert; Jones, Clint; Espina, Virginia; Patanarut, Alexis; Zhu, Weidong; Ross, Mark; Tessitore, Alessandra; Petricoin, Emanuel; Liotta, Lance A.

2010-01-01

Disease-associated blood biomarkers exist in exceedingly low concentrations within complex mixtures of high-abundance proteins such as albumin. We have introduced an affinity bait molecule into N-isopropylacrylamide to produce a particle that will perform three independent functions within minutes, in one step, in solution: a) molecular size sieving b) affinity capture of all solution phase target molecules, and c) complete protection of harvested proteins from enzymatic degradation. The captured analytes can be readily electroeluted for analysis. PMID:18076201

Obtaining reliable phase-gradient delays from otoacoustic emission data.

PubMed

Shera, Christopher A; Bergevin, Christopher

2012-08-01

Reflection-source otoacoustic emission phase-gradient delays are widely used to obtain noninvasive estimates of cochlear function and properties, such as the sharpness of mechanical tuning and its variation along the length of the cochlear partition. Although different data-processing strategies are known to yield different delay estimates and trends, their relative reliability has not been established. This paper uses in silico experiments to evaluate six methods for extracting delay trends from reflection-source otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). The six methods include both previously published procedures (e.g., phase smoothing, energy-weighting, data exclusion based on signal-to-noise ratio) and novel strategies (e.g., peak-picking, all-pass factorization). Although some of the methods perform well (e.g., peak-picking), others introduce substantial bias (e.g., phase smoothing) and are not recommended. In addition, since standing waves caused by multiple internal reflection can complicate the interpretation and compromise the application of OAE delays, this paper develops and evaluates two promising signal-processing strategies, the first based on time-frequency filtering using the continuous wavelet transform and the second on cepstral analysis, for separating the direct emission from its subsequent reflections. Altogether, the results help to resolve previous disagreements about the frequency dependence of human OAE delays and the sharpness of cochlear tuning while providing useful analysis methods for future studies.

Linear friction weld process monitoring of fixture cassette deformations using empirical mode decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bakker, O. J.; Gibson, C.; Wilson, P.; Lohse, N.; Popov, A. A.

2015-10-01

Due to its inherent advantages, linear friction welding is a solid-state joining process of increasing importance to the aerospace, automotive, medical and power generation equipment industries. Tangential oscillations and forge stroke during the burn-off phase of the joining process introduce essential dynamic forces, which can also be detrimental to the welding process. Since burn-off is a critical phase in the manufacturing stage, process monitoring is fundamental for quality and stability control purposes. This study aims to improve workholding stability through the analysis of fixture cassette deformations. Methods and procedures for process monitoring are developed and implemented in a fail-or-pass assessment system for fixture cassette deformations during the burn-off phase. Additionally, the de-noised signals are compared to results from previous production runs. The observed deformations as a consequence of the forces acting on the fixture cassette are measured directly during the welding process. Data on the linear friction-welding machine are acquired and de-noised using empirical mode decomposition, before the burn-off phase is extracted. This approach enables a direct, objective comparison of the signal features with trends from previous successful welds. The capacity of the whole process monitoring system is validated and demonstrated through the analysis of a large number of signals obtained from welding experiments.

Enhanced tagging of light utilizing acoustic radiation force with speckle pattern analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vakili, Ali; Hollmann, Joseph L.; Holt, R. Glynn; DiMarzio, Charles A.

2017-10-01

In optical imaging, the depth and resolution are limited due to scattering. Unlike light, scattering of ultrasound (US) waves in tissue is negligible. Hybrid imaging methods such as US-modulated optical tomography (UOT) use the advantages of both modalities. UOT tags light by inducing phase change caused by modulating the local index of refraction of the medium. The challenge in UOT is detecting the small signal. The displacement induced by the acoustic radiation force (ARF) is another US effect that can be utilized to tag the light. It induces greater phase change, resulting in a stronger signal. Moreover, the absorbed acoustic energy generates heat, resulting in change in the index of refraction and a strong phase change. The speckle pattern is governed by the phase of the interfering scattered waves; hence, speckle pattern analysis can obtain information about displacement and temperature changes. We have presented a model to simulate the insonation processes. Simulation results based on fixed-particle Monte Carlo and experimental results show that the signal acquired by utilizing ARF is stronger compared to UOT. The introduced mean irradiance change (MIC) signal reveals both thermal and mechanical effects of the focused US beam in different timescales. Simulation results suggest that variation in the MIC signal can be used to generate a displacement image of the medium.

Analysis of PBDEs in soil, dust, spiked lake water, and human serum samples by hollow fiber-liquid phase microextraction combined with GC-ICP-MS.

PubMed

Xiao, Qin; Hu, Bin; Duan, Jiankun; He, Man; Zu, Wanqing

2007-10-01

A novel method for the analysis of four polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in environmental and human serum samples based on hollow fiber-liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME) followed by gas chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (GC-ICP-MS) detection has been developed. The organic solvent in the porous hollow fiber was first dipped into the sample for extraction at a given time, and the retracted organic phase was introduced into the GC-ICP-MS for analysis. The addition of methanol has a strong effect on the HF-LPME extraction efficiency. Other significant parameters affecting the extraction efficiency of HF-LPME were also studied. HF-LPME was effective to isolate the analytes from the complex matrix. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits of the proposed method varied from 15.2 to 40.5 ng/L. In general, the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were less than 10%. Good linearity was obtained with the correlation coefficients all better than 0.999. The proposed method is simple, quick, few microliters of organic solvent required, and is especially suitable for the analysis of the real sample with small amount available. The overall process of HF-LPME with GC-ICP-MS was applied successfully for the determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in environmental and spiked human serum samples, and the results were satisfactory.

Advanced control of liquid water region in diffusion media of polymer electrolyte fuel cells through a dimensionless number

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yun; Chen, Ken S.

2016-05-01

In the present work, a three-dimension (3-D) model of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) is employed to investigate the complex, non-isothermal, two-phase flow in the gas diffusion layer (GDL). Phase change in gas flow channels is explained, and a simplified approach accounting for phase change is incorporated into the fuel cell model. It is found that the liquid water contours in the GDL are similar along flow channels when the channels are subject to two-phase flow. Analysis is performed on a dimensionless parameter Da0 introduced in our previous paper [Y. Wang and K. S. Chen, Chemical Engineering Science 66 (2011) 3557-3567] and the parameter is further evaluated in a realistic fuel cell. We found that the GDL's liquid water (or liquid-free) region is determined by the Da0 number which lumps several parameters, including the thermal conductivity and operating temperature. By adjusting these factors, a liquid-free GDL zone can be created even though the channel stream is two-phase flow. Such a liquid-free zone is adjacent to the two-phase region, benefiting local water management, namely avoiding both severe flooding and dryness.

Advanced control of liquid water region in diffusion media of polymer electrolyte fuel cells through a dimensionless number

DOE PAGES

Wang, Yun; Chen, Ken S.

2016-03-21

In the present study, a three-dimension (3-D) model of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) is employed to investigate the complex, non-isothermal, two-phase flow in the gas diffusion layer (GDL). Phase change in gas flow channels is explained, and a simplified approach accounting for phase change is incorporated into the fuel cell model. It is found that the liquid water contours in the GDL are similar along flow channels when the channels are subject to two-phase flow. Here, analysis is performed on a dimensionless parameter Da 0 introduced in our previous paper and the parameter is further evaluated in a realisticmore » fuel cell. We found that the GDL's liquid water (or liquid-free) region is determined by the Da 0 number which lumps several parameters, including the thermal conductivity and operating temperature. By adjusting these factors, a liquid-free GDL zone can be created even though the channel stream is two-phase flow. Such a liquid-free zone is adjacent to the two-phase region, benefiting local water management, namely avoiding both severe flooding and dryness.« less

Spontaneous imbibition in fractal tortuous micro-nano pores considering dynamic contact angle and slip effect: phase portrait analysis and analytical solutions.

PubMed

Li, Caoxiong; Shen, Yinghao; Ge, Hongkui; Zhang, Yanjun; Liu, Tao

2018-03-02

Shales have abundant micro-nano pores. Meanwhile, a considerable amount of fracturing liquid is imbibed spontaneously in the hydraulic fracturing process. The spontaneous imbibition in tortuous micro-nano pores is special to shale, and dynamic contact angle and slippage are two important characteristics. In this work, we mainly investigate spontaneous imbibition considering dynamic contact angle and slip effect in fractal tortuous capillaries. We introduce phase portrait analysis to analyse the dynamic state and stability of imbibition. Moreover, analytical solutions to the imbibition equation are derived under special situations, and the solutions are verified by published data. Finally, we discuss the influences of slip length, dynamic contact angle and gravity on spontaneous imbibition. The analysis shows that phase portrait is an ideal tool for analysing spontaneous imbibition because it can evaluate the process without solving the complex governing ordinary differential equations. Moreover, dynamic contact angle and slip effect play an important role in fluid imbibition in fractal tortuous capillaries. Neglecting slip effect in micro-nano pores apparently underestimates imbibition capability, and ignoring variations in contact angle causes inaccuracy in predicting imbibition speed at the initial stage of the process. Finally, gravity is one of the factors that control the stabilisation of the imbibition process.

OASIS Observation and Analysis of Smectic Islands in Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tin, Padetha

2014-01-01

The Observation and Analysis of Smectic Islands in Space (OASIS) project comprises a series of experiments that will probe the interfacial and hydrodynamic behavior of freely suspended liquid crystal films in space. These are the thinnest known stable condensed phase structures, making them ideal for studies of fluctuation and interface phenomena. The experiments seek to verify theories of coarsening dynamics, hydrodynamic flow, relaxation of hydrodynamic perturbations, and hydrodynamic interactions of a near two-dimensional structure. The effects of introducing islands or droplets on a very thin bubble will be studied, both as controllable inclusions that modify the flow and as markers of flow.

Critical Behavior of Spatial Evolutionary Game with Altruistic to Spiteful Preferences on Two-Dimensional Lattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Bo; Li, Xiao-Teng; Chen, Wei; Liu, Jian; Chen, Xiao-Song

2016-10-01

Self-questioning mechanism which is similar to single spin-flip of Ising model in statistical physics is introduced into spatial evolutionary game model. We propose a game model with altruistic to spiteful preferences via weighted sums of own and opponent's payoffs. This game model can be transformed into Ising model with an external field. Both interaction between spins and the external field are determined by the elements of payoff matrix and the preference parameter. In the case of perfect rationality at zero social temperature, this game model has three different phases which are entirely cooperative phase, entirely non-cooperative phase and mixed phase. In the investigations of the game model with Monte Carlo simulation, two paths of payoff and preference parameters are taken. In one path, the system undergoes a discontinuous transition from cooperative phase to non-cooperative phase with the change of preference parameter. In another path, two continuous transitions appear one after another when system changes from cooperative phase to non-cooperative phase with the prefenrence parameter. The critical exponents v, β, and γ of two continuous phase transitions are estimated by the finite-size scaling analysis. Both continuous phase transitions have the same critical exponents and they belong to the same universality class as the two-dimensional Ising model. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11121403 and 11504384

Phase-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy.

PubMed

Minoda, Hiroki; Tamai, Takayuki; Iijima, Hirofumi; Hosokawa, Fumio; Kondo, Yukihito

2015-06-01

This report introduces the first results obtained using phase-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (P-STEM). A carbon-film phase plate (PP) with a small center hole is placed in the condenser aperture plane so that a phase shift is introduced in the incident electron waves except those passing through the center hole. A cosine-type phase-contrast transfer function emerges when the phase-shifted scattered waves interfere with the non-phase-shifted unscattered waves, which passed through the center hole before incidence onto the specimen. The phase contrast resulting in P-STEM is optically identical to that in phase-contrast transmission electron microscopy that is used to provide high contrast for weak phase objects. Therefore, the use of PPs can enhance the phase contrast of the STEM images of specimens in principle. The phase shift resulting from the PP, whose thickness corresponds to a phase shift of π, has been confirmed using interference fringes displayed in the Ronchigram of a silicon single crystal specimen. The interference fringes were found to abruptly shift at the edge of the PP hole by π. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japanese Society of Microscopy. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Bi-Metallic Composite Structures With Designed Internal Residual Stress Field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brice, Craig A.

2014-01-01

Shape memory alloys (SMA) have a unique ability to recover small amounts of plastic strain through a temperature induced phase change. For these materials, mechanical displacement can be accomplished by heating the structure to induce a phase change, through which some of the plastic strain previously introduced to the structure can be reversed. This paper introduces a concept whereby an SMA phase is incorporated into a conventional alloy matrix in a co-continuous reticulated arrangement forming a bi-metallic composite structure. Through memory activation of the mechanically constrained SMA phase, a controlled residual stress field is developed in the interior of the structure. The presented experimental data show that the memory activation of the SMA composite component significantly changes the residual stress distribution in the overall structure. Designing the structural arrangement of the two phases to produce a controlled residual stress field could be used to create structures that have much improved durability and damage tolerance properties.

Detection of Zak phases and topological invariants in a chiral quantum walk of twisted photons.

PubMed

Cardano, Filippo; D'Errico, Alessio; Dauphin, Alexandre; Maffei, Maria; Piccirillo, Bruno; de Lisio, Corrado; De Filippis, Giulio; Cataudella, Vittorio; Santamato, Enrico; Marrucci, Lorenzo; Lewenstein, Maciej; Massignan, Pietro

2017-06-01

Topological insulators are fascinating states of matter exhibiting protected edge states and robust quantized features in their bulk. Here we propose and validate experimentally a method to detect topological properties in the bulk of one-dimensional chiral systems. We first introduce the mean chiral displacement, an observable that rapidly approaches a value proportional to the Zak phase during the free evolution of the system. Then we measure the Zak phase in a photonic quantum walk of twisted photons, by observing the mean chiral displacement in its bulk. Next, we measure the Zak phase in an alternative, inequivalent timeframe and combine the two windings to characterize the full phase diagram of this Floquet system. Finally, we prove the robustness of the measure by introducing dynamical disorder in the system. This detection method is extremely general and readily applicable to all present one-dimensional platforms simulating static or Floquet chiral systems.

Detection of Zak phases and topological invariants in a chiral quantum walk of twisted photons

PubMed Central

Cardano, Filippo; D’Errico, Alessio; Dauphin, Alexandre; Maffei, Maria; Piccirillo, Bruno; de Lisio, Corrado; De Filippis, Giulio; Cataudella, Vittorio; Santamato, Enrico; Marrucci, Lorenzo; Lewenstein, Maciej; Massignan, Pietro

2017-01-01

Topological insulators are fascinating states of matter exhibiting protected edge states and robust quantized features in their bulk. Here we propose and validate experimentally a method to detect topological properties in the bulk of one-dimensional chiral systems. We first introduce the mean chiral displacement, an observable that rapidly approaches a value proportional to the Zak phase during the free evolution of the system. Then we measure the Zak phase in a photonic quantum walk of twisted photons, by observing the mean chiral displacement in its bulk. Next, we measure the Zak phase in an alternative, inequivalent timeframe and combine the two windings to characterize the full phase diagram of this Floquet system. Finally, we prove the robustness of the measure by introducing dynamical disorder in the system. This detection method is extremely general and readily applicable to all present one-dimensional platforms simulating static or Floquet chiral systems. PMID:28569741

Geometric Mixing, Peristalsis, and the Geometric Phase of the Stomach.

PubMed

Arrieta, Jorge; Cartwright, Julyan H E; Gouillart, Emmanuelle; Piro, Nicolas; Piro, Oreste; Tuval, Idan

2015-01-01

Mixing fluid in a container at low Reynolds number--in an inertialess environment--is not a trivial task. Reciprocating motions merely lead to cycles of mixing and unmixing, so continuous rotation, as used in many technological applications, would appear to be necessary. However, there is another solution: movement of the walls in a cyclical fashion to introduce a geometric phase. We show using journal-bearing flow as a model that such geometric mixing is a general tool for using deformable boundaries that return to the same position to mix fluid at low Reynolds number. We then simulate a biological example: we show that mixing in the stomach functions because of the "belly phase," peristaltic movement of the walls in a cyclical fashion introduces a geometric phase that avoids unmixing.

Geometric Mixing, Peristalsis, and the Geometric Phase of the Stomach

PubMed Central

Arrieta, Jorge; Cartwright, Julyan H. E.; Gouillart, Emmanuelle; Piro, Nicolas; Piro, Oreste; Tuval, Idan

2015-01-01

Mixing fluid in a container at low Reynolds number— in an inertialess environment—is not a trivial task. Reciprocating motions merely lead to cycles of mixing and unmixing, so continuous rotation, as used in many technological applications, would appear to be necessary. However, there is another solution: movement of the walls in a cyclical fashion to introduce a geometric phase. We show using journal-bearing flow as a model that such geometric mixing is a general tool for using deformable boundaries that return to the same position to mix fluid at low Reynolds number. We then simulate a biological example: we show that mixing in the stomach functions because of the “belly phase,” peristaltic movement of the walls in a cyclical fashion introduces a geometric phase that avoids unmixing. PMID:26154384

Evaluation of innovative stationary phase ligand chemistries and analytical conditions for the analysis of basic drugs by supercritical fluid chromatography.

PubMed

Desfontaine, Vincent; Veuthey, Jean-Luc; Guillarme, Davy

2016-03-18

Similar to reversed phase liquid chromatography, basic compounds can be highly challenging to analyze by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), as they tend to exhibit poor peak shape, especially those with high pKa values. In this study, three new stationary phase ligand chemistries available in sub -2 μm particle sizes, namely 2-picolylamine (2-PIC), 1-aminoanthracene (1-AA) and diethylamine (DEA), were tested in SFC conditions for the analysis of basic drugs. Due to the basic properties of these ligands, it is expected that the repulsive forces may improve peak shape of basic substances, similarly to the widely used 2-ethypyridine (2-EP) phase. However, among the 38 tested basic drugs, less of 10% displayed Gaussian peaks (asymmetry between 0.8 and 1.4) using pure CO2/methanol on these phases. The addition of 10mM ammonium formate as mobile phase additive, drastically improved peak shapes and increased this proportion to 67% on 2-PIC. Introducing the additive in the injection solvent rather than in the organic modifier, gave acceptable results for 2-PIC only, with 31% of Gaussian peaks with an average asymmetry of 1.89 for the 38 selected basic drugs. These columns were also compared to hybrid silica (BEH), DIOL and 2-EP stationary phases, commonly employed in SFC. These phases commonly exhibit alternative retention and selectivity. In the end, the two most interesting ligands used as complementary columns were 2-PIC and BEH, as they provided suitable peak shapes for the basic drugs and almost orthogonal selectivities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Venus Phasing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riddle, Bob

1997-01-01

Presents a science activity designed to introduce students to the geocentric and heliocentric models of the universe. Helps students discover why phase changes on Venus knocked Earth out of the center of the universe. (DKM)

Application of Bounded Linear Stability Analysis Method for Metrics-Driven Adaptive Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bakhtiari-Nejad, Maryam; Nguyen, Nhan T.; Krishnakumar, Kalmanje

2009-01-01

This paper presents the application of Bounded Linear Stability Analysis (BLSA) method for metrics-driven adaptive control. The bounded linear stability analysis method is used for analyzing stability of adaptive control models, without linearizing the adaptive laws. Metrics-driven adaptive control introduces a notion that adaptation should be driven by some stability metrics to achieve robustness. By the application of bounded linear stability analysis method the adaptive gain is adjusted during the adaptation in order to meet certain phase margin requirements. Analysis of metrics-driven adaptive control is evaluated for a second order system that represents a pitch attitude control of a generic transport aircraft. The analysis shows that the system with the metrics-conforming variable adaptive gain becomes more robust to unmodeled dynamics or time delay. The effect of analysis time-window for BLSA is also evaluated in order to meet the stability margin criteria.

Full-Field Calibration of Color Camera Chromatic Aberration using Absolute Phase Maps.

PubMed

Liu, Xiaohong; Huang, Shujun; Zhang, Zonghua; Gao, Feng; Jiang, Xiangqian

2017-05-06

The refractive index of a lens varies for different wavelengths of light, and thus the same incident light with different wavelengths has different outgoing light. This characteristic of lenses causes images captured by a color camera to display chromatic aberration (CA), which seriously reduces image quality. Based on an analysis of the distribution of CA, a full-field calibration method based on absolute phase maps is proposed in this paper. Red, green, and blue closed sinusoidal fringe patterns are generated, consecutively displayed on an LCD (liquid crystal display), and captured by a color camera from the front viewpoint. The phase information of each color fringe is obtained using a four-step phase-shifting algorithm and optimum fringe number selection method. CA causes the unwrapped phase of the three channels to differ. These pixel deviations can be computed by comparing the unwrapped phase data of the red, blue, and green channels in polar coordinates. CA calibration is accomplished in Cartesian coordinates. The systematic errors introduced by the LCD are analyzed and corrected. Simulated results show the validity of the proposed method and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed full-field calibration method based on absolute phase maps will be useful for practical software-based CA calibration.

Dynamical inference: where phase synchronization and generalized synchronization meet.

PubMed

Stankovski, Tomislav; McClintock, Peter V E; Stefanovska, Aneta

2014-06-01

Synchronization is a widespread phenomenon that occurs among interacting oscillatory systems. It facilitates their temporal coordination and can lead to the emergence of spontaneous order. The detection of synchronization from the time series of such systems is of great importance for the understanding and prediction of their dynamics, and several methods for doing so have been introduced. However, the common case where the interacting systems have time-variable characteristic frequencies and coupling parameters, and may also be subject to continuous external perturbation and noise, still presents a major challenge. Here we apply recent developments in dynamical Bayesian inference to tackle these problems. In particular, we discuss how to detect phase slips and the existence of deterministic coupling from measured data, and we unify the concepts of phase synchronization and general synchronization. Starting from phase or state observables, we present methods for the detection of both phase and generalized synchronization. The consistency and equivalence of phase and generalized synchronization are further demonstrated, by the analysis of time series from analog electronic simulations of coupled nonautonomous van der Pol oscillators. We demonstrate that the detection methods work equally well on numerically simulated chaotic systems. In all the cases considered, we show that dynamical Bayesian inference can clearly identify noise-induced phase slips and distinguish coherence from intrinsic coupling-induced synchronization.

A New Definition to the Phase Operator and its Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duan, Lu-Ming; Guo, Guang-Can

1996-01-01

By introducing a series of mathematical symbols and the phase quantization condition, we give a new definition of the phase operator, which not only is made directly in infinite state spaces, but also circumvents all difficulties appearing in the traditional approach Properties of the phase operator and its expressions in some widely-used representations are also given.

Quantitative EEG analysis using error reduction ratio-causality test; validation on simulated and real EEG data.

PubMed

Sarrigiannis, Ptolemaios G; Zhao, Yifan; Wei, Hua-Liang; Billings, Stephen A; Fotheringham, Jayne; Hadjivassiliou, Marios

2014-01-01

To introduce a new method of quantitative EEG analysis in the time domain, the error reduction ratio (ERR)-causality test. To compare performance against cross-correlation and coherence with phase measures. A simulation example was used as a gold standard to assess the performance of ERR-causality, against cross-correlation and coherence. The methods were then applied to real EEG data. Analysis of both simulated and real EEG data demonstrates that ERR-causality successfully detects dynamically evolving changes between two signals, with very high time resolution, dependent on the sampling rate of the data. Our method can properly detect both linear and non-linear effects, encountered during analysis of focal and generalised seizures. We introduce a new quantitative EEG method of analysis. It detects real time levels of synchronisation in the linear and non-linear domains. It computes directionality of information flow with corresponding time lags. This novel dynamic real time EEG signal analysis unveils hidden neural network interactions with a very high time resolution. These interactions cannot be adequately resolved by the traditional methods of coherence and cross-correlation, which provide limited results in the presence of non-linear effects and lack fidelity for changes appearing over small periods of time. Copyright © 2013 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Huygens’ clocks revisited

PubMed Central

Kitanov, Petko M.; Langford, William F.

2017-01-01

In 1665, Huygens observed that two identical pendulum clocks, weakly coupled through a heavy beam, soon synchronized with the same period and amplitude but with the two pendula swinging in opposite directions. This behaviour is now called anti-phase synchronization. This paper presents an analysis of the behaviour of a large class of coupled identical oscillators, including Huygens' clocks, using methods of equivariant bifurcation theory. The equivariant normal form for such systems is developed and the possible solutions are characterized. The transformation of the physical system parameters to the normal form parameters is given explicitly and applied to the physical values appropriate for Huygens' clocks, and to those of more recent studies. It is shown that Huygens' physical system could only exhibit anti-phase motion, explaining why Huygens observed exclusively this. By contrast, some more recent researchers have observed in-phase or other more complicated motion in their own experimental systems. Here, it is explained which physical characteristics of these systems allow for the existence of these other types of stable solutions. The present analysis not only accounts for these previously observed solutions in a unified framework, but also introduces behaviour not classified by other authors, such as a synchronized toroidal breather and a chaotic toroidal breather. PMID:28989780

[Implementation and evaluation of critical hazards and check points analysis (CHCPA) in gofio-producing industries from Tenerife].

PubMed

Caballero Mesa, J M; Alonso Marrero, S; González Weller, D M; Afonso Gutiérrez, V L; Rubio Armendariz, C; Hardisson de la Torre, A

2006-01-01

To satisfactorily implement the critical hazards and check points analysis. Tenerife Island Subjects: 15 industries visits to gofio-manufacturing industries were done with the aim of giving advice to employers and workers, and thereafter, the intervention was assessed verifying the hygiene and sanitary conditions of the industry and the correct application of the established auto-control system. After the advising intervention, we observed that certain parameters taken into account from the hygiene and sanitary perspective have been corrected, such as modifying the facilities to adapt them to in force regulations, or asking the suppliers to certify raw materials. With regards to food production process, the intervention was effective in such a way that more than have of the industries reduced the time of those phases with higher contamination susceptibility and to carry out the control registries that were established. All industries implemented the auto-control system by means of registration charts of each one of the elaboration phases. 86% of the industries have introduced more hygienic materials. 60% implemented a reduction in intermediate times of production phases. 26% perfmored some obsolete machinery replacement modernaizing the facilities.

Delta space plot analysis of cardiovascular coupling in vasovagal syncope during orthostatic challenge.

PubMed

Reulecke, S; Charleston-Villalobos, S; Voss, A; Gonzalez-Camarena, R; Gaitan-Gonzalez, M; Gonzalez-Hermosillo, J; Hernandez-Pacheco, G; Aljama-Corrales, T

2016-08-01

In this work, a graphical method to study cardiovascular coupling, called delta space plot analysis (DSPA), was introduced. The graphical representation is susceptible to be parameterized in shape and orientation. The usefulness of this technique was studied on cardiovascular data from patients with vasovagal syncope (VVS) and from controls. The study included 15 female patients diagnosed with VVS and 11 age-matched healthy female subjects. All subjects were enrolled in a head-up tilt (HUT) test, breathing normally, including 5 minutes of supine position (baseline) and 18 minutes of 70° orthostatic phase. The DSPA parameters were obtained at different times during the HUT test, i.e., at baseline, early (first 5 min) and late (10-15 min) orthostatic phases. In baseline there were no considerable differences between female controls and female patients. During the late orthostatic phase, parameters from DSPA showed highly significantly (p=0.000003) reduced cardiovascular coupling in patients. Findings indicated a loss of control on cardiovascular coupling in female patients susceptible to vasovagal syncope during orthostatic challenge. In addition, this study provided promising results for a new graphical method to investigate cardiovascular coupling.

Stochastic soil water balance under seasonal climates

PubMed Central

Feng, Xue; Porporato, Amilcare; Rodriguez-Iturbe, Ignacio

2015-01-01

The analysis of soil water partitioning in seasonally dry climates necessarily requires careful consideration of the periodic climatic forcing at the intra-annual timescale in addition to daily scale variabilities. Here, we introduce three new extensions to a stochastic soil moisture model which yields seasonal evolution of soil moisture and relevant hydrological fluxes. These approximations allow seasonal climatic forcings (e.g. rainfall and potential evapotranspiration) to be fully resolved, extending the analysis of soil water partitioning to account explicitly for the seasonal amplitude and the phase difference between the climatic forcings. The results provide accurate descriptions of probabilistic soil moisture dynamics under seasonal climates without requiring extensive numerical simulations. We also find that the transfer of soil moisture between the wet to the dry season is responsible for hysteresis in the hydrological response, showing asymmetrical trajectories in the mean soil moisture and in the transient Budyko's curves during the ‘dry-down‘ versus the ‘rewetting‘ phases of the year. Furthermore, in some dry climates where rainfall and potential evapotranspiration are in-phase, annual evapotranspiration can be shown to increase because of inter-seasonal soil moisture transfer, highlighting the importance of soil water storage in the seasonal context. PMID:25663808

Fermion-induced quantum critical points.

PubMed

Li, Zi-Xiang; Jiang, Yi-Fan; Jian, Shao-Kai; Yao, Hong

2017-08-22

A unified theory of quantum critical points beyond the conventional Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson paradigm remains unknown. According to Landau cubic criterion, phase transitions should be first-order when cubic terms of order parameters are allowed by symmetry in the Landau-Ginzburg free energy. Here, from renormalization group analysis, we show that second-order quantum phase transitions can occur at such putatively first-order transitions in interacting two-dimensional Dirac semimetals. As such type of Landau-forbidden quantum critical points are induced by gapless fermions, we call them fermion-induced quantum critical points. We further introduce a microscopic model of SU(N) fermions on the honeycomb lattice featuring a transition between Dirac semimetals and Kekule valence bond solids. Remarkably, our large-scale sign-problem-free Majorana quantum Monte Carlo simulations show convincing evidences of a fermion-induced quantum critical points for N = 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, consistent with the renormalization group analysis. We finally discuss possible experimental realizations of the fermion-induced quantum critical points in graphene and graphene-like materials.Quantum phase transitions are governed by Landau-Ginzburg theory and the exceptions are rare. Here, Li et al. propose a type of Landau-forbidden quantum critical points induced by gapless fermions in two-dimensional Dirac semimetals.

Phased models for evaluating the performability of computing systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, L. T.; Meyer, J. F.

1979-01-01

A phase-by-phase modelling technique is introduced to evaluate a fault tolerant system's ability to execute different sets of computational tasks during different phases of the control process. Intraphase processes are allowed to differ from phase to phase. The probabilities of interphase state transitions are specified by interphase transition matrices. Based on constraints imposed on the intraphase and interphase transition probabilities, various iterative solution methods are developed for calculating system performability.

Nonlinear gamma correction via normed bicoherence minimization in optical fringe projection metrology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamagara, Abel; Wang, Xiangzhao; Li, Sikun

2018-03-01

We propose a method to compensate for the projector intensity nonlinearity induced by gamma effect in three-dimensional (3-D) fringe projection metrology by extending high-order spectra analysis and bispectral norm minimization to digital sinusoidal fringe pattern analysis. The bispectrum estimate allows extraction of vital signal information features such as spectral component correlation relationships in fringe pattern images. Our approach exploits the fact that gamma introduces high-order harmonic correlations in the affected fringe pattern image. Estimation and compensation of projector nonlinearity is realized by detecting and minimizing the normed bispectral coherence of these correlations. The proposed technique does not require calibration information and technical knowledge or specification of fringe projection unit. This is promising for developing a modular and calibration-invariant model for intensity nonlinear gamma compensation in digital fringe pattern projection profilometry. Experimental and numerical simulation results demonstrate this method to be efficient and effective in improving the phase measuring accuracies with phase-shifting fringe pattern projection profilometry.

Citizen Sky, IYA 2009 and What's To Come

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, Rebecca; Price, A.; Henden, A.

2010-01-01

Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF funded citizen science project involving the bright and mysterious variable star eps Aur. The project was conceived by the IYA 2009 working group on Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists. Citizen Sky is going beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component. The goal is to introduce the participant to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. During IYA 2009 the Citizen Sky team was fully assembled, the website was developed and put online, and the first of two participant workshops was held. However, Citizen Sky does not stop or even slow down with the conclusion of IYA 2009. The project will continue to grow in the coming years. New participants are being recruited and trained as the observing phase of the project continues, a second participant workshop is planned for 2010, and the data analysis phase of the project will begin in earnest.

Resolution-Enhanced Harmonic and Interharmonic Measurement for Power Quality Analysis in Cyber-Physical Energy System.

PubMed

Liu, Yanchi; Wang, Xue; Liu, Youda; Cui, Sujin

2016-06-27

Power quality analysis issues, especially the measurement of harmonic and interharmonic in cyber-physical energy systems, are addressed in this paper. As new situations are introduced to the power system, the impact of electric vehicles, distributed generation and renewable energy has introduced extra demands to distributed sensors, waveform-level information and power quality data analytics. Harmonics and interharmonics, as the most significant disturbances, require carefully designed detection methods for an accurate measurement of electric loads whose information is crucial to subsequent analyzing and control. This paper gives a detailed description of the power quality analysis framework in networked environment and presents a fast and resolution-enhanced method for harmonic and interharmonic measurement. The proposed method first extracts harmonic and interharmonic components efficiently using the single-channel version of Robust Independent Component Analysis (RobustICA), then estimates the high-resolution frequency from three discrete Fourier transform (DFT) samples with little additional computation, and finally computes the amplitudes and phases with the adaptive linear neuron network. The experiments show that the proposed method is time-efficient and leads to a better accuracy of the simulated and experimental signals in the presence of noise and fundamental frequency deviation, thus providing a deeper insight into the (inter)harmonic sources or even the whole system.

Resolution-Enhanced Harmonic and Interharmonic Measurement for Power Quality Analysis in Cyber-Physical Energy System

PubMed Central

Liu, Yanchi; Wang, Xue; Liu, Youda; Cui, Sujin

2016-01-01

Power quality analysis issues, especially the measurement of harmonic and interharmonic in cyber-physical energy systems, are addressed in this paper. As new situations are introduced to the power system, the impact of electric vehicles, distributed generation and renewable energy has introduced extra demands to distributed sensors, waveform-level information and power quality data analytics. Harmonics and interharmonics, as the most significant disturbances, require carefully designed detection methods for an accurate measurement of electric loads whose information is crucial to subsequent analyzing and control. This paper gives a detailed description of the power quality analysis framework in networked environment and presents a fast and resolution-enhanced method for harmonic and interharmonic measurement. The proposed method first extracts harmonic and interharmonic components efficiently using the single-channel version of Robust Independent Component Analysis (RobustICA), then estimates the high-resolution frequency from three discrete Fourier transform (DFT) samples with little additional computation, and finally computes the amplitudes and phases with the adaptive linear neuron network. The experiments show that the proposed method is time-efficient and leads to a better accuracy of the simulated and experimental signals in the presence of noise and fundamental frequency deviation, thus providing a deeper insight into the (inter)harmonic sources or even the whole system. PMID:27355946

Synthesis of liquid crystalline epoxy monomers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fabia, J.; Galina, H.; Mossety-Leszczak, B.; Ulanski, J.; Wojciechowski, Piotr; Wlochowicz, Andrzej

2002-06-01

A two-stage method of synthesis of liquid-crystalline diepoxy monomers has been developed. In the first stage, esterification of 4-hydroxyphenyl-4-hydroxybenzoate or 4,4'- biphenol or 4,4'-dihydroxyazobenzene was carried out using 4-penetenoic acid. The resulting olefinic precursors were oxidized with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid to introduce the epoxy groups. The structure of products was confirmed by FT- IR and 1H NMR. Examinations on a polarization microscope with a hot plate confirmed the presence of mesomorphic phases in both the precursors and monomers. The phase transition temperatures were in the range of 73.5 (at cooling) to 128.0 degree(s)C for olefinic precursors and in the range 57.1 (at cooling) to 143 degree(s)C for epoxy compounds, as determined by DSC and thermo-optical analysis (TOA).

CdZnTe substrate impurities and their effects on liquid phase epitaxy HgCdTe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tower, J. P.; Tobin, S. P.; Kestigian, M.; Norton, P. W.; Bollong, A. B.; Schaake, H. F.; Ard, C. K.

1995-05-01

Impurity levels were tracked through the stages of substrate and liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) layer processing to identify sources of elements which degrade infrared photodetector performance. Chemical analysis by glow discharge mass spectrometry and Zeeman corrected graphite furnace atomic absorption effectively showed the levels of impurities introduced into CdZnTe substrate material from the raw materials and the crystal growth processes. A new purification process (in situ distillation zone refining) for raw materials was developed, resulting in improved CdZnTe substrate purity. Substrate copper contamination was found to degrade the LPE layer and device electrical properties, in the case of lightly doped HgCdTe. Anomalous HgCdTe carrier type conversion was correlated to certain CdZnTe and CdTe substrate ingots.

Developing a New Sampling And Analysis Method For Hydrazine And Monomethyl Hydrazine: Using a Derivatizing Agent With Solid Phase Microextraction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, John

2001-01-01

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) will be used to develop a method for detecting monomethyl hydrazine (MMH) and hydrazine (Hz). A derivatizing agent, pentafluorobenzoyl chloride (PFBCI), is known to react readily with MMH and Hz. The SPME fiber can either be coated with PFBCl and introduced into a gaseous stream containing MMH, or PFBCl and MMH can react first in a syringe barrel and after a short equilibration period a SPME is used to sample the resulting solution. These methods were optimized and compared. Because Hz and MMH can degrade the SPME, letting the reaction occur first gave better results. Only MMH could be detected using either of these methods. Future research will concentrate on constructing calibration curves and determining the detection limit.

a Signal-Tuned Gabor Transform with Application to Eeg Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torreão, José R. A.; Victer, Silvia M. C.; Fernandes, João L.

2013-04-01

We introduce a time-frequency transform based on Gabor functions whose parameters are given by the Fourier transform of the analyzed signal. At any given frequency, the width and the phase of the Gabor function are obtained, respectively, from the magnitude and the phase of the signal's corresponding Fourier component, yielding an analyzing kernel which is a representation of the signal's content at that particular frequency. The resulting Gabor transform tunes itself to the input signal, allowing the accurate detection of time and frequency events, even in situations where the traditional Gabor and S-transform approaches tend to fail. This is the case, for instance, when considering the time-frequency representation of electroencephalogram traces (EEG) of epileptic subjects, as illustrated by the experimental study presented here.

An Inquiry into the Phases of Matter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Sarah

2010-01-01

The "What's the "matter" With XOD" activity addresses students' misconceptions and refines their ideas about phases of matter. This activity introduces the characteristics for solids, liquids, and gases, and begins a discussion about physical and chemical changes and how matter can cycle through different phases. Depending on class size and…

Broadband Achromatic Phase Shifter for a Nulling Interferometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bolcar, Matthew R.; Lyon, Richard G.

2011-01-01

Nulling interferometry is a technique for imaging exoplanets in which light from the parent star is suppressed using destructive interference. Light from the star is divided into two beams and a phase shift of radians is introduced into one of the beams. When the beams are recombined, they destructively interfere to produce a deep null. For monochromatic light, this is implemented by introducing an optical path difference (OPD) between the two beams equal to lambda/2, where lambda is the wavelength of the light. For broadband light, however, a different phase shift will be introduced at each wavelength and the two beams will not effectively null when recombined. Various techniques have been devised to introduce an achromatic phase shift a phase shift that is uniform across a particular bandwidth. One popular technique is to use a series of dispersive elements to introduce a wavelength-dependent optical path in one or both of the arms of the interferometer. By intelligently choosing the number, material and thickness of a series of glass plates, a nearly uniform, arbitrary phase shift can be introduced between two arms of an interferometer. There are several constraints that make choosing the number, type, and thickness of materials a difficult problem, such as the size of the bandwidth to be nulled. Several solutions have been found for bandwidths on the order of 20 to 30 percent (Delta(lambda)/lambda(sub c)) in the mid-infrared region. However, uniform phase shifts over a larger bandwidth in the visible regime between 480 to 960 nm (67 percent) remain difficult to obtain at the tolerances necessary for exoplanet detection. A configuration of 10 dispersive glass plates was developed to be used as an achromatic phase shifter in nulling interferometry. Five glass plates were placed in each arm of the interferometer and an additional vacuum distance was also included in the second arm of the interferometer. This configuration creates a phase shift of pi radians with an average error of 5.97 x 10(exp -8) radians and standard deviation of 3.07 x 10(exp -4) radians. To reduce ghost reflections and interference effects from neighboring elements, the glass plates are tilted such that the beam does not strike each plate at normal incidence. Reflections will therefore walk out of the system and not contribute to the intensity when the beams are recombined. Tilting the glass plates, however, introduces several other problems that must be mitigated: (1) the polarization of a beam changes when refracted at an interface at non-normal incidence; (2) the beam experiences lateral chromatic spread as it traverses multiple glass plates; (3) at each surface, wavelength- dependent intensity losses will occur due to reflection. For a fixed angle of incidence, each of these effects must be balanced between each arm of the interferometer in order to ensure a deep null. The solution was found using a nonlinear optimization routine that minimized an objective function relating phase shift, intensity difference, chromatic beam spread, and polarization difference to the desired parameters: glass plate material and thickness. In addition to providing a uniform, broadband phase shift, the configuration achieves an average difference in intensity transmission between the two arms of the interferometer of 0.016 percent with a standard deviation of 3.64 x 10(exp -4) percent, an average difference in polarization between the two arms of the interferometer of 5.47 x 10(exp -5) percent with a standard deviation of 1.57 x 10(exp -6) percent, and an average chromatic beam shift between the two arms of the interferometer of -47.53 microns with a wavelength-by-wavelength spread of 0.389 microns.

Critical edge between frozen extinction and chaotic life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monetti, Roberto A.; Albano, Ezequiel V.

1995-12-01

The cellular automata ``game of life'' (GL) proposed by J. Conway simulates the dynamic evolution of a society of living organisms. It has been extensively studied in order to understand the emergence of complexity and diversity from a set of local rules. More recently, the capability of GL to self-oranize into a critical state has opened an interesting debate. In this work we adopt a different approach: by introducing stochastic rules in the GL it is found that ``life'' exhibits a very rich critical behavior. Discontinuous (first-order) irreversible phase transitions (IPT's) between an extinct phase and a steady state supporting life are found. A precise location of the critical edge is achieved by means of an epidemic analysis, which also allows us to determine dynamic critical exponents. Furthermore, by means of a damage spreading study we conclude that the living phase is chaotic. The edge of the frozen-chaotic transition coincides with that of the IPT's life extinction. Close to the edge, fractal spreading of the damage is observed; however, deep inside the living phase such spreading becomes homogeneous. (c) 1995 The American Physical Society

Effect of second introduced phase on magnetic and magnetotransport properties of (1-x)La0.7Sr0.3Mn0.9Co0.1O3/x% Ag (x=0%, 2%, 4%) nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, Hiral D.; Bhalodia, J. A.

2018-05-01

The structural, magnetic and magnetotransport properties of (1-x)La0.7Sr0.3Mn0.9Co0.1O3(LSMCO)/x% Ag (x=0%, 2%, 4%) nanocomposites were investigated to explore the role of second introduced phase. (1-x) LSMCO/x% Ag (x=0%, 2%, 4%) nanocomposites are prepared via solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM analysis indicated that x% of Ag are not substituted into the main LSMCO phase and remains an additive to the second phase at grain boundaries [1]. The structural parameters and the reliability factors for all the samples were successfully determined by the Rietveld refinement. Magnetization and transport properties of (1-x)LSMCO/x% Ag nanocomposites have been reported. Resistivity of the composite samples increases with Ag content in comparison with the pure LSMCO, and suppressed with applied magnetic field in all the composite samples [2]. The metal-insulator transition (TMI) and accompanied paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition (TC) temperatures decrease with increase in Ag content. The electrical resistivity of the experimental results is explored by theoretical model below TMI. The maximum MR was observed to be 55% in the x=4% sample at 5 K temperature under 7 T magnetic field, this value is larger than that of pure LSMCO (19% at 5 K and 7 T), which is encouraging for practical application. Summarily, the addition of Ag in LSMCO improves MR% values significantly due to the more grain boundary contribution and result in better physical properties of the parent manganite system.

Self-organized synchronization of digital phase-locked loops with delayed coupling in theory and experiment

PubMed Central

Wetzel, Lucas; Jörg, David J.; Pollakis, Alexandros; Rave, Wolfgang; Fettweis, Gerhard; Jülicher, Frank

2017-01-01

Self-organized synchronization occurs in a variety of natural and technical systems but has so far only attracted limited attention as an engineering principle. In distributed electronic systems, such as antenna arrays and multi-core processors, a common time reference is key to coordinate signal transmission and processing. Here we show how the self-organized synchronization of mutually coupled digital phase-locked loops (DPLLs) can provide robust clocking in large-scale systems. We develop a nonlinear phase description of individual and coupled DPLLs that takes into account filter impulse responses and delayed signal transmission. Our phase model permits analytical expressions for the collective frequencies of synchronized states, the analysis of stability properties and the time scale of synchronization. In particular, we find that signal filtering introduces stability transitions that are not found in systems without filtering. To test our theoretical predictions, we designed and carried out experiments using networks of off-the-shelf DPLL integrated circuitry. We show that the phase model can quantitatively predict the existence, frequency, and stability of synchronized states. Our results demonstrate that mutually delay-coupled DPLLs can provide robust and self-organized synchronous clocking in electronic systems. PMID:28207779

Determination of esters in glycerol phase after transesterification of vegetable oil.

PubMed

Hájek, Martin; Skopal, Frantisek; Kwiecien, Jirí; Cernoch, Michal

2010-06-30

In biodiesel production, glycerol is formed as a side product and it is contained in the glycerol phase. This phase contains (besides glycerol): water, soaps, alcohol, traces of catalyst and glycerides and the remaining esters. In this paper, a new method for the determination of esters in the glycerol phase is introduced. The determination enables the minimization of the losses of biodiesel within the production process. It is based on the gradient RP-LC method (water and acetonitrile) with refractometric detection. The analysis is easy and the samples do not need any treatment (only dilution by water) and has a low detection limit. The results of this method were compared with the results of two other published methods: isocratic HPLC and GC. The disadvantage of these two methods is that they need extensive treatment of the sample, which takes many hours, and they are able to determine only the sum of esters. The new method is reliable, much faster and able to differentiate esters of almost each higher fatty acid (e.g. linoleic, linolenic, strearic alkyl ester) in the glycerol phase. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Energy Balanced and Lifetime Extended Routing Protocol for Underwater Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Wang, Hao; Wang, Shilian; Zhang, Eryang; Lu, Luxi

2018-05-17

Energy limitation is an adverse problem in designing routing protocols for underwater sensor networks (UWSNs). To prolong the network lifetime with limited battery power, an energy balanced and efficient routing protocol, called energy balanced and lifetime extended routing protocol (EBLE), is proposed in this paper. The proposed EBLE not only balances traffic loads according to the residual energy, but also optimizes data transmissions by selecting low-cost paths. Two phases are operated in the EBLE data transmission process: (1) candidate forwarding set selection phase and (2) data transmission phase. In candidate forwarding set selection phase, nodes update candidate forwarding nodes by broadcasting the position and residual energy level information. The cost value of available nodes is calculated and stored in each sensor node. Then in data transmission phase, high residual energy and relatively low-cost paths are selected based on the cost function and residual energy level information. We also introduce detailed analysis of optimal energy consumption in UWSNs. Numerical simulation results on a variety of node distributions and data load distributions prove that EBLE outperforms other routing protocols (BTM, BEAR and direct transmission) in terms of network lifetime and energy efficiency.

A reflective-type, quasi-optical metasurface filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sima, Boyu; Momeni Hasan Abadi, Seyed Mohamad Amin; Behdad, Nader

2017-08-01

We introduce a new technique for designing quasi-optical, reflective-type spatial filters. The proposed filter is a reflective metasurface with a one dimensional, frequency-dependent phase gradient along the aperture. By careful design of each unit cell of the metasurface, the phase shift gradient provided by the adjacent unit cells can be engineered to steer the beam towards a desired, anomalous reflection direction over the passband region of the filter. Outside of that range, the phase shift gradient required to produce the anomalous reflection is not present and hence, the wave is reflected towards the specular reflection direction. This way, the metasurface acts as a reflective filter in a quasi-optical system where the detector is placed along the direction of anomalous reflection. The spectral selectivity of this filter is determined by the frequency dispersion of the metasurface's phase response. Based on this principle, a prototype of the proposed metasurface filter, which operates at 10 GHz and has a bandwidth of 3%, is designed. The device is modeled using a combination of theoretical analysis using the phased-array theory and full-wave electromagnetic simulations. A prototype of this device is also fabricated and characterized using a free-space measurement system. Experimental results agree well with the simulations.

Exact analysis of the spectral properties of the anisotropic two-bosons Rabi model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Shuai; Cao, Jun-Peng; Fan, Heng; Amico, Luigi

2017-05-01

We introduce the anisotropic two-photon Rabi model in which the rotating and counter rotating terms enters the Hamiltonian with two different coupling constants. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors are studied with exact means. We employ a variation of the Braak method based on Bogolubov rotation of the underlying su(1, 1) Lie algebra. Accordingly, the spectrum is provided by the analytical properties of a suitable meromorphic function. Our formalism applies to the two-modes Rabi model as well, sharing the same algebraic structure of the two-photon model. Through the analysis of the spectrum, we discover that the model displays close analogies to many-body systems undergoing quantum phase transitions.

Stability analysis for non-minimally coupled dark energy models in the Palatini formalism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zuobin; Wu, Puxun; Yu, Hongwei

2018-06-01

In this paper, we use the method of global analysis to study the stability of de-Sitter solutions in an universe dominated by a scalar field dark energy, which couples non-minimally with the Ricci scalar defined in the Palatini formalism. Effective potential and phase-space diagrams are introduced to describe qualitatively the de-Sitter solutions and their stabilities. We find that for the simple power-law function V(φ)=V0φn there are no stable de-Sitter solutions. While for some more complicated potentials, i.e. V(φ)=V0φn+Λ and V(φ)=V0 (e ^{-λφ}+e^{λφ)2, stable de-Sitter solutions can exist.

Characterizing Fullerene Nanoparticles in Aqueous Suspensions

EPA Science Inventory

Studies have indicated that fullerenes can form stable colloidal suspensions in water when introduced to the aqueous phase through solvent exchange, sonication, or extended mixing. The colloidal suspensions created using these techniques have effective aqueous phase concentratio...

Precipitation of Al3(Sc,Zr) Particles in a Direct Chill Cast Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Sc-Zr Alloy During Conventional Solution Heat Treatment and its Effect on Tensile Properties

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-01

recrystallization during hot working and introduce additional strengthening through the formation of fine coherent Al3(Sc,Zr) particles from a super...microstructure was described in detail elsewhere [8]. TEM analysis of the as-cast alloy revealed large eutectic -forming particles, which were enriched...however suggest that this additional strengthening (~10-30 MPa) can be due to incomplete dissolution of the eutectic phases, which were present in the

A new approach to phosphoserine and phosphothreonine analysis in peptides and proteins: chemical modification, enrichment via solid-phase reversible binding, and analysis by mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Thaler, Florian; Valsasina, Barbara; Baldi, Rosario; Xie, Jin; Stewart, Albert; Isacchi, Antonella; Kalisz, Henryk M; Rusconi, Luisa

2003-06-01

beta-Elimination of the phosphate group on phosphoserine and phosphothreonine residues and addition of an alkyldithiol is a useful tool for analysis of the phosphorylation states of proteins and peptides. We have explored the influence of several conditions on the efficiency of this PO(4)(3-) elimination reaction upon addition of propanedithiol. In addition to the described influence of different bases, the solvent composition was also found to have a major effect on the yield of the reaction. In particular, an increase in the percentage of DMSO enhances the conversion rate, whereas a higher amount of protic polar solvents, such as water or isopropanol, induces the opposite effect. We have also developed a protocol for enrichment of the modified peptides, which is based on solid-phase covalent capture/release with a dithiopyridino-resin. The procedure for beta-elimination and isolation of phosphorylated peptides by solid-phase capture/release was developed with commercially available alpha-casein. Enriched peptide fragments were characterized by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric analysis before and after alkylation with iodoacetamide, which allowed rapid confirmation of the purposely introduced thiol moiety. Sensitivity studies, carried out in order to determine the detection limit, demonstrated that samples could be detected even in the low picomolar range by mass spectrometry. The developed solid-phase enrichment procedure based on reversible covalent binding of the modified peptides is more effective and significantly simpler than methods based on the interaction between biotin and avidin, which require additional steps such as tagging the modified peptides and work-up of the samples prior to the affinity capture step.

Novel Methods for Analysing Bacterial Tracks Reveal Persistence in Rhodobacter sphaeroides

PubMed Central

Rosser, Gabriel; Fletcher, Alexander G.; Wilkinson, David A.; de Beyer, Jennifer A.; Yates, Christian A.; Armitage, Judith P.; Maini, Philip K.; Baker, Ruth E.

2013-01-01

Tracking bacteria using video microscopy is a powerful experimental approach to probe their motile behaviour. The trajectories obtained contain much information relating to the complex patterns of bacterial motility. However, methods for the quantitative analysis of such data are limited. Most swimming bacteria move in approximately straight lines, interspersed with random reorientation phases. It is therefore necessary to segment observed tracks into swimming and reorientation phases to extract useful statistics. We present novel robust analysis tools to discern these two phases in tracks. Our methods comprise a simple and effective protocol for removing spurious tracks from tracking datasets, followed by analysis based on a two-state hidden Markov model, taking advantage of the availability of mutant strains that exhibit swimming-only or reorientating-only motion to generate an empirical prior distribution. Using simulated tracks with varying levels of added noise, we validate our methods and compare them with an existing heuristic method. To our knowledge this is the first example of a systematic assessment of analysis methods in this field. The new methods are substantially more robust to noise and introduce less systematic bias than the heuristic method. We apply our methods to tracks obtained from the bacterial species Rhodobacter sphaeroides and Escherichia coli. Our results demonstrate that R. sphaeroides exhibits persistence over the course of a tumbling event, which is a novel result with important implications in the study of this and similar species. PMID:24204227

Femtosecond-pulse inscription of fiber Bragg gratings with single or multiple phase-shifts in the structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolf, Alexey; Dostovalov, Alexandr; Skvortsov, Mikhail; Raspopin, Kirill; Parygin, Alexandr; Babin, Sergey

2018-05-01

In this work, long high-quality fiber Bragg gratings with phase shifts in the structure are inscribed directly in the optical fiber by point-by-point technique using femtosecond laser pulses. Phase shifts are introduced during the inscription process with a piezoelectric actuator, which rapidly shifts the fiber along the direction of its movement in a chosen point of the grating with a chosen shift value. As examples, single and double π phase shifts are introduced in fiber Bragg gratings with a length up to 34 mm in passive fibers, which provide corresponding transmission peaks with bandwidth less than 1 pm. It is shown that 37 mm π -phase-shifted grating inscribed in an active Er-doped fiber forms high-quality DFB laser cavity generating single-frequency radiation at 1550 nm with bandwidth of 20 kHz and signal-to-noise ratio of >70 dB. The inscription technique has a high degree of performance and flexibility and can be easily implemented in fibers of various types.

Study on biphasic material model and mechanical analysis of knee joint cartilage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakatani, A.; Sakashita, A.

2008-02-01

A material model of articular cartilage is formulated, and fundamental problems are analyzed. The soft tissue is assumed to comprise two phases: solid and fluid. The biphasic theory proposed by Spilker and Suh (1990) to deal with such materials is reviewed, and some new additional analyses are carried out on the basis of this theory. Assuming the elasticity for the solid phase and introducing the pressure, which is defined by the product of the volume change and penalty coefficient, it is shown that the viscoelastic property of the soft tissue can be reproduced. A preferable solution is obtained for the solid phase by using the reduction integral, even if a high-order interpolation function is used. However, the high-order element cannot satisfactorily capture the velocity distribution of fluids. The pressure distribution is studied by assuming the change in the surface characteristics of the cartilage tissue with the progress of osteoarthritis. The pressure is strongly related to the lubrication conditions, i.e., perfect lubrication, perfect adhesion, and partial adhesion.

Geometric interpretation of four-wave mixing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ott, J. R.; Steffensen, H.; Rottwitt, K.; McKinstrie, C. J.

2013-10-01

The nonlinear phenomenon of four-wave mixing (FWM) is investigated using a method, where, without the need of calculus, both phase and amplitudes of the mixing fields are visualized simultaneously, giving a complete overview of the FWM dynamics. This is done by introducing a set of Stokes-like coordinates of the electric fields, which reduce the FWM dynamics to a closed two-dimensional surface, similar to the Bloch sphere of quantum electrodynamics or the Pointcaré sphere in polarization dynamics. The coordinates are chosen so as to use the gauge invariance symmetries of the FWM equations which also give the conservation of action flux known as the Manley-Rowe relations. This reduces the dynamics of FWM to the one-dimensional intersection between the closed two-dimensional surface and the phase-plane given by the conserved Hamiltonian. The analysis is advantageous for visualizing phase-dependent FWM phenomena which are found in a large variety of nonlinear systems and even in various optical communication schemes.

Frequency-domain nonlinear optics in two-dimensionally patterned quasi-phase-matching media.

PubMed

Phillips, C R; Mayer, B W; Gallmann, L; Keller, U

2016-07-11

Advances in the amplification and manipulation of ultrashort laser pulses have led to revolutions in several areas. Examples include chirped pulse amplification for generating high peak-power lasers, power-scalable amplification techniques, pulse shaping via modulation of spatially-dispersed laser pulses, and efficient frequency-mixing in quasi-phase-matched nonlinear crystals to access new spectral regions. In this work, we introduce and demonstrate a new platform for nonlinear optics which has the potential to combine these separate functionalities (pulse amplification, frequency transfer, and pulse shaping) into a single monolithic device that is bandwidth- and power-scalable. The approach is based on two-dimensional (2D) patterning of quasi-phase-matching (QPM) gratings combined with optical parametric interactions involving spatially dispersed laser pulses. Our proof of principle experiment demonstrates this technique via mid-infrared optical parametric chirped pulse amplification of few-cycle pulses. Additionally, we present a detailed theoretical and numerical analysis of such 2D-QPM devices and how they can be designed.

Selective Localization and Migration of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes in Blends of Polycarbonate and Poly(styrene-acrylonitrile).

PubMed

Göldel, Andreas; Kasaliwal, Gaurav; Pötschke, Petra

2009-03-19

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) have been introduced into blends of polycarbonate (PC) and poly(styrene-acrylonitrile) (SAN) by melt mixing in a microcompounder. Co-continuous blends are prepared by either pre-compounding low amounts of nanotubes into PC or SAN or by mixing all three components together. Interestingly, in all blends, regardless of the way of introducing the nanotubes, the MWNTs were exclusively located within the PC phase, which resulted in much lower electrical resistivities as compared to PC or SAN composites with the same MWNT content. The migration of MWNTs from the SAN phase into the PC phase during common mixing is explained by interfacial effects. Copyright © 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Quantum sensing of the phase-space-displacement parameters using a single trapped ion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, Peter A.; Vitanov, Nikolay V.

2018-03-01

We introduce a quantum sensing protocol for detecting the parameters characterizing the phase-space displacement by using a single trapped ion as a quantum probe. We show that, thanks to the laser-induced coupling between the ion's internal states and the motion mode, the estimation of the two conjugated parameters describing the displacement can be efficiently performed by a set of measurements of the atomic state populations. Furthermore, we introduce a three-parameter protocol capable of detecting the magnitude, the transverse direction, and the phase of the displacement. We characterize the uncertainty of the two- and three-parameter problems in terms of the Fisher information and show that state projective measurement saturates the fundamental quantum Cramér-Rao bound.

A Phase Odyssey

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

Nugent, K.A.; Paganin, D.; Gureyev, T.E.

2009-01-06

We are introduced to the effects of phase from the earliest days of our childhood, from the nursery rhyme above (or its less verbose for 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star') to the shimmer over a hot road and the network of bright lines at the bottom of a swimming pool. These are all manifestations of phase. And there are many more.

Synchronization of Oscillators: An Ideal Introduction to Phase Transitions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

English, L. Q.

2008-01-01

The spontaneous synchronization of phase-coupled, non-identical oscillators is explored numerically via the famous Kuramoto model. The conditions for synchronization are examined as a function of the coupling network. I argue that such a numerical exploration provides a feasible way to introduce the topic of phase transitions early in the physics…

Design of Training Systems Phase I Summary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindahl, William H.; And Others

A summary is provided of the status of Phase I of the three-stage project, "Design of Training Systems" (DOTS). The purpose of the overall project is described as being to introduce the technologies of education, psychology, management and operations research into the management of Navy training. Phase I of the effort is designed to…

A time-frequency approach for the analysis of normal and arrhythmia cardiac signals.

PubMed

Mahmoud, Seedahmed S; Fang, Qiang; Davidović, Dragomir M; Cosic, Irena

2006-01-01

Previously, electrocardiogram (ECG) signals have been analyzed in either a time-indexed or spectral form. The reality, is that the ECG and all other biological signals belong to the family of multicomponent nonstationary signals. Due to this reason, the use of time-frequency analysis can be unavoidable for these signals. The Husimi and Wigner distributions are normally used in quantum mechanics for phase space representations of the wavefunction. In this paper, we introduce the Husimi distribution (HD) to analyze the normal and abnormal ECG signals in time-frequency domain. The abnormal cardiac signal was taken from a patient with supraventricular arrhythmia. Simulation results show that the HD has a good performance in the analysis of the ECG signals comparing with the Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD).

Improvement of coda phase detectability and reconstruction of global seismic data using frequency-wavenumber methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, Simon; Thomas, Christine; Dokht, Ramin M. H.; Gu, Yu Jeffrey; Chen, Yunfeng

2018-02-01

Due to uneven earthquake source and receiver distributions, our abilities to isolate weak signals from interfering phases and reconstruct missing data are fundamental to improving the resolution of seismic imaging techniques. In this study, we introduce a modified frequency-wavenumber (fk) domain based approach using a `Projection Onto Convex Sets' (POCS) algorithm. POCS takes advantage of the sparsity of the dominating energies of phase arrivals in the fk domain, which enables an effective detection and reconstruction of the weak seismic signals. Moreover, our algorithm utilizes the 2-D Fourier transform to perform noise removal, interpolation and weak-phase extraction. To improve the directional resolution of the reconstructed data, we introduce a band-stop 2-D Fourier filter to remove the energy of unwanted, interfering phases in the fk domain, which significantly increases the robustness of the signal of interest. The effectiveness and benefits of this method are clearly demonstrated using both simulated and actual broadband recordings of PP precursors from an array located in Tanzania. When used properly, this method could significantly enhance the resolution of weak crust and mantle seismic phases.

Dislocation dynamics and crystal plasticity in the phase-field crystal model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skaugen, Audun; Angheluta, Luiza; Viñals, Jorge

2018-02-01

A phase-field model of a crystalline material is introduced to develop the necessary theoretical framework to study plastic flow due to dislocation motion. We first obtain the elastic stress from the phase-field crystal free energy under weak distortion and show that it obeys the stress-strain relation of linear elasticity. We focus next on dislocations in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice. They are composite topological defects in the weakly nonlinear amplitude equation expansion of the phase field, with topological charges given by the standard Burgers vector. This allows us to introduce a formal relation between the dislocation velocity and the evolution of the slowly varying amplitudes of the phase field. Standard dissipative dynamics of the phase-field crystal model is shown to determine the velocity of the dislocations. When the amplitude expansion is valid and under additional simplifications, we find that the dislocation velocity is determined by the Peach-Koehler force. As an application, we compute the defect velocity for a dislocation dipole in two setups, pure glide and pure climb, and compare it with the analytical predictions.

V-ONSET: Introducing turbulent multiphase flow facility focusing on Lagrangian interfacial transfer dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salibindla, Ashwanth; Masuk, Ashik Ullah Mohammad; Ni, Rui

2017-11-01

We have designed and constructed a new vertical water tunnel, V-ONSET, to investigate interfacial mass, momentum and energy transfer between two phases in a Lagrangian frame. This system features an independent control of mean flow and turbulence level. The mean flow opposes the rising/falling velocity of the second phase, ``suspending'' the particles and increasing tracking time in the view area. Strong turbulence is generated by shooting 88 digitally-controlled water jets into the test section. The second phase, either bubbles or oil droplets, can be introduced into the test section through a capillary island. In addition to this flow control system, V-ONSET comes with a 3D two-phase visualization system, consisting of high-speed cameras, two-colored LED system, and in-house Lagrangian particle tracking algorithm. This enables us to acquire the Lagrangian evolution of both phases and the interfacial transfer dynamics in between, paving the way for new closure models for two-phase simulations. Financial support for this project was provided by National Science Foundation under Grant Number: 1653389 and 1705246.

Silica-Based, Hyper-Crosslinked Acid Stable Stationary Phases for High Performance Liquid Chromatography

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yu; Luo, Hao; Carr, Peter W.

2011-01-01

A new family of Hyper-Crosslinked (HC) phases has been recently introduced for use under very aggressive acid conditions including those encountered in ultra-fast, high temperature Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography (2DLC). This type of stationary phase showed significantly enhanced acid and thermal stability compared to the most acid stable, commercial RPLC phases. In addition, the use of “orthogonal” chemistry to make surface-confined polymer networks ensures good reproducibility and high efficiency. One of the most interesting features of the HC phases is the ability to derivatize the surface aromatic groups with various functional groups. This led to the development of a family of hyper-crosslinked phases possessing a wide variety of chromatographic selectivities by attaching hydrophobic (e.g. –C8), ionizable (e.g. -COOH, -SO3H), aromatic (e.g. –toluene) or polar (e.g. -OH) species to the aromatic polymer network. HC reversed phases with various degrees of hydrophobicity and mixed-mode HC phases with added strong and weak cation exchange sites have been synthesized, characterized and applied. These silica-based acid-stable HC phases, with their attractive chromatographic properties, should be very useful in the separations of bases or biological analytes in acidic media, especially at elevated temperatures. This work reviews the prior research on HC phases and introduces a novel HC phase made by alternative chemistry. PMID:21906745

Introduction of information and communication technologies in havana polyclinics: phase one evaluation.

PubMed

Llanusa, Susana B; Rojo, Nereida; Caraballoso, Magali; Pérez, Julia S

2008-04-01

Introduction Information and communication technologies were introduced in community-based polyclinics as a result of a Cuban health system policy to make information more readily accessible to health professionals and other health workers at the primary health care level. Objective Assess phase one of the Program to Introduce Information and Communication Technologies in Primary Health Care (PICT-PHC), as implemented in Havana, and in particular to determine the aspects of structure, process and outcomes with the greatest impact on this phase's effectiveness. Methods From May to October 2003, an assessment was carried out in all Havana community-based polyclinics where phase one of the Program was underway. Study dimensions, criteria, and standards were established through consultation with experts and considering the level of performance expected by program directors, thus providing timely analysis to the directors concerning problem areas in need of attention. This paper concentrates on the five dimensions which were thought to have the most bearing on effectiveness of information and communication technologies (ICTs) installed in the polyclinics' libraries: librarians' competencies in IT skills, training received by librarians, training received by users, Program monitoring and follow-up, and exploitation of the technologies. Six data collection instruments were devised. Participants in the study included 41 librarians and 544 users. Data were processed to obtain indicators corresponding to study criteria. Each indicator was then compared with the established standard. Validity of results was established through analysis and comparison. Results Overall, the first phase of the PICT-PHC in Havana succeeded in making online information resources more readily available to health professionals and technicians. Some librarians had insufficient basic IT competencies, which had an impact on the quality of their work. Moreover, it was found that monitoring and follow-up activities were focused chiefly on implementation process rather than outcomes. There was consistency between the achievements and problems found for some criteria and dimensions, and their impact on related ones. Conclusion This study furnished evidence of the need for greater emphasis on human resources training (particularly of librarians) in the use of ICTs in the primary health care system. Information and communication technologies, ICTs, primary health care, public health informatics, medical informatics applications, library science, access to information, public health, health systems, informatics, Health Information Technologies, HIT.

Efficient Conservative Reformulation Schemes for Lithium Intercalation

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

Urisanga, PC; Rife, D; De, S

Porous electrode theory coupled with transport and reaction mechanisms is a widely used technique to model Li-ion batteries employing an appropriate discretization or approximation for solid phase diffusion with electrode particles. One of the major difficulties in simulating Li-ion battery models is the need to account for solid phase diffusion in a second radial dimension r, which increases the computation time/cost to a great extent. Various methods that reduce the computational cost have been introduced to treat this phenomenon, but most of them do not guarantee mass conservation. The aim of this paper is to introduce an inherently mass conservingmore » yet computationally efficient method for solid phase diffusion based on Lobatto III A quadrature. This paper also presents coupling of the new solid phase reformulation scheme with a macro-homogeneous porous electrode theory based pseudo 20 model for Li-ion battery. (C) The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. All rights reserved.« less

Management evaluation about introduction of electric medical record in the national hospital organization.

PubMed

Nakagawa, Yoshiaki; Tomita, Naoko; Irisa, Kaoru; Yoshihara, Hiroyuki; Nakagawa, Yoshinobu

2013-01-01

Introduction of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) into a hospital was started from 1999 in Japan. Then, most of all EMR company said that EMR improved efficacy of the management of the hospital. National Hospital Organization (NHO) has been promoting the project and introduced EMR since 2004. NHO has 143 hospitals, 51 hospitals offer acute-phase medical care services, the other 92 hospitals offer medical services mainly for chronic patients. We conducted three kinds of investigations, questionnaire survey, checking the homepage information of the hospitals and analyzing the financial statements of each NHO hospital. In this financial analysis, we applied new indicators which have been developed based on personnel costs. In 2011, there are 44 hospitals which have introduced EMR. In our result, the hospital with EMR performed more investment of equipment/capital than personnel expenses. So, there is no advantage of EMR on the financial efficacy.

The instantaneous frequency rate spectrogram

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Czarnecki, Krzysztof

2016-01-01

An accelerogram of the instantaneous phase of signal components referred to as an instantaneous frequency rate spectrogram (IFRS) is presented as a joint time-frequency distribution. The distribution is directly obtained by processing the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) locally. A novel approach to amplitude demodulation based upon the reassignment method is introduced as a useful by-product. Additionally, an estimator of energy density versus the instantaneous frequency rate (IFR) is proposed and referred to as the IFR profile. The energy density is estimated based upon both the classical energy spectrogram and the IFRS smoothened by the median filter. Moreover, the impact of an analyzing window width, additive white Gaussian noise and observation time is tested. Finally, the introduced method is used for the analysis of the acoustic emission of an automotive engine. The recording of the engine of a Lamborghini Gallardo is analyzed as an example.

Vapor phase synthesis of compound semiconductors, from thin films to nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarigiannis, Demetrius

A counterflow jet reactor was developed to study the gas-phase decomposition kinetics of organometallics used in the vapor phase synthesis of compound semiconductors. The reactor minimized wall effects by generating a reaction zone near the stagnation point of two vertically opposed counterflowing jets. Smoke tracing experiments were used to confirm the stability of the flow field and validate the proposed heat, mass and flow models of the counterflow jet reactor. Transport experiments using ethyl acetate confirmed the overall mass balance for the system and verified the ability of the model to predict concentrations at various points in the reactor under different flow conditions. Preliminary kinetic experiments were performed with ethyl acetate and indicated a need to redesign the reactor. The counterflow jet reactor was adapted for the synthesis of ZnSe nanoparticles. Hydrogen selenide was introduced through one jet and dimethylzinc-triethylamine through the other. The two precursors reacted in a region near the stagnation zone and polycrystalline particles of zinc selenide were reproducibly synthesized at room temperature and collected for analysis. Raman spectroscopy confirmed that the particles were crystalline zinc selenide, Morphological analysis using SEM clearly showed the presence of aggregates of particles, 40 to 60 nanometers in diameter. Analysis by TEM showed that the particles were polycrystalline in nature and composed of smaller single crystalline nanocrystallites, five to ten nanometers in diameter. The particles in the aggregate had the appearance of being sintered together. To prevent this sintering, a split inlet lower jet was designed to introduce dimethylzinc through the inner tube and a surface passivator through the outer one. This passivating agent appeared to prevent the particles from agglomerating. An existing MOVPE reactor for II-VI thin film growth was modified to grow III-V semiconductors. A novel new heater was designed and built around an easily replaceable, economical, 650-watt, tungsten-halogen lamp. The heater was successfully tested to temperatures up to 1500°F. The deposition reactor was successfully tested by growing a thin film of GaP on GaAs <100>. The film surface was imperfect but the experiments proved that the reactor was ready for service.

An Overview of the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowers, Albion H.; Pahle, Joseph W.; Wilson, R. Joseph; Flick, Bradley C.; Rood, Richard L.

1996-01-01

This paper gives an overview of the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle. The three flight phases of the program are introduced, along with the specific goals and data examples taken during each phase. The aircraft configuration and systems needed to perform the disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research are discussed. The specific disciplines involved with the flight research are introduced, including aerodynamics, controls, propulsion, systems, and structures. Decisions that were made early in the planning of the aircraft project and the results of those decisions are briefly discussed. Each of the three flight phases corresponds to a particular aircraft configuration, and the research dictated the configuration to be flown. The first phase gathered data with the baseline F-18 configuration. The second phase was the thrust-vectoring phase. The third phase used a modified forebody with deployable nose strakes. Aircraft systems supporting these flights included extensive instrumentation systems, integrated research flight controls using flight control hardware and corresponding software, analog interface boxes to control forebody strakes, a thrust-vectoring system using external post-exit vanes around axisymmetric nozzles, a forebody vortex control system with strakes, and backup systems using battery-powered emergency systems and a spin recovery parachute.

Near real-time PPP-based monitoring of the ionosphere using dual-frequency GPS/BDS/Galileo data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhinmin; Li, Yangyang; Li, Fei; Guo, Jinyun

2018-03-01

Ionosphere delay is very important to GNSS observations, since it is one of the main error sources which have to be mitigated even eliminated in order to determine reliable and precise positions. The ionosphere is a dispersive medium to radio signal, so the value of the group delay or phase advance of GNSS radio signal depends on the signal frequency. Ground-based GNSS stations have been used for ionosphere monitoring and modeling for a long time. In this paper we will introduce a novel approach suitable for single-receiver operation based on the precise point positioning (PPP) technique. One of the main characteristic is that only carrier-phase observations are used to avoid particular effects of pseudorange observations. The technique consists of introducing ionosphere ambiguity parameters obtained from PPP filter into the geometry-free combination of observations to estimate ionospheric delays. Observational data from stations that are capable of tracking the GPS/BDS/GALILEO from the International GNSS Service (IGS) Multi-GNSS Experiments (MGEX) network are processed. For the purpose of performance validation, ionospheric delays series derived from the novel approach are compared with the global ionospheric map (GIM) from Ionospheric Associate Analysis Centers (IAACs). The results are encouraging and offer potential solutions to the near real-time ionosphere monitoring.

Species-driven phases and increasing structure in early-successional plant communities.

PubMed

Zaplata, Markus K; Winter, Susanne; Fischer, Anton; Kollmann, Johannes; Ulrich, Werner

2013-01-01

Successional phases describe changes in ecological communities that proceed in steps rather than continuously. Despite their importance for the understanding of ecosystem development, there still exists no reliable definition of phases and no quantitative measure of phase transitions. In order to obtain these data, we investigated primary succession in an artificial catchment (6 ha) in eastern Germany over a period of 6 years. The data set consists of records of plant species and their cover values, and initial substrate properties, both from plots in a regular grid (20 m × 20 m) suitable for spatial data analysis. Community assembly was studied by analyses of species co-occurrence and nestedness. Additionally, we correlated lognormal and log series distributions of species abundance to each community. We here introduce a new general method for detection of successional phases based on the degree of transient spatial homogeneity in the study system. Spatially coherent vegetation patterns revealed nonoverlapping partitions within this sequence of primary succession and were characterized as two distinct ecological phases. Patterns of species co-occurrence were increasingly less random, and hence the importance of demographic stochasticity and neutral community assembly decreased during the study period. Our findings highlight the spatial dimension of successional phases and quantify the degree of change between these steps. They are an element for advancing a more reliable terminology of ecological successions.

Polarization of Narrowband VLF Transmitter Signals as an Ionospheric Diagnostic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gross, N. C.; Cohen, M. B.; Said, R. K.; Gołkowski, M.

2018-01-01

Very low frequency (VLF, 3-30 kHz) transmitter remote sensing has long been used as a simple yet useful diagnostic for the D region ionosphere (60-90 km). All it requires is a VLF radio receiver that records the amplitude and/or phase of a beacon signal as a function of time. During both ambient and disturbed conditions, the received signal can be compared to predictions from a theoretical model to infer ionospheric waveguide properties like electron density. Amplitude and phase have in most cases been analyzed each as individual data streams, often only the amplitude is used. Scattered field formulation combines amplitude and phase effectively, but does not address how to combine two magnetic field components. We present polarization ellipse analysis of VLF transmitter signals using two horizontal components of the magnetic field. The shape of the polarization ellipse is unchanged as the source phase varies, which circumvents a significant problem where VLF transmitters have an unknown source phase. A synchronized two-channel MSK demodulation algorithm is introduced to mitigate 90° ambiguity in the phase difference between the horizontal magnetic field components. Additionally, the synchronized demodulation improves phase measurements during low-SNR conditions. Using the polarization ellipse formulation, we take a new look at diurnal VLF transmitter variations, ambient conditions, and ionospheric disturbances from solar flares, lightning-ionospheric heating, and lightning-induced electron precipitation, and find differing signatures in the polarization ellipse.

Ab initio phasing by molecular averaging in real space with new criteria: application to structure determination of a betanodavirus.

PubMed

Yoshimura, Masato; Chen, Nai Chi; Guan, Hong Hsiang; Chuankhayan, Phimonphan; Lin, Chien Chih; Nakagawa, Atsushi; Chen, Chun Jung

2016-07-01

Molecular averaging, including noncrystallographic symmetry (NCS) averaging, is a powerful method for ab initio phase determination and phase improvement. Applications of the cross-crystal averaging (CCA) method have been shown to be effective for phase improvement after initial phasing by molecular replacement, isomorphous replacement, anomalous dispersion or combinations of these methods. Here, a two-step process for phase determination in the X-ray structural analysis of a new coat protein from a betanodavirus, Grouper nervous necrosis virus, is described in detail. The first step is ab initio structure determination of the T = 3 icosahedral virus-like particle using NCS averaging (NCSA). The second step involves structure determination of the protrusion domain of the viral molecule using cross-crystal averaging. In this method, molecular averaging and solvent flattening constrain the electron density in real space. To quantify these constraints, a new, simple and general indicator, free fraction (ff), is introduced, where ff is defined as the ratio of the volume of the electron density that is freely changed to the total volume of the crystal unit cell. This indicator is useful and effective to evaluate the strengths of both NCSA and CCA. Under the condition that a mask (envelope) covers the target molecule well, an ff value of less than 0.1, as a new rule of thumb, gives sufficient phasing power for the successful construction of new structures.

Occupational Health Management in the Lead Industry: The Korean Experience

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

In 1967, the problem of occupational lead exposure came to public attention in Korea. Since then, regular progress has been made in lowering workplace lead exposures, instituting new workplace controls, and implementing health examinations of exposed workers. Past serious lead poisoning episodes made it possible to introduce biological monitoring programs on a voluntary basis in high-lead-exposure facilities in Korea. Industry-specific occupational health services for lead workers in Korea during the last 22 years can be categorized into three phases. During the first phase (1988-1993), efforts were directed at increasing awareness among workers about the hazards of lead exposure, biological monitoring of blood zinc protoporphyrin began, and a respiratory protection program was introduced. During the second phase (1994-1997), a computerized health management system for lead workers was developed, blood-lead measurement was added to biologic monitoring, and engineering controls were introduced in the workplace to lower air-lead levels to comply with air-lead regulations. Finally, during the third phase (1998-present), a new biomarker, bone-lead measurement by X-ray fluorescence, was introduced. Bone-lead measurement proved to be useful for assessing body burden and to demonstrate past lead exposure in retired workers. Occupational health service practice for lead workers, including the industry-specific group occupational health system, has brought considerable success in the prevention of lead poisoning and in reducing the lead burden in Korean lead workers during the last several decades. The successful achievement of prevention of lead poisoning in Korea was a result of the combined efforts of lead workers, employers, relevant government agencies, and academic institutes. PMID:22953192

Biparticle fluidized bed reactor

DOEpatents

Scott, Charles D.; Marasco, Joseph A.

1995-01-01

A fluidized bed reactor system utilizes a fluid phase, a retained fluidized primary particulate phase, and a migratory second particulate phase. The primary particulate phase is a particle such as a gel bead containing an immobilized biocatalyst. The secondary particulate phase, continuously introduced and removed in either cocurrent or countercurrent mode, acts in a secondary role such as a sorbent to continuously remove a product or by-product constituent from the fluid phase. Introduction and removal of the sorbent phase is accomplished through the use of feed screw mechanisms and multivane slurry valves.

Biparticle fluidized bed reactor

DOEpatents

Scott, C.D.; Marasco, J.A.

1995-04-25

A fluidized bed reactor system utilizes a fluid phase, a retained fluidized primary particulate phase, and a migratory second particulate phase. The primary particulate phase is a particle such as a gel bead containing an immobilized biocatalyst. The secondary particulate phase, continuously introduced and removed in either cocurrent or countercurrent mode, acts in a secondary role such as a sorbent to continuously remove a product or by-product constituent from the fluid phase. Introduction and removal of the sorbent phase is accomplished through the use of feed screw mechanisms and multivane slurry valves. 3 figs.

Biparticle fluidized bed reactor

DOEpatents

Scott, C.D.

1993-12-14

A fluidized bed reactor system which utilizes a fluid phase, a retained fluidized primary particulate phase, and a migratory second particulate phase is described. The primary particulate phase is a particle such as a gel bead containing an immobilized biocatalyst. The secondary particulate phase, continuously introduced and removed in either cocurrent or countercurrent mode, acts in a secondary role such as a sorbent to continuously remove a product or by-product constituent from the fluid phase. Introduction and removal of the sorbent phase is accomplished through the use of feed screw mechanisms and multivane slurry valves. 3 figures.

Biparticle fluidized bed reactor

DOEpatents

Scott, Charles D.

1993-01-01

A fluidized bed reactor system which utilizes a fluid phase, a retained fluidized primary particulate phase, and a migratory second particulate phase. The primary particulate phase is a particle such as a gel bead containing an immobilized biocatalyst. The secondary particulate phase, continuously introduced and removed in either cocurrent or countercurrent mode, acts in a secondary role such as a sorbent to continuously remove a product or by-product constituent from the fluid phase. Introduction and removal of the sorbent phase is accomplished through the use of feed screw mechanisms and multivane slurry valves.

Phase Space Exchange in Thick Wedge Absorbers

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

Neuffer, David

The problem of phase space exchange in wedge absorbers with ionization cooling is discussed. The wedge absorber exchanges transverse and longitudinal phase space by introducing a position-dependent energy loss. In this paper we note that the wedges used with ionization cooling are relatively thick, so that single wedges cause relatively large changes in beam phase space. Calculation methods adapted to such “thick wedge” cases are presented, and beam phase-space transformations through such wedges are discussed.

Mechanical intermixing of components in (CoMoNi)-based systems and the formation of (CoMoNi)/WC nanocomposite layers on Ti sheets under ball collisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romankov, S.; Park, Y. C.; Shchetinin, I. V.

2017-11-01

Cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo), and nickel (Ni) components were simultaneously introduced onto titanium (Ti) surfaces from a composed target using ball collisions. Tungsten carbide (WC) balls were selected for processing as the source of a cemented carbide reinforcement phase. During processing, ball collisions continuously introduced components from the target and the grinding media onto the Ti surface and induced mechanical intermixing of the elements, resulting in formation of a complex nanocomposite structure onto the Ti surface. The as-fabricated microstructure consisted of uniformly dispersed WC particles embedded within an integrated metallic matrix composed of an amorphous phase with nanocrystalline grains. The phase composition of the alloyed layers, atomic reactions, and the matrix grain sizes depended on the combination of components introduced onto the Ti surface during milling. The as-fabricated layer exhibited a very high hardness compared to industrial metallic alloys and tool steel materials. This approach could be used for the manufacture of both cemented carbides and amorphous matrix composite layers.

Interlaminar fracture of random short-fiber SMC composite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, S. S.; Suemasu, H.; Zahlan, N. M.

1984-01-01

In the experimental phase of the present study of the interlaminar fracture behavior of a randomly oriented short fiber sheet molding compound (SMC) composite, the double cantilever beam fracture test is used to evaluate the mode I interlaminar fracture toughness of different composite thicknesses. In the analytical phase of this work, a geometrically nonlinear analysis is introduced in order to account for large deflections and nonlinear load deflection curves in the evaluation of interlaminar fracture toughness. For the SMC-R50 material studied, interlaminar toughness is an order of magnitude higher than that of unreinforced neat resin, due to unusual damage mechanisms ahead of the crack tip, together with significant fiber bridging across crack surfaces. Composite thickness effects on interlaminar fracture are noted to be appreciable, and a detailed discussion is given on the influence of SMC microstructure.

Determination of tetraalkyllead compounds in gasoline by liquid chromatography-atomic absorption spectrometry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Messman, J.D.; Rains, T.C.

1981-01-01

A liquid chromatography-atomic absorption spectrometry (LC-AAS) hybrid analytical technique is presented for metal speciation measurements on complex liquid samples. The versatility and inherent metal selectivity of the technique are Illustrated by the rapid determination of five tetraalkyllead compounds in commercial gasoline. Separation of the individual tetraalkyllead species is achieved by reversed-phase liquid chromatography using an acetonitrile/water mobile phase. The effluent from the liquid Chromatograph Is introduced directly into the aspiration uptake capillary of the nebulizer of an air/acetylene flame atomic absorption spectrometer. Spectral interferences due to coeluting hydrocarbon matrix constituents were not observed at the 283.3-nm resonance line of lead used for analysis. Detection limits of this LC-AAS hydrid analytical technique, based on a 20-??L injection, are approximately 10 ng Pb for each tetraalkyllead compound.

Intensity noise limit in a phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometer with a semiconductor laser source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

E Alekseev, A.; Tezadov, Ya A.; Potapov, V. T.

2017-05-01

In the present paper we perform, for the first time, the analysis of the average intensity noise power level at the output of a coherent phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometer (phase-OTDR) with a semiconductor laser source. The origin of the considered intensity noise lies in random phase fluctuations of a semiconductor laser source field. These phase fluctuations are converted to intensity noise in the process of interference of backscattered light. This intensity noise inevitably emerges in every phase-OTDR spatial channel and limits its sensitivity to external phase actions. The analysis of intensity noise in a phase-OTDR was based on the study of a fiber scattered-light interferometer (FSLI) which is treated as the constituent part of OTDR. When considered independently, FSLI has a broad intensity noise spectrum at its output; when FSLI is treated as a part of a phase-OTDR, due to aliasing effect, the wide FSLI noise spectrum is folded within the spectral band, determined by the probe pulse repetition frequency. In the analysis one of the conventional phase-OTDR schemes with rectangular dual-pulse probe signal was considered, the FSLI, which corresponds to this OTDR scheme, has two scattering fiber segments with additional time delay introduced between backscattered fields. The average intensity noise power and resulting noise spectrum at the output of this FSLI are determined by the degree of coherence of the semiconductor laser source, the length of the scattering fiber segments and by the additional time delay between the scattering segments. The average intensity noise characteristics at the output of the corresponding phase-OTDR are determined by the analogous parameters: the source coherence, the lengths of the parts constituting the dual-pulse and the time interval which separates the parts of the dual-pulse. In the paper the expression for the average noise power spectral density (NPSD) at the output of FSLI was theoretically derived and experimentally verified. Based on the found average NPSD of FSLI, a simple relation connecting the phase-OTDR parameters and the limiting level of full average intensity noise power at its output was derived. This relation was verified by experimental measurement of the average noise power at the output of phase-OTDR. The limiting noise level, considered in the paper, determines the fundamental noise floor for the phase-OTDR with given parameters of the source coherence, probe pulse length and time delay between two pulses constituting the dual-pulse.

PHYSICAL EFFECTS OCCURRING DURING GENERATION AND AMPLIFICATION OF LASER RADIATION: Reversal of the contrast of optical radiation in round-trip amplifiers with a phase conjugation mirror

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afanas'ev, Anatolii A.; Samson, B. A.

1989-02-01

A description is given of a method for inversion of the contrast of optical radiation in a round-trip amplifier with a phase conjugation mirror and a phase nonreciprocal element. The system can be used to achieve high powers of contrast-reversed radiation because of compensation of phase distortions introduced by amplification.

Vapor phase elemental sulfur amendment for sequestering mercury in contaminated soil

DOEpatents

Looney, Brian B.; Denham, Miles E.; Jackson, Dennis G.

2014-07-08

The process of treating elemental mercury within the soil is provided by introducing into the soil a heated vapor phase of elemental sulfur. As the vapor phase of elemental sulfur cools, sulfur is precipitated within the soil and then reacts with any elemental mercury thereby producing a reaction product that is less hazardous than elemental mercury.

Material Phase Causality or a Dynamics-Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

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

Koprinkov, I. G.

2010-11-25

The internal phase dynamics of a quantum system interacting with an electromagnetic field is revealed in details. Theoretical and experimental evidences of a causal relation of the phase of the wave function to the dynamics of the quantum system are presented sistematically for the first time. A dynamics-statistical interpretation of the quantum mechanics is introduced.

On S-mixing entropy of quantum channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukhamedov, Farrukh; Watanabe, Noboru

2018-06-01

In this paper, an S-mixing entropy of quantum channels is introduced as a generalization of Ohya's S-mixing entropy. We investigate several properties of the introduced entropy. Moreover, certain relations between the S-mixing entropy and the existing map and output entropies of quantum channels are investigated as well. These relations allowed us to find certain connections between separable states and the introduced entropy. Hence, there is a sufficient condition to detect entangled states. Moreover, several properties of the introduced entropy are investigated. Besides, entropies of qubit and phase-damping channels are calculated.

Efficient subtle motion detection from high-speed video for sound recovery and vibration analysis using singular value decomposition-based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Dashan; Guo, Jie; Jin, Yi; Zhu, Chang'an

2017-09-01

High-speed cameras provide full field measurement of structure motions and have been applied in nondestructive testing and noncontact structure monitoring. Recently, a phase-based method has been proposed to extract sound-induced vibrations from phase variations in videos, and this method provides insights into the study of remote sound surveillance and material analysis. An efficient singular value decomposition (SVD)-based approach is introduced to detect sound-induced subtle motions from pixel intensities in silent high-speed videos. A high-speed camera is initially applied to capture a video of the vibrating objects stimulated by sound fluctuations. Then, subimages collected from a small region on the captured video are reshaped into vectors and reconstructed to form a matrix. Orthonormal image bases (OIBs) are obtained from the SVD of the matrix; available vibration signal can then be obtained by projecting subsequent subimages onto specific OIBs. A simulation test is initiated to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method. Two experiments are conducted to demonstrate the potential applications in sound recovery and material analysis. Results show that the proposed method efficiently detects subtle motions from the video.

Rapid Determination of Clenbuterol in Pork by Direct Immersion Solid-Phase Microextraction Coupled with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.

PubMed

Ye, Diru; Wu, Susu; Xu, Jianqiao; Jiang, Ruifen; Zhu, Fang; Ouyang, Gangfeng

2016-02-01

Direct immersion solid-phase microextraction (DI-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed for rapid analysis of clenbuterol in pork for the first time. In this work, a low-cost homemade 44 µm polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) SPME fiber was employed to extract clenbuterol in pork. After extraction, derivatization was performed by suspending the fiber in the headspace of the 2 mL sample vial saturated with a vapor of 100 µL hexamethyldisilazane. Lastly, the fiber was directly introduced to GC-MS for analysis. All parameters that influenced absorption (extraction time), derivatization (derivatization reagent, time and temperature) and desorption (desorption time) were optimized. Under optimized conditions, the method offered a wide linear range (10-1000 ng g(-1)) and a low detection limit (3.6 ng g(-1)). Finally, the method was successfully applied in the analysis of pork from the market, and recoveries of the method for spiked pork were 97.4-105.7%. Compared with the traditional solvent extraction method, the proposed method was much cheaper and fast. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Computational Thermodynamics of Materials Zi-Kui Liu and Yi Wang

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

Devanathan, Ram

This authoritative volume introduces the reader to computational thermodynamics and the use of this approach to the design of material properties by tailoring the chemical composition. The text covers applications of this approach, introduces the relevant computational codes, and offers exercises at the end of each chapter. The book has nine chapters and two appendices that provide background material on computer codes. Chapter 1 covers the first and second laws of thermodynamics, introduces the spinodal as the limit of stability, and presents the Gibbs-Duhem equation. Chapter 2 focuses on the Gibbs energy function. Starting with a homogeneous system with amore » single phase, the authors proceed to phases with variable compositions, and polymer blends. The discussion includes the contributions of external electric and magnetic fields to the Gibbs energy. Chapter 3 deals with phase equilibria in heterogeneous systems, the Gibbs phase rule, and phase diagrams. Chapter 4 briefly covers experimental measurements of thermodynamic properties used as input for thermodynamic modeling by Calculation of Phase Diagrams (CALPHAD). Chapter 5 discusses the use of density functional theory to obtain thermochemical data and fill gaps where experimental data is missing. The reader is introduced to the Vienna Ab Initio Simulation Package (VASP) for density functional theory and the YPHON code for phonon calculations. Chapter 6 introduces the modeling of Gibbs energy of phases with the CALPHAD method. Chapter 7 deals with chemical reactions and the Ellingham diagram for metal-oxide systems and presents the calculation of the maximum reaction rate from equilibrium thermodynamics. Chapter 8 is devoted to electrochemical reactions and Pourbaix diagrams with application examples. Chapter 9 concludes this volume with the application of a model of multiple microstates to Ce and Fe3Pt. CALPHAD modeling is briefly discussed in the context of genomics of materials. The book introduces basic thermodynamic concepts clearly and directs readers to appropriate references for advanced concepts and details of software implementation. The list of references is quite comprehensive. The authors make liberal use of diagrams to illustrate key concepts. The two Appendices at the end discuss software requirements and the file structure, and present templates for special quasi-random structures. There is also a link to download pre-compiled binary files of the YPHON code for Linux or Microsoft Windows systems. The exercises at the end of the chapters assume that the reader has access to VASP, which is not freeware. Readers without access to this code can work on a limited number of exercises. However, results from other first principles codes can be organized in the YPHON format as explained in the Appendix. This book will serve as an excellent reference on computational thermodynamics and the exercises provided at the end of each chapter make it valuable as a graduate level textbook. Reviewer: Ram Devanathan is Acting Director of Earth Systems Science Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA.« less

An automated cirrus classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gryspeerdt, Edward; Quaas, Johannes; Sourdeval, Odran; Goren, Tom

2017-04-01

Cirrus clouds play an important role in determining the radiation budget of the earth, but our understanding of the lifecycle and controls on cirrus clouds remains incomplete. Cirrus clouds can have very different properties and development depending on their environment, particularly during their formation. However, the relevant factors often cannot be distinguished using commonly retrieved satellite data products (such as cloud optical depth). In particular, the initial cloud phase has been identified as an important factor in cloud development, but although back-trajectory based methods can provide information on the initial cloud phase, they are computationally expensive and depend on the cloud parametrisations used in re-analysis products. In this work, a classification system (Identification and Classification of Cirrus, IC-CIR) is introduced. Using re-analysis and satellite data, cirrus clouds are separated in four main types: frontal, convective, orographic and in-situ. The properties of these classes show that this classification is able to provide useful information on the properties and initial phase of cirrus clouds, information that could not be provided by instantaneous satellite retrieved cloud properties alone. This classification is designed to be easily implemented in global climate models, helping to improve future comparisons between observations and models and reducing the uncertainty in cirrus clouds properties, leading to improved cloud parametrisations.

Polarity-based fractionation in proteomics: hydrophilic interaction vs reversed-phase liquid chromatography.

PubMed

Jafari, M; Mirzaie, M; Khodabandeh, M; Rezadoost, H; Ghassempour, A; Aboul-Enein, H Y

2016-07-01

During recent decades, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) ahs been introduced to fractionate or purify especially polar solutes such as peptides and proteins while reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) is also a common strategy. RPLC is also a common dimension in multidimensional chromatography. In this study, the potential of HILIC vs RPLC chromatography was compared for proteome mapping of human peripheral blood mononuclear cell extract. In HILIC a silica-based stationary phase and for RPLC a C18 column were applied. Then separated proteins were eluted to an ion trap mass spectrometry system. Our results showed that the HILIC leads to more proteins being identified in comparison to RPLC. Among the total 181 identified proteins, 56 and 38 proteins were fractionated specifically by HILIC and RPLC, respectively. In order to demonstrate this, the physicochemical properties of identified proteins such as polarity and hydrophobicity were considered. This analysis indicated that polarity may play a major role in the HILIC separation of proteins vs RPLC. Using gene ontology enrichment analysis, it was also observed that differences in physicochemical properties conform to the cellular compartment and biological features. Finally, this study highlighted the potential of HILIC and the great orthogonality of RPLC in gel-free proteomic studies. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION: A Temperley-Lieb quantum chain with two- and three-site interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikhlef, Y.; Jacobsen, J. L.; Saleur, H.

2009-07-01

We study the phase diagram of a quantum chain of spin-1/2 particles whose world lines form a dense loop gas with loop weight n. In addition to the usual two-site interaction corresponding to the XXZ spin chain, we introduce a three-site interaction. The resulting model contains a Majumdar-Ghosh-like gapped phase and a new integrable point, which we solve exactly. We also locate a critical line realizing dilute O(n) criticality, without introducing explicit dilution in the loops. Our results have implications for anisotropic spin chains, as well as anyonic quantum chains.

Quantifying the similarity of seismic polarizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Joshua P.; Eaton, David W.; Caffagni, Enrico

2016-02-01

Assessing the similarities of seismic attributes can help identify tremor, low signal-to-noise (S/N) signals and converted or reflected phases, in addition to diagnosing site noise and sensor misalignment in arrays. Polarization analysis is a widely accepted method for studying the orientation and directional characteristics of seismic phases via computed attributes, but similarity is ordinarily discussed using qualitative comparisons with reference values or known seismic sources. Here we introduce a technique for quantitative polarization similarity that uses weighted histograms computed in short, overlapping time windows, drawing on methods adapted from the image processing and computer vision literature. Our method accounts for ambiguity in azimuth and incidence angle and variations in S/N ratio. Measuring polarization similarity allows easy identification of site noise and sensor misalignment and can help identify coherent noise and emergent or low S/N phase arrivals. Dissimilar azimuths during phase arrivals indicate misaligned horizontal components, dissimilar incidence angles during phase arrivals indicate misaligned vertical components and dissimilar linear polarization may indicate a secondary noise source. Using records of the Mw = 8.3 Sea of Okhotsk earthquake, from Canadian National Seismic Network broad-band sensors in British Columbia and Yukon Territory, Canada, and a vertical borehole array at Hoadley gas field, central Alberta, Canada, we demonstrate that our method is robust to station spacing. Discrete wavelet analysis extends polarization similarity to the time-frequency domain in a straightforward way. Time-frequency polarization similarities of borehole data suggest that a coherent noise source may have persisted above 8 Hz several months after peak resource extraction from a `flowback' type hydraulic fracture.

Jones matrix formulation of a Porro prism laser resonator with waveplates: theoretical and experimental analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agrawal, L.; Bhardwaj, A.; Pal, S.; Kumar, A.

2007-11-01

This article presents the results of a detailed theoretical and experimental analysis carried out on a folded Z-shaped polarization coupled, electro-optically Q-switched laser resonator with Porro prisms and waveplates. The advantages of adding waveplates in a Porro prism resonator have been explored for creating high loss condition prior to Q-switching and obtaining variable reflectivity with fixed orientation of Porro prism. Generalized expressions have been derived in terms of azimuth angles and phase shifts introduced by the polarizing elements. These expressions corroborate with known reported results under appropriate substitutions. A specific case of a crossed Porro prism diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser has been theoretically and experimentally investigated. In the feedback arm, a 0.57λ waveplate oriented at 135° completely compensates the phase shift of a fused silica Porro prism and provides better tolerances than a BK-7 prism/0.60λ waveplate combination to stop prelasing. The fused silica prism/0.57λ combination with waveplate at 112° acts like a 100% mirror and was utilized for optimization of free running performance. The effective reflectivity was determined for various orientations of the quarter waveplate in the gain arm to numerically estimate the Q-switched laser pulse parameters through rate equation analysis. Experimental results match well with the theoretical analysis.

Speciation of mercury and mode of transport from placer gold mine tailings

USGS Publications Warehouse

Slowey, A.J.; Rytuba, J.J.; Brown, Gordon E.

2005-01-01

Historic placer gold mining in the Clear Creek tributary to the Sacramento River (Redding, CA) has highly impacted the hydrology and ecology of an important salmonid spawning stream. Restoration of the watershed utilized dredge tailings contaminated with mercury (Hg) introduced during gold mining, posing the possibility of persistent Hg release to the surrounding environment, including the San Francisco Bay Delta. Column experiments have been performed to evaluate the extent of Hg transport under chemical conditions potentially similar to those in river restoration projects utilizing dredge tailings such as at Clear Creek. Physicochemical perturbations, in the form of shifts in column influent ionic strength and the presence of a low molecular weight organic acid, were applied to coarse and fine sand placer tailings containing 109-194 and 69-90 ng of Hg/g, respectively. Significant concentrations of mercury, up to 16 ??g/L, leach from these sediments in dissolved and particle-associated forms. Sequential chemical extractions (SCE) of these tailings indicate that elemental Hg initially introduced during gold mining has been transformed to readily soluble species, such as mercury oxides and chlorides (3-4%), intermediately extractable phases that likely include (in)organic sorption complexes and amalgams (75-87%), and fractions of highly insoluble forms such as mercury sulfides (6-20%; e.g., cinnabar and metacinnabar). Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopic analysis of colloids obtained from column effluent identified cinnabar particles as the dominant mobile mercury-bearing phase. The fraction of intermediately extractable Hg phases also likely includes mobile colloids to which Hg is adsorbed. ?? 2005 American Chemical Society.

X-ray diffraction analysis of residual stress in zirconia dental composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allahkarami, Masoud

Dental restoration ceramic is a complex system to be characterized. Beside its essential biocompatibility, and pleasant appearance, it requires being mechanically strong in a catastrophic loading environment. Any design is restricted with geometry boundary and material property limits. Inspired by natural teeth, a multilayer ceramic is a smart way of achieving an enhanced restoration. Bi-layers of zirconia core covered by porcelain are known as one of the best multilayer restorations. Residual stresses may be introduced into a bi-layer dental ceramic restoration during its entire manufacturing process due to thermal expansion and elastic property mismatch. It is impossible to achieve a free of residual stresses bi-layer zirconia-porcelain restoration. The idea is to take the advantage of residual stress in design in such a way to prevent the crack initiation and progression. The hypothesis is a compressive residual stress at external contact surface would be enabling the restoration to endure a greater tensile stress. Optimizing the layers thickness, manufacturing process, and validating 3D simulations require development of new techniques of thickness, residual stresses and phase transformation measurement. In the present work, a combined mirco-tomography and finite element based method were adapted for thickness measurement. Two new 2D X-ray diffraction based techniques were adapted for phase transformation area mapping and combined phase transformation and residual stress measurement. Concerning the complex geometry of crown, an efficient method for X-ray diffraction data collection mapping on a given curved surface was developed. Finally a novel method for 3D dimensional x-ray diffraction data collection and visualization were introduced.

Estimating Availability of Middle Level Skilled Manpower

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khanale, Prakash; Vaingankar, Anil

2006-01-01

The economic reform policies are being introduced in India in phases since 1990. It demands for competent middle level skilled manpower in country. By keeping this in mind, National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi, India introduces a revised policy in 1992 and promotes vocational education. Today, several…

Education, Markets and the Pedagogy of Personalisation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartley, David

2008-01-01

The marketisation of education in England began in the 1980s. It was facilitated by national testing (which gave objective and comparable information to parents), and by the New Public Management (which introduced a posteriori funding and competition among providers). Now a new complementary phase of marketisation is being introduced:…

ACES: Space shuttle flight software analysis expert system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Satterwhite, R. Scott

1990-01-01

The Analysis Criteria Evaluation System (ACES) is a knowledge based expert system that automates the final certification of the Space Shuttle onboard flight software. Guidance, navigation and control of the Space Shuttle through all its flight phases are accomplished by a complex onboard flight software system. This software is reconfigured for each flight to allow thousands of mission-specific parameters to be introduced and must therefore be thoroughly certified prior to each flight. This certification is performed in ground simulations by executing the software in the flight computers. Flight trajectories from liftoff to landing, including abort scenarios, are simulated and the results are stored for analysis. The current methodology of performing this analysis is repetitive and requires many man-hours. The ultimate goals of ACES are to capture the knowledge of the current experts and improve the quality and reduce the manpower required to certify the Space Shuttle onboard flight software.

Advanced technology development multi-color holography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vikram, Chandra S.

1994-01-01

Several key aspects of multi-color holography and some non-conventional ways to study the holographic reconstructions are considered. The error analysis of three-color holography is considered in detail with particular example of a typical triglycine sulfate crystal growth situation. For the numerical analysis of the fringe patterns, a new algorithm is introduced with experimental verification using sugar-water solution. The role of the phase difference among component holograms is also critically considered with examples of several two- and three-color situations. The status of experimentation on two-color holography and fabrication of a small breadboard system is also reported. Finally, some successful demonstrations of unconventional ways to study holographic reconstructions are described. These methods are deflectometry and confocal optical processing using some Spacelab III holograms.

Observation model and parameter partials for the JPL geodetic (GPS) modeling software 'GPSOMC'

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sovers, O. J.

1990-01-01

The physical models employed in GPSOMC, the modeling module of the GIPSY software system developed at JPL for analysis of geodetic Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) measurements are described. Details of the various contributions to range and phase observables are given, as well as the partial derivatives of the observed quantities with respect to model parameters. A glossary of parameters is provided to enable persons doing data analysis to identify quantities with their counterparts in the computer programs. The present version is the second revision of the original document which it supersedes. The modeling is expanded to provide the option of using Cartesian station coordinates; parameters for the time rates of change of universal time and polar motion are also introduced.

High-performance liquid chromatography with nuclear magnetic resonance detection applied to organosilicon polymers. Part 2. Comparison with other methods.

PubMed

Blechta, Vratislav; Kurfürst, Milan; Sýkora, Jan; Schraml, Jan

2007-03-23

LC-NMR utilizing (1)H and (29)Si NMR spectroscopy is ideally suited for the analysis of silicones. It is shown that reversed phase gradient LC-NMR surpasses standard gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and diffusion ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) in the analysis of model hydride terminated polydimethylsiloxane. (1)H and (29)Si NMR in the stopped-flow arrangement leads to full identification of the components. Concentration gradient introduces a dependence of the (29)Si shifts on solvent composition, this dependence can be substantially reduced by a proposed method of referencing. It is shown that the ADEQUATE version of powerful but insensitive 2D INADEQUATE experiment can be used for complete line assignment.

A method to model latent heat for transient analysis using NASTRAN

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harder, R. L.

1982-01-01

A sample heat transfer analysis is demonstrated which includes the heat of fusion. The method can be used to analyze a system with nonconstant specific heat. The enthalpy is introduced as an independent degree of freedom at each node. The user input consists of a curve of temperature as a function of enthalpy, which may include a constant temperature phase change. The basic NASTRAN heat transfer capability is used to model the effects of latent heat with existing direct matrix output and nonlinear load data cards. Although some user care is required, the numerical stability of the integration is quite good when the given recommendations are followed. The theoretical equations used and the NASTRAN techniques are shown.

Sensitivity of a phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometer with a semiconductor laser source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alekseev, A. E.; Tezadov, Ya A.; Potapov, V. T.

2018-06-01

In the present paper we perform, for the first time, an analysis of the average sensitivity of a coherent phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometer (phase-OTDR) with a semiconductor laser source to external actions. The sensitivity of this OTDR can be defined in a conventional manner via average SNR at its output, which in turn is defined by the average useful signal power and the average intensity noise power in the OTDR spatial channels in the bandwidth defined by the OTDR sampling frequency. The average intensity noise power is considered in detail in a previous paper. In the current paper we examine the average useful signal power at the output of a phase-OTDR. The analysis of the average useful signal power of a phase-OTDR is based on the study of a fiber scattered-light interferometer (FSLI) which is treated as a constituent part of a phase- OTDR. In the analysis, one of the conventional phase-OTDR schemes with a rectangular dual-pulse probe signal is considered. The FSLI which corresponds to this OTDR scheme has two scattering fiber segments with additional time delay, introduced between backscattered fields. The average useful signal power and the resulting average SNR at the output of this FSLI are determined by the degree of coherence of the semiconductor laser source, the length of the scattering fiber segments, and by the additional time delay between the scattering fiber segments. The average useful signal power characteristic of the corresponding phase-OTDR is determined by analogous parameters: the source coherence, the time durations of the parts constituting the dual-pulse, and the time interval which separates these parts. In the paper an expression for the average useful signal power of a phase-OTDR is theoretically derived and experimentally verified. Based on the found average useful signal power of a phase-OTDR and the average intensity noise power, derived in the previous paper, the average SNR of a phase-OTDR is defined. Setting the average signal SNR to 1, at a defined spectral band the minimum detectable external action amplitude for our particular phase-OTDR setup is determined. We also derive a simple relation for the average useful signal power and the average SNR which results when making the assumption that the laser source coherence is high. The results of the paper can serve as the basis for further development of the concept of phase-OTDR sensitivity.

Development and study of a parallel algorithm of iteratively forming latent functionally-determined structures for classification and analysis of meteorological data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorokin, V. A.; Volkov, Yu V.; Sherstneva, A. I.; Botygin, I. A.

2016-11-01

This paper overviews a method of generating climate regions based on an analytic signal theory. When applied to atmospheric surface layer temperature data sets, the method allows forming climatic structures with the corresponding changes in the temperature to make conclusions on the uniformity of climate in an area and to trace the climate changes in time by analyzing the type group shifts. The algorithm is based on the fact that the frequency spectrum of the thermal oscillation process is narrow-banded and has only one mode for most weather stations. This allows using the analytic signal theory, causality conditions and introducing an oscillation phase. The annual component of the phase, being a linear function, was removed by the least squares method. The remaining phase fluctuations allow consistent studying of their coordinated behavior and timing, using the Pearson correlation coefficient for dependence evaluation. This study includes program experiments to evaluate the calculation efficiency in the phase grouping task. The paper also overviews some single-threaded and multi-threaded computing models. It is shown that the phase grouping algorithm for meteorological data can be parallelized and that a multi-threaded implementation leads to a 25-30% increase in the performance.

Nanoclusters first: a hierarchical phase transformation in a novel Mg alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okuda, Hiroshi; Yamasaki, Michiaki; Kawamura, Yoshihito; Tabuchi, Masao; Kimizuka, Hajime

2015-09-01

The Mg-Y-Zn ternary alloy system contains a series of novel structures known as long-period stacking ordered (LPSO) structures. The formation process and its key concept from a viewpoint of phase transition are not yet clear. The current study reveals that the phase transformation process is not a traditional spinodal decomposition or structural transformation but, rather a novel hierarchical phase transformation. In this transformation, clustering occurs first, and the spatial rearrangement of the clusters induce a secondary phase transformation that eventually lead to two-dimensional ordering of the clusters. The formation process was examined using in situ synchrotron radiation small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Rapid quenching from liquid alloy into thin ribbons yielded strongly supersaturated amorphous samples. The samples were heated at a constant rate of 10 K/min. and the scattering patterns were acquired. The SAXS analysis indicated that small clusters grew to sizes of 0.2 nm after they crystallized. The clusters distributed randomly in space grew and eventually transformed into a microstructure with two well-defined cluster-cluster distances, one for the segregation periodicity of LPSO and the other for the in-plane ordering in segregated layer. This transformation into the LPSO structure concomitantly introduces the periodical stacking fault required for the 18R structures.

An autonomous surface discontinuity detection and quantification method by digital image correlation and phase congruency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cinar, A. F.; Barhli, S. M.; Hollis, D.; Flansbjer, M.; Tomlinson, R. A.; Marrow, T. J.; Mostafavi, M.

2017-09-01

Digital image correlation has been routinely used to measure full-field displacements in many areas of solid mechanics, including fracture mechanics. Accurate segmentation of the crack path is needed to study its interaction with the microstructure and stress fields, and studies of crack behaviour, such as the effect of closure or residual stress in fatigue, require data on its opening displacement. Such information can be obtained from any digital image correlation analysis of cracked components, but it collection by manual methods is quite onerous, particularly for massive amounts of data. We introduce the novel application of Phase Congruency to detect and quantify cracks and their opening. Unlike other crack detection techniques, Phase Congruency does not rely on adjustable threshold values that require user interaction, and so allows large datasets to be treated autonomously. The accuracy of the Phase Congruency based algorithm in detecting cracks is evaluated and compared with conventional methods such as Heaviside function fitting. As Phase Congruency is a displacement-based method, it does not suffer from the noise intensification to which gradient-based methods (e.g. strain thresholding) are susceptible. Its application is demonstrated to experimental data for cracks in quasi-brittle (Granitic rock) and ductile (Aluminium alloy) materials.

Spectral interferometry for morphological imaging in in vitro fertilization (IVF) (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Yizheng; Li, Chengshuai

2016-03-01

Morphological assessment of spermatozoa is of critical importance for in vitro fertilization (IVF), especially intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)-based IVF. In ICSI, a single sperm cell is selected and injected into an egg to achieve fertilization. The quality of the sperm cell is found to be highly correlated to IVF success. Sperm morphology, such as shape, head birefringence and motility, among others, are typically evaluated under a microscope. Current observation relies on conventional techniques such as differential interference contrast microscopy and polarized light microscopy. Their qualitative nature, however, limits the ability to provide accurate quantitative analysis. Here, we demonstrate quantitative morphological measurement of sperm cells using two types of spectral interferometric techniques, namely spectral modulation interferometry and spectral multiplexing interferometry. Both are based on spectral-domain low coherence interferometry, which is known for its exquisite phase determination ability. While spectral modulation interferometry encodes sample phase in a single spectrum, spectral multiplexing interferometry does so for sample birefringence. Therefore they are capable of highly sensitive phase and birefringence imaging. These features suit well in the imaging of live sperm cells, which are small, dynamic objects with only low to moderate levels of phase and birefringence contrast. We will introduce the operation of both techniques and demonstrate their application to measuring the phase and birefringence morphology of sperm cells.

Linear optical pulse compression based on temporal zone plates.

PubMed

Li, Bo; Li, Ming; Lou, Shuqin; Azaña, José

2013-07-15

We propose and demonstrate time-domain equivalents of spatial zone plates, namely temporal zone plates, as alternatives to conventional time lenses. Both temporal intensity zone plates, based on intensity-only temporal modulation, and temporal phase zone plates, based on phase-only temporal modulation, are introduced and studied. Temporal zone plates do not exhibit the limiting tradeoff between temporal aperture and frequency bandwidth (temporal resolution) of conventional linear time lenses. As a result, these zone plates can be ideally designed to offer a time-bandwidth product (TBP) as large as desired, practically limited by the achievable temporal modulation bandwidth (limiting the temporal resolution) and the amount of dispersion needed in the target processing systems (limiting the temporal aperture). We numerically and experimentally demonstrate linear optical pulse compression by using temporal zone plates based on linear electro-optic temporal modulation followed by fiber-optics dispersion. In the pulse-compression experiment based on temporal phase zone plates, we achieve a resolution of ~25.5 ps over a temporal aperture of ~5.77 ns, representing an experimental TBP larger than 226 using a phase-modulation amplitude of only ~0.8π rad. We also numerically study the potential of these devices to achieve temporal imaging of optical waveforms and present a comparative analysis on the performance of different temporal intensity and phase zone plates.

An active co-phasing imaging testbed with segmented mirrors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Weirui; Cao, Genrui

2011-06-01

An active co-phasing imaging testbed with high accurate optical adjustment and control in nanometer scale was set up to validate the algorithms of piston and tip-tilt error sensing and real-time adjusting. Modularization design was adopted. The primary mirror was spherical and divided into three sub-mirrors. One of them was fixed and worked as reference segment, the others were adjustable respectively related to the fixed segment in three freedoms (piston, tip and tilt) by using sensitive micro-displacement actuators in the range of 15mm with a resolution of 3nm. The method of twodimension dispersed fringe analysis was used to sense the piston error between the adjacent segments in the range of 200μm with a repeatability of 2nm. And the tip-tilt error was gained with the method of centroid sensing. Co-phasing image could be realized by correcting the errors measured above with the sensitive micro-displacement actuators driven by a computer. The process of co-phasing error sensing and correcting could be monitored in real time by a scrutiny module set in this testbed. A FISBA interferometer was introduced to evaluate the co-phasing performance, and finally a total residual surface error of about 50nm rms was achieved.

High-accuracy phase-field models for brittle fracture based on a new family of degradation functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sargado, Juan Michael; Keilegavlen, Eirik; Berre, Inga; Nordbotten, Jan Martin

2018-02-01

Phase-field approaches to fracture based on energy minimization principles have been rapidly gaining popularity in recent years, and are particularly well-suited for simulating crack initiation and growth in complex fracture networks. In the phase-field framework, the surface energy associated with crack formation is calculated by evaluating a functional defined in terms of a scalar order parameter and its gradients. These in turn describe the fractures in a diffuse sense following a prescribed regularization length scale. Imposing stationarity of the total energy leads to a coupled system of partial differential equations that enforce stress equilibrium and govern phase-field evolution. These equations are coupled through an energy degradation function that models the loss of stiffness in the bulk material as it undergoes damage. In the present work, we introduce a new parametric family of degradation functions aimed at increasing the accuracy of phase-field models in predicting critical loads associated with crack nucleation as well as the propagation of existing fractures. An additional goal is the preservation of linear elastic response in the bulk material prior to fracture. Through the analysis of several numerical examples, we demonstrate the superiority of the proposed family of functions to the classical quadratic degradation function that is used most often in the literature.

Application of Jacobian-free Newton–Krylov method in implicitly solving two-fluid six-equation two-phase flow problems: Implementation, validation and benchmark

DOE PAGES

Zou, Ling; Zhao, Haihua; Zhang, Hongbin

2016-03-09

This work represents a first-of-its-kind successful application to employ advanced numerical methods in solving realistic two-phase flow problems with two-fluid six-equation two-phase flow model. These advanced numerical methods include high-resolution spatial discretization scheme with staggered grids (high-order) fully implicit time integration schemes, and Jacobian-free Newton–Krylov (JFNK) method as the nonlinear solver. The computer code developed in this work has been extensively validated with existing experimental flow boiling data in vertical pipes and rod bundles, which cover wide ranges of experimental conditions, such as pressure, inlet mass flux, wall heat flux and exit void fraction. Additional code-to-code benchmark with the RELAP5-3Dmore » code further verifies the correct code implementation. The combined methods employed in this work exhibit strong robustness in solving two-phase flow problems even when phase appearance (boiling) and realistic discrete flow regimes are considered. Transitional flow regimes used in existing system analysis codes, normally introduced to overcome numerical difficulty, were completely removed in this work. As a result, this in turn provides the possibility to utilize more sophisticated flow regime maps in the future to further improve simulation accuracy.« less

Virtual Deformation Control of the X-56A Model with Simulated Fiber Optic Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suh, Peter M.; Chin, Alexander W.; Mavris, Dimitri N.

2014-01-01

A robust control law design methodology is presented to stabilize the X-56A model and command its wing shape. The X-56A was purposely designed to experience flutter modes in its flight envelope. The methodology introduces three phases: the controller design phase, the modal filter design phase, and the reference signal design phase. A mu-optimal controller is designed and made robust to speed and parameter variations. A conversion technique is presented for generating sensor strain modes from sensor deformation mode shapes. The sensor modes are utilized for modal filtering and simulating fiber optic sensors for feedback to the controller. To generate appropriate virtual deformation reference signals, rigid-body corrections are introduced to the deformation mode shapes. After successful completion of the phases, virtual deformation control is demonstrated. The wing is deformed and it is shown that angle-ofattack changes occur which could potentially be used to an advantage. The X-56A program must demonstrate active flutter suppression. It is shown that the virtual deformation controller can achieve active flutter suppression on the X-56A simulation model.

Virtual Deformation Control of the X-56A Model with Simulated Fiber Optic Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suh, Peter M.; Chin, Alexander Wong

2013-01-01

A robust control law design methodology is presented to stabilize the X-56A model and command its wing shape. The X-56A was purposely designed to experience flutter modes in its flight envelope. The methodology introduces three phases: the controller design phase, the modal filter design phase, and the reference signal design phase. A mu-optimal controller is designed and made robust to speed and parameter variations. A conversion technique is presented for generating sensor strain modes from sensor deformation mode shapes. The sensor modes are utilized for modal filtering and simulating fiber optic sensors for feedback to the controller. To generate appropriate virtual deformation reference signals, rigid-body corrections are introduced to the deformation mode shapes. After successful completion of the phases, virtual deformation control is demonstrated. The wing is deformed and it is shown that angle-of-attack changes occur which could potentially be used to an advantage. The X-56A program must demonstrate active flutter suppression. It is shown that the virtual deformation controller can achieve active flutter suppression on the X-56A simulation model.

Phase-field crystal simulation facet and branch crystal growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhi; Wang, Zhaoyang; Gu, Xinrui; Chen, Yufei; Hao, Limei; de Wit, Jos; Jin, Kexin

2018-05-01

Phase-field crystal model with one mode is introduced to describe morphological transition. The relationship between growth morphology and smooth density distribution was investigated. The results indicate that the pattern selection of dendrite growth is caused by the competition between interface energy anisotropy and interface kinetic anisotropy based on the 2D phase diagram. When the calculation time increases, the crystal grows to secondary dendrite at the dimensionless undercooling equal to - 0.4. Moreover, when noise is introduced in the growth progress, the symmetry is broken in the growth mode, and there becomes irregular fractal-like growth morphology. Furthermore, the single crystal shape develops into polycrystalline when the noise amplitude is large enough. When the dimensionless undercooling is less than - 0.3, the noise has a significant effect on the growth shape. In addition, the growth velocity of crystal near to liquid phase line is slow, while the shape far away from the liquid adapts to fast growth. Based on the simulation results, the method was proved to be effective, and it can easily obtain different crystal shapes by choosing the different points in 2D phase diagram.

In-Band Asymmetry Compensation for Accurate Time/Phase Transport over Optical Transport Network

PubMed Central

Siu, Sammy; Hu, Hsiu-fang; Lin, Shinn-Yan; Liao, Chia-Shu; Lai, Yi-Liang

2014-01-01

The demands of precise time/phase synchronization have been increasing recently due to the next generation of telecommunication synchronization. This paper studies the issues that are relevant to distributing accurate time/phase over optical transport network (OTN). Each node and link can introduce asymmetry, which affects the adequate time/phase accuracy over the networks. In order to achieve better accuracy, protocol level full timing support is used (e.g., Telecom-Boundary clock). Due to chromatic dispersion, the use of different wavelengths consequently causes fiber link delay asymmetry. The analytical result indicates that it introduces significant time error (i.e., phase offset) within 0.3397 ns/km in C-band or 0.3943 ns/km in L-band depending on the wavelength spacing. With the proposed scheme in this paper, the fiber link delay asymmetry can be compensated relying on the estimated mean fiber link delay by the Telecom-Boundary clock, while the OTN control plane is responsible for processing the fiber link delay asymmetry to determine the asymmetry compensation in the timing chain. PMID:24982948

Online Epileptic Seizure Prediction Using Wavelet-Based Bi-Phase Correlation of Electrical Signals Tomography.

PubMed

Vahabi, Zahra; Amirfattahi, Rasoul; Shayegh, Farzaneh; Ghassemi, Fahimeh

2015-09-01

Considerable efforts have been made in order to predict seizures. Among these methods, the ones that quantify synchronization between brain areas, are the most important methods. However, to date, a practically acceptable result has not been reported. In this paper, we use a synchronization measurement method that is derived according to the ability of bi-spectrum in determining the nonlinear properties of a system. In this method, first, temporal variation of the bi-spectrum of different channels of electro cardiography (ECoG) signals are obtained via an extended wavelet-based time-frequency analysis method; then, to compare different channels, the bi-phase correlation measure is introduced. Since, in this way, the temporal variation of the amount of nonlinear coupling between brain regions, which have not been considered yet, are taken into account, results are more reliable than the conventional phase-synchronization measures. It is shown that, for 21 patients of FSPEEG database, bi-phase correlation can discriminate the pre-ictal and ictal states, with very low false positive rates (FPRs) (average: 0.078/h) and high sensitivity (100%). However, the proposed seizure predictor still cannot significantly overcome the random predictor for all patients.

A micro-reactor for preparing uniform molecularly imprinted polymer beads.

PubMed

Zourob, Mohammed; Mohr, Stephan; Mayes, Andrew G; Macaskill, Alexandra; Pérez-Moral, Natalia; Fielden, Peter R; Goddard, Nicholas J

2006-02-01

In this study, uniform spherical molecularly imprinted polymer beads were prepared via controlled suspension polymerization in a spiral-shaped microchannel using mineral oil and perfluorocarbon liquid as continuous phases. Monodisperse droplets containing the monomers, template, initiator, and porogenic solvent were introduced into the microchannel, and particles of uniform size were produced by subsequent UV polymerization, quickly and without wasting polymer materials. The droplet/particle size was varied by changing the flow conditions in the microfluidic device. The diameter of the resulting products typically had a coefficient of variation (CV) below 2%. The specific binding sites that were created during the imprinting process were analysed via radioligand binding analysis. The molecularly imprinted microspheres produced in the liquid perfluorocarbon continuous phase had a higher binding capacity compared with the particles produced in the mineral oil continuous phase, though it should be noted that the aim of this study was not to optimize or maximize imprinting performance, but rather to demonstrate broad applicability and compatibility with known MIP production methods. The successful imprinting against a model compound using two very different continuous phases (one requiring a surfactant to stabilize the droplets the other not) demonstrates the generality of this current simple approach.

Hybrid intelligent methodology to design translation invariant morphological operators for Brazilian stock market prediction.

PubMed

Araújo, Ricardo de A

2010-12-01

This paper presents a hybrid intelligent methodology to design increasing translation invariant morphological operators applied to Brazilian stock market prediction (overcoming the random walk dilemma). The proposed Translation Invariant Morphological Robust Automatic phase-Adjustment (TIMRAA) method consists of a hybrid intelligent model composed of a Modular Morphological Neural Network (MMNN) with a Quantum-Inspired Evolutionary Algorithm (QIEA), which searches for the best time lags to reconstruct the phase space of the time series generator phenomenon and determines the initial (sub-optimal) parameters of the MMNN. Each individual of the QIEA population is further trained by the Back Propagation (BP) algorithm to improve the MMNN parameters supplied by the QIEA. Also, for each prediction model generated, it uses a behavioral statistical test and a phase fix procedure to adjust time phase distortions observed in stock market time series. Furthermore, an experimental analysis is conducted with the proposed method through four Brazilian stock market time series, and the achieved results are discussed and compared to results found with random walk models and the previously introduced Time-delay Added Evolutionary Forecasting (TAEF) and Morphological-Rank-Linear Time-lag Added Evolutionary Forecasting (MRLTAEF) methods. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Localized water reverberation phases and its impact on back-projection images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yue, H.; Castillo, J.; Yu, C.; Meng, L.; Zhan, Z.

2017-12-01

Coherent radiators imaged by back-projections (BP) are commonly interpreted as part of the rupture process. Nevertheless, artifacts introduced by structure related phases are rarely discriminated from the rupture process. In this study, we adopt the logic of empirical Greens' function analysis (EGF) to discriminate between rupture and structure effect. We re-examine the waveforms and BP images of the 2012 Mw 7.2 Indian Ocean earthquake and an EGF event (Mw 6.2). The P wave codas of both events present similar shape with characteristic period of approximately 10 s, which are back-projected as coherent radiators near the trench. S wave BP doesn't image energy radiation near the trench. We interpret those coda waves as localized water reverberation phases excited near the trench. We perform a 2D waveform modeling using realistic bathymetry model, and find that the sharp near-trench bathymetry traps the acoustic water waves forming localized reverberation phases. These waves can be imaged as coherent near-trench radiators with similar features as that in the observations. We present a set of methodology to discriminate between the rupture and propagation effects in BP images, which can serve as a criterion of subevent identification.

A Validation of Object-Oriented Design Metrics as Quality Indicators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Basili, Victor R.; Briand, Lionel C.; Melo, Walcelio

1997-01-01

This paper presents the results of a study in which we empirically investigated the suits of object-oriented (00) design metrics introduced in another work. More specifically, our goal is to assess these metrics as predictors of fault-prone classes and, therefore, determine whether they can be used as early quality indicators. This study is complementary to the work described where the same suite of metrics had been used to assess frequencies of maintenance changes to classes. To perform our validation accurately, we collected data on the development of eight medium-sized information management systems based on identical requirements. All eight projects were developed using a sequential life cycle model, a well-known 00 analysis/design method and the C++ programming language. Based on empirical and quantitative analysis, the advantages and drawbacks of these 00 metrics are discussed. Several of Chidamber and Kamerer's 00 metrics appear to be useful to predict class fault-proneness during the early phases of the life-cycle. Also, on our data set, they are better predictors than 'traditional' code metrics, which can only be collected at a later phase of the software development processes.

The Gaussian beam mode analysis of classical phase aberrations in diffraction-limited optical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trappe, Neil; Murphy, J. Anthony; Withington, Stafford

2003-07-01

Gaussian beam mode analysis (GBMA) offers a more intuitive physical insight into how light beams evolve as they propagate than the conventional Fresnel diffraction integral approach. In this paper we illustrate that GBMA is a computationally efficient, alternative technique for tracing the evolution of a diffracting coherent beam. In previous papers we demonstrated the straightforward application of GBMA to the computation of the classical diffraction patterns associated with a range of standard apertures. In this paper we show how the GBMA technique can be expanded to investigate the effects of aberrations in the presence of diffraction by introducing the appropriate phase error term into the propagating quasi-optical beam. We compare our technique to the standard diffraction integral calculation for coma, astigmatism and spherical aberration, taking—for comparison—examples from the classic text 'Principles of Optics' by Born and Wolf. We show the advantages of GBMA for allowing the defocusing of an aberrated image to be evaluated quickly, which is particularly important and useful for probing the consequences of astigmatism and spherical aberration.

Windowed multitaper correlation analysis of multimodal brain monitoring parameters.

PubMed

Faltermeier, Rupert; Proescholdt, Martin A; Bele, Sylvia; Brawanski, Alexander

2015-01-01

Although multimodal monitoring sets the standard in daily practice of neurocritical care, problem-oriented analysis tools to interpret the huge amount of data are lacking. Recently a mathematical model was presented that simulates the cerebral perfusion and oxygen supply in case of a severe head trauma, predicting the appearance of distinct correlations between arterial blood pressure and intracranial pressure. In this study we present a set of mathematical tools that reliably detect the predicted correlations in data recorded at a neurocritical care unit. The time resolved correlations will be identified by a windowing technique combined with Fourier-based coherence calculations. The phasing of the data is detected by means of Hilbert phase difference within the above mentioned windows. A statistical testing method is introduced that allows tuning the parameters of the windowing method in such a way that a predefined accuracy is reached. With this method the data of fifteen patients were examined in which we found the predicted correlation in each patient. Additionally it could be shown that the occurrence of a distinct correlation parameter, called scp, represents a predictive value of high quality for the patients outcome.

A model-reduction approach to the micromechanical analysis of polycrystalline materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michel, Jean-Claude; Suquet, Pierre

2016-03-01

The present study is devoted to the extension to polycrystals of a model-reduction technique introduced by the authors, called the nonuniform transformation field analysis (NTFA). This new reduced model is obtained in two steps. First the local fields of internal variables are decomposed on a reduced basis of modes as in the NTFA. Second the dissipation potential of the phases is replaced by its tangent second-order (TSO) expansion. The reduced evolution equations of the model can be entirely expressed in terms of quantities which can be pre-computed once for all. Roughly speaking, these pre-computed quantities depend only on the average and fluctuations per phase of the modes and of the associated stress fields. The accuracy of the new NTFA-TSO model is assessed by comparison with full-field simulations on two specific applications, creep of polycrystalline ice and response of polycrystalline copper to a cyclic tension-compression test. The new reduced evolution equations is faster than the full-field computations by two orders of magnitude in the two examples.

Three-phase double-arc plasma for spectrochemical analysis of environmental samples.

PubMed

Mohamed, M M; Ghatass, Z F; Shalaby, E A; Kotb, M M; El-Raey, M

2000-12-01

A new instrument, which uses a three-phase current to support a double-arc argon plasma torch for evaporation, atomization and excitation of solid or powder samples, is described. The sampling arc is ignited between the first and second electrode while the excitation arc is ignited between the second and third electrode. Aerosol generated from the sample (first electrode) is swept by argon gas, through a hole in the second electrode (carbon tubing electrode), into the excitation plasma. A tangential stream of argon gas is introduced through an inlet orifice as a coolant gas for the second electrode. This gas stream forces the excitation arc discharge to rotate reproducibly around the electrode surface. Discharge rotation increases the stability of the excitation plasma. Spectroscopic measurements are made directly in the current-carrying region of the excitation arc. An evaluation of each parameter influencing the device performance was performed. Analytical calibration curves were obtained for Fe, Al, K, and Pb. Finally, the present technique was applied for the analysis of environmental samples. The present method appears to have significant, low cost analytical utility for environmental measurements.

Non‐Thermal Plasma in Contact with Water: The Origin of Species

PubMed Central

Gorbanev, Yury

2016-01-01

Abstract Non‐thermal atmospheric pressure plasma has attracted considerable attention in recent years due to its potential for biomedical applications. Determining the mechanism of the formation of reactive species in liquid treated with plasma is thus of paramount importance for both fundamental and applied research. In this work, the origin of reactive species in plasma‐treated aqueous solutions was investigated by using spin‐trapping, hydrogen and oxygen isotopic labelling and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The species originating from molecules in the liquid phase and those introduced with the feed gas were differentiated by EPR and 1H NMR analysis of liquid samples. The effects of water vapour and oxygen admixtures in the feed gas were investigated. All the reactive species detected in the liquid samples were shown to be formed largely in the plasma gas phase. It is suggested that hydrogen peroxide (determined by UV/Vis analysis) is formed primarily in the plasma tube, whereas the radical species ⋅OOH, ⋅OH and ⋅H are proposed to originate from the region between the plasma nozzle and the liquid sample. PMID:26833560

Multifractal Behaviors in Foreign Exchange Markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Kyungsik; Kim, Soo Yong; Lim, Gyuchang; Scalas, Enrico; Lee, Dong-In

2008-03-01

The market information and its intensity for the context of two-phase phenomenon is introduced in financial exchange markets. To find the underlying process of the formation of market information, we investigate the multifractal properties of the market information in terms of the multifractal and the detrended fluctuation analysis and also examine the higher order correlations between successive pieces of market information. Although the multifractal properties of the market information process is clearly confirmed, the simple binomial multiplicative process is not appropriate to catch its dynamics. It means that the market information process can be essentially different from the fully developed turbulence.

Inferential Framework for Autonomous Cryogenic Loading Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luchinsky, Dmitry G.; Khasin, Michael; Timucin, Dogan; Sass, Jared; Perotti, Jose; Brown, Barbara

2017-01-01

We address problem of autonomous cryogenic management of loading operations on the ground and in space. As a step towards solution of this problem we develop a probabilistic framework for inferring correlations parameters of two-fluid cryogenic flow. The simulation of two-phase cryogenic flow is performed using nearly-implicit scheme. A concise set of cryogenic correlations is introduced. The proposed approach is applied to an analysis of the cryogenic flow in experimental Propellant Loading System built at NASA KSC. An efficient simultaneous optimization of a large number of model parameters is demonstrated and a good agreement with the experimental data is obtained.

Software For Calibration Of Polarimetric SAR Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Van Zyl, Jakob; Zebker, Howard; Freeman, Anthony; Holt, John; Dubois, Pascale; Chapman, Bruce

1994-01-01

POLCAL (Polarimetric Radar Calibration) software tool intended to assist in calibration of synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) systems. In particular, calibrates Stokes-matrix-format data produced as standard product by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) airborne imaging synthetic aperture radar (AIRSAR). Version 4.0 of POLCAL is upgrade of version 2.0. New options include automatic absolute calibration of 89/90 data, distributed-target analysis, calibration of nearby scenes with corner reflectors, altitude or roll-angle corrections, and calibration of errors introduced by known topography. Reduces crosstalk and corrects phase calibration without use of ground calibration equipment. Written in FORTRAN 77.

Isogeometric Analysis for Topology Optimization with a Phase Field Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

surface force h and body force f . 2 Topology Optimization in the Minimum Compli- ance Case In this section we introduce the topology optimization...for a given material density function ρ, such that: −∇ · σ̃(ρ,u) = f in Ω, u = 0 on ΓD, σ̃(ρ,u)n̂ = h on ΓN , ρ given, (3) where ΓD ⊂ ∂Ω is the...force h is applied (traction or pressure); for the sake of simplicity we assume a null displacement on ΓD. Also, f is the body force acting in the

The role of health impact assessment in Phase V of the Healthy Cities European Network.

PubMed

Simos, Jean; Spanswick, Lucy; Palmer, Nicola; Christie, Derek

2015-06-01

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a prospective decision-making aid tool that aims to improve the quality of policies, programmes or projects through recommendations that promote health. It identifies how and through which pathways a decision can impact a wide range of health determinants and seeks to define the distribution of effects within populations, thereby raising the issue of equity. HIA was introduced to the WHO European Healthy Cities Network as one of its four core themes during the Phase IV (2004-08). Here we present an evaluation of the use of HIA during Phase V (2009-13), where HIA was linked with the overarching theme of health and health equity in all local policies and a requirement regarding capacity building. The evaluation was based on 10 case studies contributed by 9 Healthy Cities in five countries (France, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the UK). A Realist Evaluation framework was used to collect and aggregate data obtained through three methods: an HIA factors analysis, a case-study template analysis using Nvivo software and a detailed questionnaire. The main conclusion is that HIA significantly helps promote Health in All Policies (HiAP) and sustainability in Healthy Cities. It is recommended that all Healthy City candidates to Phase VI (2014-18) of the WHO Healthy Cities European Network effectively adopt HIA and HiAP. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

An approximate classical unimolecular reaction rate theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Meishan; Rice, Stuart A.

1992-05-01

We describe a classical theory of unimolecular reaction rate which is derived from the analysis of Davis and Gray by use of simplifying approximations. These approximations concern the calculation of the locations of, and the fluxes of phase points across, the bottlenecks to fragmentation and to intramolecular energy transfer. The bottleneck to fragment separation is represented as a vibration-rotation state dependent separatrix, which approximation is similar to but extends and improves the approximations for the separatrix introduced by Gray, Rice, and Davis and by Zhao and Rice. The novel feature in our analysis is the representation of the bottlenecks to intramolecular energy transfer as dividing surfaces in phase space; the locations of these dividing surfaces are determined by the same conditions as locate the remnants of robust tori with frequency ratios related to the golden mean (in a two degree of freedom system these are the cantori). The flux of phase points across each dividing surface is calculated with an analytic representation instead of a stroboscopic mapping. The rate of unimolecular reaction is identified with the net rate at which phase points escape from the region of quasiperiodic bounded motion to the region of free fragment motion by consecutively crossing the dividing surfaces for intramolecular energy exchange and the separatrix. This new theory generates predictions of the rates of predissociation of the van der Waals molecules HeI2, NeI2 and ArI2 which are in very good agreement with available experimental data.

Formation, structure, and evolution of boiling nucleus and interfacial tension between bulk liquid phase and nucleus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiao-Dong; Peng, Xiao-Feng; Tian, Yong; Wang, Bu-Xuan

2005-05-01

In this paper, the concept of the molecular free path is introduced to derive a criterion distinguishing active molecules from inactive molecules in liquid phase. A concept of the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of active molecules is proposed to describe the physical configuration before the formation of a nucleus during vapor-liquid phase transition. All active molecules exist as monomers when the concentration of active molecules is lower than CAC, while the active molecules will generate aggregation once the concentration of the active molecules reaches CAC. However, these aggregates with aggregation number, N, smaller than five can steadily exist in bulk phase. The other excess active molecules can only produce infinite aggregation and form a critical nucleus of vapor-liquid phase transition. Without any outer perturbation the state point of CAC corresponds to the critical superheated or supercooled state. Meanwhile, a model of two-region structure of a nucleus is proposed to describe nucleus evolution. The interfacial tension between bulk liquid phase and nucleus is dependent of the density gradient in the transition region and varies with the structure change of the transition region. With the interfacial tension calculated using this model, the predicted nucleation rate is very close to the experimental measurement. Furthermore, this model and associated analysis provides solid theoretical evidences to clarify the definition of nucleation rate and understand nucleation phenomenon with the insight into the physical nature.

The Influence of Training Phase on Error of Measurement in Jump Performance.

PubMed

Taylor, Kristie-Lee; Hopkins, Will G; Chapman, Dale W; Cronin, John B

2016-03-01

The purpose of this study was to calculate the coefficients of variation in jump performance for individual participants in multiple trials over time to determine the extent to which there are real differences in the error of measurement between participants. The effect of training phase on measurement error was also investigated. Six subjects participated in a resistance-training intervention for 12 wk with mean power from a countermovement jump measured 6 d/wk. Using a mixed-model meta-analysis, differences between subjects, within-subject changes between training phases, and the mean error values during different phases of training were examined. Small, substantial factor differences of 1.11 were observed between subjects; however, the finding was unclear based on the width of the confidence limits. The mean error was clearly higher during overload training than baseline training, by a factor of ×/÷ 1.3 (confidence limits 1.0-1.6). The random factor representing the interaction between subjects and training phases revealed further substantial differences of ×/÷ 1.2 (1.1-1.3), indicating that on average, the error of measurement in some subjects changes more than in others when overload training is introduced. The results from this study provide the first indication that within-subject variability in performance is substantially different between training phases and, possibly, different between individuals. The implications of these findings for monitoring individuals and estimating sample size are discussed.

Harmonic reduction of Direct Torque Control of six-phase induction motor.

PubMed

Taheri, A

2016-07-01

In this paper, a new switching method in Direct Torque Control (DTC) of a six-phase induction machine for reduction of current harmonics is introduced. Selecting a suitable vector in each sampling period is an ordinal method in the ST-DTC drive of a six-phase induction machine. The six-phase induction machine has 64 voltage vectors and divided further into four groups. In the proposed DTC method, the suitable voltage vectors are selected from two vector groups. By a suitable selection of two vectors in each sampling period, the harmonic amplitude is decreased more, in and various comparison to that of the ST-DTC drive. The harmonics loss is greater reduced, while the electromechanical energy is decreased with switching loss showing a little increase. Spectrum analysis of the phase current in the standard and new switching table DTC of the six-phase induction machine and determination for the amplitude of each harmonics is proposed in this paper. The proposed method has a less sampling time in comparison to the ordinary method. The Harmonic analyses of the current in the low and high speed shows the performance of the presented method. The simplicity of the proposed method and its implementation without any extra hardware is other advantages of the proposed method. The simulation and experimental results show the preference of the proposed method. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A protocol for searching the most probable phase-retrieved maps in coherent X-ray diffraction imaging by exploiting the relationship between convergence of the retrieved phase and success of calculation.

PubMed

Sekiguchi, Yuki; Hashimoto, Saki; Kobayashi, Amane; Oroguchi, Tomotaka; Nakasako, Masayoshi

2017-09-01

Coherent X-ray diffraction imaging (CXDI) is a technique for visualizing the structures of non-crystalline particles with size in the submicrometer to micrometer range in material sciences and biology. In the structural analysis of CXDI, the electron density map of a specimen particle projected along the direction of the incident X-rays can be reconstructed only from the diffraction pattern by using phase-retrieval (PR) algorithms. However, in practice, the reconstruction, relying entirely on the computational procedure, sometimes fails because diffraction patterns miss the data in small-angle regions owing to the beam stop and saturation of the detector pixels, and are modified by Poisson noise in X-ray detection. To date, X-ray free-electron lasers have allowed us to collect a large number of diffraction patterns within a short period of time. Therefore, the reconstruction of correct electron density maps is the bottleneck for efficiently conducting structure analyses of non-crystalline particles. To automatically address the correctness of retrieved electron density maps, a data analysis protocol to extract the most probable electron density maps from a set of maps retrieved from 1000 different random seeds for a single diffraction pattern is proposed. Through monitoring the variations of the phase values during PR calculations, the tendency for the PR calculations to succeed when the retrieved phase sets converged on a certain value was found. On the other hand, if the phase set was in persistent variation, the PR calculation tended to fail to yield the correct electron density map. To quantify this tendency, here a figure of merit for the variation of the phase values during PR calculation is introduced. In addition, a PR protocol to evaluate the similarity between a map of the highest figure of merit and other independently reconstructed maps is proposed. The protocol is implemented and practically examined in the structure analyses for diffraction patterns from aggregates of gold colloidal particles. Furthermore, the feasibility of the protocol in the structure analysis of organelles from biological cells is examined.

Bayesian Analysis of Evolutionary Divergence with Genomic Data under Diverse Demographic Models.

PubMed

Chung, Yujin; Hey, Jody

2017-06-01

We present a new Bayesian method for estimating demographic and phylogenetic history using population genomic data. Several key innovations are introduced that allow the study of diverse models within an Isolation-with-Migration framework. The new method implements a 2-step analysis, with an initial Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) phase that samples simple coalescent trees, followed by the calculation of the joint posterior density for the parameters of a demographic model. In step 1, the MCMC sampling phase, the method uses a reduced state space, consisting of coalescent trees without migration paths, and a simple importance sampling distribution without the demography of interest. Once obtained, a single sample of trees can be used in step 2 to calculate the joint posterior density for model parameters under multiple diverse demographic models, without having to repeat MCMC runs. Because migration paths are not included in the state space of the MCMC phase, but rather are handled by analytic integration in step 2 of the analysis, the method is scalable to a large number of loci with excellent MCMC mixing properties. With an implementation of the new method in the computer program MIST, we demonstrate the method's accuracy, scalability, and other advantages using simulated data and DNA sequences of two common chimpanzee subspecies: Pan troglodytes (P. t.) troglodytes and P. t. verus. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Phase 0 and phase III transport in various organs: combined concept of phases in xenobiotic transport and metabolism.

PubMed

Döring, Barbara; Petzinger, Ernst

2014-08-01

The historical phasing concept of drug metabolism and elimination was introduced to comprise the two phases of metabolism: phase I metabolism for oxidations, reductions and hydrolyses, and phase II metabolism for synthesis. With this concept, biological membrane barriers obstructing the accessibility of metabolism sites in the cells for drugs were not considered. The concept of two phases was extended to a concept of four phases when drug transporters were detected that guided drugs and drug metabolites in and out of the cells. In particular, water soluble or charged drugs are virtually not able to overcome the phospholipid membrane barrier. Drug transporters belong to two main clusters of transporter families: the solute carrier (SLC) families and the ATP binding cassette (ABC) carriers. The ABC transporters comprise seven families with about 20 carriers involved in drug transport. All of them operate as pumps at the expense of ATP splitting. Embedded in the former phase concept, the term "phase III" was introduced by Ishikawa in 1992 for drug export by ABC efflux pumps. SLC comprise 52 families, from which many carriers are drug uptake transporters. Later on, this uptake process was referred to as the "phase 0 transport" of drugs. Transporters for xenobiotics in man and animal are most expressed in liver, but they are also present in extra-hepatic tissues such as in the kidney, the adrenal gland and lung. This review deals with the function of drug carriers in various organs and their impact on drug metabolism and elimination.

Precise calibration of spatial phase response nonuniformity arising in liquid crystal on silicon.

PubMed

Xu, Jingquan; Qin, SiYi; Liu, Chen; Fu, Songnian; Liu, Deming

2018-06-15

In order to calibrate the spatial phase response nonuniformity of liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS), we propose to use a Twyman-Green interferometer to characterize the wavefront distortion, due to the inherent curvature of the device. During the characterization, both the residual carrier frequency introduced by the Fourier transform evaluation method and the lens aberration are error sources. For the tilted phase error introduced by residual carrier frequency, the least mean square fitting method is used to obtain the tilted phase error. Meanwhile, we use Zernike polynomials fitting based on plane mirror calibration to mitigate the lens aberration. For a typical LCoS with 1×12,288 pixels after calibration, the peak-to-valley value of the inherent wavefront distortion is approximately 0.25λ at 1550 nm, leading to a half-suppression of wavefront distortion. All efforts can suppress the root mean squares value of the inherent wavefront distortion to approximately λ/34.

The importance of the boundary condition in the transport of intensity equation based phase measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jialin; Chen, Qian; Li, Jiaji; Zuo, Chao

2017-02-01

The transport of intensity equation (TIE) is a powerful tool for direct quantitative phase retrieval in microscopy imaging. However, there may be some problems when dealing with the boundary condition of the TIE. The previous work introduces a hard-edged aperture to the camera port of the traditional bright field microscope to generate the boundary signal for the TIE solver. Under this Neumann boundary condition, we can obtain the quantitative phase without any assumption or prior knowledge about the test object and the setup. In this paper, we will demonstrate the effectiveness of this method based on some experiments in practice. The micro lens array will be used for the comparison of two TIE solvers results based on introducing the aperture or not and this accurate quantitative phase imaging technique allows measuring cell dry mass which is used in biology to follow cell cycle, to investigate cell metabolism, or to address effects of drugs.

Security Vulnerability Profiles of Mission Critical Software: Empirical Analysis of Security Related Bug Reports

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goseva-Popstojanova, Katerina; Tyo, Jacob

2017-01-01

While some prior research work exists on characteristics of software faults (i.e., bugs) and failures, very little work has been published on analysis of software applications vulnerabilities. This paper aims to contribute towards filling that gap by presenting an empirical investigation of application vulnerabilities. The results are based on data extracted from issue tracking systems of two NASA missions. These data were organized in three datasets: Ground mission IVV issues, Flight mission IVV issues, and Flight mission Developers issues. In each dataset, we identified security related software bugs and classified them in specific vulnerability classes. Then, we created the security vulnerability profiles, i.e., determined where and when the security vulnerabilities were introduced and what were the dominating vulnerabilities classes. Our main findings include: (1) In IVV issues datasets the majority of vulnerabilities were code related and were introduced in the Implementation phase. (2) For all datasets, around 90 of the vulnerabilities were located in two to four subsystems. (3) Out of 21 primary classes, five dominated: Exception Management, Memory Access, Other, Risky Values, and Unused Entities. Together, they contributed from 80 to 90 of vulnerabilities in each dataset.

Analysis of helicopter flight dynamics through modeling and simulation of primary flight control actuation system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, Hunter Barton

A simplified second-order transfer function actuator model used in most flight dynamics applications cannot easily capture the effects of different actuator parameters. The present work integrates a nonlinear actuator model into a nonlinear state space rotorcraft model to determine the effect of actuator parameters on key flight dynamics. The completed actuator model was integrated with a swashplate kinematics where step responses were generated over a range of key hydraulic parameters. The actuator-swashplate system was then introduced into a nonlinear state space rotorcraft simulation where flight dynamics quantities such as bandwidth and phase delay analyzed. Frequency sweeps were simulated for unique actuator configurations using the coupled nonlinear actuator-rotorcraft system. The software package CIFER was used for system identification and compared directly to the linearized models. As the actuator became rate saturated, the effects on bandwidth and phase delay were apparent on the predicted handling qualities specifications.

[The investigation and simulation of a novel spatially modulated micro-Fourier transform spectrometer].

PubMed

Kong, Yan-mei; Liang, Jing-qiu; Wang, Bo; Liang, Zhong-zhu; Xu, Da-wei; Zhang, Jun

2009-04-01

Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) is widely used in science and industry for the measurement of electromagnetic spectra, and it's trend of minimization is particularly pronounced in many applications. A novel model of a micro FTS with no moving parts is proposed and analyzed. During the analysis, the gradients which mainly introduce the phase error are accounted for in details. Based on these assumptions and the improved Mertz phase correcting method, the spectrum of the signal is simulated, given the real extended light source. The resolution can reach 3.43 nm@800 nm, with high SNR limiting resolving ability 6.8 dB. The novel micro FTS could be made by MOEMS technology, which has some advantages over the conventional micro dispersive spectrometers based on the traditional technology, and this method can also afford some new concepts on the design of spectrometers. The research work is underway to demonstrate the theory.

Rapid determination of ions by combined solid-phase extraction--diffuse reflectance spectroscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fritz, James S.; Arena, Matteo P.; Steiner, Steven A.; Porter, Marc D.

2003-01-01

We introduce colorimetric solid-phase extraction (C-SPE) for the rapid determination of selected ions. This new technique links the exhaustive concentration of an analyte by SPE onto a membrane disk surface for quantitative measurement with a hand-held diffuse reflectance spectrometer. The concentration/measurement procedure is complete in approximately 1 min and can be performed almost anywhere. This method has been used to monitor iodine and iodide in spacecraft water in the 0.1-5.0 ppm range and silver(I) in the range of 5.0-1000 microg/l. Applications to the trace analysis of copper(II), nickel(II), iron(III) and chromium(VI) are described. Studies on the mechanism of extraction showed that impregnation of the disk with a surfactant as well as a complexing reagent results in uptake of additional water, which markedly improves the extraction efficiency.

Hygrothermal wave propagation in viscoelastic graphene under in-plane magnetic field based on nonlocal strain gradient theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karami, Behrouz; Shahsavari, Davood; Li, Li

2018-03-01

A size-dependent model is developed for the hygrothermal wave propagation analysis of an embedded viscoelastic single layer graphene sheet (SLGS) under the influence of in-plane magnetic field. The bi-Helmholtz nonlocal strain gradient theory involving three small scale parameters is introduced to account for the size-dependent effects. The size-dependent model is deduced based on Hamilton's principle. The closed-form solution of eigenfrequency relation between wave number and phase velocity is achieved. By studying the size-dependent effects on the flexural wave of SLGS, the dispersion relation predicted by the developed size-dependent model can show a good match with experimental data. The influence of in-plane magnetic field, temperature and moisture of environs, structural damping, damped substrate, lower and higher order nonlocal parameters and the material characteristic parameter on the phase velocity of SLGS is explored.

Rapid and accurate reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of conjugated bile acids in human bile for routine clinical applications. Therapeutic control during gallstone dissolution therapy.

PubMed

Swobodnik, W; Klüppelberg, U; Wechsler, J G; Volz, M; Normandin, G; Ditschuneit, H

1985-05-03

This paper introduces a new method to detect the taurine and glycine conjugates of five different bile acids (cholic acid, deoxycholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid, ursodeoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid) in human bile. Advantages of this method are sufficient separation of compounds within a short period of time and a high rate of reproducibility. Using a mobile phase gradient of acetonitrile and water, modified with tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulphate (0.0075 mol/l), we were able to maximize the differentiation between ursodeoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid, which is of primary interest during conservative gallstone dissolution therapy. Use of this gradient reduced analysis time to less than 0.5 h. Recovery rates for this modified method ranged from 94% to 100%, and reproducibility was 98%, sufficient for routine clinical applications.

Social judgment theory based model on opinion formation, polarization and evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chau, H. F.; Wong, C. Y.; Chow, F. K.; Fung, Chi-Hang Fred

2014-12-01

The dynamical origin of opinion polarization in the real world is an interesting topic that physical scientists may help to understand. To properly model the dynamics, the theory must be fully compatible with findings by social psychologists on microscopic opinion change. Here we introduce a generic model of opinion formation with homogeneous agents based on the well-known social judgment theory in social psychology by extending a similar model proposed by Jager and Amblard. The agents’ opinions will eventually cluster around extreme and/or moderate opinions forming three phases in a two-dimensional parameter space that describes the microscopic opinion response of the agents. The dynamics of this model can be qualitatively understood by mean-field analysis. More importantly, first-order phase transition in opinion distribution is observed by evolving the system under a slow change in the system parameters, showing that punctuated equilibria in public opinion can occur even in a fully connected social network.

Analysis on Vertical Scattering Signatures in Forestry with PolInSAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Shenglong; Li, Yang; Zhang, Jingjing; Hong, Wen

2014-11-01

We apply accurate topographic phase to the Freeman-Durden decomposition for polarimetric SAR interferometry (PolInSAR) data. The cross correlation matrix obtained from PolInSAR observations can be decomposed into three scattering mechanisms matrices accounting for the odd-bounce, double-bounce and volume scattering. We estimate the phase based on the Random volume over Ground (RVoG) model, and as the initial input parameter of the numerical method which is used to solve the parameters of decomposition. In addition, the modified volume scattering model introduced by Y. Yamaguchi is applied to the PolInSAR target decomposition in forest areas rather than the pure random volume scattering as proposed by Freeman-Durden to make best fit to the actual measured data. This method can accurately retrieve the magnitude associated with each mechanism and their vertical location along the vertical dimension. We test the algorithms with L- and P- band simulated data.

Reaction diffusion in the NiCrAl and CoCrAl systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levine, S. R.

1978-01-01

The paper assesses the effect of overlay coating and substrate composition on the kinetics of coating depletion by interdiffusion. This is accomplished by examining the constitution, kinetics and activation energies for a series of diffusion couples primarily of the NiCrAl/Ni-10Cr or CoCrAl/Ni-10Cr type annealed at temperatures in the range 1000-1205 C for times up to 500 hr. A general procedure is developed for analyzing diffusion in multicomponent multiphase systems. It is shown that by introducing the concept of beta-source strength, which can be determined from appropriate phase diagrams, the Wagner solution for consumption of a second phase in a semiinfinite couple is successfully applied to the analysis of MCrAl couples. Thus, correlation of beta-recession rate constants with couple composition, total and diffusional activation energies, and interdiffusion coefficients are determined.

Multiple time scale analysis of pressure oscillations in solid rocket motors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Waqas; Maqsood, Adnan; Riaz, Rizwan

2018-03-01

In this study, acoustic pressure oscillations for single and coupled longitudinal acoustic modes in Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) are investigated using Multiple Time Scales (MTS) method. Two independent time scales are introduced. The oscillations occur on fast time scale whereas the amplitude and phase changes on slow time scale. Hopf bifurcation is employed to investigate the properties of the solution. The supercritical bifurcation phenomenon is observed for linearly unstable system. The amplitude of the oscillations result from equal energy gain and loss rates of longitudinal acoustic modes. The effect of linear instability and frequency of longitudinal modes on amplitude and phase of oscillations are determined for both single and coupled modes. For both cases, the maximum amplitude of oscillations decreases with the frequency of acoustic mode and linear instability of SRM. The comparison of analytical MTS results and numerical simulations demonstrate an excellent agreement.

Halloysite Nanotubes as a New Adsorbent for Solid Phase Extraction and Spectrophotometric Determination of Iron in Water and Food Samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samadi, A.; Amjadi, M.

2016-07-01

Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) have been introduced as a new solid phase extraction adsorbent for preconcentration of iron(II) as a complex with 2,2-bipyridine. The cationic complex is effectively adsorbed on the sorbent in the pH range of 3.5-6.0 and efficiently desorbed by trichloroacetic acid. The eluted complex has a strong absorption around 520 nm, which was used for determination of Fe(II). After optimizing extraction conditions, the linear range of the calibration graph was 5.0-500 μg/L with a detection limit of 1.3 μg/L. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of trace iron in various water and food samples, and the accuracy was assessed through the recovery experiments and analysis of a certified reference material (NIST 1643e).

Qualitative and semiquantitative Fourier transformation using a noncoherent system.

PubMed

Rogers, G L

1979-09-15

A number of authors have pointed out that a system of zone plates combined with a diffuse source, transparent input, lens, and focusing screen will display on the output screen the Fourier transform of the input. Strictly speaking, the transform normally displayed is the cosine transform, and the bipolar output is superimposed on a dc gray level to give a positive-only intensity variation. By phase-shifting one zone plate the sine transform is obtained. Temporal modulation is possible. It is also possible to redesign the system to accept a diffusely reflecting input at the cost of introducing a phase gradient in the output. Results are given of the sine and cosine transforms of a small circular aperture. As expected, the sine transform is a uniform gray. Both transforms show unwanted artifacts beyond 0.1 rad off-axis. An analysis shows this is due to unwanted circularly symmetrical moire patterns between the zone plates.

Study on the impulsive pressure of tank oscillating by force towards multiple degrees of freedom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibi, Shigeyuki

2018-06-01

Impulsive loads should be excited under nonlinear phenomena with free surface fluctuating severely such as sloshing and slamming. Estimating impulsive loads properly are important to recent numerical simulations. But it is still difficult to rely on the results of simulations perfectly because of the nonlinearity of the phenomena. In order to develop the algorithm of numerical simulations experimental results of nonlinear phenomena are needed. In this study an apparatus which can oscillate a tank by force was introduced in order to investigate impulsive pressure on the wall of the tank. This apparatus can oscillate it simultaneously towards 3 degrees of freedom with each phase differences. The impulsive pressure under the various combinations of oscillation direction was examined and the specific phase differences to appear the largest peak values of pressure were identified. Experimental results were verified through FFT analysis and statistical methods.

Decision-theoretic designs for a series of trials with correlated treatment effects using the Sarmanov multivariate beta-binomial distribution.

PubMed

Hee, Siew Wan; Parsons, Nicholas; Stallard, Nigel

2018-03-01

The motivation for the work in this article is the setting in which a number of treatments are available for evaluation in phase II clinical trials and where it may be infeasible to try them concurrently because the intended population is small. This paper introduces an extension of previous work on decision-theoretic designs for a series of phase II trials. The program encompasses a series of sequential phase II trials with interim decision making and a single two-arm phase III trial. The design is based on a hybrid approach where the final analysis of the phase III data is based on a classical frequentist hypothesis test, whereas the trials are designed using a Bayesian decision-theoretic approach in which the unknown treatment effect is assumed to follow a known prior distribution. In addition, as treatments are intended for the same population it is not unrealistic to consider treatment effects to be correlated. Thus, the prior distribution will reflect this. Data from a randomized trial of severe arthritis of the hip are used to test the application of the design. We show that the design on average requires fewer patients in phase II than when the correlation is ignored. Correspondingly, the time required to recommend an efficacious treatment for phase III is quicker. © 2017 The Author. Biometrical Journal published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Ab initio phasing by molecular averaging in real space with new criteria: application to structure determination of a betanodavirus

PubMed Central

Yoshimura, Masato; Chen, Nai-Chi; Guan, Hong-Hsiang; Chuankhayan, Phimonphan; Lin, Chien-Chih; Nakagawa, Atsushi; Chen, Chun-Jung

2016-01-01

Molecular averaging, including noncrystallographic symmetry (NCS) averaging, is a powerful method for ab initio phase determination and phase improvement. Applications of the cross-crystal averaging (CCA) method have been shown to be effective for phase improvement after initial phasing by molecular replacement, isomorphous replacement, anomalous dispersion or combinations of these methods. Here, a two-step process for phase determination in the X-ray structural analysis of a new coat protein from a betanodavirus, Grouper nervous necrosis virus, is described in detail. The first step is ab initio structure determination of the T = 3 icosahedral virus-like particle using NCS averaging (NCSA). The second step involves structure determination of the protrusion domain of the viral molecule using cross-crystal averaging. In this method, molecular averaging and solvent flattening constrain the electron density in real space. To quantify these constraints, a new, simple and general indicator, free fraction (ff), is introduced, where ff is defined as the ratio of the volume of the electron density that is freely changed to the total volume of the crystal unit cell. This indicator is useful and effective to evaluate the strengths of both NCSA and CCA. Under the condition that a mask (envelope) covers the target molecule well, an ff value of less than 0.1, as a new rule of thumb, gives sufficient phasing power for the successful construction of new structures. PMID:27377380

A compositional multiphase model for groundwater contamination by petroleum products: 1. Theoretical considerations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Corapcioglu, M. Yavuz; Baehr, Arthur L.

1987-01-01

A mathematical model is developed to describe the fate of hydrocarbon constituents of petroleum products introduced to soils as an immiscible liquid from sources such as leaking underground storage tanks and ruptured pipelines. The problem is one of multiphase transport (oil (immiscible), air, and water phases) of a reactive contaminant with constituents such as benzene, toluene, and xylene found in refined petroleum products like gasoline. In the unsaturated zone, transport of each constituent can occur as a solute in the water phase, vapor in the air phase, and as an unaltered constituent in the oil phase. Additionally, the model allows for adsorption. Molecular transformations, microbially mediated or abiotic, are incorporated as sink terms in the conservation of mass equations. An equilibrium approximation, applicable to any immiscible organic contaminant is applied to partition constituent mass between the air, oil, water, and adsorbed phases for points in the region where the oil phase exists. Outside the oil plume the equilibrium approximation takes on a simpler form to partition constituent mass between the air, water, and adsorbed phases only. Microbial degradation of petroleum products is first discussed in a general model, then the conservation of mass equation for oxygen is incorporated into the analysis which takes advantage of the key role played by oxygen in the metabolism of hydrocarbon utilizing microbes in soil environments. Approximations to two subproblems, oil plume establishment in the unsaturated zone, and solute and vapor transport subsequent to immiscible plume establishment are then developed from the general model.

Spectroscopic signatures of localization with interacting photons in superconducting qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roushan, P.; Neill, C.; Tangpanitanon, J.; Bastidas, V. M.; Megrant, A.; Barends, R.; Chen, Y.; Chen, Z.; Chiaro, B.; Dunsworth, A.; Fowler, A.; Foxen, B.; Giustina, M.; Jeffrey, E.; Kelly, J.; Lucero, E.; Mutus, J.; Neeley, M.; Quintana, C.; Sank, D.; Vainsencher, A.; Wenner, J.; White, T.; Neven, H.; Angelakis, D. G.; Martinis, J.

2017-12-01

Quantized eigenenergies and their associated wave functions provide extensive information for predicting the physics of quantum many-body systems. Using a chain of nine superconducting qubits, we implement a technique for resolving the energy levels of interacting photons. We benchmark this method by capturing the main features of the intricate energy spectrum predicted for two-dimensional electrons in a magnetic field—the Hofstadter butterfly. We introduce disorder to study the statistics of the energy levels of the system as it undergoes the transition from a thermalized to a localized phase. Our work introduces a many-body spectroscopy technique to study quantum phases of matter.

Holographic Phase Correction.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

functions, so that, for example, the device could function as a.% combined beam splitter /multifocus lens/mirror. Offset against these advantages are...illustrated in Figure 7. Here the reconstructed, phase corrected wave, is interfered with a plane wave introduced ..- after the hologram, via a beam splitter ...the recording medium). c. The phase correction can be combined with other beam forming functions. This can result in further savings in size and weight

Classical-Quantum Correspondence by Means of Probability Densities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vegas, Gabino Torres; Morales-Guzman, J. D.

1996-01-01

Within the frame of the recently introduced phase space representation of non relativistic quantum mechanics, we propose a Lagrangian from which the phase space Schrodinger equation can be derived. From that Lagrangian, the associated conservation equations, according to Noether's theorem, are obtained. This shows that one can analyze quantum systems completely in phase space as it is done in coordinate space, without additional complications.

High performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of cetirizine and ambroxol in human plasma and urine--a boxcar approach.

PubMed

Dharuman, J; Vasudhevan, M; Ajithlal, T

2011-09-01

A column switching high performance liquid chromatographic method with estimable sensitivity and accuracy was developed for the determination of cetirizine and ambroxol in human plasma using nebivolol as the internal standard. Plasma samples were prepared by liquid-liquid extraction in methylene chloride and a mixture of diethylether (80:20, v/v). The extracted samples were injected into a multifunctional clean-up column Supelcosil LCABZ (50 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm particle size) using mobile phase 1 comprising acetonitrile-phosphate buffer (pH 3.5; 20 mM) (20:80, v/v). The eluate of cetirizine and ambroxol were separated to an analytical Kromasil C(8) micro bore column (50 mm × 0.3 mm, 5 μm particle size) via a column switching device. A Kromasil C(18) analytical column (250 mm × 2.1 mm, 5 μm particle size) was used as a separation column. Mobile phase 2 consisting acetonitrile-triethylamine (0.5%) in phosphate buffer (pH 3.5; 20mM) (55:45, v/v) was used for the compound elution. The eluents were detected at 230 nm with photodiode array detector. An aliquot of 150 μl of plasma sample was introduced into the pretreatment column via the auto sampler using mobile phase 1 at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min, column switching valve being positioned at A. The pretreatment column retained cetirizine, ambroxol and nebivolol (IS) in the column leaving the residual proteins of plasma eluted in void volume and drained out. The switching valve was shifted to position B at 7.5 min. Cetirizine, ambroxol and IS were eluted from the pretreatment column between 7. 5 and 11.5 min and introduced to the concentration column. Finally, cetirizine, ambroxol and IS were introduced to the separation column by switching valve using mobile phase 2 at a flow rate of 0.4 ml/min. During the analysis the pretreatment column was washed for the next analysis and resume to the position A. The total run time was 25 min for a sample. The procedure was repeated for urine analysis also. The method was linear from 2 to 450 ng/ml and 7-300 ng/ml for cetirizine and ambroxol respectively in plasma and 1-500 ng/ml and 5-400 ng/ml, respectively for cetirizine and ambroxol in urine. Intra-day and inter-day precision of cetirizine and ambroxol was below 15% in terms of coefficient of variation and accuracy of cetirizine and ambroxol was ranged from 94 to 101.6% and 91.1 to 100.2%, respectively. The method demonstrated high sensitivity and selectivity and therefore, applied to evaluate pharmacokinetics of cetirizine and ambroxol in healthy human volunteer after a single oral administration. Urine samples obtained from healthy human volunteers and clinical subjects with renal impairment have also been analyzed by the method to compare the elimination pattern. The method was precise and accurate for the estimation of cetirizine and ambroxol both in blood and in urine. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gain and loss of esteem, direct reciprocity and Heider balance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassanibesheli, Forough; Hedayatifar, Leila; Gawroński, Przemysław; Stojkow, Maria; Żuchowska-Skiba, Dorota; Kułakowski, Krzysztof

2017-02-01

The effect of gain and loss of esteem is introduced into the equations of time evolution of social relations, hostile or friendly, in a group of actors. The equations allow for asymmetric relations. We prove that in the presence of this asymmetry, the majority of stable solutions are jammed states, i.e. the Heider balance is not attained there. A phase diagram is constructed with three phases: the jammed phase, the balanced phase with two mutually hostile groups, and the phase of so-called paradise, where all relations are friendly.

Materials science of the gel to fluid phase transition in a supported phospholipid bilayer.

PubMed

Xie, Anne Feng; Yamada, Ryo; Gewirth, Andrew A; Granick, Steve

2002-12-09

We report the results of in situ AFM measurements examining the phase transition of bilayers formed from the zwitterionic phospholipid, DMPC, 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, supported on mica. The images show that the fluid to gel phase transition process features substantial tearing of the bilayer due to the density change between the two phases. The gel to fluid transition is strongly affected by the resultant stress introduced into the gel phase, which changes the degree of cooperativity, the shape of developing fluid phase regions, and the course of the transition.

A theory of phase singularities for image representation and its applications to object tracking and image matching.

PubMed

Qiao, Yu; Wang, Wei; Minematsu, Nobuaki; Liu, Jianzhuang; Takeda, Mitsuo; Tang, Xiaoou

2009-10-01

This paper studies phase singularities (PSs) for image representation. We show that PSs calculated with Laguerre-Gauss filters contain important information and provide a useful tool for image analysis. PSs are invariant to image translation and rotation. We introduce several invariant features to characterize the core structures around PSs and analyze the stability of PSs to noise addition and scale change. We also study the characteristics of PSs in a scale space, which lead to a method to select key scales along phase singularity curves. We demonstrate two applications of PSs: object tracking and image matching. In object tracking, we use the iterative closest point algorithm to determine the correspondences of PSs between two adjacent frames. The use of PSs allows us to precisely determine the motions of tracked objects. In image matching, we combine PSs and scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) descriptor to deal with the variations between two images and examine the proposed method on a benchmark database. The results indicate that our method can find more correct matching pairs with higher repeatability rates than some well-known methods.

Generalized Kapchinskij-Vladimirskij Distribution and Beam Matrix for Phase-Space Manipulations of High-Intensity Beams

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

Chung, Moses; Qin, Hong; Davidson, Ronald C.

In an uncoupled linear lattice system, the Kapchinskij-Vladimirskij (KV) distribution formulated on the basis of the single-particle Courant-Snyder invariants has served as a fundamental theoretical basis for the analyses of the equilibrium, stability, and transport properties of high-intensity beams for the past several decades. Recent applications of high-intensity beams, however, require beam phase-space manipulations by intentionally introducing strong coupling. Here in this Letter, we report the full generalization of the KV model by including all of the linear (both external and space-charge) coupling forces, beam energy variations, and arbitrary emittance partition, which all form essential elements for phase-space manipulations. Themore » new generalized KV model yields spatially uniform density profiles and corresponding linear self-field forces as desired. Finally, the corresponding matrix envelope equations and beam matrix for the generalized KV model provide important new theoretical tools for the detailed design and analysis of high-intensity beam manipulations, for which previous theoretical models are not easily applicable.« less

Experimental Validation of Advanced Dispersed Fringe Sensing (ADFS) Algorithm Using Advanced Wavefront Sensing and Correction Testbed (AWCT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Xu; Shi, Fang; Sigrist, Norbert; Seo, Byoung-Joon; Tang, Hong; Bikkannavar, Siddarayappa; Basinger, Scott; Lay, Oliver

2012-01-01

Large aperture telescope commonly features segment mirrors and a coarse phasing step is needed to bring these individual segments into the fine phasing capture range. Dispersed Fringe Sensing (DFS) is a powerful coarse phasing technique and its alteration is currently being used for JWST.An Advanced Dispersed Fringe Sensing (ADFS) algorithm is recently developed to improve the performance and robustness of previous DFS algorithms with better accuracy and unique solution. The first part of the paper introduces the basic ideas and the essential features of the ADFS algorithm and presents the some algorithm sensitivity study results. The second part of the paper describes the full details of algorithm validation process through the advanced wavefront sensing and correction testbed (AWCT): first, the optimization of the DFS hardware of AWCT to ensure the data accuracy and reliability is illustrated. Then, a few carefully designed algorithm validation experiments are implemented, and the corresponding data analysis results are shown. Finally the fiducial calibration using Range-Gate-Metrology technique is carried out and a <10nm or <1% algorithm accuracy is demonstrated.

Local blur analysis and phase error correction method for fringe projection profilometry systems.

PubMed

Rao, Li; Da, Feipeng

2018-05-20

We introduce a flexible error correction method for fringe projection profilometry (FPP) systems in the presence of local blur phenomenon. Local blur caused by global light transport such as camera defocus, projector defocus, and subsurface scattering will cause significant systematic errors in FPP systems. Previous methods, which adopt high-frequency patterns to separate the direct and global components, fail when the global light phenomenon occurs locally. In this paper, the influence of local blur on phase quality is thoroughly analyzed, and a concise error correction method is proposed to compensate the phase errors. For defocus phenomenon, this method can be directly applied. With the aid of spatially varying point spread functions and local frontal plane assumption, experiments show that the proposed method can effectively alleviate the system errors and improve the final reconstruction accuracy in various scenes. For a subsurface scattering scenario, if the translucent object is dominated by multiple scattering, the proposed method can also be applied to correct systematic errors once the bidirectional scattering-surface reflectance distribution function of the object material is measured.

Generalized Kapchinskij-Vladimirskij Distribution and Beam Matrix for Phase-Space Manipulations of High-Intensity Beams

DOE PAGES

Chung, Moses; Qin, Hong; Davidson, Ronald C.; ...

2016-11-23

In an uncoupled linear lattice system, the Kapchinskij-Vladimirskij (KV) distribution formulated on the basis of the single-particle Courant-Snyder invariants has served as a fundamental theoretical basis for the analyses of the equilibrium, stability, and transport properties of high-intensity beams for the past several decades. Recent applications of high-intensity beams, however, require beam phase-space manipulations by intentionally introducing strong coupling. Here in this Letter, we report the full generalization of the KV model by including all of the linear (both external and space-charge) coupling forces, beam energy variations, and arbitrary emittance partition, which all form essential elements for phase-space manipulations. Themore » new generalized KV model yields spatially uniform density profiles and corresponding linear self-field forces as desired. Finally, the corresponding matrix envelope equations and beam matrix for the generalized KV model provide important new theoretical tools for the detailed design and analysis of high-intensity beam manipulations, for which previous theoretical models are not easily applicable.« less

Application of Signal Analysis to the Climate

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

The primary ingredient of the Anthropogenic Global Warming hypothesis, namely, the assumption that additional atmospheric carbon dioxide substantially raises the global temperature, is studied. This is done by looking at the data of temperature and CO2, both in the time domain and in the phase domain of periodic data. Bicentenary measurements are analyzed and a relaxation model is introduced in the form of an electronic equivalent circuit. The effects of this relaxation manifest themselves in delays in the time domain and correlated phase shifts in the phase domain. For extremely long relaxation time constants, the delay is maximally one-quarter period, which for the yearly-periodic signal means 3 months. This is not in line with the analyzed data, the latter showing delays of 9 (−3) months. These results indicate a reverse function of cause and effect, with temperature being the cause for atmospheric CO2 changes, rather than their effect. These two hypotheses are discussed on basis of literature, where it was also reported that CO2 variations are lagging behind temperature variations. PMID:27350978

Phospholipid bilayer affinities and solvation characteristics by electrokinetic chromatography with a nanodisc pseudostationary phase.

PubMed

Penny, William M; Steele, Harmen B; Ross, J B Alexander; Palmer, Christopher P

2017-03-01

Phospholipid bilayer nanodiscs composed of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and synthetic maleic acid-styrene copolymer belts have been introduced as a pseudostationary phase (PSP) in electrokinetic chromatography and demonstrated good performance. The nanodiscs provide a suitable migration range and high theoretical plate counts. Using this nanodisc pseudostationary phase, the affinity of the bilayer structure for probe solutes was determined and characterized. Good correlation is observed between retention factors and octanol water partition coefficients for particular categories of solutes, but the general correlation is weak primarily because the nanodiscs show stronger affinity than octanol for hydrogen bond donors. This suggests that a more appropriate application of this technology is to measure and characterize interactions between solutes and lipid bilayers directly. Linear solvation energy relationship analysis of the nanodisc-solute interactions in this study demonstrates that the nanodiscs provide a solvation environment with low cohesivity and weak hydrogen bond donating ability, and provide relatively strong hydrogen bond acceptor strength. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Phase Equilibria in the ZnO-"FeO"-SiO2 System in Reducing Atmosphere and in the ZnO-"FeO"-SiO2-"Cu2O" System in Equilibrium with Liquid Copper Metal at 1250 °C (1523 K)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hidayat, Taufiq; Hayes, Peter C.; Jak, Evgueni

2018-05-01

Recent experimental studies in the ZnO-"FeO"-SiO2 system in reducing atmosphere demonstrated significant discrepancies with the current FactSage thermodynamic model developed using previous experimental data in this system in equilibrium with metallic iron and air. The present experimental study on phase equilibria in the ZnO-"FeO"-SiO2-"Cu2O" system in equilibrium with liquid copper at 1250 °C (1523 K) at low copper oxide concentrations in slag was initiated and undertaken to resolve these discrepancies. A high-temperature equilibration-rapid quenching-electron-probe X-ray microanalysis (EPMA) technique using a primary phase substrate support and closed system approach with Cu metal introduced to determine effective equilibrium oxygen partial pressure from the Cumetal/Cu2Oslag equilibria was applied to provide accurate information on the liquidus and corresponding solid compositions in the spinel, willemite, and tridymite primary phase fields. The present results confirmed the accuracy of the FactSage model, resolved discrepancies, and demonstrated significant uncertainties in the recent studies by other authors on the system in the open reducing atmosphere. The present study shows how this closed system approach can be used to obtain key thermodynamic data on phase equilibria in systems containing volatile metal species, overcoming the limitations and uncertainties encountered in conventional open gas/condensed phase equilibration with these systems. The study highlights the importance of the focus on obtaining accurate experimental data and the risks of misleading information from inadequate experimental control and analysis. The study also demonstrates that continuing in-depth critical review and analysis of the elemental reactions taking place in complex systems is an essential step in phase equilibrium research.

A Robust and Multi-Weighted Approach to Estimating Topographically Correlated Tropospheric Delays in Radar Interferograms

PubMed Central

Zhu, Bangyan; Li, Jiancheng; Chu, Zhengwei; Tang, Wei; Wang, Bin; Li, Dawei

2016-01-01

Spatial and temporal variations in the vertical stratification of the troposphere introduce significant propagation delays in interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) observations. Observations of small amplitude surface deformations and regional subsidence rates are plagued by tropospheric delays, and strongly correlated with topographic height variations. Phase-based tropospheric correction techniques assuming a linear relationship between interferometric phase and topography have been exploited and developed, with mixed success. Producing robust estimates of tropospheric phase delay however plays a critical role in increasing the accuracy of InSAR measurements. Meanwhile, few phase-based correction methods account for the spatially variable tropospheric delay over lager study regions. Here, we present a robust and multi-weighted approach to estimate the correlation between phase and topography that is relatively insensitive to confounding processes such as regional subsidence over larger regions as well as under varying tropospheric conditions. An expanded form of robust least squares is introduced to estimate the spatially variable correlation between phase and topography by splitting the interferograms into multiple blocks. Within each block, correlation is robustly estimated from the band-filtered phase and topography. Phase-elevation ratios are multiply- weighted and extrapolated to each persistent scatter (PS) pixel. We applied the proposed method to Envisat ASAR images over the Southern California area, USA, and found that our method mitigated the atmospheric noise better than the conventional phase-based method. The corrected ground surface deformation agreed better with those measured from GPS. PMID:27420066

A Robust and Multi-Weighted Approach to Estimating Topographically Correlated Tropospheric Delays in Radar Interferograms.

PubMed

Zhu, Bangyan; Li, Jiancheng; Chu, Zhengwei; Tang, Wei; Wang, Bin; Li, Dawei

2016-07-12

Spatial and temporal variations in the vertical stratification of the troposphere introduce significant propagation delays in interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) observations. Observations of small amplitude surface deformations and regional subsidence rates are plagued by tropospheric delays, and strongly correlated with topographic height variations. Phase-based tropospheric correction techniques assuming a linear relationship between interferometric phase and topography have been exploited and developed, with mixed success. Producing robust estimates of tropospheric phase delay however plays a critical role in increasing the accuracy of InSAR measurements. Meanwhile, few phase-based correction methods account for the spatially variable tropospheric delay over lager study regions. Here, we present a robust and multi-weighted approach to estimate the correlation between phase and topography that is relatively insensitive to confounding processes such as regional subsidence over larger regions as well as under varying tropospheric conditions. An expanded form of robust least squares is introduced to estimate the spatially variable correlation between phase and topography by splitting the interferograms into multiple blocks. Within each block, correlation is robustly estimated from the band-filtered phase and topography. Phase-elevation ratios are multiply- weighted and extrapolated to each persistent scatter (PS) pixel. We applied the proposed method to Envisat ASAR images over the Southern California area, USA, and found that our method mitigated the atmospheric noise better than the conventional phase-based method. The corrected ground surface deformation agreed better with those measured from GPS.

Catheter associated urinary tract infection (CA-UTI) incidence in an Internal Medicine Ward of a Northern Italian Hospital.

PubMed

Izzo, Ilaria; Lania, Donatella; Bella, Daniele; Formaini Marioni, Cesare; Coccaglio, Romana; Colombini, Paolo

2015-09-01

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CA-UTI) are estimated to be the most frequent nosocomial infections (40%). A catheter is introduced to 10-25% of inpatients, and is often left on site for a long period of time. We carried out a prospective study on inpatients of our Internal Medicine ward to assess the incidence of CA-UTI under the implementation of corrective action. All inpatients who underwent introduction of a urinary catheter upon or after admission to our ward were included in the study. Patients with bacteriuria or positive urine culture before catheterization, others with less than 24 hours catheterism, or bearing a catheter on admission were all excluded from the study. CA-UTI diagnosis was assessed on the basis of CDC 2009 guidelines. The investigation was held between June 2010 and March 2013 in five steps or phases. In the first phase open circuit drainage catheterism was used, in the second phase close circuit drainage catheterism was introduced, while in the third phase disposable lubrification was added to closed circuit drainage catheterism. In the next step (phase 4) we introduced number of days of catheterism control and nurse training; in the last phase (5) emptying urine collection bags on a container was added. In phase 1 we estimated six UTIs out of 18 patients (incidence 33%), in phase 2 we had four infections out of 10 patients (40%). Given the results, we had to reflect on the quality of the procedures of catheter positioning and management . Where feasible, we improved technical practices and during follow-up there was evidence of CA-UTI in 10 patients over 25 (phase 3, 40%), and eight infections over 25 (phase 4, 32%). Once all these steps had been implemented, in phase 5 we determined a sharp reduction in CA-UTI (2 patients over 27, or 7.5%, p=0.025). This improvement was particularly evident in the rate of infection per days of catheter, which was reduced from 43.4/1000 to 13.6/1000. Although the statistical power of the present study has its limitations, we attained a significant reduction in catheter-associated UTIs through the implementation of close circuit catheterism and improvements in care practices.

X-ray focusing with efficient high-NA multilayer Laue lenses

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

Bajt, Sasa; Prasciolu, Mauro; Fleckenstein, Holger

Multilayer Laue lenses are volume diffraction elements for the efficient focusing of X-rays. With a new manufacturing technique that we introduced, it is possible to fabricate lenses of sufficiently high numerical aperture (NA) to achieve focal spot sizes below 10 nm. The alternating layers of the materials that form the lens must span a broad range of thicknesses on the nanometer scale to achieve the necessary range of X-ray deflection angles required to achieve a high NA. This poses a challenge to both the accuracy of the deposition process and the control of the materials properties, which often vary withmore » layer thickness. We introduced a new pair of materials—tungsten carbide and silicon carbide—to prepare layered structures with smooth and sharp interfaces and with no material phase transitions that hampered the manufacture of previous lenses. Using a pair of multilayer Laue lenses (MLLs) fabricated from this system, we achieved a two-dimensional focus of 8.4 × 6.8 nm 2 at a photon energy of 16.3 keV with high diffraction efficiency and demonstrated scanning-based imaging of samples with a resolution well below 10 nm. The high NA also allowed projection holographic imaging with strong phase contrast over a large range of magnifications. Furthermore, an error analysis indicates the possibility of achieving 1 nm focusing.« less

X-ray focusing with efficient high-NA multilayer Laue lenses

DOE PAGES

Bajt, Sasa; Prasciolu, Mauro; Fleckenstein, Holger; ...

2018-03-23

Multilayer Laue lenses are volume diffraction elements for the efficient focusing of X-rays. With a new manufacturing technique that we introduced, it is possible to fabricate lenses of sufficiently high numerical aperture (NA) to achieve focal spot sizes below 10 nm. The alternating layers of the materials that form the lens must span a broad range of thicknesses on the nanometer scale to achieve the necessary range of X-ray deflection angles required to achieve a high NA. This poses a challenge to both the accuracy of the deposition process and the control of the materials properties, which often vary withmore » layer thickness. We introduced a new pair of materials—tungsten carbide and silicon carbide—to prepare layered structures with smooth and sharp interfaces and with no material phase transitions that hampered the manufacture of previous lenses. Using a pair of multilayer Laue lenses (MLLs) fabricated from this system, we achieved a two-dimensional focus of 8.4 × 6.8 nm 2 at a photon energy of 16.3 keV with high diffraction efficiency and demonstrated scanning-based imaging of samples with a resolution well below 10 nm. The high NA also allowed projection holographic imaging with strong phase contrast over a large range of magnifications. Furthermore, an error analysis indicates the possibility of achieving 1 nm focusing.« less

Design of Distortion-Invariant Optical ID Tags for Remote Identification and Verification of Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez-Cabré, Elisabet; Millán, María Sagrario; Javidi, Bahram

Optical identification (ID) tags [1] have a promising future in a number of applications such as the surveillance of vehicles in transportation, control of restricted areas for homeland security, item tracking on conveyor belts or other industrial environment, etc. More specifically, passive optical ID tag [1] was introduced as an optical code containing a signature (that is, a characteristic image or other relevant information of the object), which permits its real-time remote detection and identification. Since their introduction in the literature [1], some contributions have been proposed to increase their usefulness and robustness. To increase security and avoid counterfeiting, the signature was introduced in the optical code as an encrypted function [2-5] following the double-phase encryption technique [6]. Moreover, the design of the optical ID tag was done in such a way that tolerance to variations in scale and rotation was achieved [2-5]. To do that, the encrypted information was multiplexed and distributed in the optical code following an appropriate topology. Further studies were carried out to analyze the influence of different sources of noise. In some proposals [5, 7], the designed ID tag consists of two optical codes where the complex-valued encrypted signature was separately introduced in two real-valued functions according to its magnitude and phase distributions. This solution was introduced to overcome some difficulties in the readout of complex values in outdoors environments. Recently, the fully phase encryption technique [8] has been proposed to increase noise robustness of the authentication system.

Large-Scale and Deep Quantitative Proteome Profiling Using Isobaric Labeling Coupled with Two-Dimensional LC-MS/MS

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

Gritsenko, Marina A.; Xu, Zhe; Liu, Tao

Comprehensive, quantitative information on abundances of proteins and their post-translational modifications (PTMs) can potentially provide novel biological insights into diseases pathogenesis and therapeutic intervention. Herein, we introduce a quantitative strategy utilizing isobaric stable isotope-labelling techniques combined with two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (2D-LC-MS/MS) for large-scale, deep quantitative proteome profiling of biological samples or clinical specimens such as tumor tissues. The workflow includes isobaric labeling of tryptic peptides for multiplexed and accurate quantitative analysis, basic reversed-phase LC fractionation and concatenation for reduced sample complexity, and nano-LC coupled to high resolution and high mass accuracy MS analysis for high confidence identification andmore » quantification of proteins. This proteomic analysis strategy has been successfully applied for in-depth quantitative proteomic analysis of tumor samples, and can also be used for integrated proteome and PTM characterization, as well as comprehensive quantitative proteomic analysis across samples from large clinical cohorts.« less

Large-Scale and Deep Quantitative Proteome Profiling Using Isobaric Labeling Coupled with Two-Dimensional LC-MS/MS.

PubMed

Gritsenko, Marina A; Xu, Zhe; Liu, Tao; Smith, Richard D

2016-01-01

Comprehensive, quantitative information on abundances of proteins and their posttranslational modifications (PTMs) can potentially provide novel biological insights into diseases pathogenesis and therapeutic intervention. Herein, we introduce a quantitative strategy utilizing isobaric stable isotope-labeling techniques combined with two-dimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (2D-LC-MS/MS) for large-scale, deep quantitative proteome profiling of biological samples or clinical specimens such as tumor tissues. The workflow includes isobaric labeling of tryptic peptides for multiplexed and accurate quantitative analysis, basic reversed-phase LC fractionation and concatenation for reduced sample complexity, and nano-LC coupled to high resolution and high mass accuracy MS analysis for high confidence identification and quantification of proteins. This proteomic analysis strategy has been successfully applied for in-depth quantitative proteomic analysis of tumor samples and can also be used for integrated proteome and PTM characterization, as well as comprehensive quantitative proteomic analysis across samples from large clinical cohorts.

Development of an SPE/CE method for analyzing HAAs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zhang, L.; Capel, P.D.; Hozalski, R.M.

2007-01-01

The haloacetic acid (HAA) analysis methods approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency involve extraction and derivatization of HAAs (typically to their methyl ester form) and analysis by gas chromatography (GC) with electron capture detection (ECD). Concerns associated with these methods include the time and effort of the derivatization process, use of potentially hazardous chemicals or conditions during methylation, poor recoveries because of low extraction efficiencies for some HAAs or matrix effects from sulfate, and loss of tribromoacetic acid because of decarboxylation. The HAA analysis method introduced here uses solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) analysis. The method is accurate, reproducible, sensitive, relatively safe, and easy to perform, and avoids the use of large amounts of solvent for liquid-liquid extraction and the potential hazards and hassles of derivatization. The cost of analyzing HAAs using this method should be lower than the currently approved methods, and utilities with a GC/ECD can perform the analysis in-house.

Inspection of arterial-induced skin vibration by Moire fringe with two-dimensional continuous wavelet transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chun-Hsiung; Chiu, Shih-Yung; Hsu, Yu-Hsiang; Lee, Shu-Sheng; Lee, Chih-Kung

2017-06-01

A non-contact arterial-induced skin vibration inspection system is implemented. This optical metrology system is constructed with shadow Moiré configuration and the fringe analysis algorithm. Developed with the Region of Interested (ROI) capturing technique and the Two-dimensional Wavelet Transform (2D-CWT) method, this algorithm is able to retrieve the height-correlated phase information from the shadow Moiré fringe patterns. Using a commercial video camera or a CMOS image sensor, this system could monitor the skin-vibration induced by the cyclic deformation of inner layered artery. The cross-sectional variation and the rhythm of heart cycle could be continuously measured for health monitoring purposes. The average vibration amplitude of the artery at the wrist ranges between 20 μm and 50 μm, which is quite subtle comparing with the skin surface structure. Having the non-stationary motion of human body, the traditional phase shifting (PS) technique can be very unstable due to the requirement of several frames of images, especially for case that artery is continuously pumping. To bypass this fundamental issue, the shadow Moiré technique is introduced to enhance the surface deformation characteristic. And the phase information is retrieved by the means of spectrum filtering instead of PS technique, which the phase is calculated from intensity maps of multiple images. The instantaneous surface can therefore be reconstructed individually from each frame, enabling the subtle arterial-induced skin vibration measurement. The comparative results of phase reconstruction between different fringe analysis algorithms will be demonstrated numerically and experimentally. And the electrocardiography (ECG) results will used as the reference for the validity of health monitoring potential of the non-contact arterial-induced skin vibration inspection system.

A new tunable dispersive liquid-liquid micro extraction method developed for the simultaneous preconcentration of lead and cadmium from lakes water: a multivariate study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilal, Muhammad; Kazi, Tasneem Gul; Afridi, Hassan Imran; Ali, Jamshed; Baig, Jameel Ahmed; Arain, Mohammad Balal; Khan, Mustafa

2017-08-01

A green tunable dispersive liquid-liquid micro extraction (TDLLME) technique was established for the simultaneous enrichment of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) from different lakes water before analysis by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). A solvent known as tunable polarity solvent (TPS), mixture of 1,8-diazabicyclo-[5.4.0]-undec-7-ene (DBU) and 1-decanol, has been employed as extractant in aqueous medium. In first step this mixture can be made polar by slowly bubbling the antisolvent trigger (CO2) through the solution, which makes a monophasic solution. During this step hydrophobic complexes of the metals with 8-hydroxy quinoline (8-HQ) were extracted by TPS. Then the mixture was switched back to hydrophobic one by heating and/or bubbling nitrogen, turning the mixture into two phases again. In second phase the metals were leached out from the complexes entrapped in TPS, by treating with a solution of nitric acid and exposing the mixture to CO2, which switched the mixture into single phase. Then N2 purging and/or heating again turned the mixture into two phases. The acidic aqueous phase containing the metals was introduced to FAAS for analysis, whereas TPS was recycled for next experiment. Different parameters, affecting the efficiency the technique, were optimized by multivariate approach. The method was applied to certified reference material of water and to a real sample spiked with standards of known concentration, to confirm its validity and accuracy. LOD obtained for Pb and Cd were 0.560 and 0.056 μg L- 1 respectively. The developed method was applied successfully to the real water samples of two lakes of Sindh, Pakistan.

Transportation using spinning tethers with emphasis on phasing and plane change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Henderson, David G.

1989-01-01

This paper studies the potential uses of spinning tethers as components in a transportation system. Additional degrees of freedom in the selection of transfer orbits as well as phasing control are introduced by allowing both the spin rate of the tethers to be controllable and by allowing the ejection and capture points to be anywhere along the tether length. Equations are derived for the phasing of the planar transfer problem. A construction algorithm for nonplanar transfers is developed and nonplanar phasing conditions are examined.

Free space and waveguide Talbot effect: phase relations and planar light circuit applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikkhah, H.; Zheng, Q.; Hasan, I.; Abdul-Majid, S.; Hall, T. J.

2012-10-01

Optical fields that are periodic in the transverse plane self-image periodically as they propagate along the optical axis: a phenomenon known as the Talbot effect. A transfer matrix may be defined that relates the amplitude and phase of point sources placed on a particular grid at the input to their respective multiple images at an image plane. The free-space Talbot effect may be mapped to the waveguide Talbot effect. Applying this mapping to the transfer matrix enables the prediction of the phase and amplitude relations between the ports of a Multimode Interference (MMI) coupler- a planar waveguide device. The transfer matrix approach has not previously been applied to the free-space case and its mapping to the waveguide case provides greater clarity and physical insight into the phase relationships than previous treatments. The paper first introduces the underlying physics of the Talbot effect in free space with emphasis on the positions along the optical axis at which images occur; their multiplicity; and their relative phase relations determined by the Gauss Quadratic Sum of number theory. The analysis is then adapted to predict the phase relationships between the ports of an MMI. These phase relationships are critical to planar light circuit (PLC) applications such as 90° optical hybrids for coherent optical receiver front-ends, external optical I-Q modulators for coherent optical transmitters; and optical phased array switches. These applications are illustrated by results obtained from devices that have been fabricated and tested by the PTLab in Si micro-photonic integration platforms.

Two-Scale 13C Metabolic Flux Analysis for Metabolic Engineering.

PubMed

Ando, David; Garcia Martin, Hector

2018-01-01

Accelerating the Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) cycle in synthetic biology is critical to achieving rapid and facile bioengineering of organisms for the production of, e.g., biofuels and other chemicals. The Learn phase involves using data obtained from the Test phase to inform the next Design phase. As part of the Learn phase, mathematical models of metabolic fluxes give a mechanistic level of comprehension to cellular metabolism, isolating the principle drivers of metabolic behavior from the peripheral ones, and directing future experimental designs and engineering methodologies. Furthermore, the measurement of intracellular metabolic fluxes is specifically noteworthy as providing a rapid and easy-to-understand picture of how carbon and energy flow throughout the cell. Here, we present a detailed guide to performing metabolic flux analysis in the Learn phase of the DBTL cycle, where we show how one can take the isotope labeling data from a 13 C labeling experiment and immediately turn it into a determination of cellular fluxes that points in the direction of genetic engineering strategies that will advance the metabolic engineering process.For our modeling purposes we use the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) Quantitative Metabolic Modeling (jQMM) library, which provides an open-source, python-based framework for modeling internal metabolic fluxes and making actionable predictions on how to modify cellular metabolism for specific bioengineering goals. It presents a complete toolbox for performing different types of flux analysis such as Flux Balance Analysis, 13 C Metabolic Flux Analysis, and it introduces the capability to use 13 C labeling experimental data to constrain comprehensive genome-scale models through a technique called two-scale 13 C Metabolic Flux Analysis (2S- 13 C MFA) [1]. In addition to several other capabilities, the jQMM is also able to predict the effects of knockouts using the MoMA and ROOM methodologies. The use of the jQMM library is illustrated through a step-by-step demonstration, which is also contained in a digital Jupyter Notebook format that enhances reproducibility and provides the capability to be adopted to the user's specific needs. As an open-source software project, users can modify and extend the code base and make improvements at will, providing a base for future modeling efforts.

Finite element techniques in computational time series analysis of turbulent flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horenko, I.

2009-04-01

In recent years there has been considerable increase of interest in the mathematical modeling and analysis of complex systems that undergo transitions between several phases or regimes. Such systems can be found, e.g., in weather forecast (transitions between weather conditions), climate research (ice and warm ages), computational drug design (conformational transitions) and in econometrics (e.g., transitions between different phases of the market). In all cases, the accumulation of sufficiently detailed time series has led to the formation of huge databases, containing enormous but still undiscovered treasures of information. However, the extraction of essential dynamics and identification of the phases is usually hindered by the multidimensional nature of the signal, i.e., the information is "hidden" in the time series. The standard filtering approaches (like f.~e. wavelets-based spectral methods) have in general unfeasible numerical complexity in high-dimensions, other standard methods (like f.~e. Kalman-filter, MVAR, ARCH/GARCH etc.) impose some strong assumptions about the type of the underlying dynamics. Approach based on optimization of the specially constructed regularized functional (describing the quality of data description in terms of the certain amount of specified models) will be introduced. Based on this approach, several new adaptive mathematical methods for simultaneous EOF/SSA-like data-based dimension reduction and identification of hidden phases in high-dimensional time series will be presented. The methods exploit the topological structure of the analysed data an do not impose severe assumptions on the underlying dynamics. Special emphasis will be done on the mathematical assumptions and numerical cost of the constructed methods. The application of the presented methods will be first demonstrated on a toy example and the results will be compared with the ones obtained by standard approaches. The importance of accounting for the mathematical assumptions used in the analysis will be pointed up in this example. Finally, applications to analysis of meteorological and climate data will be presented.

"Cooperative collapse" of the denatured state revealed through Clausius-Clapeyron analysis of protein denaturation phase diagrams.

PubMed

Tischer, Alexander; Machha, Venkata R; Rösgen, Jörg; Auton, Matthew

2018-02-19

Protein phase diagrams have a unique potential to identify the presence of additional thermodynamic states even when non-2-state character is not readily apparent from the experimental observables used to follow protein unfolding transitions. Two-state analysis of the von Willebrand factor A3 domain has previously revealed a discrepancy in the calorimetric enthalpy obtained from thermal unfolding transitions as compared with Gibbs-Helmholtz analysis of free energies obtained from the Linear Extrapolation Method (Tischer and Auton, Prot Sci 2013; 22(9):1147-60). We resolve this thermodynamic conundrum using a Clausius-Clapeyron analysis of the urea-temperature phase diagram that defines how ΔH and the urea m-value interconvert through the slope of c m versus T, (∂cm/∂T)=ΔH/(mT). This relationship permits the calculation of ΔH at low temperature from m-values obtained through iso-thermal urea denaturation and high temperature m-values from ΔH obtained through iso-urea thermal denaturation. Application of this equation uncovers sigmoid transitions in both cooperativity parameters as temperature is increased. Such residual thermal cooperativity of ΔH and the m-value confirms the presence of an additional state which is verified to result from a cooperative phase transition between urea-expanded and thermally-compact denatured states. Comparison of the equilibria between expanded and compact denatured ensembles of disulfide-intact and carboxyamidated A3 domains reveals that introducing a single disulfide crosslink does not affect the presence of the additional denatured state. It does, however, make a small thermodynamically favorable free energy (∼-13 ± 1 kJ/mol) contribution to the cooperative denatured state collapse transition as temperature is raised and urea concentration is lowered. The thermodynamics of this "cooperative collapse" of the denatured state retain significant compensations between the enthalpy and entropy contributions to the overall free energy. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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

Distler, T. M.; Wong, C. M.

Runoff-water samples for the first, third, and fourth quarters of 1975 were analyzed for pesticide residues at LLL and independently by the LFE Environmental Analysis Laboratories. For the compounds analyzed, upper limits to possible contamination were placed conservatively at the low parts-per-billion level. In addition, soil samples were also analyzed. Future work will continue to include quarterly sampling and will be broadened in scope to include quantitative analysis of a larger number of compounds. A study of recovery efficiency is planned. Because of the high backgrounds on soil samples together with the uncertainties introduced by the cleanup procedures, there ismore » little hope of evaluating the distribution of a complex mixture of pesticides among the aqueous and solid phases in a drainage sample. No further sampling of soil from the streambed is therefore contemplated.« less

Design and analysis of a magneto-rheological damper for an all terrain vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnan Unni, R.; Tamilarasan, N.

2018-02-01

A shock absorber design intended to replace the existing conventional shock absorber with a controllable system using a Magneto-rheological damper is introduced for an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) that was designed for Baja SAE competitions. Suspensions are a vital part of an All Terrain Vehicles as it endures various surfaces and requires utmost attention while designing. COMSOL multi-physics software is used for applications that have coupled physics problems and is a unique tool that is used for the designing and analysis phase of the Magneto-rheological damper for the considered application and the model is optimized based on Taguchi using DOE software. The magneto-rheological damper is designed to maximize the damping force with the measured geometric constraints for the All Terrain Vehicle.

Directional dual-tree rational-dilation complex wavelet transform.

PubMed

Serbes, Gorkem; Gulcur, Halil Ozcan; Aydin, Nizamettin

2014-01-01

Dyadic discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has been used successfully in processing signals having non-oscillatory transient behaviour. However, due to the low Q-factor property of their wavelet atoms, the dyadic DWT is less effective in processing oscillatory signals such as embolic signals (ESs). ESs are extracted from quadrature Doppler signals, which are the output of Doppler ultrasound systems. In order to process ESs, firstly, a pre-processing operation known as phase filtering for obtaining directional signals from quadrature Doppler signals must be employed. Only then, wavelet based methods can be applied to these directional signals for further analysis. In this study, a directional dual-tree rational-dilation complex wavelet transform, which can be applied directly to quadrature signals and has the ability of extracting directional information during analysis, is introduced.

Coronagraphic mask design using Hermite functions.

PubMed

Cagigal, Manuel P; Canales, Vidal F; Valle, Pedro J; Oti, José E

2009-10-26

We introduce a stellar coronagraph that uses a coronagraphic mask described by a Hermite function or a combination of them. It allows the detection of exoplanets providing both deep starlight extinction and high angular resolution. This angular resolution depends on the order of the Hermite function used. An analysis of the coronagraph performance is carried out for different even order masks. Numerical simulations of the ideal case, with no phase errors and perfect telescope pointing, show that on-axis starlight is reduced to very low intensity levels corresponding to a gain of at least 25 magnitudes (10(-10) light intensity reduction). The coronagraphic throughput depends on the Hermite function or combination selected. The proposed mask series presents the same advantages of band limited masks along with the benefit of reducing the light diffracted by the mask border thanks to its particular shape. Nevertheless, for direct detection of Earth-like exoplanets it requires the use of adaptive optics facilities for compensating the perturbations introduced by the atmosphere and by the optical system.

Soil-ecological conditions of Korean pine growth in its natural area and upon introduction in the European part of Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voityuk, M. M.

2015-05-01

Socioeconomic expediency and soil-ecological potential of introducing Korean pine ( Pinus koraiensis) in the forest zone of the European part of Russia are discussed. The specificity of soil-ecological conditions and technologies applied for growing Korean pine in some tree farms in the Far East region and in the European part of Russia are compared. The main soil-ecological factors and optimum soil parameters for the successful development of Korean pine in its natural and introduction areas are determined. It is shown that development of Korean pine seedlings on well-drained soils depends on the contents of potassium, humus, and physical clay in the soils. The seedlings gain maximum size upon their growing on soddypodzolic soils (Retisols). The analysis of mineral nutrition of pine seedlings of different ages, soil conditions, and seasonal growth phases shows that the contents of potassium and some microelements play the leading role in the successful growth of introduced Korean pine.

Influences of misalignment of control mirror of axisymmetric-structural CO2 laser on phase locking.

PubMed

Xu, Yonggen; Li, Yude; Qiu, Yi; Feng, Ting; Fu, Fuxing; Guo, Wei

2008-11-20

Based on the principle of phase locking of an axisymmetric-fold combination CO2 laser under the normal state condition, the mechanisms of phase locking are analyzed when the control mirror is misaligned. Then the overlapping rate (OR) of the mode volume is introduced: the main influences on phase locking are the OR, the average life of the light wave, the root mean square phase error, and the mode coupling coefficient; these influences on phase locking are studied. The distribution of the light intensity reflects the effect of phase locking. It is shown that the misaligned angle has little influence on the phase locking if it is within tolerance.

Prevalence and factors related to rheumatic musculoskeletal disorders in rural south India: WHO-ILAR-COPCORD-BJD India Calicut study.

PubMed

Paul, Binoy J; Rahim, Asma A; Bina, Thomas; Thekkekara, Romy J

2013-08-01

To assess the prevalence and factors related to rheumatic musculoskeletal disorders (RMSD) in a rural population of south India. The cross-sectional study included all individuals, 15 years and above, in a rural unit of Calicut District in North Kerala. Data were collected using the validated World Health Organization - International League of Associations for Rheumatology - Community Oriented Program for the Control of Rheumatic Diseases - Bhigwan model questionnaire by trained volunteers. In Phase 1 details of demographic characteristics, major co-morbidities and perceived musculoskeletal aches and pains were elicited. Phases 2 and 3 further evaluated and diagnosed the subjects. Predictors for RMSD were assessed using binary logistic regression analysis. There were 4999 individuals in the study. The prevalence of RMSD was 24.9% (95% CI 23.73; 26.12%). Females constituted 50.7% of the population; 5.1% of the respondents were illiterate; 80.9% belonged to low-income groups. Diabetes mellitus and hypertension affected 4.1% and 5.4% of the subjects respectively. The predictors for RMSD in the population were female sex, age, illiteracy, married status, low-income group, vegetarian diet, current alcohol consumption, current tobacco use, history of injury or accidents, diabetes and hypertension. Symptom-related ill-defined rheumatism (10.39%) followed by osteoarthritis (3.85%) were the most prevalent in the Phase 3 rheumatological evaluation. There is an urgent need to introduce lifestyle modifications in high-risk groups and start rehabilitation for those affected. Community rheumatology in primary health care settings in rural areas needs to be strengthened by introducing national programs addressing RMSD at the grassroots level. © 2013 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Accelerated Metastable Solid-liquid Interdiffusion Bonding with High Thermal Stability and Power Handling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Ting-Chia; Smet, Vanessa; Kawamoto, Satomi; Pulugurtha, Markondeya R.; Tummala, Rao R.

2018-01-01

Emerging high-performance systems are driving the need for advanced packaging solutions such as 3-D integrated circuits (ICs) and 2.5-D system integration with increasing performance and reliability requirements for off-chip interconnections. Solid-liquid interdiffusion (SLID) bonding resulting in all-intermetallic joints has been proposed to extend the applicability of solders, but faces fundamental and manufacturing challenges hindering its wide adoption. This paper introduces a Cu-Sn SLID interconnection technology, aiming at stabilization of the microstructure in the Cu6Sn5 metastable phase rather than the usual stable Cu3Sn phase. This enables formation of a void-free interface yielding higher mechanical strength than standard SLID bonding, as well as significantly reducing the transition time. The metastable SLID technology retains the benefits of standard SLID with superior I/O pitch scalability, thermal stability and current handling capability, while advancing assembly manufacturability. In the proposed concept, the interfacial reaction is controlled by introducing Ni(P) diffusion barrier layers, designed to effectively isolate the metastable Cu6Sn5 phase preventing any further transformation. Theoretical diffusion and kinetic models were applied to design the Ni-Cu-Sn interconnection stack to achieve the targeted joint composition. A daisy chain test vehicle was used to demonstrate this technology as a first proof of concept. Full transition to Cu6Sn5 was successfully achieved within a minute at 260°C as confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and x-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS) analysis. The joint composition was stable through 10× reflow, with outstanding bond strength averaging 90 MPa. The metastable SLID interconnections also showed excellent electromigration performance, surviving 500 h of current stressing at 105 A/cm2 at 150°C.

Chemoenzymatic method for glycomics: isolation, identification, and quantitation

PubMed Central

Yang, Shuang; Rubin, Abigail; Eshghi, Shadi Toghi; Zhang, Hui

2015-01-01

Over the past decade, considerable progress has been made with respect to the analytical methods for analysis of glycans from biological sources. Regardless of the specific methods that are used, glycan analysis includes isolation, identification, and quantitation. Derivatization is indispensable to increase their identification. Derivatization of glycans can be performed by permethylation or carbodiimide coupling / esterification. By introducing a fluorophore or chromophore at their reducing end, glycans can be separated by electrophoresis or chromatography. The fluorogenically labeled glycans can be quantitated using fluorescent detection. The recently developed approaches using solid-phase such as glycoprotein immobilization for glycan extraction and on-tissue glycan mass spectrometry imaging demonstrate advantages over methods performed in solution. Derivatization of sialic acids is favorably implemented on the solid support using carbodiimide coupling, and the released glycans can be further modified at the reducing end or permethylated for quantitative analysis. In this review, methods for glycan isolation, identification, and quantitation are discussed. PMID:26390280

Finite element methods for the biomechanics of soft hydrated tissues: nonlinear analysis and adaptive control of meshes.

PubMed

Spilker, R L; de Almeida, E S; Donzelli, P S

1992-01-01

This chapter addresses computationally demanding numerical formulations in the biomechanics of soft tissues. The theory of mixtures can be used to represent soft hydrated tissues in the human musculoskeletal system as a two-phase continuum consisting of an incompressible solid phase (collagen and proteoglycan) and an incompressible fluid phase (interstitial water). We first consider the finite deformation of soft hydrated tissues in which the solid phase is represented as hyperelastic. A finite element formulation of the governing nonlinear biphasic equations is presented based on a mixed-penalty approach and derived using the weighted residual method. Fluid and solid phase deformation, velocity, and pressure are interpolated within each element, and the pressure variables within each element are eliminated at the element level. A system of nonlinear, first-order differential equations in the fluid and solid phase deformation and velocity is obtained. In order to solve these equations, the contributions of the hyperelastic solid phase are incrementally linearized, a finite difference rule is introduced for temporal discretization, and an iterative scheme is adopted to achieve equilibrium at the end of each time increment. We demonstrate the accuracy and adequacy of the procedure using a six-node, isoparametric axisymmetric element, and we present an example problem for which independent numerical solution is available. Next, we present an automated, adaptive environment for the simulation of soft tissue continua in which the finite element analysis is coupled with automatic mesh generation, error indicators, and projection methods. Mesh generation and updating, including both refinement and coarsening, for the two-dimensional examples examined in this study are performed using the finite quadtree approach. The adaptive analysis is based on an error indicator which is the L2 norm of the difference between the finite element solution and a projected finite element solution. Total stress, calculated as the sum of the solid and fluid phase stresses, is used in the error indicator. To allow the finite difference algorithm to proceed in time using an updated mesh, solution values must be transferred to the new nodal locations. This rezoning is accomplished using a projected field for the primary variables. The accuracy and effectiveness of this adaptive finite element analysis is demonstrated using a linear, two-dimensional, axisymmetric problem corresponding to the indentation of a thin sheet of soft tissue. The method is shown to effectively capture the steep gradients and to produce solutions in good agreement with independent, converged, numerical solutions.

Transportation of single cell and microbubbles by phase-shift introduced to standing leaky surface acoustic waves

PubMed Central

Meng, Long; Cai, Feiyan; Zhang, Zidong; Niu, Lili; Jin, Qiaofeng; Yan, Fei; Wu, Junru; Wang, Zhanhui; Zheng, Hairong

2011-01-01

A microfluidic device was developed to precisely transport a single cell or multiple microbubbles by introducing phase-shifts to a standing leaky surface acoustic wave (SLSAW). The device consists of a polydimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) microchannel and two phase-tunable interdigital transducers (IDTs) for the generation of the relative phase for the pair of surface acoustic waves (SAW) propagating along the opposite directions forming a standing wave. When the SAW contacts the fluid medium inside the microchannel, some of SAW energy is coupled to the fluid and the SAW becomes the leaky surface wave. By modulating the relative phase between two IDTs, the positions of pressure nodes of the SLSAW in the microchannel change linearly resulting in the transportation of a single cell or microbubbles. The results also reveal that there is a good linear relationship between the relative phase and the displacement of a single cell or microbubbles. Furthermore, the single cell and the microbubbles can be transported over a predetermined distance continuously until they reach the targeted locations. This technique has its distinct advantages, such as precise position-manipulation, simple to implement, miniature size, and noninvasive character, which may provide an effective method for the position-manipulation of a single cell and microbubbles in many biological and biomedical applications. PMID:22662056

[Peripheral venous catheter use in the emergency department: reducing adverse events in patients and biosafety problems for staff].

PubMed

Tomás Vecina, Santiago; Mozota Duarte, Julián; Ortega Marcos, Miguel; Gracia Ruiz Navarro, María; Borillo, Vicente; San Juan Gago, Leticia; Roqueta Egea, Fermin; Chanovas Borrás, Manuel

2016-01-01

To test a strategy to reduce the rate of adverse events in patients and safety problems for emergency department staff who insert peripheral venous catheters (PVCs). The strategy consisted of training, implementing a protocol, and introducing safety-engineered PVCs. Prospective, multicenter, observational, preauthorization study in patients requiring PVC placement in an emergency department. The study had 2 phases. The first consisted of training, implementing a protocol for using conventional PVCs, and monitoring practice. The second phase introduced safety-engineered PVC sets. The number of adverse events in patients and threats to safety for staff were compared between the 2 phases. A total of 520 patients were included, 180 in the first phase and 340 in the second. We detected breaches in aseptic technique, failure to maintain a sterile field, and improper management of safety equipment and devices. Some practices improved significantly during the second phase. Eighty-six adverse events occurred in the first phase and 52 (15.4%) in the second; the between-phase difference was not statistically significant. The incidence of postinfusion phlebitis was 50% lower in the second phase. Seven splash injuries and 1 accidental puncture occurred with conventional PVCs in the first phase; 2 splash injuries occurred with the safety-engineered PVCs in the second phase (36% decrease, P = .04). Differences were particularly noticeable for short-term PVC placements (P = .02). Combining training, a protocol, and the use of safety-engineered PVC sets offers an effective strategy for improving patient and staff safety.

The Implications of Encoder/Modulator/ Phased Array Designs for Future Broadband LEO Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vanderaar, Mark; Jensen, Chris A.; Terry, John D.

1997-01-01

In this paper we summarize the effects of modulation and channel coding on the design of wide angle scan, broadband, phased army antennas. In the paper we perform several trade studies. First, we investigate the amplifier back-off requirement as a function of variability of modulation envelope. Specifically, we contrast constant and non-constant envelope modulations, as well as single and multiple carrier schemes. Additionally, we address the issues an(f concerns of using pulse shaping filters with the above modulation types. Second, we quantify the effects of beam steering on the quality of data, recovery using selected modulation techniques. In particular, we show that the frequency response of the array introduces intersymbol interference for broadband signals and that the mode of operation for the beam steering controller may introduce additional burst or random errors. Finally, we show that the encoder/modulator design must be performed in conjunction with the phased array antenna design.

Photonic ultrawideband impulse radio generation and modulation over a fiber link using a phase modulator and a delay interferometer.

PubMed

Shao, Jing; Sun, Junqiang

2012-08-15

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a simple and flexible photonic scheme for generation and modulation of ultrawideband (UWB) using a phase modulator and a fiber delay interferometer (DI)-based multichannel frequency discrimination. By introducing a Gaussian signal to the phase modulator, the UWB polarity-switchable doublet pulses can be achieved by combining the pair of UWB monocycle pulses with inverted polarities at the DI outputs under proper time delay. Furthermore, the pulse shape modulation, pulse position modulation, and on-off keying can be performed by coding the electrical data patterns and adjusting the time delay between the two monocycle pulses. Only a laser source introduced in the architecture guarantees the excellent dispersion tolerance over 75 km optical fiber link for UWB pulse sequence, which has potential application in future high-speed UWB impulse radio over optical fiber access networks.

Simulation of anisoplanatic imaging through optical turbulence using numerical wave propagation with new validation analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardie, Russell C.; Power, Jonathan D.; LeMaster, Daniel A.; Droege, Douglas R.; Gladysz, Szymon; Bose-Pillai, Santasri

2017-07-01

We present a numerical wave propagation method for simulating imaging of an extended scene under anisoplanatic conditions. While isoplanatic simulation is relatively common, few tools are specifically designed for simulating the imaging of extended scenes under anisoplanatic conditions. We provide a complete description of the proposed simulation tool, including the wave propagation method used. Our approach computes an array of point spread functions (PSFs) for a two-dimensional grid on the object plane. The PSFs are then used in a spatially varying weighted sum operation, with an ideal image, to produce a simulated image with realistic optical turbulence degradation. The degradation includes spatially varying warping and blurring. To produce the PSF array, we generate a series of extended phase screens. Simulated point sources are numerically propagated from an array of positions on the object plane, through the phase screens, and ultimately to the focal plane of the simulated camera. Note that the optical path for each PSF will be different, and thus, pass through a different portion of the extended phase screens. These different paths give rise to a spatially varying PSF to produce anisoplanatic effects. We use a method for defining the individual phase screen statistics that we have not seen used in previous anisoplanatic simulations. We also present a validation analysis. In particular, we compare simulated outputs with the theoretical anisoplanatic tilt correlation and a derived differential tilt variance statistic. This is in addition to comparing the long- and short-exposure PSFs and isoplanatic angle. We believe this analysis represents the most thorough validation of an anisoplanatic simulation to date. The current work is also unique that we simulate and validate both constant and varying Cn2(z) profiles. Furthermore, we simulate sequences with both temporally independent and temporally correlated turbulence effects. Temporal correlation is introduced by generating even larger extended phase screens and translating this block of screens in front of the propagation area. Our validation analysis shows an excellent match between the simulation statistics and the theoretical predictions. Thus, we think this tool can be used effectively to study optical anisoplanatic turbulence and to aid in the development of image restoration methods.

Quantifying team cooperation through intrinsic multi-scale measures: respiratory and cardiac synchronization in choir singers and surgical teams.

PubMed

Hemakom, Apit; Powezka, Katarzyna; Goverdovsky, Valentin; Jaffer, Usman; Mandic, Danilo P

2017-12-01

A highly localized data-association measure, termed intrinsic synchrosqueezing transform (ISC), is proposed for the analysis of coupled nonlinear and non-stationary multivariate signals. This is achieved based on a combination of noise-assisted multivariate empirical mode decomposition and short-time Fourier transform-based univariate and multivariate synchrosqueezing transforms. It is shown that the ISC outperforms six other combinations of algorithms in estimating degrees of synchrony in synthetic linear and nonlinear bivariate signals. Its advantage is further illustrated in the precise identification of the synchronized respiratory and heart rate variability frequencies among a subset of bass singers of a professional choir, where it distinctly exhibits better performance than the continuous wavelet transform-based ISC. We also introduce an extension to the intrinsic phase synchrony (IPS) measure, referred to as nested intrinsic phase synchrony (N-IPS), for the empirical quantification of physically meaningful and straightforward-to-interpret trends in phase synchrony. The N-IPS is employed to reveal physically meaningful variations in the levels of cooperation in choir singing and performing a surgical procedure. Both the proposed techniques successfully reveal degrees of synchronization of the physiological signals in two different aspects: (i) precise localization of synchrony in time and frequency (ISC), and (ii) large-scale analysis for the empirical quantification of physically meaningful trends in synchrony (N-IPS).

Form-Stable Phase Change Materials Based on Eutectic Mixture of Tetradecanol and Fatty Acids for Building Energy Storage: Preparation and Performance Analysis

PubMed Central

Huang, Jingyu; Lu, Shilei; Kong, Xiangfei; Liu, Shangbao; li, Yiran

2013-01-01

This paper is focused on preparation and performance analysis of a series of form-stable phase change materials (FSPCMs), based on eutectic mixtures as phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage and high-density polyethylene (HDPE)-ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) polymer as supporting materials. The PCMs were eutectic mixtures of tetradecanol (TD)–capric acid (CA), TD–lauric acid (LA), and TD–myristic acid (MA), which were rarely explored before. Thermal properties of eutectic mixtures and FSPCMs were measured by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The onset melting/solidification temperatures of form-stable PCMs were 19.13 °C/13.32 °C (FS TD–CA PCM), 24.53 °C/24.92 °C (FS TD–LA PCM), and 33.15 °C/30.72 °C (FS TD–MA PCM), respectively, and latent heats were almost greater than 90 J/g. The surface morphologies and chemical stability of form-stable PCM were surveyed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, respectively. The thermal cycling test revealed that the thermal reliability of these three form-stable PCMs was good. Thermal storage/release experiment indicated melting/solidification time was shortened by introducing 10 wt % aluminum powder (AP). It is concluded that these FSPCMs can act as potential building thermal storage materials in terms of their satisfactory thermal properties. PMID:28788358

Form-Stable Phase Change Materials Based on Eutectic Mixture of Tetradecanol and Fatty Acids for Building Energy Storage: Preparation and Performance Analysis.

PubMed

Huang, Jingyu; Lu, Shilei; Kong, Xiangfei; Liu, Shangbao; Li, Yiran

2013-10-22

This paper is focused on preparation and performance analysis of a series of form-stable phase change materials (FSPCMs), based on eutectic mixtures as phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage and high-density polyethylene (HDPE)-ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) polymer as supporting materials. The PCMs were eutectic mixtures of tetradecanol (TD)-capric acid (CA), TD-lauric acid (LA), and TD-myristic acid (MA), which were rarely explored before. Thermal properties of eutectic mixtures and FSPCMs were measured by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The onset melting/solidification temperatures of form-stable PCMs were 19.13 °C/13.32 °C (FS TD-CA PCM), 24.53 °C/24.92 °C (FS TD-LA PCM), and 33.15 °C/30.72 °C (FS TD-MA PCM), respectively, and latent heats were almost greater than 90 J/g. The surface morphologies and chemical stability of form-stable PCM were surveyed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, respectively. The thermal cycling test revealed that the thermal reliability of these three form-stable PCMs was good. Thermal storage/release experiment indicated melting/solidification time was shortened by introducing 10 wt % aluminum powder (AP). It is concluded that these FSPCMs can act as potential building thermal storage materials in terms of their satisfactory thermal properties.

Theoretical analysis of shock induced depolarization and current generation in ferroelectrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agrawal, Vinamra; Bhattacharya, Kaushik

Ferroelectric generators are used to generate large magnitude current pulse by impacting a polarized ferroelectric material. The impact causes depolarization of the material and at high impact speeds, dielectric breakdown. Depending on the loading conditions and the electromechanical boundary conditions, the current or voltage profiles obtained vary. In this study, we explore the large deformation dynamic response of a ferroelectric material. Using the Maxwell's equations, conservation laws and the second law of thermodynamics, we derive the governing equations for the phase boundary propagation as well as the driving force acting on it. We allow for the phase boundary to contain surface charges which introduces the contribution of curvature of phase boundary in the governing equations and the driving force. This type of analysis accounts for the dielectric breakdown and resulting conduction in the material. Next, we implement the equations derived to solve a one dimensional impact problem on a ferroelectric material under different electrical boundary conditions. The constitutive law is chosen to be piecewise quadratic in polarization and quadratic in the strain. We solve for the current profile generated in short circuit case and for voltage profile in open circuited case. This work was made possible by the financial support of the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research through the Center of Excellence in High Rate Deformation Physics of Heterogeneous Materials (Grant: FA 9550-12-1-0091).

Force transients and minimum cross-bridge models in muscular contraction

PubMed Central

Halvorson, Herbert R.

2010-01-01

Two- and three-state cross-bridge models are considered and examined with respect to their ability to predict three distinct phases of the force transients that occur in response to step change in muscle fiber length. Particular attention is paid to satisfying the Le Châtelier–Brown Principle. This analysis shows that the two-state model can account for phases 1 and 2 of a force transient, but is barely adequate to account for phase 3 (delayed force) unless a stretch results in a sudden increase in the number of cross-bridges in the detached state. The three-state model (A → B → C → A) makes it possible to account for all three phases if we assume that the A → B transition is fast (corresponding to phase 2), the B → C transition is of intermediate speed (corresponding to phase 3), and the C → A transition is slow; in such a scenario, states A and C can support or generate force (high force states) but state B cannot (detached, or low-force state). This model involves at least one ratchet mechanism. In this model, force can be generated by either of two transitions: B → A or B → C. To determine which of these is the major force-generating step that consumes ATP and transduces energy, we examine the effects of ATP, ADP, and phosphate (Pi) on force transients. In doing so, we demonstrate that the fast transition (phase 2) is associated with the nucleotide-binding step, and that the intermediate-speed transition (phase 3) is associated with the Pi-release step. To account for all the effects of ligands, it is necessary to expand the three-state model into a six-state model that includes three ligand-bound states. The slowest phase of a force transient (phase 4) cannot be explained by any of the models described unless an additional mechanism is introduced. Here we suggest a role of series compliance to account for this phase, and propose a model that correlates the slowest step of the cross-bridge cycle (transition C → A) to: phase 4 of step analysis, the rate constant ktr of the quick-release and restretch experiment, and the rate constant kact for force development time course following Ca2+ activation. PMID:18425593

Force transients and minimum cross-bridge models in muscular contraction.

PubMed

Kawai, Masataka; Halvorson, Herbert R

2007-01-01

Two- and three-state cross-bridge models are considered and examined with respect to their ability to predict three distinct phases of the force transients that occur in response to step change in muscle fiber length. Particular attention is paid to satisfying the Le Châtelier-Brown Principle. This analysis shows that the two-state model can account for phases 1 and 2 of a force transient, but is barely adequate to account for phase 3 (delayed force) unless a stretch results in a sudden increase in the number of cross-bridges in the detached state. The three-state model (A-->B-->C-->A) makes it possible to account for all three phases if we assume that the A-->B transition is fast (corresponding to phase 2), the B-->A transition is of intermediate speed (corresponding to phase 3), and the C-->A transition is slow; in such a scenario, states A and C can support or generate force (high force states) but state B cannot (detached, or low-force state). This model involves at least one ratchet mechanism. In this model, force can be generated by either of two transitions: B-->A or B-->C. To determine which of these is the major force-generating step that consumes ATP and transduces energy, we examine the effects of ATP, ADP, and phosphate (Pi) on force transients. In doing so, we demonstrate that the fast transition (phase 2) is associated with the nucleotide-binding step, and that the intermediate-speed transition (phase 3) is associated with the Pi-release step. To account for all the effects of ligands, it is necessary to expand the three-state model into a six-state model that includes three ligand-bound states. The slowest phase of a force transient (phase 4) cannot be explained by any of the models described unless an additional mechanism is introduced. Here we suggest a role of series compliance to account for this phase, and propose a model that correlates the slowest step of the cross-bridge cycle (transition C-->A) to: phase 4 of step analysis, the rate constant k(tr) of the quick-release and restretch experiment, and the rate constant k(act) for force development time course following Ca(2+) activation.

Microstructure, elastic, and inelastic properties of biomorphic carbons carbonized using a Fe-containing catalyst

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orlova, T. S.; Kardashev, B. K.; Smirnov, B. I.; Gutierrez-Pardo, A.; Ramirez-Rico, J.

2016-12-01

The microstructure and amplitude dependences of the Young's modulus E and internal friction (logarithmic decrement δ), and microplastic properties of biocarbon matrices BE-C(Fe) obtained by beech tree carbonization at temperatures T carb = 850-1600°C in the presence of an iron-containing catalyst are studied. By X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy, it is shown that the use of Fe-catalyst during carbonization with T carb ≥ 1000°C leads to the appearance of a bulk graphite phase in the form of nanoscale bulk graphite inclusions in a quasi-amorphous matrix, whose volume fraction and size increase with T carb. The correlation of the obtained dependences E( T carb) and δ( T carb) with microstructure evolution with increasing T carb is revealed. It is found that E is mainly defined by a crystalline phase fraction in the amorphous matrix, i.e., a nanocrystalline phase at T carb < 1150°C and a bulk graphite phase at T carb > 1300°C. Maximum values E = 10-12 GPa are achieved for samples with T carb ≈ 1150 and 1600°C. It is shown that the microplasticity manifest itself only in biocarbons with T carb ≥ 1300°C (upon reaching a significant volume of the graphite phase); in this case, the conditional microyield stress decreases with increasing total volume of introduced mesoporosity (free surface area).

Relations between Mass Change and Frequency Shift of a QCM Sensor in Contact with Viscoelastic Medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Feng; Huang, Xian-He

2013-05-01

We investigate frequency shift of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor introduced by mass effect, and properties of material of its coated viscoelastic film are discussed. The validity of the Sauerbrey relation cannot be held if the viscoelastic properties of the contacting medium are considered. When the QCM sensor with a viscoelastic film works in the gas phase, the viscoelastic properties will introduce an extra mass effect. While in the liquid phase, the missing mass effect can be observed. The experimental results demonstrate that the QCM sensor is sensitive to the viscoelastic properties of the coating film. Properties of the viscoelastic contacting medium should be considered.

Bending nanowire growth in solution by mechanical disturbance.

PubMed

Wang, Chao; Wei, Yujie; Jiang, Hongyuan; Sun, Shouheng

2010-06-09

The effect of mechanical disturbance on one-dimensional nanocrystal growth in solution phase is investigated by controlled growth of Au nanowires with and without stirring. While a static growth leads to straight, single-crystal Au nanowires, the mechanic disturbance by stirring tends to bend the nanowire growth, yielding nanowire kinks abundant in various types of crystal defects including dislocations, twin boundaries, and grain boundaries. Mechanical modeling and analysis is introduced to elucidate the nanowire growth mechanisms in these two conditions. The provided fundamental understanding of crystal defect formation at nanoscale could be applied to guide the development of advanced nanomaterials with shape control and unique mechanical properties.

Estimation of sample size and testing power (Part 4).

PubMed

Hu, Liang-ping; Bao, Xiao-lei; Guan, Xue; Zhou, Shi-guo

2012-01-01

Sample size estimation is necessary for any experimental or survey research. An appropriate estimation of sample size based on known information and statistical knowledge is of great significance. This article introduces methods of sample size estimation of difference test for data with the design of one factor with two levels, including sample size estimation formulas and realization based on the formulas and the POWER procedure of SAS software for quantitative data and qualitative data with the design of one factor with two levels. In addition, this article presents examples for analysis, which will play a leading role for researchers to implement the repetition principle during the research design phase.

Real-time radar signal processing using GPGPU (general-purpose graphic processing unit)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, Fanxing; Zhang, Yan Rockee; Cai, Jingxiao; Palmer, Robert D.

2016-05-01

This study introduces a practical approach to develop real-time signal processing chain for general phased array radar on NVIDIA GPUs(Graphical Processing Units) using CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) libraries such as cuBlas and cuFFT, which are adopted from open source libraries and optimized for the NVIDIA GPUs. The processed results are rigorously verified against those from the CPUs. Performance benchmarked in computation time with various input data cube sizes are compared across GPUs and CPUs. Through the analysis, it will be demonstrated that GPGPUs (General Purpose GPU) real-time processing of the array radar data is possible with relatively low-cost commercial GPUs.

Strain Imaging of Nanoscale Semiconductor Heterostructures with X-Ray Bragg Projection Ptychography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holt, Martin V.; Hruszkewycz, Stephan O.; Murray, Conal E.; Holt, Judson R.; Paskiewicz, Deborah M.; Fuoss, Paul H.

2014-04-01

We report the imaging of nanoscale distributions of lattice strain and rotation in complementary components of lithographically engineered epitaxial thin film semiconductor heterostructures using synchrotron x-ray Bragg projection ptychography (BPP). We introduce a new analysis method that enables lattice rotation and out-of-plane strain to be determined independently from a single BPP phase reconstruction, and we apply it to two laterally adjacent, multiaxially stressed materials in a prototype channel device. These results quantitatively agree with mechanical modeling and demonstrate the ability of BPP to map out-of-plane lattice dilatation, a parameter critical to the performance of electronic materials.

Structural and dielectric studies of Ce doped BaSnO3 perovskite nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Angel, S. Lilly; Deepa, K.; Rajamanickam, N.; Jayakumar, K.; Ramachandran, K.

2018-04-01

Undoped and Cerium (Ce) doped BaSnO3(BSO) nanostructures were synthesized by co-precipitation method. The cubic structure and perovskite phase were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The crystallite size of BSO is 41nm and when Ce ion concentration is increased, the crystallite sizesdecreased. The nanocube, nanocuboids and nanorods are observed from SEM analysis. The purity of the undoped and doped samples are confirmed by EDS spectrum. For larger defects, wide band gap was obtained from UV-Vis and PL spectrum. The dielectric constants are increased at low frequencies when Ce impurities are introduced in the BSO matrix at Sn site.

Circular stapler introducer: a novel device to facilitate stapled colorectal anastomosis.

PubMed

Guweidhi, Ahmed; Steffen, Rudolf; Metzger, Alejandro; Teuscher, Jürg; Flückiger, Petra; Z'graggen, Kaspar

2009-04-01

A circular stapler introducer was developed to protect the head of the circular stapler and enable atraumatic introduction and advancement of the circular stapler without interfering with the application and safety of an anastomosis. In a Phase I prospective study, we tested the feasibility and safety of the novel circular stapler introducer device in 60 consecutive patients undergoing left-sided colorectal resections. The median distance of the anastomoses from the anal verge was 12 cm (7-20, n = 60). Total morbidity was 15 percent. No mortality was observed. Handling of the circular stapler introducer was considered nonproblematic by all surgeons who participated in the study. No interference of the circular stapler introducer with the circular stapling devices used was encountered. The advancement of the stapler into the end of the colorectal stump was always possible with the aid of the circular stapler introducer. Use of the circular stapler introducer facilitates the double-stapling technique of colorectal anastomosis. The circular stapler introducer has great potential and should be tested in larger studies.

RP-HPLC×HILIC chromatography for quantifying ertapenem sodium with a look at green chemistry.

PubMed

Pedroso, Tahisa M; Medeiros, Ana C D; Salgado, Herida R N

2016-11-01

Ertapenem sodium is a polar and ionizable compound; therefore, it has little retention on traditional C18 columns in reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, even using a highly-aqueous mobile phase that can result in dewetting in the stationary phase. Thus, the most coherent process for ERTM is to develop a method for Hydrophilic Interaction Chromatography. However, for the traditional methods in HILIC, the use of a highly organic mobile phase is necessary; usually an amount exceeding 80% acetonitrile is necessary. On the other hand, the RP-HPLC mode is considered for the analysis technique, which is more often used for quantification of substances, and new columns are often introduced to analyze different groups of compounds. Two new analytical methods have been developed for routine analysis. The proposed chromatographic method was adequate and advantageous by presenting simplicity, linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness, detection limits, and satisfactory quantification. Analytical methods are constantly undergoing changes and improvements. Researchers worldwide are rapidly adopting Green Chemistry. The development of new pharmaceutical methods based in Green chemistry has been encouraged by universities and the pharmaceutical industry. Issues related to green chemistry are in evidence and they have been featured in international journals of high impact. The methods described here have economic advantages and they feature an eco-friendly focus, which is discussed in this work. This work was developed with an environmental conscience, always looking to minimize the possible generated organic waste. Therefore, discussion on this aspect is included. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ultra-wideband microwave photonic phase shifter with configurable amplitude response.

PubMed

Pagani, M; Marpaung, D; Eggleton, B J

2014-10-15

We introduce a new principle that enables separate control of the amplitude and phase of an optical carrier, simply by controlling the power of two stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) pumps. This technique is used to implement a microwave photonic phase shifter with record performance, which solves the bandwidth limitation of previous gain-transparent SBS-based phase shifters, while achieving unprecedented minimum power fluctuations, as a function of phase shift. We demonstrate 360° continuously tunable phase shift, with less than 0.25 dB output power fluctuations, over a frequency band from 1.5 to 31 GHz, limited only by the measurement equipment.

Machine protection system for rotating equipment and method

DOEpatents

Lakshminarasimha, Arkalgud N.; Rucigay, Richard J.; Ozgur, Dincer

2003-01-01

A machine protection system and method for rotating equipment introduces new alarming features and makes use of full proximity probe sensor information, including amplitude and phase. Baseline vibration amplitude and phase data is estimated and tracked according to operating modes of the rotating equipment. Baseline vibration and phase data can be determined using a rolling average and variance and stored in a unit circle or tracked using short term average and long term average baselines. The sensed vibration amplitude and phase is compared with the baseline vibration amplitude and phase data. Operation of the rotating equipment can be controlled based on the vibration amplitude and phase.

Exploring the use of tablet technology as a teaching tool at Kolej Matrikulasi Perak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohamad Amirnudin, Mohamad Tahar; Sulaiman, Hajar

2013-04-01

The use of technology in teaching and learning (T&L) of mathematics is gaining popularity these days. There are various technologies that are designed to facilitate the process of learning, such as graphic calculators, three-dimensional projectors and multimedia softwares. Tablet is a portable technology used as a tool for communication and information search. In addition, it can also be used as a teaching aid. Galaxy Tab (tab) is a tablet produced by the giant company SAMSUNG which uses Android operating system. For this study, the researcher had to download and install the two softwares, SynSpace and Google + into the tab. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of tabs in the T&L of mathematics and get the students' perceptions. This study is divided into five phases. In Phase One, the researcher prepared the lesson plan. In the Second Phase, a workshop was conducted to introduce the students to the basic use of tab which contained two modules: Module 1 was on Syncspace Applications and Module 2 was on Google+. Third phase involves teaching and learning mathematics using tab. In Phase Four, questionnaires were distributed and then collected to obtain the data for analysis. In Phase Five, the collected data was analyzed using simple statistics involving frequency tables and bar charts. The findings showed that the use of tab in teaching and learning mathematics was accepted very by the students at Kolej Matrikulasi Perak.

Relative Effects of Daily Feedback and Weekly Feedback on Customer Service Behavior at a Gas Station

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

So, Yongjoon; Lee, Kyehoon; Oah, Shezeen

2013-01-01

The relative effects of daily and weekly feedback on customer service behavior at a gas station were assessed using an ABC within-subjects design. Four critical service behaviors were identified and measured daily. After baseline (A), weekly feedback (B) was introduced, and daily feedback (C) was introduced in the next phase. The results indicated…

Distribution and occupancy of introduced species: a baseline inventory from Phase 3 plots across the country

Treesearch

Bethany K. Schulz; W. Keith Moser

2012-01-01

Invasive plant species have significant negative impacts in many ecosystems and are found in many forests around the world. Although not all introduced species become invasive, there are numerous examples of species escaping cultivation and invading natural ecosystems years or even decades after their initial introduction. Regional distributions of invasive species are...

Examining the prevalence, role and impact of evidence regarding Antisocial Personality, sociopathy and psychopathy in capital cases: a survey of defense team members.

PubMed

Edens, John F; Cox, Jennifer

2012-01-01

Although anecdotal case accounts suggest that evidence concerning Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD), sociopathy and psychopathy is frequently introduced by the prosecution in capital murder trials, to date there has been no systematic research to determine the actual prevalence, role, or perceived impact of such evidence in these cases. Survey data collected from attendees at a national capital mitigation conference (n=41) indicated that prosecution evidence concerning APD was quite prevalent, with "sociopath" and "psychopath" labels being introduced less frequently. Evidence concerning these disorders, which were assessed primarily via DSM criteria and self-report personality inventories, was most often introduced by the prosecution in the sentencing phase to address a defendant's ostensible risk of future dangerousness and/or to rebut mitigating evidence-although it was also introduced frequently in the guilt/innocence phase of these trials to rebut mental health evidence offered by the defense. Survey respondents believed that evidence concerning APD, sociopathy, and psychopathy had a considerable impact on trial outcomes. Also, although defense objections were common, such evidence was rarely ruled to be inadmissible in these cases. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Welding Materials. Pre-Apprenticeship Phase 1 Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane Community Coll., Eugene, OR.

This student training module on welding materials is one of three modules (see CE 032 889-890) on welding developed for Pre-Apprenticeship Phase 1 Training. (A companion instructor's guide is available separately as CE 032 888.) The modules are designed to introduce trade knowledge and skills to the student. This module contains a cover sheet…

Phase diagram and thermal properties of strong-interaction matter

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

Gao, Fei; Chen, Jing; Liu, Yu-Xin

2016-05-20

We introduce a novel method for computing the (μ, T)-dependent pressure in continuum QCD, from which we obtain a complex phase diagram and predictions for thermal properties of the dressed-quark component of the system, providing the in-medium behavior of the related trace anomaly, speed of sound, latent heat, and heat capacity.

Ethnographic Decision Tree Modeling: A Research Method for Counseling Psychology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beck, Kirk A.

2005-01-01

This article describes ethnographic decision tree modeling (EDTM; C. H. Gladwin, 1989) as a mixed method design appropriate for counseling psychology research. EDTM is introduced and located within a postpositivist research paradigm. Decision theory that informs EDTM is reviewed, and the 2 phases of EDTM are highlighted. The 1st phase, model…

Infinite-mode squeezed coherent states and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics (phase-space-picture approach)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yeh, Leehwa

1993-01-01

The phase-space-picture approach to quantum non-equilibrium statistical mechanics via the characteristic function of infinite-mode squeezed coherent states is introduced. We use quantum Brownian motion as an example to show how this approach provides an interesting geometrical interpretation of quantum non-equilibrium phenomena.

Fun with Phase Changes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Purvis, David

2006-01-01

A lot of good elementary science involves studying solids, liquids, and gases, and some inquiry-based activities that are easy to set up and do. In this article, the author presents activities pertaining to simple phase change. Using water as the example, these activities introduce upper-grade students to the idea of the arrangement of molecules…

Instructional Film Research and the Learner.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowie, Melvin McKinney

A brief discussion of three phases in research on instructional films--whether films can teach (approximately 1910-1950), how films teach (1940 through the late 1950s), and who learns from films (1960-1985)--introduces a review of the research literature on the third phase. The experimental studies reviewed focus on three concerns: (1) use of…

Beyond Sex: The Influence of Gender Perceptions on Hiring Decisions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horn, Jennifer L.; Gaeddert, William P.

Recently, the concept of gender has been introduced as a possible influence on hiring bias. To examine the relationship between gender perception and bias in hiring, a two-part study was conducted. In the initial phase, 99 college students developed descriptions of applicants that reflected gender characteristics. In the second phase, 63 college…

A modified multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification method for the detection of 22q11.2 copy number variations in patients with congenital heart disease.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaoqing; Xu, Yuejuan; Liu, Deyuan; Geng, Juan; Chen, Sun; Jiang, Zhengwen; Fu, Qihua; Sun, Kun

2015-05-08

Copy number variations (CNVs) of chromosomal region 22q11.2 are associated with a subset of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Accurate and efficient detection of CNV is important for genetic analysis of CHD. The aim of the study was to introduce a novel approach named CNVplex®, a high-throughput analysis technique designed for efficient detection of chromosomal CNVs, and to explore the prevalence of sub-chromosomal imbalances in 22q11.2 loci in patients with CHD from a single institute. We developed a novel technique, CNVplex®, for high-throughput detection of sub-chromosomal copy number aberrations. Modified from the multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) method, it introduced a lengthening ligation system and four universal primer sets, which simplified the synthesis of probes and significantly improved the flexibility of the experiment. We used 110 samples, which were extensively characterized with chromosomal microarray analysis and MLPA, to validate the performance of the newly developed method. Furthermore, CNVplex® was used to screen for sub-chromosomal imbalances in 22q11.2 loci in 818 CHD patients consecutively enrolled from Shanghai Children's Medical Center. In the methodology development phase, CNVplex® detected all copy number aberrations that were previously identified with both chromosomal microarray analysis and MLPA, demonstrating 100% sensitivity and specificity. In the validation phase, 22q11.2 deletion and 22q11.2 duplication were detected in 39 and 1 of 818 patients with CHD by CNVplex®, respectively. Our data demonstrated that the frequency of 22q11.2 deletion varied among sub-groups of CHD patients. Notably, 22q11.2 deletion was more commonly observed in cases with conotruncal defect (CTD) than in cases with non-CTD (P<0.001). With higher resolution and more probes against selected chromosomal loci, CNVplex® also identified several individuals with small CNVs and alterations in other chromosomes. CNVplex® is sensitive and specific in its detection of CNVs, and it is an alternative to MLPA for batch screening of pathogenetic CNVs in known genomic loci.

Frequency-locked pulse sequencer for high-frame-rate monochromatic tissue motion imaging.

PubMed

Azar, Reza Zahiri; Baghani, Ali; Salcudean, Septimiu E; Rohling, Robert

2011-04-01

To overcome the inherent low frame rate of conventional ultrasound, we have previously presented a system that can be implemented on conventional ultrasound scanners for high-frame-rate imaging of monochromatic tissue motion. The system employs a sector subdivision technique in the sequencer to increase the acquisition rate. To eliminate the delays introduced during data acquisition, a motion phase correction algorithm has also been introduced to create in-phase displacement images. Previous experimental results from tissue- mimicking phantoms showed that the system can achieve effective frame rates of up to a few kilohertz on conventional ultrasound systems. In this short communication, we present a new pulse sequencing strategy that facilitates high-frame-rate imaging of monochromatic motion such that the acquired echo signals are inherently in-phase. The sequencer uses the knowledge of the excitation frequency to synchronize the acquisition of the entire imaging plane to that of an external exciter. This sequencing approach eliminates any need for synchronization or phase correction and has applications in tissue elastography, which we demonstrate with tissue-mimicking phantoms. © 2011 IEEE

Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking of Domain Walls in Phase-Competing Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishizuka, Hiroaki; Yamada, Yasusada; Nagaosa, Naoto

2018-05-01

In this study, we investigate the nature of domain walls in an ordered phase in the phase-competing region of two Ising-type order parameters. We consider a two-component ϕ4 theory and show that the domain wall of the ground-state (primary) order parameter shows a second-order phase transition associated with the secondary order parameter of the competing phase; the effective theory of the phase transition is given by the Landau theory of an Ising-type phase transition. We find that the phase boundary of this phase transition is different from the spinodal line of the competing order. The phase transition is detected experimentally by the divergence of the susceptibility corresponding to the secondary order when the temperature is quenched to introduce the domain walls.

Optoelectrical clock recovery with dispersion monitoring for high speed transmission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, He; Liao, Jinxin; Zheng, Xiaoping; Zhang, Hanyi; Guo, Yili

2010-12-01

The proposed clock recovery scheme introduces electrooptical modulation to down convert the clock frequency facilitating succeeding narrow band filtering by a phase locked loop (PLL) with ordinary radio frequency (RF) devices, further, employs a quadrature phase detector in the PLL to provide an indication signal for monitoring residual dispersion. It was demonstrated in a polarization multiplexed 160-Gbit/s optical non-return to zero quadrature phase shift keying (NRZ-QPSK) transmission system.

Method for the manufacture of phase shifting masks for EUV lithography

DOEpatents

Stearns, Daniel G.; Sweeney, Donald W.; Mirkarimi, Paul B.; Barty, Anton

2006-04-04

A method for fabricating an EUV phase shift mask is provided that includes a substrate upon which is deposited a thin film multilayer coating that has a complex-valued reflectance. An absorber layer or a buffer layer is attached onto the thin film multilayer, and the thickness of the thin film multilayer coating is altered to introduce a direct modulation in the complex-valued reflectance to produce phase shifting features.

Real-time generation of the Wigner distribution of complex functions using phase conjugation in photorefractive materials.

PubMed

Sun, P C; Fainman, Y

1990-09-01

An optical processor for real-time generation of the Wigner distribution of complex amplitude functions is introduced. The phase conjugation of the input signal is accomplished by a highly efficient self-pumped phase conjugator based on a 45 degrees -cut barium titanate photorefractive crystal. Experimental results on the real-time generation of Wigner distribution slices for complex amplitude two-dimensional optical functions are presented and discussed.

Evaluation of Efficiency Improvement in Vital Documentation Using RFID Devices.

PubMed

Kimura, Eizen; Nakai, Miho; Ishihara, Ken

2016-01-01

We introduced medical devices with RFID tags and the terminal with RFID reader in our hospital. Time study was conducted in two phases. In phase I, nurses round as usual, and in phase II, the nurse round the ward with a terminal installed on a cart. This study concluded that RFID system shortens the time for vital sign documentation. However, deploying the terminals at every bedside did not contribute the more time reduction.

Structural Characterisation and Mechanical FE Analysis of Conventional and M-Wire Ni-Ti Alloys Used in Endodontic Rotary Instruments

PubMed Central

Montalvão, Diogo; Alçada, Francisca Sena; Braz Fernandes, Francisco Manuel; de Vilaverde-Correia, Sancho

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to understand how the M-Wire alloy conditions the mechanical flexibility of endodontic rotary files at body temperature.Two different rotary instruments, a Profile GT 20/.06 and a Profile GT Series X 20/.06, were selected due to their geometrical similarity and their different constituent alloy. GT series X files are made from M-Wire, a Ni-Ti alloy allegedly having higher flexibility at body temperature. Both files were analysed by X-Ray Diffraction and Differential Scanning Calorimetry to investigate phase transformations and the effects of working temperature on these different alloys. Mechanical behaviour was assessed by means of static bending and torsional Finite Element simulations, taking into account the nonlinear superelastic behaviour of Ni-Ti materials. It was found that GT files present austenitic phase at body temperature, whereas GT series X present R-phase at temperatures under 40°C with a potential for larger flexibility. For the same load conditions, simulations showed that the slight geometrical differences between the two files do not introduce great disagreement in the instruments' mechanical response. It was confirmed that M-Wire increases the instrument's flexibility, mainly due to the presence of R-phase at body temperature. PMID:24574937

Structural characterisation and mechanical FE analysis of conventional and M-Wire Ni-Ti alloys used in endodontic rotary instruments.

PubMed

Montalvão, Diogo; Alçada, Francisca Sena; Braz Fernandes, Francisco Manuel; de Vilaverde-Correia, Sancho

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to understand how the M-Wire alloy conditions the mechanical flexibility of endodontic rotary files at body temperature.Two different rotary instruments, a Profile GT 20/.06 and a Profile GT Series X 20/.06, were selected due to their geometrical similarity and their different constituent alloy. GT series X files are made from M-Wire, a Ni-Ti alloy allegedly having higher flexibility at body temperature. Both files were analysed by X-Ray Diffraction and Differential Scanning Calorimetry to investigate phase transformations and the effects of working temperature on these different alloys. Mechanical behaviour was assessed by means of static bending and torsional Finite Element simulations, taking into account the nonlinear superelastic behaviour of Ni-Ti materials. It was found that GT files present austenitic phase at body temperature, whereas GT series X present R-phase at temperatures under 40 °C with a potential for larger flexibility. For the same load conditions, simulations showed that the slight geometrical differences between the two files do not introduce great disagreement in the instruments' mechanical response. It was confirmed that M-Wire increases the instrument's flexibility, mainly due to the presence of R-phase at body temperature.

Determination of haloacetic acids in water using layered double hydroxides as a sorbent in dispersive solid-phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Alsharaa, Abdulnaser; Sajid, Muhammad; Basheer, Chanbasha; Alhooshani, Khalid; Lee, Hian Kee

2016-09-01

In the present study, highly efficient and simple dispersive solid-phase extraction procedure for the determination of haloacetic acids in water samples has been established. Three different types of layered double hydroxides were synthesized and used as a sorbent in dispersive solid-phase extraction. Due to the interesting behavior of layered double hydroxides in an acidic medium (pH˂4), the analyte elution step was not needed; the layered double hydroxides are simply dissolved in acid immediately after extraction to release the analytes which are then directly introduced into a liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry system for analysis. Several dispersive solid-phase extraction parameters were optimized to increase the extraction efficiency of haloacetic acids such as temperature, extraction time and pH. Under optimum conditions, good linearity was achieved over the concentration range of 0.05-100 μg/L with detection limits in the range of 0.006-0.05 μg/L. The relative standard deviations were 0.33-3.64% (n = 6). The proposed method was applied to different water samples collected from a drinking water plant to determine the concentrations of haloacetic acids. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Raman spectroscopy analysis of air grown oxide scale developed on pure zirconium substrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurpaska, L.; Favergeon, J.; Lahoche, L.; El-Marssi, M.; Grosseau Poussard, J.-L.; Moulin, G.; Roelandt, J.-M.

2015-11-01

Using Raman spectroscopy technique, external and internal parts of zirconia oxide films developed at 500 °C and 600 °C on pure zirconium substrate under air at normal atmospheric pressure have been examined. Comparison of Raman peak positions of tetragonal and monoclinic zirconia phases, recorded during the oxide growth at elevated temperature, and after cooling at room temperature have been presented. Subsequently, Raman peak positions (or shifts) were interpreted in relation with the stress evolution in the growing zirconia scale, especially closed to the metal/oxide interface, where the influence of compressive stress in the oxide is the biggest. Reported results, for the first time show the presence of a continuous layer of tetragonal zirconia phase developed in the proximity of pure zirconium substrate. Based on the Raman peak positions we prove that this tetragonal layer is stabilized by the high compressive stress and sub-stoichiometry level. Presence of the tetragonal phase located in the outer part of the scale have been confirmed, yet its Raman characteristics suggest a stress-free tetragonal phase, therefore different type of stabilization mechanism. Presented study suggest that its stabilization could be related to the lattice defects introduced by highstoichiometry of zirconia or presence of heterovalent cations.

Isomorphism and solid solutions among Ag- and Au-selenides

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

Palyanova, Galina A.; Seryotkin, Yurii V.; Novosibirsk State University

Au-Ag selenides were synthesized by heating stoichiometric mixtures of elementary substances of initial compositions Ag{sub 2−x}Au{sub x}Se with a step of x=0.25 (0≤x≤2) to 1050 °C and annealing at 500 °C. Scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, electron microprobe analysis and X-ray powder diffraction methods have been applied to study synthesized samples. Results of studies of synthesized products revealed the existence of three solid solutions with limited isomorphism Ag↔Au: naumannite Ag{sub 2}Se – Ag{sub 1.94}Au{sub 0.06}Se, fischesserite Ag{sub 3}AuSe{sub 2} - Ag{sub 3.2}Au{sub 0.8}Se{sub 2} and gold selenide AuSe - Au{sub 0.94}Ag{sub 0.06}Se. Solid solutions and AgAuSe phases were added tomore » the phase diagram of Ag-Au-Se system. Crystal-chemical interpretation of Ag-Au isomorphism in selenides was made on the basis of structural features of fischesserite, naumannite, and AuSe. - Highlights: • Au-Ag selenides were synthesized. • Limited Ag-Au isomorphism in the selenides is affected by structural features. • Some new phases were introduced to the phase diagram Ag-Au-Se.« less

Electric field controlled emulsion phase contactor

DOEpatents

Scott, Timothy C.

1995-01-01

A system for contacting liquid phases comprising a column for transporting a liquid phase contacting system, the column having upper and lower regions. The upper region has a nozzle for introducing a dispersed phase and means for applying thereto a vertically oriented high intensity pulsed electric field. This electric field allows improved flow rates while shattering the dispersed phase into many micro-droplets upon exiting the nozzle to form a dispersion within a continuous phase. The lower region employs means for applying to the dispersed phase a horizontally oriented high intensity pulsed electric field so that the dispersed phase undergoes continuous coalescence and redispersion while being urged from side to side as it progresses through the system, increasing greatly the mass transfer opportunity.

Method of using an electric field controlled emulsion phase contactor

DOEpatents

Scott, Timothy C.

1993-01-01

A system for contacting liquid phases comprising a column for transporting a liquid phase contacting system, the column having upper and lower regions. The upper region has a nozzle for introducing a dispersed phase and means for applying thereto a vertically oriented high intensity pulsed electric field. This electric field allows improved flow rates while shattering the dispersed phase into many micro-droplets upon exiting the nozzle to form a dispersion within a continuous phase. The lower region employs means for applying to the dispersed phase a horizontally oriented high intensity pulsed electric field so that the dispersed phase undergoes continuous coalescence and redispersion while being urged from side to side as it progresses through the system, increasing greatly the mass transfer opportunity.

Electric field controlled emulsion phase contactor

DOEpatents

Scott, T.C.

1995-01-31

A system is described for contacting liquid phases comprising a column for transporting a liquid phase contacting system, the column having upper and lower regions. The upper region has a nozzle for introducing a dispersed phase and means for applying thereto a vertically oriented high intensity pulsed electric field. This electric field allows improved flow rates while shattering the dispersed phase into many micro-droplets upon exiting the nozzle to form a dispersion within a continuous phase. The lower region employs means for applying to the dispersed phase a horizontally oriented high intensity pulsed electric field so that the dispersed phase undergoes continuous coalescence and redispersion while being urged from side to side as it progresses through the system, increasing greatly the mass transfer opportunity. 5 figs.

On-Line Detection and Segmentation of Sports Motions Using a Wearable Sensor.

PubMed

Kim, Woosuk; Kim, Myunggyu

2018-03-19

In sports motion analysis, observation is a prerequisite for understanding the quality of motions. This paper introduces a novel approach to detect and segment sports motions using a wearable sensor for supporting systematic observation. The main goal is, for convenient analysis, to automatically provide motion data, which are temporally classified according to the phase definition. For explicit segmentation, a motion model is defined as a sequence of sub-motions with boundary states. A sequence classifier based on deep neural networks is designed to detect sports motions from continuous sensor inputs. The evaluation on two types of motions (soccer kicking and two-handed ball throwing) verifies that the proposed method is successful for the accurate detection and segmentation of sports motions. By developing a sports motion analysis system using the motion model and the sequence classifier, we show that the proposed method is useful for observation of sports motions by automatically providing relevant motion data for analysis.

Development of image analysis software for quantification of viable cells in microchips.

PubMed

Georg, Maximilian; Fernández-Cabada, Tamara; Bourguignon, Natalia; Karp, Paola; Peñaherrera, Ana B; Helguera, Gustavo; Lerner, Betiana; Pérez, Maximiliano S; Mertelsmann, Roland

2018-01-01

Over the past few years, image analysis has emerged as a powerful tool for analyzing various cell biology parameters in an unprecedented and highly specific manner. The amount of data that is generated requires automated methods for the processing and analysis of all the resulting information. The software available so far are suitable for the processing of fluorescence and phase contrast images, but often do not provide good results from transmission light microscopy images, due to the intrinsic variation of the acquisition of images technique itself (adjustment of brightness / contrast, for instance) and the variability between image acquisition introduced by operators / equipment. In this contribution, it has been presented an image processing software, Python based image analysis for cell growth (PIACG), that is able to calculate the total area of the well occupied by cells with fusiform and rounded morphology in response to different concentrations of fetal bovine serum in microfluidic chips, from microscopy images in transmission light, in a highly efficient way.

Online differentiation of mineral phase in aerosol particles by ion formation mechanism using a LAAP-TOF single-particle mass spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marsden, Nicholas A.; Flynn, Michael J.; Allan, James D.; Coe, Hugh

2018-01-01

Mineralogy of silicate mineral dust has a strong influence on climate and ecosystems due to variation in physiochemical properties that result from differences in composition and crystal structure (mineral phase). Traditional offline methods of analysing mineral phase are labour intensive and the temporal resolution of the data is much longer than many atmospheric processes. Single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS) is an established technique for the online size-resolved measurement of particle composition by laser desorption ionisation (LDI) followed by time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS). Although non-quantitative, the technique is able to identify the presence of silicate minerals in airborne dust particles from markers of alkali metals and silicate molecular ions in the mass spectra. However, the differentiation of mineral phase in silicate particles by traditional mass spectral peak area measurements is not possible. This is because instrument function and matrix effects in the ionisation process result in variations in instrument response that are greater than the differences in composition between common mineral phases.In this study, we introduce a novel technique that enables the differentiation of mineral phase in silicate mineral particles by ion formation mechanism measured from subtle changes in ion arrival times at the TOF-MS detector. Using a combination of peak area and peak centroid measurements, we show that the arrangement of the interstitial alkali metals in the crystal structure, an important property in silicate mineralogy, influences the ion arrival times of elemental and molecular ion species in the negative ion mass spectra. A classification scheme is presented that allowed for the differentiation of illite-smectite, kaolinite and feldspar minerals on a single-particle basis. Online analysis of mineral dust aerosol generated from clay mineral standards produced mineral fractions that are in agreement with bulk measurements reported by traditional XRD (X-ray diffraction) analysis.

A Novel Approach to Beam Steering Using Arrays Composed of Multiple Unique Radiating Modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labadie, Nathan Richard

Phased array antennas have found wide application in both radar and wireless communications systems particularly as implementation costs continue to decrease. The primary advantages of electronically scanned arrays are speed of beam scan and versatility of beamforming compared to mechanically scanned fixed beam antennas. These benefits come at the cost of a few well known design issues including element pattern rolloff and mutual coupling between elements. Our primary contribution to the field of research is the demonstration of significant improvement in phased array scan performance using multiple unique radiating modes. In short, orthogonal radiating modes have minimal coupling by definition and can also be generated with reduced rolloff at wide scan angles. In this dissertation, we present a combination of analysis, full-wave electromagnetic simulation and measured data to support our claims. The novel folded ring resonator (FRR) antenna is introduced as a wideband and multi-band element embedded in a grounded dielectric substrate. Multiple radiating modes of a small ground plane excited by a four element FRR array were also investigated. A novel hemispherical null steering antenna composed of two collocated radiating elements, each supporting a unique radiating mode, is presented in the context of an anti-jam GPS receiver application. Both the antenna aperture and active feed network were fabricated and measured showing excellent agreement with analytical and simulated data. The concept of using an antenna supporting multiple radiating modes for beam steering is also explored. A 16 element hybrid linear phased array was fabricated and measured demonstrating significantly improved scan range and scanned gain compared to a conventional phased array. This idea is expanded to 2 dimensional scanning arrays by analysis and simulation of a hybrid phased array composed of novel multiple mode monopole on patch antenna sub-arrays. Finally, we fabricated and characterized the 2D scanning hybrid phased array demonstrating wide angle scanning with high antenna efficiency.

Robust phase recovery in temporal speckle pattern interferometry using a 3D directional wavelet transform.

PubMed

Federico, Alejandro; Kaufmann, Guillermo H

2009-08-01

We propose an approach based on a 3D directional wavelet transform to retrieve optical phase distributions in temporal speckle pattern interferometry. We show that this approach can effectively recover phase distributions in time series of speckle interferograms that are affected by sets of adjacent nonmodulated pixels. The performance of this phase retrieval approach is analyzed by introducing a temporal carrier in the out-of-plane interferometer setup and assuming modulation loss and noise effects. The advantages and limitations of this approach are finally discussed.

Topological Luttinger liquids from decorated domain walls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parker, Daniel E.; Scaffidi, Thomas; Vasseur, Romain

2018-04-01

We introduce a systematic construction of a gapless symmetry-protected topological phase in one dimension by "decorating" the domain walls of Luttinger liquids. The resulting strongly interacting phases provide a concrete example of a gapless symmetry-protected topological (gSPT) phase with robust symmetry-protected edge modes. Using boundary conformal field theory arguments, we show that while the bulks of such gSPT phases are identical to conventional Luttinger liquids, their boundary critical behavior is controlled by a different, strongly coupled renormalization group fixed point. Our results are checked against extensive density matrix renormalization group calculations.

Dual-wavelength phase-shifting digital holography selectively extracting wavelength information from wavelength-multiplexed holograms.

PubMed

Tahara, Tatsuki; Mori, Ryota; Kikunaga, Shuhei; Arai, Yasuhiko; Takaki, Yasuhiro

2015-06-15

Dual-wavelength phase-shifting digital holography that selectively extracts wavelength information from five wavelength-multiplexed holograms is presented. Specific phase shifts for respective wavelengths are introduced to remove the crosstalk components and extract only the object wave at the desired wavelength from the holograms. Object waves in multiple wavelengths are selectively extracted by utilizing 2π ambiguity and the subtraction procedures based on phase-shifting interferometry. Numerical results show the validity of the proposed technique. The proposed technique is also experimentally demonstrated.

Large-scale collision cross-section profiling on a travelling wave ion mobility mass spectrometer

PubMed Central

Lietz, Christopher B.; Yu, Qing; Li, Lingjun

2014-01-01

Ion mobility (IM) is a gas-phase electrophoretic method that separates ions according to charge and ion-neutral collision cross-section (CCS). Herein, we attempt to apply a travelling wave (TW) IM polyalanine calibration method to shotgun proteomics and create a large peptide CCS database. Mass spectrometry methods that utilize IM, such as HDMSE, often use high transmission voltages for sensitive analysis. However, polyalanine calibration has only been demonstrated with low voltage transmission used to prevent gas-phase activation. If polyalanine ions change conformation under higher transmission voltages used for HDMSE, the calibration may no longer be valid. Thus, we aimed to characterize the accuracy of calibration and CCS measurement under high transmission voltages on a TW IM instrument using the polyalanine calibration method and found that the additional error was not significant. We also evaluated the potential error introduced by liquid chromatography (LC)-HDMSE analysis, and found it to be insignificant as well, validating the calibration method. Finally, we demonstrated the utility of building a large-population peptide CCS database by investigating the effects of terminal lysine position, via LysC or LysN digestion, on the formation of two structural sub-families formed by triply charged ions. PMID:24845359

Asymptotic behavior of modulated Taylor-Couette flows with a crystalline inner cylinder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Braun, R. J.; Mcfadden, G. B.; Murray, B. T.; Coriell, S. R.; Glicksman, M. E.; Selleck, M. E.

1993-01-01

The linear stability of a modulated Taylor-Couette system when the inner cylindrical boundary consists of a crystalline solid-liquid interface is considered. Both experimentally and in numerical calculations it is found that the two-phase system is significantly less stable than the analogous rigid-walled system for materials with moderately large Prandtl numbers. A numerical treatment based on Floquet theory is described, which gives results that are in good agreement with preliminary experimental findings. In addition, this instability is further examined by carrying out a formal asymptotic expansion of the solution in the limit of large Prandtl number. In this limit the Floquet analysis is considerably simplified, and the linear stability of the modulated system can be determined to leading order through a conventional stability analysis, without recourse to Floquet theory. The resulting simplified problem is then studied for both the narrow gap geometry and for the case of a finite gap. It is surprising that the determination of the linear stability of the two-phase system is considerably simpler than that of the rigid-walled system, despite the complications introduced by the presence of the crystal-melt interface.

Lipidomic fingerprint of almonds (Prunus dulcis L. cv Nonpareil) using TiO₂ nanoparticle based matrix solid-phase dispersion and MALDI-TOF/MS and its potential in geographical origin verification.

PubMed

Shen, Qing; Dong, Wei; Yang, Mei; Li, Linqiu; Cheung, Hon-Yeung; Zhang, Zhifeng

2013-08-14

A matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) procedure with titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NP) as sorbent was developed for the selective extraction of phospholipids from almond samples, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS) was employed for analysis. A remarkable increase in the signals of phospholipid accompanied by a decrease in those of triacylglycerols and diacylglycerols was observed in the relevant mass spectra. The proposed method was applied to five batches of almonds originating from four geographical areas, whereas principal component analysis (PCA) was utilized to normalize the relative amounts of the identified phospholipid species. The results indicated that the lipidomic fingerprint of almonds was successfully established by the negative ion mode spectrum, and the ratio of m/z 833.6 to 835.6 as well as m/z 821.6 could be introduced as potential markers for the differentiation of the tested almonds with different geographical origins. The whole method is of great promise for selective separation of phospholipids from nonphospholipids, especially the glycerides, and superior in fast screening and characterization of phospholipids in almond samples.

Maghemite nanoparticles with enhanced magnetic properties: one-pot preparation and ultrastable dextran shell.

PubMed

Di Corato, Riccardo; Aloisi, Alessandra; Rella, Simona; Greneche, Jean-Marc; Pugliese, Giammarino; Pellegrino, Teresa; Malitesta, Cosimino; Rinaldi, Rosaria

2018-05-10

In the field on nanomedicine, superparamagnetic nanoparticles are one of the most studied nanomaterials for theranostics. In this paper, a one-pot synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles is presented, with elevated control on particles size from 10 to 40 nm. The monitoring of vacuum level is here introduced as a crucial parameter for achieving a fine particle morphology. Magnetic properties of these nanoparticles are highly affected by disorders or mismatches in crystal structure. A prolonged oxidation step is applied to the obtained nanoparticles to transform the magnetic phases into a pure maghemite one, confirmed by a high resolution XPS analysis, by Mössbauer spectrometry and, indirectly, by increased performances in magnetization curves and in relaxation times. Afterward, the attained nanoparticles are transferred in water by a non-derivatized dextran coating. The thermogravimetric analysis confirms that the polysaccharide molecules replace the oleic acid on the surface by stabilizing the particles in aqueous phase and culture media. Preliminary in vitro test reveals as the dextran coated nanoparticles are not passively internalized from the cells. As proof of concept, a secondary layer of chitosan assures a positive charge to the nanoparticle surface, thus enhancing the cellular internalization.

Application of Colorimetric Solid Phase Extraction (C-SPE) to Monitoring Nickel(II) and Lead(II) in Spacecraft Water Supplies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diaz, Neil C.; Gazda, Daniel B.; Fritz, James S.; Porter, Marc D.; Rutz, Jeff; Mudgett, Paul; Schultz, John

2004-01-01

Archived water samples collected on the International Space Station (ISS) and returned to Earth for analysis have, in a few instances, contained trace levels of heavy metals. Building on our previous advances using Colorimetric Solid Phase Extraction (C-SPE) as a biocide monitoring technique, we are devising methods for the low level monitoring of nickel(II), lead(II) and other heavy metals. C-SPE is a sorption-spectrophotometric platform based on the extraction of analytes onto a membrane impregnated with a colorimetric reagent that are then quantified on the surface of the membrane using a diffuse reflectance spectrophotometer. Along these lines, we have determined nickel(II) via complexation with dimethylglyoxime (DMG) and begun to examine the analysis of lead(II) by its reaction with 2,5- dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole (DMTD) and 4-(2- pyridylazo)-resorcinol (PAR). These developments are also extending a new variant of C-SPE in which immobilized reagents are being incorporated into this methodology in order to optimize sample reaction conditions and to introduce the colorimetric reagent. This paper describes the status of our development of these two new methods.

Non-Thermal Plasma in Contact with Water: The Origin of Species.

PubMed

Gorbanev, Yury; O'Connell, Deborah; Chechik, Victor

2016-03-01

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma has attracted considerable attention in recent years due to its potential for biomedical applications. Determining the mechanism of the formation of reactive species in liquid treated with plasma is thus of paramount importance for both fundamental and applied research. In this work, the origin of reactive species in plasma-treated aqueous solutions was investigated by using spin-trapping, hydrogen and oxygen isotopic labelling and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The species originating from molecules in the liquid phase and those introduced with the feed gas were differentiated by EPR and 1 H NMR analysis of liquid samples. The effects of water vapour and oxygen admixtures in the feed gas were investigated. All the reactive species detected in the liquid samples were shown to be formed largely in the plasma gas phase. It is suggested that hydrogen peroxide (determined by UV/Vis analysis) is formed primarily in the plasma tube, whereas the radical species ⋅OOH, ⋅OH and ⋅H are proposed to originate from the region between the plasma nozzle and the liquid sample. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

Windowed Multitaper Correlation Analysis of Multimodal Brain Monitoring Parameters

PubMed Central

Proescholdt, Martin A.; Bele, Sylvia; Brawanski, Alexander

2015-01-01

Although multimodal monitoring sets the standard in daily practice of neurocritical care, problem-oriented analysis tools to interpret the huge amount of data are lacking. Recently a mathematical model was presented that simulates the cerebral perfusion and oxygen supply in case of a severe head trauma, predicting the appearance of distinct correlations between arterial blood pressure and intracranial pressure. In this study we present a set of mathematical tools that reliably detect the predicted correlations in data recorded at a neurocritical care unit. The time resolved correlations will be identified by a windowing technique combined with Fourier-based coherence calculations. The phasing of the data is detected by means of Hilbert phase difference within the above mentioned windows. A statistical testing method is introduced that allows tuning the parameters of the windowing method in such a way that a predefined accuracy is reached. With this method the data of fifteen patients were examined in which we found the predicted correlation in each patient. Additionally it could be shown that the occurrence of a distinct correlation parameter, called scp, represents a predictive value of high quality for the patients outcome. PMID:25821507

Production and physico-chemical characterisation of nanoparticles.

PubMed

Schulze Isfort, C; Rochnia, M

2009-05-08

Synthetic nanoscaled metal oxides are mainly produced by pyrogenic decomposition of precursors in the gas phase using a hot-wall or plasma reactor. Due to their low production rate and limited scalability, these processes are of minor technical relevance in manufacturing commercial quantities of nanoparticles. The most common and by far the most important industrial process is flame hydrolysis. In this process, a gaseous mixture of a metal chloride precursor, hydrogen and air is introduced in a closed and continuously operated flame reactor. The general mechanism of formation and growth of particles (e.g. silica) occurring in the flame is dominated by nucleation, coalescence (sintering) and coagulation (collision) of primary particles forming aggregated structures. The term 'aggregate' describes clusters of particles held together by strong chemical bonds. Agglomerates, however, are defined as loose accumulations of particles held together by hydrogen bonds for example. Although, a variety of physico-chemical methods exist to characterise pyrogenic oxides, the most important ones are analysis of the specific surface area by the so-called BET method, determination of the aggregate size by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and characterisation of the phase composition by means of X-ray analysis.

Beamforming array techniques for acoustic emission monitoring of large concrete structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McLaskey, Gregory C.; Glaser, Steven D.; Grosse, Christian U.

2010-06-01

This paper introduces a novel method of acoustic emission (AE) analysis which is particularly suited for field applications on large plate-like reinforced concrete structures, such as walls and bridge decks. Similar to phased-array signal processing techniques developed for other non-destructive evaluation methods, this technique adapts beamforming tools developed for passive sonar and seismological applications for use in AE source localization and signal discrimination analyses. Instead of relying on the relatively weak P-wave, this method uses the energy-rich Rayleigh wave and requires only a small array of 4-8 sensors. Tests on an in-service reinforced concrete structure demonstrate that the azimuth of an artificial AE source can be determined via this method for sources located up to 3.8 m from the sensor array, even when the P-wave is undetectable. The beamforming array geometry also allows additional signal processing tools to be implemented, such as the VESPA process (VElocity SPectral Analysis), whereby the arrivals of different wave phases are identified by their apparent velocity of propagation. Beamforming AE can reduce sampling rate and time synchronization requirements between spatially distant sensors which in turn facilitates the use of wireless sensor networks for this application.

Nurse-delivered universal point-of-care testing for HIV in an open-access returning traveller clinic.

PubMed

Herbert, R; Ashraf, A N; Yates, T A; Spriggs, K; Malinnag, M; Durward-Brown, E; Phillips, D; Mewse, E; Daniel, A; Armstrong, M; Kidd, I M; Waite, J; Wilks, P; Burns, F; Bailey, R; Brown, M

2012-09-01

Early diagnosis of HIV infection reduces morbidity and mortality associated with late presentation. Despite UK guidelines, the HIV testing rate has not increased. We have introduced universal HIV screening in an open-access returning traveller clinic. Data were prospectively recorded for all patients attending the open-access returning traveller clinic between August 2008 and December 2010. HIV testing was offered to all patients from May 2009; initially testing with laboratory samples (phase 1) and subsequently a point-of-care test (POCT) (phase 2). A total of 4965 patients attended the clinic; 1342 in phase 0, 792 in phase 1 and 2831 in phase 2. Testing rates for HIV increased significantly from 2% (38 of 1342) in phase 0 to 23.1% (183 of 792) in phase 1 and further increased to 44.5% (1261 of 2831) during phase 2 (P < 0.0001). Two new diagnoses of HIV-1 were identified in phase 1 (1.1% of tested); seven patients had a reactive POCT test in phase 2, of whom five (0.4% of those tested) were confirmed in a 4th generation assay. The patients with false reactive tests had a concurrent Plasmodium falciparum infection. Patients travelling to the Middle East and Europe were less likely to accept an HIV test with POCT. A nurse-delivered universal point-of-care HIV testing service has been successfully introduced and sustained in an acute medical clinic in a low-prevalence country. Caution is required in communicating reactive results in low-prevalence settings where there may be alternative diagnoses or a low population prevalence of HIV infection. © 2012 British HIV Association.

[Improvement of magnetic resonance phase unwrapping method based on Goldstein Branch-cut algorithm].

PubMed

Guo, Lin; Kang, Lili; Wang, Dandan

2013-02-01

The phase information of magnetic resonance (MR) phase image can be used in many MR imaging techniques, but phase wrapping of the images often results in inaccurate phase information and phase unwrapping is essential for MR imaging techniques. In this paper we analyze the causes of errors in phase unwrapping with the commonly used Goldstein Brunch-cut algorithm and propose an improved algorithm. During the unwrapping process, masking, filtering, dipole- remover preprocessor, and the Prim algorithm of the minimum spanning tree were introduced to optimize the residues essential for the Goldstein Brunch-cut algorithm. Experimental results showed that the residues, branch-cuts and continuous unwrapped phase surface were efficiently reduced and the quality of MR phase images was obviously improved with the proposed method.

Formation of metastable phases by spinodal decomposition

PubMed Central

Alert, Ricard; Tierno, Pietro; Casademunt, Jaume

2016-01-01

Metastable phases may be spontaneously formed from other metastable phases through nucleation. Here we demonstrate the spontaneous formation of a metastable phase from an unstable equilibrium by spinodal decomposition, which leads to a transient coexistence of stable and metastable phases. This phenomenon is generic within the recently introduced scenario of the landscape-inversion phase transitions, which we experimentally realize as a structural transition in a colloidal crystal. This transition exhibits a rich repertoire of new phase-ordering phenomena, including the coexistence of two equilibrium phases connected by two physically different interfaces. In addition, this scenario enables the control of sizes and lifetimes of metastable domains. Our findings open a new setting that broadens the fundamental understanding of phase-ordering kinetics, and yield new prospects of applications in materials science. PMID:27713406

[Protein -based diet with respect to the principles of rational nutrition. Menus analysis].

PubMed

Szczuko, Małgorzata; Pieszak, Natalia; Jamioł -Milc, Dominika; Stachowska, Ewa

A diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates has four phases, first of them being the attack phase, which eliminates carbohydrates to the highest extent. In subsequent phases the consumption of carbohydrates is gradually allowed but their ratio is limited. The aim of performed studies was to analyze the metabolic effects of protein -based diet. The hypothesis – the analysis based on the composition of the diets should draw the attention to health risks being not only related to too high consumption of protein. In the study, 40 diets were composed according to the objectives of high protein diet – 10 diets for each of the four phases. Next, the diets were introduced into dietetic program Dietician 2 recommended by the National Food and Nutrition Institute in Poland, and the amounts of nutrients supplied with the diets were calculated. Those amounts were compared to the currently recommended dietary allowances in Poland. Based on too high consumption of some nutrients and the deficiency of others in the diets, the highest detrimental effect was determined for the first two phases of the diet. In all four phases of the diet, too high consumption of protein, UFA and cholesterol was determined, which amounted to 148.8–160.5 g/day, 12.5–16.2 g/day and 467.7–488.7 mg/day, respectively. Simultaneously, too low average consumption was noted in case of energy (1131–1690 kcal), carbohydrates (58.2–149.4 g) and dietary fiber (3.3–28.7 g) in all phases of the diet. Additionally, the deficiency in vitamin E (2.69–7.21 mg) was observed in the first three phases of the diet, and thiamin in the first two phases (0.72–1.02 mg). The most deficient phase of the diet was the first phase – the attack phase, where the deficiency also concerned folacin (154.4 mg/day), vitamin C (6.14 mg), potassium (2947.7 mg), iron (7.19 mg), copper (0.59 mg) and magnesium (294.8 mg). The main causes of body mass reduction in high protein diet are caloric restrictions in all diet phases. The analyses of diets compositions determined the potential negative effect of using this diet in case of people with predisposition to kidney diseases, gout, cardiovascular diseases, anemia and erythropoiesis disorders. The most detrimental was the first phase of the diet, which entirely eliminates carbohydrate products.

Frequency domain phase noise analysis of dual injection-locked optoelectronic oscillators.

PubMed

Jahanbakht, Sajad

2016-10-01

Dual injection-locked optoelectronic oscillators (DIL-OEOs) have been introduced as a means to achieve very low-noise microwave oscillations while avoiding the large spurious peaks that occur in the phase noise of the conventional single-loop OEOs. In these systems, two OEOs are inter-injection locked to each other. The OEO with the longer optical fiber delay line is called the master OEO, and the other is called the slave OEO. Here, a frequency domain approach for simulating the phase noise spectrum of each of the OEOs in a DIL-OEO system and based on the conversion matrix approach is presented. The validity of the new approach is verified by comparing its results with previously published data in the literature. In the new approach, first, in each of the master or slave OEOs, the power spectral densities (PSDs) of two white and 1/f noise sources are optimized such that the resulting simulated phase noise of any of the master or slave OEOs in the free-running state matches the measured phase noise of that OEO. After that, the proposed approach is able to simulate the phase noise PSD of both OEOs at the injection-locked state. Because of the short run-time requirements, especially compared to previously proposed time domain approaches, the new approach is suitable for optimizing the power injection ratios (PIRs), and potentially other circuit parameters, in order to achieve good performance regarding the phase noise in each of the OEOs. Through various numerical simulations, the optimum PIRs for achieving good phase noise performance are presented and discussed; they are in agreement with the previously published results. This further verifies the applicability of the new approach. Moreover, some other interesting results regarding the spur levels are also presented.

Management of change through force field analysis.

PubMed

Baulcomb, Jean Sandra

2003-07-01

Today's NHS is rapidly changing, placing more emphasis on the managerial responsibilities of ward managers. Managing change is seen as being skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge to reflect new knowledge and insights. Defining core concepts is often difficult and requires the drawing on models/theories of change for guidance. Guidance from Lewin's (1951) force field analysis demonstrates the complexities of the change process and how driving and resisting forces were incorporated within the planning and implementation phases. Findings outline the benefits of a small scale change for staff, patients and the organization when successfully used to introduce a change of shift pattern within a progressively busy haematology day unit, in order to meet service demands without additional funding. Conclusions have been drawn in relation to the process and recommendations for practice made to further enhance care delivery within the unit.

The finite-size effect in thin liquid crystal systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Śliwa, I.

2018-05-01

Effects of surface ordering in liquid crystal systems confined between cell plates are of great theoretical and experimental interest. Liquid crystals introduced in thin cells are known to be strongly stabilized and ordered by cell plates. We introduce a new theoretical method for analyzing the effect of surfaces on local molecular ordering in thin liquid crystal systems with planar geometry of the smectic layers. Our results show that, due to the interplay between pair long-range intermolecular forces and nonlocal, relatively short-range, surface interactions, both orientational and translational orders of liquid crystal molecules across confining cells are very complex. In particular, it is demonstrated that the SmA, nematic, and isotropic phases can coexist. The phase transitions from SmA to nematic, as well as from nematic to isotropic phases, occur not simultaneously in the whole volume of the system but begin to appear locally in some regions of the LC sample. Phase transition temperatures are demonstrated to be strongly affected by the thickness of the LC system. The dependence of the corresponding shifts of phase transition temperatures on the layer number is shown to exhibit a power law character. This new type of scaling behavior is concerned with the coexistence of local phases in finite systems. The influence of a specific character of interactions of molecules with surfaces and other molecules on values of the resulting critical exponents is also analyzed.

Welding Tools. Pre-Apprenticeship Phase 1 Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane Community Coll., Eugene, OR.

This student training module on welding tools is one of three modules (see CE 032 889-891) on welding developed for Pre-Apprenticeship Phase 1 Training. (A companion instructor's guide is available separately as CE 032 888.) The modules are designed to introduce trade knowledge and skills to the student. This module contains a cover sheet listing…

A Dual-Stage Two-Phase Model of Selective Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hubner, Ronald; Steinhauser, Marco; Lehle, Carola

2010-01-01

The dual-stage two-phase (DSTP) model is introduced as a formal and general model of selective attention that includes both an early and a late stage of stimulus selection. Whereas at the early stage information is selected by perceptual filters whose selectivity is relatively limited, at the late stage stimuli are selected more efficiently on a…

Underutilized Resources for Studying the Evolution of Invasive Species During Their Introduction, Establishment, and Lag Phases

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The early phases of biological invasions are poorly understood. In particular, it is not known if and/or how much evolutionary change must take place for an introduced species to transition from established to expanding. In this paper, we highlight three disparate data sources that may provide ins...

Use of Psychosocial Services Increases after a Social Worker-Mediated Intervention in Gynecology Oncology Patients

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abbott, Yuko; Shah, Nina R.; Ward, Kristy K.; McHale, Michael T.; Alvarez, Edwin A.; Saenz, Cheryl C.; Plaxe, Steven C.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the introduction of psychosocial services to gynecologic oncology outpatients by a social worker increases service use. During the initial six weeks (phase I), patients were referred for psychosocial services by clinic staff. During the second six weeks (phase II), a nurse introduced available…

NUCLEAR REACTOR

DOEpatents

Breden, C.R.; Dietrich, J.R.

1961-06-20

A water-soluble non-volatile poison may be introduced into a reactor to nullify excess reactivity. The poison is removed by passing a side stream of the water containing the soluble poison to an evaporation chamber. The vapor phase is returned to the reactor to decrease the concentration of soluble poison and the liquid phase is returned to increase the concentration of soluble poison.

The Development of La Raza Community Leadership and Its Impact on Social Problems -- A Causal Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera, Felix G.

The paper introduces a 3-level paradigm for community assessment. First, Raza communities are conceptualized as belonging to three phases--culturally homogeneous, culturally in transition, and culturally heterogeneous. Each phase is determined by the proximity of the cities'"barrios" to the home country (Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central America) and…

Topological phases in a Kitaev chain with imbalanced pairing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, C.; Zhang, X. Z.; Zhang, G.; Song, Z.

2018-03-01

We systematically study a Kitaev chain with imbalanced pair creation and annihilation, which is introduced by non-Hermitian pairing terms. An exact phase diagram shows that the topological phase is still robust under the influence of the conditional imbalance. The gapped phases are characterized by a topological invariant, the extended Zak phase, which is defined by the biorthonormal inner product. Such phases are destroyed at the points where the coalescence of ground states occurs, associated with the time-reversal symmetry breaking. We find that the Majorana edge modes also exist in an open chain in the time-reversal symmetry-unbroken region, demonstrating the bulk-edge correspondence in such a non-Hermitian system.

Decision-aided ICI mitigation with time-domain average approximation in CO-OFDM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Hongliang; Cai, Jiaxing; Ye, Xin; Lu, Jin; Cao, Quanjun; Guo, Shuqin; Xue, Lin-lin; Qin, Yali; Hu, Weisheng

2015-07-01

We introduce and investigate the feasibility of a novel iterative blind phase noise inter-carrier interference (ICI) mitigation scheme for coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) systems. The ICI mitigation scheme is performed through the combination of frequency-domain symbol decision-aided estimation and the ICI phase noise time-average approximation. An additional initial decision process with suitable threshold is introduced in order to suppress the decision error symbols. Our proposed ICI mitigation scheme is proved to be effective in removing the ICI for a simulated CO-OFDM with 16-QAM modulation format. With the slightly high computational complexity, it outperforms the time-domain average blind ICI (Avg-BL-ICI) algorithm at a relatively wide laser line-width and high OSNR.

Improvements, testing and development of the ADM-τ sub-grid surface tension model for two-phase LES

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aniszewski, Wojciech

2016-12-01

In this paper, a specific subgrid term occurring in Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of two-phase flows is investigated. This and other subgrid terms are presented, we subsequently elaborate on the existing models for those and re-formulate the ADM-τ model for sub-grid surface tension previously published by these authors. This paper presents a substantial, conceptual simplification over the original model version, accompanied by a decrease in its computational cost. At the same time, it addresses the issues the original model version faced, e.g. introduces non-isotropic applicability criteria based on resolved interface's principal curvature radii. Additionally, this paper introduces more throughout testing of the ADM-τ, in both simple and complex flows.

Quantum gyroscope based on Berry phase of spins in diamond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Xuerui; Wang, Liujun; Diao, Wenting; Duan, Chongdi

2018-02-01

Gyroscope is the crucial sensor of the inertial navigation system, there is always high demand to improve the sensitivity and reduce the size of the gyroscopes. Using the NV center electronic spin and nuclear spin qubits in diamond, we introduce the research of new types of quantum gyroscopes based on the Berry phase shifts of the spin states during the rotation of the sensor systems. Compared with the performance of the traditional MEMS gyroscope, the sensitivity of the new types of quantum gyroscopes was highly improved and the spatial resolution was reduced to nano-scale. With the help of micro-manufacturing technology in the semiconductor industry, the quantum gyroscopes introduced here can be further integrated into chip-scale sensors.

Fractionalized Fermi liquids and exotic superconductivity in the Kitaev-Kondo lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seifert, Urban F. P.; Meng, Tobias; Vojta, Matthias

2018-02-01

Fractionalized Fermi liquids (FL*) have been introduced as non-Fermi-liquid metallic phases, characterized by coexisting electron-like charge carriers and local moments which form a fractionalized spin liquid. Here we investigate a Kondo lattice model on the honeycomb lattice with Kitaev interactions among the local moments, a concrete model hosting FL* phases based on Kitaev's Z2 spin liquid. We characterize the FL* phases via perturbation theory, and we employ a Majorana-fermion mean-field theory to map out the full phase diagram. Most remarkably we find nematic triplet superconducting phases which mask the quantum phase transition between fractionalized and conventional Fermi liquid phases. Their pairing structure is inherited from the Kitaev spin liquid; i.e., superconductivity is driven by Majorana glue.

Three flavor neutrino oscillations in matter: Flavor diagonal potentials, the adiabatic basis, and the CP phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kneller, James P.; McLaughlin, Gail C.

2009-09-01

We discuss the three neutrino flavor evolution problem with general, flavor-diagonal, matter potentials and a fully parametrized mixing matrix that includes CP violation, and derive expressions for the eigenvalues, mixing angles, and phases. We demonstrate that, in the limit that the mu and tau potentials are equal, the eigenvalues and matter mixing angles θ˜12 and θ˜13 are independent of the CP phase, although θ˜23 does have CP dependence. Since we are interested in developing a framework that can be used for S matrix calculations of neutrino flavor transformation, it is useful to work in a basis that contains only off-diagonal entries in the Hamiltonian. We derive the “nonadiabaticity” parameters that appear in the Hamiltonian in this basis. We then introduce the neutrino S matrix, derive its evolution equation and the integral solution. We find that this new Hamiltonian, and therefore the S matrix, in the limit that the μ and τ neutrino potentials are the same, is independent of both θ˜23 and the CP violating phase. In this limit, any CP violation in the flavor basis can only be introduced via the rotation matrices, and so effects which derive from the CP phase are then straightforward to determine. We then show explicitly that the electron neutrino and electron antineutrino survival probability is independent of the CP phase in this limit. Conversely, if the CP phase is nonzero and mu and tau matter potentials are not equal, then the electron neutrino survival probability cannot be independent of the CP phase.

Theoretical extension and experimental demonstration of spectral compression in second-harmonic generation by Fresnel-inspired binary phase shaping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Baihong; Dong, Ruifang; Zhou, Conghua; Xiang, Xiao; Li, Yongfang; Zhang, Shougang

2018-05-01

Selective two-photon microscopy and high-precision nonlinear spectroscopy rely on efficient spectral compression at the desired frequency. Previously, a Fresnel-inspired binary phase shaping (FIBPS) method was theoretically proposed for spectral compression of two-photon absorption and second-harmonic generation (SHG) with a square-chirped pulse. Here, we theoretically show that the FIBPS can introduce a negative quadratic frequency phase (negative chirp) by analogy with the spatial-domain phase function of Fresnel zone plate. Thus, the previous theoretical model can be extended to the case where the pulse can be transformed limited and in any symmetrical spectral shape. As an example, we experimentally demonstrate spectral compression in SHG by FIBPS for a Gaussian transform-limited pulse and show good agreement with the theory. Given the fundamental pulse bandwidth, a narrower SHG bandwidth with relatively high intensity can be obtained by simply increasing the number of binary phases. The experimental results also verify that our method is superior to that proposed in [Phys. Rev. A 46, 2749 (1992), 10.1103/PhysRevA.46.2749]. This method will significantly facilitate the applications of selective two-photon microscopy and spectroscopy. Moreover, as it can introduce negative dispersion, hence it can also be generalized to other applications in the field of dispersion compensation.

Extractive biodegradation and bioavailability assessment of phenanthrene in the cloud point system by Sphingomonas polyaromaticivorans.

PubMed

Pan, Tao; Deng, Tao; Zeng, Xinying; Dong, Wei; Yu, Shuijing

2016-01-01

The biological treatment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is an important issue. Most microbes have limited practical applications because of the poor bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In this study, the extractive biodegradation of phenanthrene by Sphingomonas polyaromaticivorans was conducted by introducing the cloud point system. The cloud point system is composed of a mixture of (40 g/L) Brij 30 and Tergitol TMN-3, which are nonionic surfactants, in equal proportions. After phenanthrene degradation, a higher wet cell weight and lower phenanthrene residue were obtained in the cloud point system than that in the control system. According to the results of high-performance liquid chromatography, the residual phenanthrene preferred to partition from the dilute phase into the coacervate phase. The concentration of residual phenanthrene in the dilute phase (below 0.001 mg/L) is lower than its solubility in water (1.18 mg/L) after extractive biodegradation. Therefore, dilute phase detoxification was achieved, thus indicating that the dilute phase could be discharged without causing phenanthrene pollution. Bioavailability was assessed by introducing the apparent logP in the cloud point system. Apparent logP decreased significantly, thus indicating that the bioavailability of phenanthrene increased remarkably in the system. This study provides a potential application of biological treatment in water and soil contaminated by phenanthrene.

Experimental study on natural circulation precooling of cryogenic pump system with gas phase inlet reflux configuration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, G. B.; Zhong, Y. K.; Zheng, X. L.; Li, Q. F.; Xie, X. M.; Gan, Z. H.; Huang, Y. H.; Tang, K.; Kong, B.; Qiu, L. M.

2003-12-01

A novel gas-phase inlet configuration in the natural circulation system instead of the liquid-phase inlet is introduced to cool down a cryogenic pump system from room temperature to cryogenic temperatures, effectively. The experimental apparatus is illustrated and test process is described. Heat transfer and pressure drop data during the cool-down process are recorded and portrayed. By contrast with liquid-phase inlet configuration, experimental results demonstrate that the natural circulation with the gas-phase inlet configuration is an easier and more controllable way to cool down the pump system and maintain it at cryogenic temperatures.