Meshless Method for Simulation of Compressible Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nabizadeh Shahrebabak, Ebrahim

In the present age, rapid development in computing technology and high speed supercomputers has made numerical analysis and computational simulation more practical than ever before for large and complex cases. Numerical simulations have also become an essential means for analyzing the engineering problems and the cases that experimental analysis is not practical. There are so many sophisticated and accurate numerical schemes, which do these simulations. The finite difference method (FDM) has been used to solve differential equation systems for decades. Additional numerical methods based on finite volume and finite element techniques are widely used in solving problems with complex geometry. All of these methods are mesh-based techniques. Mesh generation is an essential preprocessing part to discretize the computation domain for these conventional methods. However, when dealing with mesh-based complex geometries these conventional mesh-based techniques can become troublesome, difficult to implement, and prone to inaccuracies. In this study, a more robust, yet simple numerical approach is used to simulate problems in an easier manner for even complex problem. The meshless, or meshfree, method is one such development that is becoming the focus of much research in the recent years. The biggest advantage of meshfree methods is to circumvent mesh generation. Many algorithms have now been developed to help make this method more popular and understandable for everyone. These algorithms have been employed over a wide range of problems in computational analysis with various levels of success. Since there is no connectivity between the nodes in this method, the challenge was considerable. The most fundamental issue is lack of conservation, which can be a source of unpredictable errors in the solution process. This problem is particularly evident in the presence of steep gradient regions and discontinuities, such as shocks that frequently occur in high speed compressible flow problems. To solve this discontinuity problem, this research study deals with the implementation of a conservative meshless method and its applications in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). One of the most common types of collocating meshless method the RBF-DQ, is used to approximate the spatial derivatives. The issue with meshless methods when dealing with highly convective cases is that they cannot distinguish the influence of fluid flow from upstream or downstream and some methodology is needed to make the scheme stable. Therefore, an upwinding scheme similar to one used in the finite volume method is added to capture steep gradient or shocks. This scheme creates a flexible algorithm within which a wide range of numerical flux schemes, such as those commonly used in the finite volume method, can be employed. In addition, a blended RBF is used to decrease the dissipation ensuing from the use of a low shape parameter. All of these steps are formulated for the Euler equation and a series of test problems used to confirm convergence of the algorithm. The present scheme was first employed on several incompressible benchmarks to validate the framework. The application of this algorithm is illustrated by solving a set of incompressible Navier-Stokes problems. Results from the compressible problem are compared with the exact solution for the flow over a ramp and compared with solutions of finite volume discretization and the discontinuous Galerkin method, both requiring a mesh. The applicability of the algorithm and its robustness are shown to be applied to complex problems.

Experimental and AI-based numerical modeling of contaminant transport in porous media.

PubMed

Nourani, Vahid; Mousavi, Shahram; Sadikoglu, Fahreddin; Singh, Vijay P

2017-10-01

This study developed a new hybrid artificial intelligence (AI)-meshless approach for modeling contaminant transport in porous media. The key innovation of the proposed approach is that both black box and physically-based models are combined for modeling contaminant transport. The effectiveness of the approach was evaluated using experimental and real world data. Artificial neural network (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) were calibrated to predict temporal contaminant concentrations (CCs), and the effect of noisy and de-noised data on the model performance was evaluated. Then, considering the predicted CCs at test points (TPs, in experimental study) and piezometers (in Myandoab plain) as interior conditions, the multiquadric radial basis function (MQ-RBF), as a meshless approach which solves partial differential equation (PDE) of contaminant transport in porous media, was employed to estimate the CC values at any point within the study area where there was no TP or piezometer. Optimal values of the dispersion coefficient in the advection-dispersion PDE and shape coefficient of MQ-RBF were determined using the imperialist competitive algorithm. In temporal contaminant transport modeling, de-noised data enhanced the performance of ANN and ANFIS methods in terms of the determination coefficient, up to 6 and 5%, respectively, in the experimental study and up to 39 and 18%, respectively, in the field study. Results showed that the efficiency of ANFIS-meshless model was more than ANN-meshless model up to 2 and 13% in the experimental and field studies, respectively. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Biomechanical Model for Computing Deformations for Whole-Body Image Registration: A Meshless Approach

PubMed Central

Li, Mao; Miller, Karol; Joldes, Grand Roman; Kikinis, Ron; Wittek, Adam

2016-01-01

Patient-specific biomechanical models have been advocated as a tool for predicting deformations of soft body organs/tissue for medical image registration (aligning two sets of images) when differences between the images are large. However, complex and irregular geometry of the body organs makes generation of patient-specific biomechanical models very time consuming. Meshless discretisation has been proposed to solve this challenge. However, applications so far have been limited to 2-D models and computing single organ deformations. In this study, 3-D comprehensive patient-specific non-linear biomechanical models implemented using Meshless Total Lagrangian Explicit Dynamics (MTLED) algorithms are applied to predict a 3-D deformation field for whole-body image registration. Unlike a conventional approach which requires dividing (segmenting) the image into non-overlapping constituents representing different organs/tissues, the mechanical properties are assigned using the Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) algorithm without the image segmentation. Verification indicates that the deformations predicted using the proposed meshless approach are for practical purposes the same as those obtained using the previously validated finite element models. To quantitatively evaluate the accuracy of the predicted deformations, we determined the spatial misalignment between the registered (i.e. source images warped using the predicted deformations) and target images by computing the edge-based Hausdorff distance. The Hausdorff distance-based evaluation determines that our meshless models led to successful registration of the vast majority of the image features. PMID:26791945

Coupling Finite Element and Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin Methods for Two-Dimensional Potential Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, T.; Raju, I. S.

2002-01-01

A coupled finite element (FE) method and meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method for analyzing two-dimensional potential problems is presented in this paper. The analysis domain is subdivided into two regions, a finite element (FE) region and a meshless (MM) region. A single weighted residual form is written for the entire domain. Independent trial and test functions are assumed in the FE and MM regions. A transition region is created between the two regions. The transition region blends the trial and test functions of the FE and MM regions. The trial function blending is achieved using a technique similar to the 'Coons patch' method that is widely used in computer-aided geometric design. The test function blending is achieved by using either FE or MM test functions on the nodes in the transition element. The technique was evaluated by applying the coupled method to two potential problems governed by the Poisson equation. The coupled method passed all the patch test problems and gave accurate solutions for the problems studied.

The meshless local Petrov-Galerkin method based on moving Kriging interpolation for solving the time fractional Navier-Stokes equations.

PubMed

Thamareerat, N; Luadsong, A; Aschariyaphotha, N

2016-01-01

In this paper, we present a numerical scheme used to solve the nonlinear time fractional Navier-Stokes equations in two dimensions. We first employ the meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method based on a local weak formulation to form the system of discretized equations and then we will approximate the time fractional derivative interpreted in the sense of Caputo by a simple quadrature formula. The moving Kriging interpolation which possesses the Kronecker delta property is applied to construct shape functions. This research aims to extend and develop further the applicability of the truly MLPG method to the generalized incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. Very good agreement between the numerically and analytically computed solutions can be observed in the verification. The present MLPG method has proved its efficiency and reliability for solving the two-dimensional time fractional Navier-Stokes equations arising in fluid dynamics as well as several other problems in science and engineering.

Accurate, meshless methods for magnetohydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hopkins, Philip F.; Raives, Matthias J.

2016-01-01

Recently, we explored new meshless finite-volume Lagrangian methods for hydrodynamics: the `meshless finite mass' (MFM) and `meshless finite volume' (MFV) methods; these capture advantages of both smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) schemes. We extend these to include ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The MHD equations are second-order consistent and conservative. We augment these with a divergence-cleaning scheme, which maintains nabla \\cdot B≈ 0. We implement these in the code GIZMO, together with state-of-the-art SPH MHD. We consider a large test suite, and show that on all problems the new methods are competitive with AMR using constrained transport (CT) to ensure nabla \\cdot B=0. They correctly capture the growth/structure of the magnetorotational instability, MHD turbulence, and launching of magnetic jets, in some cases converging more rapidly than state-of-the-art AMR. Compared to SPH, the MFM/MFV methods exhibit convergence at fixed neighbour number, sharp shock-capturing, and dramatically reduced noise, divergence errors, and diffusion. Still, `modern' SPH can handle most test problems, at the cost of larger kernels and `by hand' adjustment of artificial diffusion. Compared to non-moving meshes, the new methods exhibit enhanced `grid noise' but reduced advection errors and diffusion, easily include self-gravity, and feature velocity-independent errors and superior angular momentum conservation. They converge more slowly on some problems (smooth, slow-moving flows), but more rapidly on others (involving advection/rotation). In all cases, we show divergence control beyond the Powell 8-wave approach is necessary, or all methods can converge to unphysical answers even at high resolution.

A New Hybrid Viscoelastic Soft Tissue Model based on Meshless Method for Haptic Surgical Simulation

PubMed Central

Bao, Yidong; Wu, Dongmei; Yan, Zhiyuan; Du, Zhijiang

2013-01-01

This paper proposes a hybrid soft tissue model that consists of a multilayer structure and many spheres for surgical simulation system based on meshless. To improve accuracy of the model, tension is added to the three-parameter viscoelastic structure that connects the two spheres. By using haptic device, the three-parameter viscoelastic model (TPM) produces accurate deformationand also has better stress-strain, stress relaxation and creep properties. Stress relaxation and creep formulas have been obtained by mathematical formula derivation. Comparing with the experimental results of the real pig liver which were reported by Evren et al. and Amy et al., the curve lines of stress-strain, stress relaxation and creep of TPM are close to the experimental data of the real liver. Simulated results show that TPM has better real-time, stability and accuracy. PMID:24339837

GPU computing of compressible flow problems by a meshless method with space-filling curves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Z. H.; Wang, H.; Pu, S. H.

2014-04-01

A graphic processing unit (GPU) implementation of a meshless method for solving compressible flow problems is presented in this paper. Least-square fit is used to discretize the spatial derivatives of Euler equations and an upwind scheme is applied to estimate the flux terms. The compute unified device architecture (CUDA) C programming model is employed to efficiently and flexibly port the meshless solver from CPU to GPU. Considering the data locality of randomly distributed points, space-filling curves are adopted to re-number the points in order to improve the memory performance. Detailed evaluations are firstly carried out to assess the accuracy and conservation property of the underlying numerical method. Then the GPU accelerated flow solver is used to solve external steady flows over aerodynamic configurations. Representative results are validated through extensive comparisons with the experimental, finite volume or other available reference solutions. Performance analysis reveals that the running time cost of simulations is significantly reduced while impressive (more than an order of magnitude) speedups are achieved.

Biomechanical model for computing deformations for whole-body image registration: A meshless approach.

PubMed

Li, Mao; Miller, Karol; Joldes, Grand Roman; Kikinis, Ron; Wittek, Adam

2016-12-01

Patient-specific biomechanical models have been advocated as a tool for predicting deformations of soft body organs/tissue for medical image registration (aligning two sets of images) when differences between the images are large. However, complex and irregular geometry of the body organs makes generation of patient-specific biomechanical models very time-consuming. Meshless discretisation has been proposed to solve this challenge. However, applications so far have been limited to 2D models and computing single organ deformations. In this study, 3D comprehensive patient-specific nonlinear biomechanical models implemented using meshless Total Lagrangian explicit dynamics algorithms are applied to predict a 3D deformation field for whole-body image registration. Unlike a conventional approach that requires dividing (segmenting) the image into non-overlapping constituents representing different organs/tissues, the mechanical properties are assigned using the fuzzy c-means algorithm without the image segmentation. Verification indicates that the deformations predicted using the proposed meshless approach are for practical purposes the same as those obtained using the previously validated finite element models. To quantitatively evaluate the accuracy of the predicted deformations, we determined the spatial misalignment between the registered (i.e. source images warped using the predicted deformations) and target images by computing the edge-based Hausdorff distance. The Hausdorff distance-based evaluation determines that our meshless models led to successful registration of the vast majority of the image features. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A well-balanced meshless tsunami propagation and inundation model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brecht, Rüdiger; Bihlo, Alexander; MacLachlan, Scott; Behrens, Jörn

2018-05-01

We present a novel meshless tsunami propagation and inundation model. We discretize the nonlinear shallow-water equations using a well-balanced scheme relying on radial basis function based finite differences. For the inundation model, radial basis functions are used to extrapolate the dry region from nearby wet points. Numerical results against standard one- and two-dimensional benchmarks are presented.

A Novel Haptic Interactive Approach to Simulation of Surgery Cutting Based on Mesh and Meshless Models

PubMed Central

Liu, Peter X.; Lai, Pinhua; Xu, Shaoping; Zou, Yanni

2018-01-01

In the present work, the majority of implemented virtual surgery simulation systems have been based on either a mesh or meshless strategy with regard to soft tissue modelling. To take full advantage of the mesh and meshless models, a novel coupled soft tissue cutting model is proposed. Specifically, the reconstructed virtual soft tissue consists of two essential components. One is associated with surface mesh that is convenient for surface rendering and the other with internal meshless point elements that is used to calculate the force feedback during cutting. To combine two components in a seamless way, virtual points are introduced. During the simulation of cutting, the Bezier curve is used to characterize smooth and vivid incision on the surface mesh. At the same time, the deformation of internal soft tissue caused by cutting operation can be treated as displacements of the internal point elements. Furthermore, we discussed and proved the stability and convergence of the proposed approach theoretically. The real biomechanical tests verified the validity of the introduced model. And the simulation experiments show that the proposed approach offers high computational efficiency and good visual effect, enabling cutting of soft tissue with high stability. PMID:29850006

Meshless Geometric Subdivision

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-10-01

Michelangelo Youthful data set is shown on the right. for p ∈ M and with boundary condition dM (q, q) = 0 is approximated by |∇dΩrP (p, ·)| = F̃ (p), (2...dealing with more complex geometry. We apply our meshless subdivision operator to a base point set of 10088 points generated from the Michelangelo ...acknowledge the permission to use the Michelangelo point sets granted by the Stanford Computer Graphics group. The Isis, 50% decimated and non

Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin Euler-Bernoulli Beam Problems: A Radial Basis Function Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raju, I. S.; Phillips, D. R.; Krishnamurthy, T.

2003-01-01

A radial basis function implementation of the meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method is presented to study Euler-Bernoulli beam problems. Radial basis functions, rather than generalized moving least squares (GMLS) interpolations, are used to develop the trial functions. This choice yields a computationally simpler method as fewer matrix inversions and multiplications are required than when GMLS interpolations are used. Test functions are chosen as simple weight functions as in the conventional MLPG method. Compactly and noncompactly supported radial basis functions are considered. The non-compactly supported cubic radial basis function is found to perform very well. Results obtained from the radial basis MLPG method are comparable to those obtained using the conventional MLPG method for mixed boundary value problems and problems with discontinuous loading conditions.

Particle-based and meshless methods with Aboria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, Martin; Bruna, Maria

Aboria is a powerful and flexible C++ library for the implementation of particle-based numerical methods. The particles in such methods can represent actual particles (e.g. Molecular Dynamics) or abstract particles used to discretise a continuous function over a domain (e.g. Radial Basis Functions). Aboria provides a particle container, compatible with the Standard Template Library, spatial search data structures, and a Domain Specific Language to specify non-linear operators on the particle set. This paper gives an overview of Aboria's design, an example of use, and a performance benchmark.

A Meshless Method Using Radial Basis Functions for Beam Bending Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raju, I. S.; Phillips, D. R.; Krishnamurthy, T.

2004-01-01

A meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method that uses radial basis functions (RBFs) as trial functions in the study of Euler-Bernoulli beam problems is presented. RBFs, rather than generalized moving least squares (GMLS) interpolations, are used to develop the trial functions. This choice yields a computationally simpler method as fewer matrix inversions and multiplications are required than when GMLS interpolations are used. Test functions are chosen as simple weight functions as they are in the conventional MLPG method. Compactly and noncompactly supported RBFs are considered. Noncompactly supported cubic RBFs are found to be preferable. Patch tests, mixed boundary value problems, and problems with complex loading conditions are considered. Results obtained from the radial basis MLPG method are either of comparable or better accuracy than those obtained when using the conventional MLPG method.

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics and its applications for multiphase flow and reactive transport in porous media

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

Tartakovsky, Alexandre M.; Trask, Nathaniel; Pan, K.

2016-03-11

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is a Lagrangian method based on a meshless discretization of partial differential equations. In this review, we present SPH discretization of the Navier-Stokes and Advection-Diffusion-Reaction equations, implementation of various boundary conditions, and time integration of the SPH equations, and we discuss applications of the SPH method for modeling pore-scale multiphase flows and reactive transport in porous and fractured media.

A numerical scheme based on radial basis function finite difference (RBF-FD) technique for solving the high-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equations using an explicit time discretization: Runge-Kutta method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dehghan, Mehdi; Mohammadi, Vahid

2017-08-01

In this research, we investigate the numerical solution of nonlinear Schrödinger equations in two and three dimensions. The numerical meshless method which will be used here is RBF-FD technique. The main advantage of this method is the approximation of the required derivatives based on finite difference technique at each local-support domain as Ωi. At each Ωi, we require to solve a small linear system of algebraic equations with a conditionally positive definite matrix of order 1 (interpolation matrix). This scheme is efficient and its computational cost is same as the moving least squares (MLS) approximation. A challengeable issue is choosing suitable shape parameter for interpolation matrix in this way. In order to overcome this matter, an algorithm which was established by Sarra (2012), will be applied. This algorithm computes the condition number of the local interpolation matrix using the singular value decomposition (SVD) for obtaining the smallest and largest singular values of that matrix. Moreover, an explicit method based on Runge-Kutta formula of fourth-order accuracy will be applied for approximating the time variable. It also decreases the computational costs at each time step since we will not solve a nonlinear system. On the other hand, to compare RBF-FD method with another meshless technique, the moving kriging least squares (MKLS) approximation is considered for the studied model. Our results demonstrate the ability of the present approach for solving the applicable model which is investigated in the current research work.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2015-01-01

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

Spatiotemporal groundwater level modeling using hybrid artificial intelligence-meshless method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nourani, Vahid; Mousavi, Shahram

2016-05-01

Uncertainties of the field parameters, noise of the observed data and unknown boundary conditions are the main factors involved in the groundwater level (GL) time series which limit the modeling and simulation of GL. This paper presents a hybrid artificial intelligence-meshless model for spatiotemporal GL modeling. In this way firstly time series of GL observed in different piezometers were de-noised using threshold-based wavelet method and the impact of de-noised and noisy data was compared in temporal GL modeling by artificial neural network (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). In the second step, both ANN and ANFIS models were calibrated and verified using GL data of each piezometer, rainfall and runoff considering various input scenarios to predict the GL at one month ahead. In the final step, the simulated GLs in the second step of modeling were considered as interior conditions for the multiquadric radial basis function (RBF) based solve of governing partial differential equation of groundwater flow to estimate GL at any desired point within the plain where there is not any observation. In order to evaluate and compare the GL pattern at different time scales, the cross-wavelet coherence was also applied to GL time series of piezometers. The results showed that the threshold-based wavelet de-noising approach can enhance the performance of the modeling up to 13.4%. Also it was found that the accuracy of ANFIS-RBF model is more reliable than ANN-RBF model in both calibration and validation steps.

A compatible high-order meshless method for the Stokes equations with applications to suspension flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trask, Nathaniel; Maxey, Martin; Hu, Xiaozhe

2018-02-01

A stable numerical solution of the steady Stokes problem requires compatibility between the choice of velocity and pressure approximation that has traditionally proven problematic for meshless methods. In this work, we present a discretization that couples a staggered scheme for pressure approximation with a divergence-free velocity reconstruction to obtain an adaptive, high-order, finite difference-like discretization that can be efficiently solved with conventional algebraic multigrid techniques. We use analytic benchmarks to demonstrate equal-order convergence for both velocity and pressure when solving problems with curvilinear geometries. In order to study problems in dense suspensions, we couple the solution for the flow to the equations of motion for freely suspended particles in an implicit monolithic scheme. The combination of high-order accuracy with fully-implicit schemes allows the accurate resolution of stiff lubrication forces directly from the solution of the Stokes problem without the need to introduce sub-grid lubrication models.

A class of renormalised meshless Laplacians for boundary value problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basic, Josip; Degiuli, Nastia; Ban, Dario

2018-02-01

A meshless approach to approximating spatial derivatives on scattered point arrangements is presented in this paper. Three various derivations of approximate discrete Laplace operator formulations are produced using the Taylor series expansion and renormalised least-squares correction of the first spatial derivatives. Numerical analyses are performed for the introduced Laplacian formulations, and their convergence rate and computational efficiency are examined. The tests are conducted on regular and highly irregular scattered point arrangements. The results are compared to those obtained by the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method and the finite differences method on a regular grid. Finally, the strong form of various Poisson and diffusion equations with Dirichlet or Robin boundary conditions are solved in two and three dimensions by making use of the introduced operators in order to examine their stability and accuracy for boundary value problems. The introduced Laplacian operators perform well for highly irregular point distribution and offer adequate accuracy for mesh and mesh-free numerical methods that require frequent movement of the grid or point cloud.

A meshless approach to thermomechanics of DC casting of aluminium billets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mavrič, B.; Šarler, B.

2016-03-01

The ability to model thermomechanics in DC casting is important due to the technological challenges caused by physical phenomena such as different ingot distortions, cracking, hot tearing and residual stress. Many thermomechanical models already exist and usually take into account three contributions: elastic, thermal expansion, and viscoplastic to model the mushy zone. These models are, in a vast majority, solved by the finite element method. In the present work the elastic model that accounts for linear thermal expansion is considered. The method used for solving the model is of a novel meshless type and extends our previous meshless attempts in solving fluid mechanics problems. The solution to the problem is constructed using collocation on the overlapping subdomains, which are composed of computational nodes. Multiquadric radial basis functions, augmented by monomials, are used for the displacement interpolation. The interpolation is constructed in such a manner that it readily satisfies the boundary conditions. The discretization results in construction of a global square sparse matrix representing the system of linear equations for the displacement field. The developed method has many advantages. The system of equations can be easily constructed and efficiently solved. There is no need to perform expensive meshing of the domain and the formulation of the method is similar in two and three dimensions. Since no meshing is required, the nodes can easily be added or removed, which allows for efficient adaption of the node arrangement density. The order of convergence, estimated through an analytically solvable test, can be adjusted through the number of interpolation nodes in the subdomain, with 6 nodes being enough for the second order convergence. Simulations of axisymmetric mechanical problems, associated with low frequency electromagnetic DC casting are presented.

Reconstruction and analysis of hybrid composite shells using meshless methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernardo, G. M. S.; Loja, M. A. R.

2017-06-01

The importance of focusing on the research of viable models to predict the behaviour of structures which may possess in some cases complex geometries is an issue that is growing in different scientific areas, ranging from the civil and mechanical engineering to the architecture or biomedical devices fields. In these cases, the research effort to find an efficient approach to fit laser scanning point clouds, to the desired surface, has been increasing, leading to the possibility of modelling as-built/as-is structures and components' features. However, combining the task of surface reconstruction and the implementation of a structural analysis model is not a trivial task. Although there are works focusing those different phases in separate, there is still an effective need to find approaches able to interconnect them in an efficient way. Therefore, achieving a representative geometric model able to be subsequently submitted to a structural analysis in a similar based platform is a fundamental step to establish an effective expeditious processing workflow. With the present work, one presents an integrated methodology based on the use of meshless approaches, to reconstruct shells described by points' clouds, and to subsequently predict their static behaviour. These methods are highly appropriate on dealing with unstructured points clouds, as they do not need to have any specific spatial or geometric requirement when implemented, depending only on the distance between the points. Details on the formulation, and a set of illustrative examples focusing the reconstruction of cylindrical and double-curvature shells, and its further analysis, are presented.

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

Zhang, Ch.; Gao, X. W.; Sladek, J.

This paper reports our recent research works on crack analysis in continuously non-homogeneous and linear elastic functionally graded materials. A meshless boundary element method is developed for this purpose. Numerical examples are presented and discussed to demonstrate the efficiency and the accuracy of the present numerical method, and to show the effects of the material gradation on the crack-opening-displacements and the stress intensity factors.

Meshless Modeling of Deformable Shapes and their Motion

PubMed Central

Adams, Bart; Ovsjanikov, Maks; Wand, Michael; Seidel, Hans-Peter; Guibas, Leonidas J.

2010-01-01

We present a new framework for interactive shape deformation modeling and key frame interpolation based on a meshless finite element formulation. Starting from a coarse nodal sampling of an object’s volume, we formulate rigidity and volume preservation constraints that are enforced to yield realistic shape deformations at interactive frame rates. Additionally, by specifying key frame poses of the deforming shape and optimizing the nodal displacements while targeting smooth interpolated motion, our algorithm extends to a motion planning framework for deformable objects. This allows reconstructing smooth and plausible deformable shape trajectories in the presence of possibly moving obstacles. The presented results illustrate that our framework can handle complex shapes at interactive rates and hence is a valuable tool for animators to realistically and efficiently model and interpolate deforming 3D shapes. PMID:24839614

A nearest-neighbour discretisation of the regularized stokeslet boundary integral equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, David J.

2018-04-01

The method of regularized stokeslets is extensively used in biological fluid dynamics due to its conceptual simplicity and meshlessness. This simplicity carries a degree of cost in computational expense and accuracy because the number of degrees of freedom used to discretise the unknown surface traction is generally significantly higher than that required by boundary element methods. We describe a meshless method based on nearest-neighbour interpolation that significantly reduces the number of degrees of freedom required to discretise the unknown traction, increasing the range of problems that can be practically solved, without excessively complicating the task of the modeller. The nearest-neighbour technique is tested against the classical problem of rigid body motion of a sphere immersed in very viscous fluid, then applied to the more complex biophysical problem of calculating the rotational diffusion timescales of a macromolecular structure modelled by three closely-spaced non-slender rods. A heuristic for finding the required density of force and quadrature points by numerical refinement is suggested. Matlab/GNU Octave code for the key steps of the algorithm is provided, which predominantly use basic linear algebra operations, with a full implementation being provided on github. Compared with the standard Nyström discretisation, more accurate and substantially more efficient results can be obtained by de-refining the force discretisation relative to the quadrature discretisation: a cost reduction of over 10 times with improved accuracy is observed. This improvement comes at minimal additional technical complexity. Future avenues to develop the algorithm are then discussed.

A meshless method using radial basis functions for numerical solution of the two-dimensional KdV-Burgers equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zabihi, F.; Saffarian, M.

2016-07-01

The aim of this article is to obtain the numerical solution of the two-dimensional KdV-Burgers equation. We construct the solution by using a different approach, that is based on using collocation points. The solution is based on using the thin plate splines radial basis function, which builds an approximated solution with discretizing the time and the space to small steps. We use a predictor-corrector scheme to avoid solving the nonlinear system. The results of numerical experiments are compared with analytical solutions to confirm the accuracy and efficiency of the presented scheme.

Simulation of the hot rolling of steel with direct iteration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanoglu, Umut; Šarler, Božidar

2017-10-01

In this study a simulation system based on the meshless Local Radial Basis Function Collocation Method (LRBFCM) is applied for the hot rolling of steel. Rolling is a complex, 3D, thermo-mechanical problem; however, 2D cross-sectional slices are used as computational domains that are aligned with the rolling direction and no heat flow or strain is considered in the direction that is orthogonal to the slices. For each predefined position with respect to the rolling direction, the solution procedure is repeated until the slice reaches the final rolling position. Collocation nodes are initially distributed over the domain and boundaries of the initial slice. A local solution is achieved by considering the overlapping influence domains with either 5 or 7 nodes. Radial Basis Functions (RBFs) are used for the temperature discretization in the thermal model and displacement discretization in the mechanical model. The meshless solution procedure does not require a mesh-generation algorithm in the classic sense. Strong-form mechanical and thermal models are run for each slice regarding the contact with the roll's surface. Ideal plastic material behavior is considered for the mechanical results, where the nonlinear stress-strain relation is solved with a direct iteration. The majority of the Finite Element Model (FEM) simulations, including commercial software, use a conventional Newton-Raphson algorithm. However, direct iteration is chosen here due to its better compatibility with meshless methods. In order to overcome any unforeseen stability issues, the redistribution of the nodes by Elliptic Node Generation (ENG) is applied to one or more slices throughout the simulation. The rolling simulation presented here helps the user to design, test and optimize different rolling schedules. The results can be seen minutes after the simulation's start in terms of temperature, displacement, stress and strain fields as well as important technological parameters, like the roll-separating forces, roll toque, etc. An example of a rolling simulation, in which an initial size of 110x110 mm steel is rolled to a round bar with 80 mm diameter, is shown in Fig. 3. A user-friendly computer application for industrial use is created by using the C# and .NET frameworks.

Boundary particle method for Laplace transformed time fractional diffusion equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Zhuo-Jia; Chen, Wen; Yang, Hai-Tian

2013-02-01

This paper develops a novel boundary meshless approach, Laplace transformed boundary particle method (LTBPM), for numerical modeling of time fractional diffusion equations. It implements Laplace transform technique to obtain the corresponding time-independent inhomogeneous equation in Laplace space and then employs a truly boundary-only meshless boundary particle method (BPM) to solve this Laplace-transformed problem. Unlike the other boundary discretization methods, the BPM does not require any inner nodes, since the recursive composite multiple reciprocity technique (RC-MRM) is used to convert the inhomogeneous problem into the higher-order homogeneous problem. Finally, the Stehfest numerical inverse Laplace transform (NILT) is implemented to retrieve the numerical solutions of time fractional diffusion equations from the corresponding BPM solutions. In comparison with finite difference discretization, the LTBPM introduces Laplace transform and Stehfest NILT algorithm to deal with time fractional derivative term, which evades costly convolution integral calculation in time fractional derivation approximation and avoids the effect of time step on numerical accuracy and stability. Consequently, it can effectively simulate long time-history fractional diffusion systems. Error analysis and numerical experiments demonstrate that the present LTBPM is highly accurate and computationally efficient for 2D and 3D time fractional diffusion equations.

Meshless Lagrangian SPH method applied to isothermal lid-driven cavity flow at low-Re numbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fraga Filho, C. A. D.; Chacaltana, J. T. A.; Pinto, W. J. N.

2018-01-01

SPH is a recent particle method applied in the cavities study, without many results available in the literature. The lid-driven cavity flow is a classic problem of the fluid mechanics, extensively explored in the literature and presenting a considerable complexity. The aim of this paper is to present a solution from the Lagrangian viewpoint for this problem. The discretization of the continuum domain is performed using the Lagrangian particles. The physical laws of mass, momentum and energy conservation are presented by the Navier-Stokes equations. A serial numerical code, written in Fortran programming language, has been used to perform the numerical simulations. The application of the SPH and comparison with the literature (mesh methods and a meshless collocation method) have been done. The positions of the primary vortex centre and the non-dimensional velocity profiles passing through the geometric centre of the cavity have been analysed. The numerical Lagrangian results showed a good agreement when compared to the results found in the literature, specifically for { Re} < 100.00 . Suggestions for improvements in the SPH model presented are listed, in the search for better results for flows with higher Reynolds numbers.

Meshless deformable models for 3D cardiac motion and strain analysis from tagged MRI.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaoxu; Chen, Ting; Zhang, Shaoting; Schaerer, Joël; Qian, Zhen; Huh, Suejung; Metaxas, Dimitris; Axel, Leon

2015-01-01

Tagged magnetic resonance imaging (TMRI) provides a direct and noninvasive way to visualize the in-wall deformation of the myocardium. Due to the through-plane motion, the tracking of 3D trajectories of the material points and the computation of 3D strain field call for the necessity of building 3D cardiac deformable models. The intersections of three stacks of orthogonal tagging planes are material points in the myocardium. With these intersections as control points, 3D motion can be reconstructed with a novel meshless deformable model (MDM). Volumetric MDMs describe an object as point cloud inside the object boundary and the coordinate of each point can be written in parametric functions. A generic heart mesh is registered on the TMRI with polar decomposition. A 3D MDM is generated and deformed with MR image tagging lines. Volumetric MDMs are deformed by calculating the dynamics function and minimizing the local Laplacian coordinates. The similarity transformation of each point is computed by assuming its neighboring points are making the same transformation. The deformation is computed iteratively until the control points match the target positions in the consecutive image frame. The 3D strain field is computed from the 3D displacement field with moving least squares. We demonstrate that MDMs outperformed the finite element method and the spline method with a numerical phantom. Meshless deformable models can track the trajectory of any material point in the myocardium and compute the 3D strain field of any particular area. The experimental results on in vivo healthy and patient heart MRI show that the MDM can fully recover the myocardium motion in three dimensions. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Meshless deformable models for 3D cardiac motion and strain analysis from tagged MRI

PubMed Central

Wang, Xiaoxu; Chen, Ting; Zhang, Shaoting; Schaerer, Joël; Qian, Zhen; Huh, Suejung; Metaxas, Dimitris; Axel, Leon

2016-01-01

Tagged magnetic resonance imaging (TMRI) provides a direct and noninvasive way to visualize the in-wall deformation of the myocardium. Due to the through-plane motion, the tracking of 3D trajectories of the material points and the computation of 3D strain field call for the necessity of building 3D cardiac deformable models. The intersections of three stacks of orthogonal tagging planes are material points in the myocardium. With these intersections as control points, 3D motion can be reconstructed with a novel meshless deformable model (MDM). Volumetric MDMs describe an object as point cloud inside the object boundary and the coordinate of each point can be written in parametric functions. A generic heart mesh is registered on the TMRI with polar decomposition. A 3D MDM is generated and deformed with MR image tagging lines. Volumetric MDMs are deformed by calculating the dynamics function and minimizing the local Laplacian coordinates. The similarity transformation of each point is computed by assuming its neighboring points are making the same transformation. The deformation is computed iteratively until the control points match the target positions in the consecutive image frame. The 3D strain field is computed from the 3D displacement field with moving least squares. We demonstrate that MDMs outperformed the finite element method and the spline method with a numerical phantom. Meshless deformable models can track the trajectory of any material point in the myocardium and compute the 3D strain field of any particular area. The experimental results on in vivo healthy and patient heart MRI show that the MDM can fully recover the myocardium motion in three dimensions. PMID:25157446

Computational performance of Free Mesh Method applied to continuum mechanics problems

PubMed Central

YAGAWA, Genki

2011-01-01

The free mesh method (FMM) is a kind of the meshless methods intended for particle-like finite element analysis of problems that are difficult to handle using global mesh generation, or a node-based finite element method that employs a local mesh generation technique and a node-by-node algorithm. The aim of the present paper is to review some unique numerical solutions of fluid and solid mechanics by employing FMM as well as the Enriched Free Mesh Method (EFMM), which is a new version of FMM, including compressible flow and sounding mechanism in air-reed instruments as applications to fluid mechanics, and automatic remeshing for slow crack growth, dynamic behavior of solid as well as large-scale Eigen-frequency of engine block as applications to solid mechanics. PMID:21558753

Radiation effects on bifurcation and dual solutions in transient natural convection in a horizontal annulus

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

Luo, Kang; Yi, Hong-Liang, E-mail: yihongliang@hit.edu.cn; Tan, He-Ping, E-mail: tanheping@hit.edu.cn

2014-05-15

Transitions and bifurcations of transient natural convection in a horizontal annulus with radiatively participating medium are numerically investigated using the coupled lattice Boltzmann and direct collocation meshless (LB-DCM) method. As a hybrid approach based on a common multi-scale Boltzmann-type model, the LB-DCM scheme is easy to implement and has an excellent flexibility in dealing with the irregular geometries. Separate particle distribution functions in the LBM are used to calculate the density field, the velocity field and the thermal field. In the radiatively participating medium, the contribution of thermal radiation to natural convection must be taken into account, and it ismore » considered as a radiative term in the energy equation that is solved by the meshless method with moving least-squares (MLS) approximation. The occurrence of various instabilities and bifurcative phenomena is analyzed for different Rayleigh number Ra and Prandtl number Pr with and without radiation. Then, bifurcation diagrams and dual solutions are presented for relevant radiative parameters, such as convection-radiation parameter Rc and optical thickness τ. Numerical results show that the presence of volumetric radiation changes the static temperature gradient of the fluid, and generally results in an increase in the flow critical value. Besides, the existence and development of dual solutions of transient convection in the presence of radiation are greatly affected by radiative parameters. Finally, the advantage of LB-DCM combination is discussed, and the potential benefits of applying the LB-DCM method to multi-field coupling problems are demonstrated.« less

Fast multipole methods on a cluster of GPUs for the meshless simulation of turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yokota, R.; Narumi, T.; Sakamaki, R.; Kameoka, S.; Obi, S.; Yasuoka, K.

2009-11-01

Recent advances in the parallelizability of fast N-body algorithms, and the programmability of graphics processing units (GPUs) have opened a new path for particle based simulations. For the simulation of turbulence, vortex methods can now be considered as an interesting alternative to finite difference and spectral methods. The present study focuses on the efficient implementation of the fast multipole method and pseudo-particle method on a cluster of NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT GPUs, and applies this to a vortex method calculation of homogeneous isotropic turbulence. The results of the present vortex method agree quantitatively with that of the reference calculation using a spectral method. We achieved a maximum speed of 7.48 TFlops using 64 GPUs, and the cost performance was near 9.4/GFlops. The calculation of the present vortex method on 64 GPUs took 4120 s, while the spectral method on 32 CPUs took 4910 s.

Comparison of Response Surface Construction Methods for Derivative Estimation Using Moving Least Squares, Kriging and Radial Basis Functions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krishnamurthy, Thiagarajan

2005-01-01

Response construction methods using Moving Least Squares (MLS), Kriging and Radial Basis Functions (RBF) are compared with the Global Least Squares (GLS) method in three numerical examples for derivative generation capability. Also, a new Interpolating Moving Least Squares (IMLS) method adopted from the meshless method is presented. It is found that the response surface construction methods using the Kriging and RBF interpolation yields more accurate results compared with MLS and GLS methods. Several computational aspects of the response surface construction methods also discussed.

A new method for solving the quantum hydrodynamic equations of motion: application to two-dimensional reactive scattering.

PubMed

Pauler, Denise K; Kendrick, Brian K

2004-01-08

The de Broglie-Bohm hydrodynamic equations of motion are solved using a meshless method based on a moving least squares approach and an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian frame of reference. A regridding algorithm adds and deletes computational points as needed in order to maintain a uniform interparticle spacing, and unitary time evolution is obtained by propagating the wave packet using averaged fields. The numerical instabilities associated with the formation of nodes in the reflected portion of the wave packet are avoided by adding artificial viscosity to the equations of motion. The methodology is applied to a two-dimensional model collinear reaction with an activation barrier. Reaction probabilities are computed as a function of both time and energy, and are in excellent agreement with those based on the quantum trajectory method. (c) 2004 American Institute of Physics

Meshless Method with Operator Splitting Technique for Transient Nonlinear Bioheat Transfer in Two-Dimensional Skin Tissues

PubMed Central

Zhang, Ze-Wei; Wang, Hui; Qin, Qing-Hua

2015-01-01

A meshless numerical scheme combining the operator splitting method (OSM), the radial basis function (RBF) interpolation, and the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) is developed for solving transient nonlinear bioheat problems in two-dimensional (2D) skin tissues. In the numerical scheme, the nonlinearity caused by linear and exponential relationships of temperature-dependent blood perfusion rate (TDBPR) is taken into consideration. In the analysis, the OSM is used first to separate the Laplacian operator and the nonlinear source term, and then the second-order time-stepping schemes are employed for approximating two splitting operators to convert the original governing equation into a linear nonhomogeneous Helmholtz-type governing equation (NHGE) at each time step. Subsequently, the RBF interpolation and the MFS involving the fundamental solution of the Laplace equation are respectively employed to obtain approximated particular and homogeneous solutions of the nonhomogeneous Helmholtz-type governing equation. Finally, the full fields consisting of the particular and homogeneous solutions are enforced to fit the NHGE at interpolation points and the boundary conditions at boundary collocations for determining unknowns at each time step. The proposed method is verified by comparison of other methods. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the coefficients in the cases of a linear and an exponential relationship of TDBPR is investigated to reveal their bioheat effect on the skin tissue. PMID:25603180

Meshless method with operator splitting technique for transient nonlinear bioheat transfer in two-dimensional skin tissues.

PubMed

Zhang, Ze-Wei; Wang, Hui; Qin, Qing-Hua

2015-01-16

A meshless numerical scheme combining the operator splitting method (OSM), the radial basis function (RBF) interpolation, and the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) is developed for solving transient nonlinear bioheat problems in two-dimensional (2D) skin tissues. In the numerical scheme, the nonlinearity caused by linear and exponential relationships of temperature-dependent blood perfusion rate (TDBPR) is taken into consideration. In the analysis, the OSM is used first to separate the Laplacian operator and the nonlinear source term, and then the second-order time-stepping schemes are employed for approximating two splitting operators to convert the original governing equation into a linear nonhomogeneous Helmholtz-type governing equation (NHGE) at each time step. Subsequently, the RBF interpolation and the MFS involving the fundamental solution of the Laplace equation are respectively employed to obtain approximated particular and homogeneous solutions of the nonhomogeneous Helmholtz-type governing equation. Finally, the full fields consisting of the particular and homogeneous solutions are enforced to fit the NHGE at interpolation points and the boundary conditions at boundary collocations for determining unknowns at each time step. The proposed method is verified by comparison of other methods. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the coefficients in the cases of a linear and an exponential relationship of TDBPR is investigated to reveal their bioheat effect on the skin tissue.

Mechanics of cantilever beam: Implementation and comparison of FEM and MLPG approach

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

Trobec, Roman

2016-06-08

Two weak form solution approaches for partial differential equations, the well known meshbased finite element method and the newer meshless local Petrov Galerkin method are described and compared on a standard test case - mechanics of cantilever beam. The implementation, solution accuracy and calculation complexity are addressed for both approaches. We found out that FEM is superior in most standard criteria, but MLPG has some advantages because of its flexibility that results from its general formulation.

A review on recent contribution of meshfree methods to structure and fracture mechanics applications.

PubMed

Daxini, S D; Prajapati, J M

2014-01-01

Meshfree methods are viewed as next generation computational techniques. With evident limitations of conventional grid based methods, like FEM, in dealing with problems of fracture mechanics, large deformation, and simulation of manufacturing processes, meshfree methods have gained much attention by researchers. A number of meshfree methods have been proposed till now for analyzing complex problems in various fields of engineering. Present work attempts to review recent developments and some earlier applications of well-known meshfree methods like EFG and MLPG to various types of structure mechanics and fracture mechanics applications like bending, buckling, free vibration analysis, sensitivity analysis and topology optimization, single and mixed mode crack problems, fatigue crack growth, and dynamic crack analysis and some typical applications like vibration of cracked structures, thermoelastic crack problems, and failure transition in impact problems. Due to complex nature of meshfree shape functions and evaluation of integrals in domain, meshless methods are computationally expensive as compared to conventional mesh based methods. Some improved versions of original meshfree methods and other techniques suggested by researchers to improve computational efficiency of meshfree methods are also reviewed here.

Object-constrained meshless deformable algorithm for high speed 3D nonrigid registration between CT and CBCT

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

Chen Ting; Kim, Sung; Goyal, Sharad

2010-01-15

Purpose: High-speed nonrigid registration between the planning CT and the treatment CBCT data is critical for real time image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) to improve the dose distribution and to reduce the toxicity to adjacent organs. The authors propose a new fully automatic 3D registration framework that integrates object-based global and seed constraints with the grayscale-based ''demons'' algorithm. Methods: Clinical objects were segmented on the planning CT images and were utilized as meshless deformable models during the nonrigid registration process. The meshless models reinforced a global constraint in addition to the grayscale difference between CT and CBCT in order to maintainmore » the shape and the volume of geometrically complex 3D objects during the registration. To expedite the registration process, the framework was stratified into hierarchies, and the authors used a frequency domain formulation to diffuse the displacement between the reference and the target in each hierarchy. Also during the registration of pelvis images, they replaced the air region inside the rectum with estimated pixel values from the surrounding rectal wall and introduced an additional seed constraint to robustly track and match the seeds implanted into the prostate. The proposed registration framework and algorithm were evaluated on 15 real prostate cancer patients. For each patient, prostate gland, seminal vesicle, bladder, and rectum were first segmented by a radiation oncologist on planning CT images for radiotherapy planning purpose. The same radiation oncologist also manually delineated the tumor volumes and critical anatomical structures in the corresponding CBCT images acquired at treatment. These delineated structures on the CBCT were only used as the ground truth for the quantitative validation, while structures on the planning CT were used both as the input to the registration method and the ground truth in validation. By registering the planning CT to the CBCT, a displacement map was generated. Segmented volumes in the CT images deformed using the displacement field were compared against the manual segmentations in the CBCT images to quantitatively measure the convergence of the shape and the volume. Other image features were also used to evaluate the overall performance of the registration. Results: The algorithm was able to complete the segmentation and registration process within 1 min, and the superimposed clinical objects achieved a volumetric similarity measure of over 90% between the reference and the registered data. Validation results also showed that the proposed registration could accurately trace the deformation inside the target volume with average errors of less than 1 mm. The method had a solid performance in registering the simulated images with up to 20 Hounsfield unit white noise added. Also, the side by side comparison with the original demons algorithm demonstrated its improved registration performance over the local pixel-based registration approaches. Conclusions: Given the strength and efficiency of the algorithm, the proposed method has significant clinical potential to accelerate and to improve the CBCT delineation and targets tracking in online IGRT applications.« less

PDEs on moving surfaces via the closest point method and a modified grid based particle method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petras, A.; Ruuth, S. J.

2016-05-01

Partial differential equations (PDEs) on surfaces arise in a wide range of applications. The closest point method (Ruuth and Merriman (2008) [20]) is a recent embedding method that has been used to solve a variety of PDEs on smooth surfaces using a closest point representation of the surface and standard Cartesian grid methods in the embedding space. The original closest point method (CPM) was designed for problems posed on static surfaces, however the solution of PDEs on moving surfaces is of considerable interest as well. Here we propose solving PDEs on moving surfaces using a combination of the CPM and a modification of the grid based particle method (Leung and Zhao (2009) [12]). The grid based particle method (GBPM) represents and tracks surfaces using meshless particles and an Eulerian reference grid. Our modification of the GBPM introduces a reconstruction step into the original method to ensure that all the grid points within a computational tube surrounding the surface are active. We present a number of examples to illustrate the numerical convergence properties of our combined method. Experiments for advection-diffusion equations that are strongly coupled to the velocity of the surface are also presented.

Probabilistic numerical methods for PDE-constrained Bayesian inverse problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cockayne, Jon; Oates, Chris; Sullivan, Tim; Girolami, Mark

2017-06-01

This paper develops meshless methods for probabilistically describing discretisation error in the numerical solution of partial differential equations. This construction enables the solution of Bayesian inverse problems while accounting for the impact of the discretisation of the forward problem. In particular, this drives statistical inferences to be more conservative in the presence of significant solver error. Theoretical results are presented describing rates of convergence for the posteriors in both the forward and inverse problems. This method is tested on a challenging inverse problem with a nonlinear forward model.

Modeling RF Fields in Hot Plasmas with Parallel Full Wave Code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spencer, Andrew; Svidzinski, Vladimir; Zhao, Liangji; Galkin, Sergei; Kim, Jin-Soo

2016-10-01

FAR-TECH, Inc. is developing a suite of full wave RF plasma codes. It is based on a meshless formulation in configuration space with adapted cloud of computational points (CCP) capability and using the hot plasma conductivity kernel to model the nonlocal plasma dielectric response. The conductivity kernel is calculated by numerically integrating the linearized Vlasov equation along unperturbed particle trajectories. Work has been done on the following calculations: 1) the conductivity kernel in hot plasmas, 2) a monitor function based on analytic solutions of the cold-plasma dispersion relation, 3) an adaptive CCP based on the monitor function, 4) stencils to approximate the wave equations on the CCP, 5) the solution to the full wave equations in the cold-plasma model in tokamak geometry for ECRH and ICRH range of frequencies, and 6) the solution to the wave equations using the calculated hot plasma conductivity kernel. We will present results on using a meshless formulation on adaptive CCP to solve the wave equations and on implementing the non-local hot plasma dielectric response to the wave equations. The presentation will include numerical results of wave propagation and absorption in the cold and hot tokamak plasma RF models, using DIII-D geometry and plasma parameters. Work is supported by the U.S. DOE SBIR program.

A multiphysics and multiscale model for low frequency electromagnetic direct-chill casting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Košnik, N.; Guštin, A. Z.; Mavrič, B.; Šarler, B.

2016-03-01

Simulation and control of macrosegregation, deformation and grain size in low frequency electromagnetic (EM) direct-chill casting (LFEMC) is important for downstream processing. Respectively, a multiphysics and multiscale model is developed for solution of Lorentz force, temperature, velocity, concentration, deformation and grain structure of LFEMC processed aluminum alloys, with focus on axisymmetric billets. The mixture equations with lever rule, linearized phase diagram, and stationary thermoelastic solid phase are assumed, together with EM induction equation for the field imposed by the coil. Explicit diffuse approximate meshless solution procedure [1] is used for solving the EM field, and the explicit local radial basis function collocation method [2] is used for solving the coupled transport phenomena and thermomechanics fields. Pressure-velocity coupling is performed by the fractional step method [3]. The point automata method with modified KGT model is used to estimate the grain structure [4] in a post-processing mode. Thermal, mechanical, EM and grain structure outcomes of the model are demonstrated. A systematic study of the complicated influences of the process parameters can be investigated by the model, including intensity and frequency of the electromagnetic field. The meshless solution framework, with the implemented simplest physical models, will be further extended by including more sophisticated microsegregation and grain structure models, as well as a more realistic solid and solid-liquid phase rheology.

Efficient physics-based tracking of heart surface motion for beating heart surgery robotic systems.

PubMed

Bogatyrenko, Evgeniya; Pompey, Pascal; Hanebeck, Uwe D

2011-05-01

Tracking of beating heart motion in a robotic surgery system is required for complex cardiovascular interventions. A heart surface motion tracking method is developed, including a stochastic physics-based heart surface model and an efficient reconstruction algorithm. The algorithm uses the constraints provided by the model that exploits the physical characteristics of the heart. The main advantage of the model is that it is more realistic than most standard heart models. Additionally, no explicit matching between the measurements and the model is required. The application of meshless methods significantly reduces the complexity of physics-based tracking. Based on the stochastic physical model of the heart surface, this approach considers the motion of the intervention area and is robust to occlusions and reflections. The tracking algorithm is evaluated in simulations and experiments on an artificial heart. Providing higher accuracy than the standard model-based methods, it successfully copes with occlusions and provides high performance even when all measurements are not available. Combining the physical and stochastic description of the heart surface motion ensures physically correct and accurate prediction. Automatic initialization of the physics-based cardiac motion tracking enables system evaluation in a clinical environment.

Discrete and continuum modelling of soil cutting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coetzee, C. J.

2014-12-01

Both continuum and discrete methods are used to investigate the soil cutting process. The Discrete Element Method ( dem) is used for the discrete modelling and the Material-Point Method ( mpm) is used for continuum modelling. M pmis a so-called particle method or meshless finite element method. Standard finite element methods have difficulty in modelling the entire cutting process due to large displacements and deformation of the mesh. The use of meshless methods overcomes this problem. M pm can model large deformations, frictional contact at the soil-tool interface, and dynamic effects (inertia forces). In granular materials the discreteness of the system is often important and rotational degrees of freedom are active, which might require enhanced theoretical approaches like polar continua. In polar continuum theories, the material points are considered to possess orientations. A material point has three degrees-of-freedom for rigid rotations, in addition to the three classic translational degrees-of-freedom. The Cosserat continuum is the most transparent and straightforward extension of the nonpolar (classic) continuum. Two-dimensional dem and mpm (polar and nonpolar) simulations of the cutting problem are compared to experiments. The drag force and flow patterns are compared using cohesionless corn grains as material. The corn macro (continuum) and micro ( dem) properties were obtained from shear and oedometer tests. Results show that the dilatancy angle plays a significant role in the flow of material but has less of an influence on the draft force. Nonpolar mpm is the most accurate in predicting blade forces, blade-soil interface stresses and the position and orientation of shear bands. Polar mpm fails in predicting the orientation of the shear band, but is less sensitive to mesh size and mesh orientation compared to nonpolar mpm. dem simulations show less material dilation than observed during experiments.

Deformation of Soft Tissue and Force Feedback Using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

PubMed Central

Liu, Xuemei; Wang, Ruiyi; Li, Yunhua; Song, Dongdong

2015-01-01

We study the deformation and haptic feedback of soft tissue in virtual surgery based on a liver model by using a force feedback device named PHANTOM OMNI developed by SensAble Company in USA. Although a significant amount of research efforts have been dedicated to simulating the behaviors of soft tissue and implementing force feedback, it is still a challenging problem. This paper introduces a kind of meshfree method for deformation simulation of soft tissue and force computation based on viscoelastic mechanical model and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). Firstly, viscoelastic model can present the mechanical characteristics of soft tissue which greatly promotes the realism. Secondly, SPH has features of meshless technique and self-adaption, which supply higher precision than methods based on meshes for force feedback computation. Finally, a SPH method based on dynamic interaction area is proposed to improve the real time performance of simulation. The results reveal that SPH methodology is suitable for simulating soft tissue deformation and force feedback calculation, and SPH based on dynamic local interaction area has a higher computational efficiency significantly compared with usual SPH. Our algorithm has a bright prospect in the area of virtual surgery. PMID:26417380

Computational Study of Colloidal Droplet Interactions with Three Dimensional Structures

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-18

on the meshless SPH method for droplet impact on and sorption into a powder bed considering free surface flow above the powder bed surface ...considering free surface flow above the powder bed surface , infiltration of the liquid in the porous matrix, and the interfacial forces on the free moving...infiltration of the liquid in the porous matrix, and the interfacial forces on the free moving surface . The model has been used to study the effect of impact

2D modeling of direct laser metal deposition process using a finite particle method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anedaf, T.; Abbès, B.; Abbès, F.; Li, Y. M.

2018-05-01

Direct laser metal deposition is one of the material additive manufacturing processes used to produce complex metallic parts. A thorough understanding of the underlying physical phenomena is required to obtain a high-quality parts. In this work, a mathematical model is presented to simulate the coaxial laser direct deposition process tacking into account of mass addition, heat transfer, and fluid flow with free surface and melting. The fluid flow in the melt pool together with mass and energy balances are solved using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software NOGRID-points, based on the meshless Finite Pointset Method (FPM). The basis of the computations is a point cloud, which represents the continuum fluid domain. Each finite point carries all fluid information (density, velocity, pressure and temperature). The dynamic shape of the molten zone is explicitly described by the point cloud. The proposed model is used to simulate a single layer cladding.

gpuSPHASE-A shared memory caching implementation for 2D SPH using CUDA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winkler, Daniel; Meister, Michael; Rezavand, Massoud; Rauch, Wolfgang

2017-04-01

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshless Lagrangian method that has been successfully applied to computational fluid dynamics (CFD), solid mechanics and many other multi-physics problems. Using the method to solve transport phenomena in process engineering requires the simulation of several days to weeks of physical time. Based on the high computational demand of CFD such simulations in 3D need a computation time of years so that a reduction to a 2D domain is inevitable. In this paper gpuSPHASE, a new open-source 2D SPH solver implementation for graphics devices, is developed. It is optimized for simulations that must be executed with thousands of frames per second to be computed in reasonable time. A novel caching algorithm for Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) shared memory is proposed and implemented. The software is validated and the performance is evaluated for the well established dambreak test case.

Free vibrations and buckling analysis of laminated plates by oscillatory radial basis functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neves, A. M. A.; Ferreira, A. J. M.

2015-12-01

In this paper the free vibrations and buckling analysis of laminated plates is performed using a global meshless method. A refined version of Kant's theorie which accounts for transverse normal stress and through-the-thickness deformation is used. The innovation is the use of oscillatory radial basis functions. Numerical examples are performed and results are presented and compared to available references. Such functions proved to be an alternative to the tradicional nonoscillatory radial basis functions.

Mingus Discontinuous Multiphysics

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

Pat Notz, Dan Turner

Mingus provides hybrid coupled local/non-local mechanics analysis capabilities that extend several traditional methods to applications with inherent discontinuities. Its primary features include adaptations of solid mechanics, fluid dynamics and digital image correlation that naturally accommodate dijointed data or irregular solution fields by assimilating a variety of discretizations (such as control volume finite elements, peridynamics and meshless control point clouds). The goal of this software is to provide an analysis framework form multiphysics engineering problems with an integrated image correlation capability that can be used for experimental validation and model

Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin Method for Solving Contact, Impact and Penetration Problems

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-30

Crack Growth 3 point of view, this approach makes the full use of the ex- isting FE models to avoid any model regeneration , which is extremely high in...process, at point C, the pressure reduces to zero, but the volumet- ric strain does not go to zero due to the collapsed void volume. 2.2 Damage...lease rate to go beyond the critical strain energy release rate. Thus, the micro-cracks begin to growth inside these areas. At 10 micro-seconds, these

Conjunction of radial basis function interpolator and artificial intelligence models for time-space modeling of contaminant transport in porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nourani, Vahid; Mousavi, Shahram; Dabrowska, Dominika; Sadikoglu, Fahreddin

2017-05-01

As an innovation, both black box and physical-based models were incorporated into simulating groundwater flow and contaminant transport. Time series of groundwater level (GL) and chloride concentration (CC) observed at different piezometers of study plain were firstly de-noised by the wavelet-based de-noising approach. The effect of de-noised data on the performance of artificial neural network (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) was evaluated. Wavelet transform coherence was employed for spatial clustering of piezometers. Then for each cluster, ANN and ANFIS models were trained to predict GL and CC values. Finally, considering the predicted water heads of piezometers as interior conditions, the radial basis function as a meshless method which solves partial differential equations of GFCT, was used to estimate GL and CC values at any point within the plain where there is not any piezometer. Results indicated that efficiency of ANFIS based spatiotemporal model was more than ANN based model up to 13%.

The solitary wave solution of coupled Klein-Gordon-Zakharov equations via two different numerical methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dehghan, Mehdi; Nikpour, Ahmad

2013-09-01

In this research, we propose two different methods to solve the coupled Klein-Gordon-Zakharov (KGZ) equations: the Differential Quadrature (DQ) and Globally Radial Basis Functions (GRBFs) methods. In the DQ method, the derivative value of a function with respect to a point is directly approximated by a linear combination of all functional values in the global domain. The principal work in this method is the determination of weight coefficients. We use two ways for obtaining these coefficients: cosine expansion (CDQ) and radial basis functions (RBFs-DQ), the former is a mesh-based method and the latter categorizes in the set of meshless methods. Unlike the DQ method, the GRBF method directly substitutes the expression of the function approximation by RBFs into the partial differential equation. The main problem in the GRBFs method is ill-conditioning of the interpolation matrix. Avoiding this problem, we study the bases introduced in Pazouki and Schaback (2011) [44]. Some examples are presented to compare the accuracy and easy implementation of the proposed methods. In numerical examples, we concentrate on Inverse Multiquadric (IMQ) and second-order Thin Plate Spline (TPS) radial basis functions. The variable shape parameter (exponentially and random) strategies are applied in the IMQ function and the results are compared with the constant shape parameter.

Two-dimensional fracture analysis of piezoelectric material based on the scaled boundary node method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen-Shen, Chen; Juan, Wang; Qing-Hua, Li

2016-04-01

A scaled boundary node method (SBNM) is developed for two-dimensional fracture analysis of piezoelectric material, which allows the stress and electric displacement intensity factors to be calculated directly and accurately. As a boundary-type meshless method, the SBNM employs the moving Kriging (MK) interpolation technique to an approximate unknown field in the circumferential direction and therefore only a set of scattered nodes are required to discretize the boundary. As the shape functions satisfy Kronecker delta property, no special techniques are required to impose the essential boundary conditions. In the radial direction, the SBNM seeks analytical solutions by making use of analytical techniques available to solve ordinary differential equations. Numerical examples are investigated and satisfactory solutions are obtained, which validates the accuracy and simplicity of the proposed approach. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11462006 and 21466012), the Foundation of Jiangxi Provincial Educational Committee, China (Grant No. KJLD14041), and the Foundation of East China Jiaotong University, China (Grant No. 09130020).

MUFASA: galaxy formation simulations with meshless hydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davé, Romeel; Thompson, Robert; Hopkins, Philip F.

2016-11-01

We present the MUFASA suite of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, which employs the GIZMO meshless finite mass (MFM) code including H2-based star formation, nine-element chemical evolution, two-phase kinetic outflows following scalings from the Feedback in Realistic Environments zoom simulations, and evolving halo mass-based quenching. Our fiducial (50 h-1 Mpc)3 volume is evolved to z = 0 with a quarter billion elements. The predicted galaxy stellar mass functions (GSMFs) reproduces observations from z = 4 → 0 to ≲ 1.2σ in cosmic variance, providing an unprecedented match to this key diagnostic. The cosmic star formation history and stellar mass growth show general agreement with data, with a strong archaeological downsizing trend such that dwarf galaxies form the majority of their stars after z ˜ 1. We run 25 and 12.5 h-1 Mpc volumes to z = 2 with identical feedback prescriptions, the latter resolving all hydrogen-cooling haloes, and the three runs display fair resolution convergence. The specific star formation rates broadly agree with data at z = 0, but are underpredicted at z ˜ 2 by a factor of 3, re-emphasizing a longstanding puzzle in galaxy evolution models. We compare runs using MFM and two flavours of smoothed particle hydrodynamics, and show that the GSMF is sensitive to hydrodynamics methodology at the ˜×2 level, which is sub-dominant to choices for parametrizing feedback.

A-posteriori error estimation for the finite point method with applications to compressible flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortega, Enrique; Flores, Roberto; Oñate, Eugenio; Idelsohn, Sergio

2017-08-01

An a-posteriori error estimate with application to inviscid compressible flow problems is presented. The estimate is a surrogate measure of the discretization error, obtained from an approximation to the truncation terms of the governing equations. This approximation is calculated from the discrete nodal differential residuals using a reconstructed solution field on a modified stencil of points. Both the error estimation methodology and the flow solution scheme are implemented using the Finite Point Method, a meshless technique enabling higher-order approximations and reconstruction procedures on general unstructured discretizations. The performance of the proposed error indicator is studied and applications to adaptive grid refinement are presented.

Novel two-way artificial boundary condition for 2D vertical water wave propagation modelled with Radial-Basis-Function Collocation Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller, A.

2018-04-01

A new transparent artificial boundary condition for the two-dimensional (vertical) (2DV) free surface water wave propagation modelled using the meshless Radial-Basis-Function Collocation Method (RBFCM) as boundary-only solution is derived. The two-way artificial boundary condition (2wABC) works as pure incidence, pure radiation and as combined incidence/radiation BC. In this work the 2wABC is applied to harmonic linear water waves; its performance is tested against the analytical solution for wave propagation over horizontal sea bottom, standing and partially standing wave as well as wave interference of waves with different periods.

Solution of Grad-Shafranov equation by the method of fundamental solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nath, D.; Kalra, M. S.; Kalra

2014-06-01

In this paper we have used the Method of Fundamental Solutions (MFS) to solve the Grad-Shafranov (GS) equation for the axisymmetric equilibria of tokamak plasmas with monomial sources. These monomials are the individual terms appearing on the right-hand side of the GS equation if one expands the nonlinear terms into polynomials. Unlike the Boundary Element Method (BEM), the MFS does not involve any singular integrals and is a meshless boundary-alone method. Its basic idea is to create a fictitious boundary around the actual physical boundary of the computational domain. This automatically removes the involvement of singular integrals. The results obtained by the MFS match well with the earlier results obtained using the BEM. The method is also applied to Solov'ev profiles and it is found that the results are in good agreement with analytical results.

Development of full wave code for modeling RF fields in hot non-uniform plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Liangji; Svidzinski, Vladimir; Spencer, Andrew; Kim, Jin-Soo

2016-10-01

FAR-TECH, Inc. is developing a full wave RF modeling code to model RF fields in fusion devices and in general plasma applications. As an important component of the code, an adaptive meshless technique is introduced to solve the wave equations, which allows resolving plasma resonances efficiently and adapting to the complexity of antenna geometry and device boundary. The computational points are generated using either a point elimination method or a force balancing method based on the monitor function, which is calculated by solving the cold plasma dispersion equation locally. Another part of the code is the conductivity kernel calculation, used for modeling the nonlocal hot plasma dielectric response. The conductivity kernel is calculated on a coarse grid of test points and then interpolated linearly onto the computational points. All the components of the code are parallelized using MPI and OpenMP libraries to optimize the execution speed and memory. The algorithm and the results of our numerical approach to solving 2-D wave equations in a tokamak geometry will be presented. Work is supported by the U.S. DOE SBIR program.

Modified Finite Particle Methods for Stokes problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montanino, A.; Asprone, D.; Reali, A.; Auricchio, F.

2018-04-01

The Modified Finite Particle Method (MFPM) is a numerical method belonging to the class of meshless methods, nowadays widely investigated due to their characteristic of being capable to easily model large deformation and fluid-dynamic problems. Here we use the MFPM to approximate the Stokes problem. Since the classical formulation of the Stokes problem may lead to pressure spurious oscillations, we investigate alternative formulations and focus on how MFPM discretization behaves in those situations. Some of the investigated formulations, in fact, do not enforce strongly the incompressibility constraint, and therefore an important issue of the present work is to verify if the MFPM is able to correctly reproduce the incompressibility in those cases. The numerical results show that for the formulations in which the incompressibility constraint is properly satisfied from a numerical point of view, the expected second-order is achieved, both in static and in dynamic problems.

Quantum hydrodynamics: capturing a reactive scattering resonance.

PubMed

Derrickson, Sean W; Bittner, Eric R; Kendrick, Brian K

2005-08-01

The hydrodynamic equations of motion associated with the de Broglie-Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics are solved using a meshless method based upon a moving least-squares approach. An arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian frame of reference and a regridding algorithm which adds and deletes computational points are used to maintain a uniform and nearly constant interparticle spacing. The methodology also uses averaged fields to maintain unitary time evolution. The numerical instabilities associated with the formation of nodes in the reflected portion of the wave packet are avoided by adding artificial viscosity to the equations of motion. A new and more robust artificial viscosity algorithm is presented which gives accurate scattering results and is capable of capturing quantum resonances. The methodology is applied to a one-dimensional model chemical reaction that is known to exhibit a quantum resonance. The correlation function approach is used to compute the reactive scattering matrix, reaction probability, and time delay as a function of energy. Excellent agreement is obtained between the scattering results based upon the quantum hydrodynamic approach and those based upon standard quantum mechanics. This is the first clear demonstration of the ability of moving grid approaches to accurately and robustly reproduce resonance structures in a scattering system.

Simulations on Monitoring and Evaluation of Plasticity-Driven Material Damage Based on Second Harmonic of S0 Mode Lamb Waves in Metallic Plates

PubMed Central

Sun, Xiaoqiang; Liu, Xuyang; Liu, Yaolu; Hu, Ning; Zhao, Youxuan; Ding, Xiangyan; Qin, Shiwei; Zhang, Jianyu; Zhang, Jun; Liu, Feng; Fu, Shaoyun

2017-01-01

In this study, a numerical approach—the discontinuous Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin-Eshelby Method (MLPGEM)—was adopted to simulate and measure material plasticity in an Al 7075-T651 plate. The plate was modeled in two dimensions by assemblies of small particles that interact with each other through bonding stiffness. The material plasticity of the model loaded to produce different levels of strain is evaluated with the Lamb waves of S0 mode. A tone burst at the center frequency of 200 kHz was used as excitation. Second-order nonlinear wave was extracted from the spectrogram of a signal receiving point. Tensile-driven plastic deformation and cumulative second harmonic generation of S0 mode were observed in the simulation. Simulated measurement of the acoustic nonlinearity increased monotonically with the level of tensile-driven plastic strain captured by MLPGEM, whereas achieving this state by other numerical methods is comparatively more difficult. This result indicates that the second harmonics of S0 mode can be employed to monitor and evaluate the material or structural early-stage damage induced by plasticity. PMID:28773188

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics method from a large eddy simulation perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Mascio, A.; Antuono, M.; Colagrossi, A.; Marrone, S.

2017-03-01

The Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method, often used for the modelling of the Navier-Stokes equations by a meshless Lagrangian approach, is revisited from the point of view of Large Eddy Simulation (LES). To this aim, the LES filtering procedure is recast in a Lagrangian framework by defining a filter that moves with the positions of the fluid particles at the filtered velocity. It is shown that the SPH smoothing procedure can be reinterpreted as a sort of LES Lagrangian filtering, and that, besides the terms coming from the LES convolution, additional contributions (never accounted for in the SPH literature) appear in the equations when formulated in a filtered fashion. Appropriate closure formulas are derived for the additional terms and a preliminary numerical test is provided to show the main features of the proposed LES-SPH model.

Singular boundary method for wave propagation analysis in periodic structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Zhuojia; Chen, Wen; Wen, Pihua; Zhang, Chuanzeng

2018-07-01

A strong-form boundary collocation method, the singular boundary method (SBM), is developed in this paper for the wave propagation analysis at low and moderate wavenumbers in periodic structures. The SBM is of several advantages including mathematically simple, easy-to-program, meshless with the application of the concept of origin intensity factors in order to eliminate the singularity of the fundamental solutions and avoid the numerical evaluation of the singular integrals in the boundary element method. Due to the periodic behaviors of the structures, the SBM coefficient matrix can be represented as a block Toeplitz matrix. By employing three different fast Toeplitz-matrix solvers, the computational time and storage requirements are significantly reduced in the proposed SBM analysis. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed SBM formulation for wave propagation analysis in periodic structures, several benchmark examples are presented and discussed The proposed SBM results are compared with the analytical solutions, the reference results and the COMSOL software.

A trans-phase granular continuum relation and its use in simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamrin, Ken; Dunatunga, Sachith; Askari, Hesam

The ability to model a large granular system as a continuum would offer tremendous benefits in computation time compared to discrete particle methods. However, two infamous problems arise in the pursuit of this vision: (i) the constitutive relation for granular materials is still unclear and hotly debated, and (ii) a model and corresponding numerical method must wear ``many hats'' as, in general circumstances, it must be able to capture and accurately represent the material as it crosses through its collisional, dense-flowing, and solid-like states. Here we present a minimal trans-phase model, merging an elastic response beneath a fictional yield criterion, a mu(I) rheology for liquid-like flow above the static yield criterion, and a disconnection rule to model separation of the grains into a low-temperature gas. We simulate our model with a meshless method (in high strain/mixing cases) and the finite-element method. It is able to match experimental data in many geometries, including collapsing columns, impact on granular beds, draining silos, and granular drag problems.

A fast object-oriented Matlab implementation of the Reproducing Kernel Particle Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbieri, Ettore; Meo, Michele

2012-05-01

Novel numerical methods, known as Meshless Methods or Meshfree Methods and, in a wider perspective, Partition of Unity Methods, promise to overcome most of disadvantages of the traditional finite element techniques. The absence of a mesh makes meshfree methods very attractive for those problems involving large deformations, moving boundaries and crack propagation. However, meshfree methods still have significant limitations that prevent their acceptance among researchers and engineers, namely the computational costs. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of computational techniques to speed-up the computation of the shape functions in the Reproducing Kernel Particle Method and Moving Least Squares, with particular focus on their bottlenecks, like the neighbour search, the inversion of the moment matrix and the assembly of the stiffness matrix. The paper presents numerous computational solutions aimed at a considerable reduction of the computational times: the use of kd-trees for the neighbour search, sparse indexing of the nodes-points connectivity and, most importantly, the explicit and vectorized inversion of the moment matrix without using loops and numerical routines.

2005 22nd International Symposium on Ballistics. Volume 3 Thursday - Friday

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-11-18

QinetiQ; Vladimir Titarev, Eleuterio Toro , Umeritek Limited The Mechanism Analysis of Interior Ballistics of Serial Chamber Gun, Dr. Sanjiu Ying, Charge...Elements and Meshless Particles, Gordon R. Johnson and Robert A. Stryk, Network Computing Services, Inc. Experimental and Numerical Study of the...Internal Ballistics Clive R. Woodley, David Finbow, QinetiQ; Vladimir Titarev, Eleuterio Toro , Numeritek Limited 22nd International Symposium on

Simbol-X Mirror Module Thermal Shields: I-Design and X-Ray Transmission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collura, A.; Barbera, M.; Varisco, S.; Basso, S.; Pareschi, G.; Tagliaferri, G.; Ayers, T.

2009-05-01

The Simbol-X mission is designed to fly in formation flight configuration. As a consequence, the telescope has both ends open to space, and thermal shielding at telescope entrance and exit is required to maintain temperature uniformity throughout the mirrors. Both mesh and meshless solutions are presently under study for the shields. We discuss the design and the X-ray transmission.

Burton-Miller-type singular boundary method for acoustic radiation and scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Zhuo-Jia; Chen, Wen; Gu, Yan

2014-08-01

This paper proposes the singular boundary method (SBM) in conjunction with Burton and Miller's formulation for acoustic radiation and scattering. The SBM is a strong-form collocation boundary discretization technique using the singular fundamental solutions, which is mathematically simple, easy-to-program, meshless and introduces the concept of source intensity factors (SIFs) to eliminate the singularities of the fundamental solutions. Therefore, it avoids singular numerical integrals in the boundary element method (BEM) and circumvents the troublesome placement of the fictitious boundary in the method of fundamental solutions (MFS). In the present method, we derive the SIFs of exterior Helmholtz equation by means of the SIFs of exterior Laplace equation owing to the same order of singularities between the Laplace and Helmholtz fundamental solutions. In conjunction with the Burton-Miller formulation, the SBM enhances the quality of the solution, particularly in the vicinity of the corresponding interior eigenfrequencies. Numerical illustrations demonstrate efficiency and accuracy of the present scheme on some benchmark examples under 2D and 3D unbounded domains in comparison with the analytical solutions, the boundary element solutions and Dirichlet-to-Neumann finite element solutions.

Meshless methods in shape optimization of linear elastic and thermoelastic solids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bobaru, Florin

This dissertation proposes a meshless approach to problems in shape optimization of elastic and thermoelastic solids. The Element-free Galerkin (EFG) method is used for this purpose. The ability of the EFG to avoid remeshing, that is normally done in a Finite Element approach to correct highly distorted meshes, is clearly demonstrated by several examples. The shape optimization example of a thermal cooling fin shows a dramatic improvement in the objective compared to a previous FEM analysis. More importantly, the new solution, displaying large shape changes contrasted to the initial design, was completely missed by the FEM analysis. The EFG formulation given here for shape optimization "uncovers" new solutions that are, apparently, unobtainable via a FEM approach. This is one of the main achievements of our work. The variational formulations for the analysis problem and for the sensitivity problems are obtained with a penalty method for imposing the displacement boundary conditions. The continuum formulation is general and this facilitates 2D and 3D with minor differences from one another. Also, transient thermoelastic problems can use the present development at each time step to solve shape optimization problems for time-dependent thermal problems. For the elasticity framework, displacement sensitivity is obtained in the EFG context. Excellent agreements with analytical solutions for some test problems are obtained. The shape optimization of a fillet is carried out in great detail, and results show significant improvement of the EFG solution over the FEM or the Boundary Element Method solutions. In our approach we avoid differentiating the complicated EFG shape functions, with respect to the shape design parameters, by using a particular discretization for sensitivity calculations. Displacement and temperature sensitivities are formulated for the shape optimization of a linear thermoelastic solid. Two important examples considered in this work, the optimization of a thermal fin and of a uniformly loaded thermoelastic beam, reveal new characteristics of the EFG method in shape optimization applications. Among other advantages of the EFG method over traditional FEM treatments of shape optimization problems, some of the most important ones are shown to be: elimination of post-processing for stress and strain recovery that directly gives more accurate results in critical positions (near the boundaries, for example) for shape optimization problems; nodes movement flexibility that permits new, better shapes (previously missed by an FEM analysis) to be discovered. Several new research directions that need further consideration are exposed.

2005 22nd International Symposium on Ballistics Volume 2 Wednesday

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-11-18

Information 1 Experimental and Numerical Study of the Penetration of Tungsten Carbide Into Steel Targets During High Rates of Strain John F . Moxnes...QinetiQ; Vladimir Titarev, Eleuterio Toro , Umeritek Limited The Mechanism Analysis of Interior Ballistics of Serial Chamber Gun, Dr. Sanjiu Ying, Charge...Elements and Meshless Particles, Gordon R. Johnson and Robert A. Stryk, Network Computing Services, Inc. Experimental and Numerical Study of the

The Natural Neighbour Radial Point Interpolation Meshless Method Applied to the Non-Linear Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinis, L. M. J. S.; Jorge, R. M. Natal; Belinha, J.

2011-05-01

In this work the Natural Neighbour Radial Point Interpolation Method (NNRPIM), is extended to large deformation analysis of elastic and elasto-plastic structures. The NNPRIM uses the Natural Neighbour concept in order to enforce the nodal connectivity and to create a node-depending background mesh, used in the numerical integration of the NNRPIM interpolation functions. Unlike the FEM, where geometrical restrictions on elements are imposed for the convergence of the method, in the NNRPIM there are no such restrictions, which permits a random node distribution for the discretized problem. The NNRPIM interpolation functions, used in the Galerkin weak form, are constructed using the Radial Point Interpolators, with some differences that modify the method performance. In the construction of the NNRPIM interpolation functions no polynomial base is required and the used Radial Basis Function (RBF) is the Multiquadric RBF. The NNRPIM interpolation functions posses the delta Kronecker property, which simplify the imposition of the natural and essential boundary conditions. One of the scopes of this work is to present the validation the NNRPIM in the large-deformation elasto-plastic analysis, thus the used non-linear solution algorithm is the Newton-Rapson initial stiffness method and the efficient "forward-Euler" procedure is used in order to return the stress state to the yield surface. Several non-linear examples, exhibiting elastic and elasto-plastic material properties, are studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. The numerical results indicated that NNRPIM handles large material distortion effectively and provides an accurate solution under large deformation.

Normalized Implicit Radial Models for Scattered Point Cloud Data without Normal Vectors

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-23

points by shrinking a discrete membrane, Computer Graphics Forum, Vol. 24-4, 2005, pp. 791-808 [8] Floater , M. S., Reimers, M.: Meshless...Parameterization and Surface Reconstruction, Computer Aided Geometric Design 18, 2001, pp 77-92 [9] Floater , M. S.: Parameterization of Triangulations and...Unorganized Points, In: Tutorials on Multiresolution in Geometric Modelling, A. Iske, E. Quak and M. S. Floater (eds.), Springer , 2002, pp. 287-316 [10

Hydrodynamic Simulations of Protoplanetary Disks with GIZMO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice, Malena; Laughlin, Greg

2018-01-01

Over the past several decades, the field of computational fluid dynamics has rapidly advanced as the range of available numerical algorithms and computationally feasible physical problems has expanded. The development of modern numerical solvers has provided a compelling opportunity to reconsider previously obtained results in search for yet undiscovered effects that may be revealed through longer integration times and more precise numerical approaches. In this study, we compare the results of past hydrodynamic disk simulations with those obtained from modern analytical resources. We focus our study on the GIZMO code (Hopkins 2015), which uses meshless methods to solve the homogeneous Euler equations of hydrodynamics while eliminating problems arising as a result of advection between grid cells. By comparing modern simulations with prior results, we hope to provide an improved understanding of the impact of fluid mechanics upon the evolution of protoplanetary disks.

A 1D-2D coupled SPH-SWE model applied to open channel flow simulations in complicated geometries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Kao-Hua; Sheu, Tony Wen-Hann; Chang, Tsang-Jung

2018-05-01

In this study, a one- and two-dimensional (1D-2D) coupled model is developed to solve the shallow water equations (SWEs). The solutions are obtained using a Lagrangian meshless method called smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) to simulate shallow water flows in converging, diverging and curved channels. A buffer zone is introduced to exchange information between the 1D and 2D SPH-SWE models. Interpolated water discharge values and water surface levels at the internal boundaries are prescribed as the inflow/outflow boundary conditions in the two SPH-SWE models. In addition, instead of using the SPH summation operator, we directly solve the continuity equation by introducing a diffusive term to suppress oscillations in the predicted water depth. The performance of the two approaches in calculating the water depth is comprehensively compared through a case study of a straight channel. Additionally, three benchmark cases involving converging, diverging and curved channels are adopted to demonstrate the ability of the proposed 1D and 2D coupled SPH-SWE model through comparisons with measured data and predicted mesh-based numerical results. The proposed model provides satisfactory accuracy and guaranteed convergence.

A novel multiphysic model for simulation of swelling equilibrium of ionized thermal-stimulus responsive hydrogels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hua; Wang, Xiaogui; Yan, Guoping; Lam, K. Y.; Cheng, Sixue; Zou, Tao; Zhuo, Renxi

2005-03-01

In this paper, a novel multiphysic mathematical model is developed for simulation of swelling equilibrium of ionized temperature sensitive hydrogels with the volume phase transition, and it is termed the multi-effect-coupling thermal-stimulus (MECtherm) model. This model consists of the steady-state Nernst-Planck equation, Poisson equation and swelling equilibrium governing equation based on the Flory's mean field theory, in which two types of polymer-solvent interaction parameters, as the functions of temperature and polymer-network volume fraction, are specified with or without consideration of the hydrogen bond interaction. In order to examine the MECtherm model consisting of nonlinear partial differential equations, a meshless Hermite-Cloud method is used for numerical solution of one-dimensional swelling equilibrium of thermal-stimulus responsive hydrogels immersed in a bathing solution. The computed results are in very good agreements with experimental data for the variation of volume swelling ratio with temperature. The influences of the salt concentration and initial fixed-charge density are discussed in detail on the variations of volume swelling ratio of hydrogels, mobile ion concentrations and electric potential of both interior hydrogels and exterior bathing solution.

Modeling of single film bubble and numerical study of the plateau structure in foam system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Zhong-guo; Ni, Ni; Sun, Yi-jie; Xi, Guang

2018-02-01

The single-film bubble has a special geometry with a certain amount of gas shrouded by a thin layer of liquid film under the surface tension force both on the inside and outside surfaces of the bubble. Based on the mesh-less moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method, a single-film double-gas-liquid-interface surface tension (SDST) model is established for the single-film bubble, which characteristically has totally two gas-liquid interfaces on both sides of the film. Within this framework, the conventional surface free energy surface tension model is improved by using a higher order potential energy equation between particles, and the modification results in higher accuracy and better symmetry properties. The complex interface movement in the oscillation process of the single-film bubble is numerically captured, as well as typical flow phenomena and deformation characteristics of the liquid film. In addition, the basic behaviors of the coalescence and connection process between two and even three single-film bubbles are studied, and the cases with bubbles of different sizes are also included. Furthermore, the classic plateau structure in the foam system is reproduced and numerically proved to be in the steady state for multi-bubble connections.

Numerical treatment for solving two-dimensional space-fractional advection-dispersion equation using meshless method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Rongjun; Sun, Fengxin; Wei, Qi; Wang, Jufeng

2018-02-01

Space-fractional advection-dispersion equation (SFADE) can describe particle transport in a variety of fields more accurately than the classical models of integer-order derivative. Because of nonlocal property of integro-differential operator of space-fractional derivative, it is very challenging to deal with fractional model, and few have been reported in the literature. In this paper, a numerical analysis of the two-dimensional SFADE is carried out by the element-free Galerkin (EFG) method. The trial functions for the SFADE are constructed by the moving least-square (MLS) approximation. By the Galerkin weak form, the energy functional is formulated. Employing the energy functional minimization procedure, the final algebraic equations system is obtained. The Riemann-Liouville operator is discretized by the Grünwald formula. With center difference method, EFG method and Grünwald formula, the fully discrete approximation schemes for SFADE are established. Comparing with exact results and available results by other well-known methods, the computed approximate solutions are presented in the format of tables and graphs. The presented results demonstrate the validity, efficiency and accuracy of the proposed techniques. Furthermore, the error is computed and the proposed method has reasonable convergence rates in spatial and temporal discretizations.

The effects of pressure dependent constitutive model to simulate concrete structures failure under impact loads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mokhatar, S. N.; Sonoda, Y.; Kamarudin, A. F.; Noh, M. S. Md; Tokumaru, S.

2018-04-01

The main objective of this paper is to explore the effect of confining pressure in the compression and tension zone by simulating the behaviour of reinforced concrete/mortar structures subjected to the impact load. The analysis comprises the numerical simulation of the influences of high mass low speed impact weight dropping on concrete structures, where the analyses are incorporated with meshless method namely as Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method. The derivation of the plastic stiffness matrix of Drucker-Prager (DP) that extended from Von-Mises (VM) yield criteria to simulate the concrete behaviour were presented in this paper. In which, the displacements for concrete/mortar structures are assumed to be infinitesimal. Furthermore, the influence of the different material model of DP and VM that used numerically for concrete and mortar structures are also discussed. Validation upon existing experimental test results is carried out to investigate the effect of confining pressure, it is found that VM criterion causes unreal impact failure (flexural cracking) of concrete structures.

Anisotropic diffusion in mesh-free numerical magnetohydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hopkins, Philip F.

2017-04-01

We extend recently developed mesh-free Lagrangian methods for numerical magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) to arbitrary anisotropic diffusion equations, including: passive scalar diffusion, Spitzer-Braginskii conduction and viscosity, cosmic ray diffusion/streaming, anisotropic radiation transport, non-ideal MHD (Ohmic resistivity, ambipolar diffusion, the Hall effect) and turbulent 'eddy diffusion'. We study these as implemented in the code GIZMO for both new meshless finite-volume Godunov schemes (MFM/MFV). We show that the MFM/MFV methods are accurate and stable even with noisy fields and irregular particle arrangements, and recover the correct behaviour even in arbitrarily anisotropic cases. They are competitive with state-of-the-art AMR/moving-mesh methods, and can correctly treat anisotropic diffusion-driven instabilities (e.g. the MTI and HBI, Hall MRI). We also develop a new scheme for stabilizing anisotropic tensor-valued fluxes with high-order gradient estimators and non-linear flux limiters, which is trivially generalized to AMR/moving-mesh codes. We also present applications of some of these improvements for SPH, in the form of a new integral-Godunov SPH formulation that adopts a moving-least squares gradient estimator and introduces a flux-limited Riemann problem between particles.

A novel partitioning method for block-structured adaptive meshes

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

Fu, Lin, E-mail: lin.fu@tum.de; Litvinov, Sergej, E-mail: sergej.litvinov@aer.mw.tum.de; Hu, Xiangyu Y., E-mail: xiangyu.hu@tum.de

We propose a novel partitioning method for block-structured adaptive meshes utilizing the meshless Lagrangian particle concept. With the observation that an optimum partitioning has high analogy to the relaxation of a multi-phase fluid to steady state, physically motivated model equations are developed to characterize the background mesh topology and are solved by multi-phase smoothed-particle hydrodynamics. In contrast to well established partitioning approaches, all optimization objectives are implicitly incorporated and achieved during the particle relaxation to stationary state. Distinct partitioning sub-domains are represented by colored particles and separated by a sharp interface with a surface tension model. In order to obtainmore » the particle relaxation, special viscous and skin friction models, coupled with a tailored time integration algorithm are proposed. Numerical experiments show that the present method has several important properties: generation of approximately equal-sized partitions without dependence on the mesh-element type, optimized interface communication between distinct partitioning sub-domains, continuous domain decomposition which is physically localized and implicitly incremental. Therefore it is particularly suitable for load-balancing of high-performance CFD simulations.« less

A novel partitioning method for block-structured adaptive meshes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Lin; Litvinov, Sergej; Hu, Xiangyu Y.; Adams, Nikolaus A.

2017-07-01

We propose a novel partitioning method for block-structured adaptive meshes utilizing the meshless Lagrangian particle concept. With the observation that an optimum partitioning has high analogy to the relaxation of a multi-phase fluid to steady state, physically motivated model equations are developed to characterize the background mesh topology and are solved by multi-phase smoothed-particle hydrodynamics. In contrast to well established partitioning approaches, all optimization objectives are implicitly incorporated and achieved during the particle relaxation to stationary state. Distinct partitioning sub-domains are represented by colored particles and separated by a sharp interface with a surface tension model. In order to obtain the particle relaxation, special viscous and skin friction models, coupled with a tailored time integration algorithm are proposed. Numerical experiments show that the present method has several important properties: generation of approximately equal-sized partitions without dependence on the mesh-element type, optimized interface communication between distinct partitioning sub-domains, continuous domain decomposition which is physically localized and implicitly incremental. Therefore it is particularly suitable for load-balancing of high-performance CFD simulations.

Numerical study of the shape parameter dependence of the local radial point interpolation method in linear elasticity.

PubMed

Moussaoui, Ahmed; Bouziane, Touria

2016-01-01

The method LRPIM is a Meshless method with properties of simple implementation of the essential boundary conditions and less costly than the moving least squares (MLS) methods. This method is proposed to overcome the singularity associated to polynomial basis by using radial basis functions. In this paper, we will present a study of a 2D problem of an elastic homogenous rectangular plate by using the method LRPIM. Our numerical investigations will concern the influence of different shape parameters on the domain of convergence,accuracy and using the radial basis function of the thin plate spline. It also will presents a comparison between numerical results for different materials and the convergence domain by precising maximum and minimum values as a function of distribution nodes number. The analytical solution of the deflection confirms the numerical results. The essential points in the method are: •The LRPIM is derived from the local weak form of the equilibrium equations for solving a thin elastic plate.•The convergence of the LRPIM method depends on number of parameters derived from local weak form and sub-domains.•The effect of distributions nodes number by varying nature of material and the radial basis function (TPS).

The Formation of a Milky Way-sized Disk Galaxy. I. A Comparison of Numerical Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Qirong; Li, Yuexing

2016-11-01

The long-standing challenge of creating a Milky Way- (MW-) like disk galaxy from cosmological simulations has motivated significant developments in both numerical methods and physical models. We investigate these two fundamental aspects in a new comparison project using a set of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of an MW-sized galaxy. In this study, we focus on the comparison of two particle-based hydrodynamics methods: an improved smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code Gadget, and a Lagrangian Meshless Finite-Mass (MFM) code Gizmo. All the simulations in this paper use the same initial conditions and physical models, which include star formation, “energy-driven” outflows, metal-dependent cooling, stellar evolution, and metal enrichment. We find that both numerical schemes produce a late-type galaxy with extended gaseous and stellar disks. However, notable differences are present in a wide range of galaxy properties and their evolution, including star-formation history, gas content, disk structure, and kinematics. Compared to Gizmo, the Gadget simulation produced a larger fraction of cold, dense gas at high redshift which fuels rapid star formation and results in a higher stellar mass by 20% and a lower gas fraction by 10% at z = 0, and the resulting gas disk is smoother and more coherent in rotation due to damping of turbulent motion by the numerical viscosity in SPH, in contrast to the Gizmo simulation, which shows a more prominent spiral structure. Given its better convergence properties and lower computational cost, we argue that the MFM method is a promising alternative to SPH in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations.

THE FORMATION OF A MILKY WAY-SIZED DISK GALAXY. I. A COMPARISON OF NUMERICAL METHODS

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

Zhu, Qirong; Li, Yuexing, E-mail: qxz125@psu.edu

The long-standing challenge of creating a Milky Way- (MW-) like disk galaxy from cosmological simulations has motivated significant developments in both numerical methods and physical models. We investigate these two fundamental aspects in a new comparison project using a set of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of an MW-sized galaxy. In this study, we focus on the comparison of two particle-based hydrodynamics methods: an improved smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code Gadget, and a Lagrangian Meshless Finite-Mass (MFM) code Gizmo. All the simulations in this paper use the same initial conditions and physical models, which include star formation, “energy-driven” outflows, metal-dependent cooling, stellarmore » evolution, and metal enrichment. We find that both numerical schemes produce a late-type galaxy with extended gaseous and stellar disks. However, notable differences are present in a wide range of galaxy properties and their evolution, including star-formation history, gas content, disk structure, and kinematics. Compared to Gizmo, the Gadget simulation produced a larger fraction of cold, dense gas at high redshift which fuels rapid star formation and results in a higher stellar mass by 20% and a lower gas fraction by 10% at z = 0, and the resulting gas disk is smoother and more coherent in rotation due to damping of turbulent motion by the numerical viscosity in SPH, in contrast to the Gizmo simulation, which shows a more prominent spiral structure. Given its better convergence properties and lower computational cost, we argue that the MFM method is a promising alternative to SPH in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations.« less

Thermomechanically coupled conduction mode laser welding simulations using smoothed particle hydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Haoyue; Eberhard, Peter

2017-10-01

Process simulations of conduction mode laser welding are performed using the meshless Lagrangian smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method. The solid phase is modeled based on the governing equations in thermoelasticity. For the liquid phase, surface tension effects are taken into account to simulate the melt flow in the weld pool, including the Marangoni force caused by a temperature-dependent surface tension gradient. A non-isothermal solid-liquid phase transition with the release or absorption of additional energy known as the latent heat of fusion is considered. The major heat transfer through conduction is modeled, whereas heat convection and radiation are neglected. The energy input from the laser beam is modeled as a Gaussian heat source acting on the initial material surface. The developed model is implemented in Pasimodo. Numerical results obtained with the model are presented for laser spot welding and seam welding of aluminum and iron. The change of process parameters like welding speed and laser power, and their effects on weld dimensions are investigated. Furthermore, simulations may be useful to obtain the threshold for deep penetration welding and to assess the overall welding quality. A scalability and performance analysis of the implemented SPH algorithm in Pasimodo is run in a shared memory environment. The analysis reveals the potential of large welding simulations on multi-core machines.

Progress on the development of FullWave, a Hot and Cold Plasma Parallel Full Wave Code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spencer, J. Andrew; Svidzinski, Vladimir; Zhao, Liangji; Kim, Jin-Soo

2017-10-01

FullWave is being developed at FAR-TECH, Inc. to simulate RF waves in hot inhomogeneous magnetized plasmas without making small orbit approximations. FullWave is based on a meshless formulation in configuration space on non-uniform clouds of computational points (CCP) adapted to better resolve plasma resonances, antenna structures and complex boundaries. The linear frequency domain wave equation is formulated using two approaches: for cold plasmas the local cold plasma dielectric tensor is used (resolving resonances by particle collisions), while for hot plasmas the conductivity kernel is calculated. The details of FullWave and some preliminary results will be presented, including: 1) a monitor function based on analytic solutions of the cold-plasma dispersion relation; 2) an adaptive CCP based on the monitor function; 3) construction of the finite differences for approximation of derivatives on adaptive CCP; 4) results of 2-D full wave simulations in the cold plasma model in tokamak geometry using the formulated approach for ECRH, ICRH and Lower Hybrid range of frequencies. Work is supported by the U.S. DOE SBIR program.

Meshless analysis of shear deformable shells: the linear model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costa, Jorge C.; Tiago, Carlos M.; Pimenta, Paulo M.

2013-10-01

This work develops a kinematically linear shell model departing from a consistent nonlinear theory. The initial geometry is mapped from a flat reference configuration by a stress-free finite deformation, after which, the actual shell motion takes place. The model maintains the features of a complete stress-resultant theory with Reissner-Mindlin kinematics based on an inextensible director. A hybrid displacement variational formulation is presented, where the domain displacements and kinematic boundary reactions are independently approximated. The resort to a flat reference configuration allows the discretization using 2-D Multiple Fixed Least-Squares (MFLS) on the domain. The consistent definition of stress resultants and consequent plane stress assumption led to a neat formulation for the analysis of shells. The consistent linear approximation, combined with MFLS, made possible efficient computations with a desired continuity degree, leading to smooth results for the displacement, strain and stress fields, as shown by several numerical examples.

IMPROVED PERFORMANCES IN SUBSONIC FLOWS OF AN SPH SCHEME WITH GRADIENTS ESTIMATED USING AN INTEGRAL APPROACH

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

Valdarnini, R., E-mail: valda@sissa.it

In this paper, we present results from a series of hydrodynamical tests aimed at validating the performance of a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) formulation in which gradients are derived from an integral approach. We specifically investigate the code behavior with subsonic flows, where it is well known that zeroth-order inconsistencies present in standard SPH make it particularly problematic to correctly model the fluid dynamics. In particular, we consider the Gresho–Chan vortex problem, the growth of Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities, the statistics of driven subsonic turbulence and the cold Keplerian disk problem. We compare simulation results for the different tests with those obtained,more » for the same initial conditions, using standard SPH. We also compare the results with the corresponding ones obtained previously with other numerical methods, such as codes based on a moving-mesh scheme or Godunov-type Lagrangian meshless methods. We quantify code performances by introducing error norms and spectral properties of the particle distribution, in a way similar to what was done in other works. We find that the new SPH formulation exhibits strongly reduced gradient errors and outperforms standard SPH in all of the tests considered. In fact, in terms of accuracy, we find good agreement between the simulation results of the new scheme and those produced using other recently proposed numerical schemes. These findings suggest that the proposed method can be successfully applied for many astrophysical problems in which the presence of subsonic flows previously limited the use of SPH, with the new scheme now being competitive in these regimes with other numerical methods.« less

SPH simulation of free surface flow over a sharp-crested weir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrari, Angela

2010-03-01

In this paper the numerical simulation of a free surface flow over a sharp-crested weir is presented. Since in this case the usual shallow water assumptions are not satisfied, we propose to solve the problem using the full weakly compressible Navier-Stokes equations with the Tait equation of state for water. The numerical method used consists of the new meshless Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) formulation proposed by Ferrari et al. (2009) [8], that accurately tracks the free surface profile and provides monotone pressure fields. Thus, the unsteady evolution of the complex moving material interface (free surface) can been properly solved. The simulations involving about half a million of fluid particles have been run in parallel on two of the most powerful High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities in Europe. The validation of the results has been carried out analysing the pressure field and comparing the free surface profiles obtained with the SPH scheme with experimental measurements available in literature [18]. A very good quantitative agreement has been obtained.

A Galleria Boundary Element Method for two-dimensional nonlinear magnetostatics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brovont, Aaron D.

The Boundary Element Method (BEM) is a numerical technique for solving partial differential equations that is used broadly among the engineering disciplines. The main advantage of this method is that one needs only to mesh the boundary of a solution domain. A key drawback is the myriad of integrals that must be evaluated to populate the full system matrix. To this day these integrals have been evaluated using numerical quadrature. In this research, a Galerkin formulation of the BEM is derived and implemented to solve two-dimensional magnetostatic problems with a focus on accurate, rapid computation. To this end, exact, closed-form solutions have been derived for all the integrals comprising the system matrix as well as those required to compute fields in post-processing; the need for numerical integration has been eliminated. It is shown that calculation of the system matrix elements using analytical solutions is 15-20 times faster than with numerical integration of similar accuracy. Furthermore, through the example analysis of a c-core inductor, it is demonstrated that the present BEM formulation is a competitive alternative to the Finite Element Method (FEM) for linear magnetostatic analysis. Finally, the BEM formulation is extended to analyze nonlinear magnetostatic problems via the Dual Reciprocity Method (DRBEM). It is shown that a coarse, meshless analysis using the DRBEM is able to achieve RMS error of 3-6% compared to a commercial FEM package in lightly saturated conditions.

Modelling highly deformable metal extrusion using SPH

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prakash, Mahesh; Cleary, Paul W.

2015-05-01

Computational modelling is often used to reduce trial extrusions through accurate defect prediction. Traditionally, metal extrusion is modelled using mesh based finite element methods. However, large plastic deformations can lead to heavy re-meshing and numerical diffusion. Here we use the mesh-less smoothed particle hydrodynamics method since it allows simulation of large deformations without re-meshing and the tracking of history dependent properties such as plastic strain making it suitable for defect prediction. The variation in plastic strain and deformation for aluminium alloy in a cylindrical 3D geometry with extrusion ratio and die angle is evaluated. The extrusion process is found to have three distinct phases consisting of an initial sharp rise in extrusion force, a steady phase requiring constant force and terminating in a sharp decline in force as metal is completely extruded. Deformation and plastic strain increased significantly with extrusion ratio but only moderately with die angle. Extrusion force increased by 150 % as the extrusion ratio increased from 2:1 to 4:1 but had only a marginal change with die angle. A low strain zone in the centre of the extruded product was found to be a function of extrusion ratio but was persistent and did not vary with die angle. Simulation of a complex 3D building industry component showed large variations in plastic strain along the length of the product at two scales. These were due to change in metal behaviour as extrusion progressed from phase 1 to phase 2. A stagnation zone at the back of the die was predicted that could lead to the "funnel" or "pipe" defect.

A constrained-gradient method to control divergence errors in numerical MHD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hopkins, Philip F.

2016-10-01

In numerical magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), a major challenge is maintaining nabla \\cdot {B}=0. Constrained transport (CT) schemes achieve this but have been restricted to specific methods. For more general (meshless, moving-mesh, ALE) methods, `divergence-cleaning' schemes reduce the nabla \\cdot {B} errors; however they can still be significant and can lead to systematic errors which converge away slowly. We propose a new constrained gradient (CG) scheme which augments these with a projection step, and can be applied to any numerical scheme with a reconstruction. This iteratively approximates the least-squares minimizing, globally divergence-free reconstruction of the fluid. Unlike `locally divergence free' methods, this actually minimizes the numerically unstable nabla \\cdot {B} terms, without affecting the convergence order of the method. We implement this in the mesh-free code GIZMO and compare various test problems. Compared to cleaning schemes, our CG method reduces the maximum nabla \\cdot {B} errors by ˜1-3 orders of magnitude (˜2-5 dex below typical errors if no nabla \\cdot {B} cleaning is used). By preventing large nabla \\cdot {B} at discontinuities, this eliminates systematic errors at jumps. Our CG results are comparable to CT methods; for practical purposes, the nabla \\cdot {B} errors are eliminated. The cost is modest, ˜30 per cent of the hydro algorithm, and the CG correction can be implemented in a range of numerical MHD methods. While for many problems, we find Dedner-type cleaning schemes are sufficient for good results, we identify a range of problems where using only Powell or `8-wave' cleaning can produce order-of-magnitude errors.

Understanding casing flow in Pelton turbines by numerical simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rentschler, M.; Neuhauser, M.; Marongiu, J. C.; Parkinson, E.

2016-11-01

For rehabilitation projects of Pelton turbines, the flow in the casing may have an important influence on the overall performance of the machine. Water sheets returning on the jets or on the runner significantly reduce efficiency, and run-away speed depends on the flow in the casing. CFD simulations can provide a detailed insight into this type of flow, but these simulations are computationally intensive. As in general the volume of water in a Pelton turbine is small compared to the complete volume of the turbine housing, a single phase simulation greatly reduces the complexity of the simulation. In the present work a numerical tool based on the SPH-ALE meshless method is used to simulate the casing flow in a Pelton turbine. Using improved order schemes reduces the numerical viscosity. This is necessary to resolve the flow in the jet and on the casing wall, where the velocity differs by two orders of magnitude. The results are compared to flow visualizations and measurement in a hydraulic laboratory. Several rehabilitation projects proved the added value of understanding the flow in the Pelton casing. The flow simulation helps designing casing insert, not only to see their influence on the flow, but also to calculate the stress in the inserts. In some projects, the casing simulation leads to the understanding of unexpected behavior of the flow. One such example is presented where the backsplash of a deflector hit the runner, creating a reversed rotation of the runner.

Peri-Elastodynamic Simulations of Guided Ultrasonic Waves in Plate-Like Structure with Surface Mounted PZT.

PubMed

Patra, Subir; Ahmed, Hossain; Banerjee, Sourav

2018-01-18

Peridynamic based elastodynamic computation tool named Peri-elastodynamics is proposed herein to simulate the three-dimensional (3D) Lamb wave modes in materials for the first time. Peri-elastodynamics is a nonlocal meshless approach which is a scale-independent generalized technique to visualize the acoustic and ultrasonic waves in plate-like structure, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and nanodevices for their respective characterization. In this article, the characteristics of the fundamental Lamb wave modes are simulated in a sample plate-like structure. Lamb wave modes are generated using a surface mounted piezoelectric (PZT) transducer which is actuated from the top surface. The proposed generalized Peri-elastodynamics method is not only capable of simulating two dimensional (2D) in plane wave under plane strain condition formulated previously but also capable of accurately simulating the out of plane Symmetric and Antisymmetric Lamb wave modes in plate like structures in 3D. For structural health monitoring (SHM) of plate-like structures and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of MEMS devices, it is necessary to simulate the 3D wave-damage interaction scenarios and visualize the different wave features due to damages. Hence, in addition, to simulating the guided ultrasonic wave modes in pristine material, Lamb waves were also simulated in a damaged plate. The accuracy of the proposed technique is verified by comparing the modes generated in the plate and the mode shapes across the thickness of the plate with theoretical wave analysis.

Testing hydrodynamics schemes in galaxy disc simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Few, C. G.; Dobbs, C.; Pettitt, A.; Konstandin, L.

2016-08-01

We examine how three fundamentally different numerical hydrodynamics codes follow the evolution of an isothermal galactic disc with an external spiral potential. We compare an adaptive mesh refinement code (RAMSES), a smoothed particle hydrodynamics code (SPHNG), and a volume-discretized mesh-less code (GIZMO). Using standard refinement criteria, we find that RAMSES produces a disc that is less vertically concentrated and does not reach such high densities as the SPHNG or GIZMO runs. The gas surface density in the spiral arms increases at a lower rate for the RAMSES simulations compared to the other codes. There is also a greater degree of substructure in the SPHNG and GIZMO runs and secondary spiral arms are more pronounced. By resolving the Jeans length with a greater number of grid cells, we achieve more similar results to the Lagrangian codes used in this study. Other alterations to the refinement scheme (adding extra levels of refinement and refining based on local density gradients) are less successful in reducing the disparity between RAMSES and SPHNG/GIZMO. Although more similar, SPHNG displays different density distributions and vertical mass profiles to all modes of GIZMO (including the smoothed particle hydrodynamics version). This suggests differences also arise which are not intrinsic to the particular method but rather due to its implementation. The discrepancies between codes (in particular, the densities reached in the spiral arms) could potentially result in differences in the locations and time-scales for gravitational collapse, and therefore impact star formation activity in more complex galaxy disc simulations.

Set-free Markov state model building

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weber, Marcus; Fackeldey, Konstantin; Schütte, Christof

2017-03-01

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations face challenging problems since the time scales of interest often are much longer than what is possible to simulate; and even if sufficiently long simulations are possible the complex nature of the resulting simulation data makes interpretation difficult. Markov State Models (MSMs) help to overcome these problems by making experimentally relevant time scales accessible via coarse grained representations that also allow for convenient interpretation. However, standard set-based MSMs exhibit some caveats limiting their approximation quality and statistical significance. One of the main caveats results from the fact that typical MD trajectories repeatedly re-cross the boundary between the sets used to build the MSM which causes statistical bias in estimating the transition probabilities between these sets. In this article, we present a set-free approach to MSM building utilizing smooth overlapping ansatz functions instead of sets and an adaptive refinement approach. This kind of meshless discretization helps to overcome the recrossing problem and yields an adaptive refinement procedure that allows us to improve the quality of the model while exploring state space and inserting new ansatz functions into the MSM.

Singular boundary method for global gravity field modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cunderlik, Robert

2014-05-01

The singular boundary method (SBM) and method of fundamental solutions (MFS) are meshless boundary collocation techniques that use the fundamental solution of a governing partial differential equation (e.g. the Laplace equation) as their basis functions. They have been developed to avoid singular numerical integration as well as mesh generation in the traditional boundary element method (BEM). SBM have been proposed to overcome a main drawback of MFS - its controversial fictitious boundary outside the domain. The key idea of SBM is to introduce a concept of the origin intensity factors that isolate singularities of the fundamental solution and its derivatives using some appropriate regularization techniques. Consequently, the source points can be placed directly on the real boundary and coincide with the collocation nodes. In this study we deal with SBM applied for high-resolution global gravity field modelling. The first numerical experiment presents a numerical solution to the fixed gravimetric boundary value problem. The achieved results are compared with the numerical solutions obtained by MFS or the direct BEM indicating efficiency of all methods. In the second numerical experiments, SBM is used to derive the geopotential and its first derivatives from the Tzz components of the gravity disturbing tensor observed by the GOCE satellite mission. A determination of the origin intensity factors allows to evaluate the disturbing potential and gravity disturbances directly on the Earth's surface where the source points are located. To achieve high-resolution numerical solutions, the large-scale parallel computations are performed on the cluster with 1TB of the distributed memory and an iterative elimination of far zones' contributions is applied.

Radiation Hydrodynamics with GIZMO: The Disruption of Giant Molecular Clouds by Stellar Radiation Pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khatami, David; Hopkins, Philip F.

2016-01-01

We present a numerical implementation of radiation hydrodynamics for the meshless code GIZMO. The radiation transport is treated as an anisotropic diffusion process combined with radiation pressure effects, photoionization with heating and cooling routines, and a multifrequency treatment of an arbitrary number of sources. As a first application of the method, we investigate the disruption of giant molecular clouds by stellar radiative feedback. Specifically, what fraction of the gas must a GMC convert into stars to cause self-disruption? We test a range of cloud masses and sizes with several source luminosities to probe the effects of photoheating and radiation pressure on timescales shorter than the onset of the first supernovae. Observationally, only ~1-10% of gas is converted into stars, an inefficiency that is likely the result of feedback from newly formed stars. Whether photoheating or radiation pressure dominates is dependent on the given cloud properties. For denser clouds, we expect photoheating to play a negligible role with most of the feedback driven by radiation pressure. This work explores the necessary parameters a GMC must have in order for radiation pressure to be the main disruption process.

Convergence of the Critical Cooling Rate for Protoplanetary Disk Fragmentation Achieved: The Key Role of Numerical Dissipation of Angular Momentum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Hongping; Mayer, Lucio; Meru, Farzana

2017-09-01

We carry out simulations of gravitationally unstable disks using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and the novel Lagrangian meshless finite mass (MFM) scheme in the GIZMO code. Our aim is to understand the cause of the nonconvergence of the cooling boundary for fragmentation reported in the literature. We run SPH simulations with two different artificial viscosity implementations and compare them with MFM, which does not employ any artificial viscosity. With MFM we demonstrate convergence of the critical cooling timescale for fragmentation at {β }{crit}≈ 3. Nonconvergence persists in SPH codes. We show how the nonconvergence problem is caused by artificial fragmentation triggered by excessive dissipation of angular momentum in domains with large velocity derivatives. With increased resolution, such domains become more prominent. Vorticity lags behind density, due to numerical viscous dissipation in these regions, promoting collapse with longer cooling times. Such effect is shown to be dominant over the competing tendency of artificial viscosity to diminish with increasing resolution. When the initial conditions are first relaxed for several orbits, the flow is more regular, with lower shear and vorticity in nonaxisymmetric regions, aiding convergence. Yet MFM is the only method that converges exactly. Our findings are of general interest, as numerical dissipation via artificial viscosity or advection errors can also occur in grid-based codes. Indeed, for the FARGO code values of {β }{crit} significantly higher than our converged estimate have been reported in the literature. Finally, we discuss implications for giant planet formation via disk instability.

PREFACE: International Symposium on Geohazards and Geomechanics (ISGG2015)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Utili, S.

2015-09-01

These Conference Proceedings contain the full papers in electronic format of the International Symposium on 'Geohazards and Geomechanics', held at University of Warwick, UK, on September 10-11, 2015. The Symposium brings together the complementary expertise of world leading groups carrying out research on the engineering assessment, prevention and mitigation of geohazards. A total of 58 papers, including 8 keynote lectures cover phenomena such as landslide initiation and propagation, debris flow, rockfalls, soil liquefaction, ground improvement, hazard zonation, risk mapping, floods and gas and leachates. The techniques reported in the papers to investigate geohazards involve numerical modeling (finite element method, discrete element method, material point method, meshless methods and particle methods), experimentation (laboratory experiments, centrifuge tests and field monitoring) and analytical simplified techniques. All the contributions in this volume have been peered reviewed according to rigorous international standards. However the authors take full responsibility for the content of their papers. Agreements are in place for the edition of a special issue dedicated to the Symposium in three international journals: Engineering Geology, Computational Particle Mechanics and International Journal of Geohazards and Environment. Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit an extended version of their work to these Journals that will independently assess the papers. The Symposium is supported by the Technical Committee 'Geo-mechanics from Micro to Macro' (TC105) of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), 'Slope Stability in Engineering Practice' (TC208), 'Forensic Geotechnical Engineering' (TC302), the British Geotechnical Association and the EU FP7 IRSES project 'Geohazards and Geomechanics'. Also the organizers would like to thank all authors and their supporting institutions for their contributions. For any further enquiries or information on the conference proceedings please contact the organizer, Dr Stefano Utili, University of Warwick, s.utili@warwick.ac.uk.

3D SPH numerical simulation of the wave generated by the Vajont rockslide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vacondio, R.; Mignosa, P.; Pagani, S.

2013-09-01

A 3D numerical modeling of the wave generated by the Vajont slide, one of the most destructive ever occurred, is presented in this paper. A meshless Lagrangian Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) technique was adopted to simulate the highly fragmented violent flow generated by the falling slide in the artificial reservoir. The speed-up achievable via General Purpose Graphic Processing Units (GP-GPU) allowed to adopt the adequate resolution to describe the phenomenon. The comparison with the data available in literature showed that the results of the numerical simulation reproduce satisfactorily the maximum run-up, also the water surface elevation in the residual lake after the event. Moreover, the 3D velocity field of the flow during the event and the discharge hydrograph which overtopped the dam, were obtained.

Mono and multi-objective optimization techniques applied to a large range of industrial test cases using Metamodel assisted Evolutionary Algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fourment, Lionel; Ducloux, Richard; Marie, Stéphane; Ejday, Mohsen; Monnereau, Dominique; Massé, Thomas; Montmitonnet, Pierre

2010-06-01

The use of material processing numerical simulation allows a strategy of trial and error to improve virtual processes without incurring material costs or interrupting production and therefore save a lot of money, but it requires user time to analyze the results, adjust the operating conditions and restart the simulation. Automatic optimization is the perfect complement to simulation. Evolutionary Algorithm coupled with metamodelling makes it possible to obtain industrially relevant results on a very large range of applications within a few tens of simulations and without any specific automatic optimization technique knowledge. Ten industrial partners have been selected to cover the different area of the mechanical forging industry and provide different examples of the forming simulation tools. It aims to demonstrate that it is possible to obtain industrially relevant results on a very large range of applications within a few tens of simulations and without any specific automatic optimization technique knowledge. The large computational time is handled by a metamodel approach. It allows interpolating the objective function on the entire parameter space by only knowing the exact function values at a reduced number of "master points". Two algorithms are used: an evolution strategy combined with a Kriging metamodel and a genetic algorithm combined with a Meshless Finite Difference Method. The later approach is extended to multi-objective optimization. The set of solutions, which corresponds to the best possible compromises between the different objectives, is then computed in the same way. The population based approach allows using the parallel capabilities of the utilized computer with a high efficiency. An optimization module, fully embedded within the Forge2009 IHM, makes possible to cover all the defined examples, and the use of new multi-core hardware to compute several simulations at the same time reduces the needed time dramatically. The presented examples demonstrate the method versatility. They include billet shape optimization of a common rail, the cogging of a bar and a wire drawing problem.

Calculation of steady and unsteady transonic flow using a Cartesian mesh and gridless boundary conditions with application to aeroelasticity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirshman, David

A numerical method for the solution of inviscid compressible flow using an array of embedded Cartesian meshes in conjunction with gridless surface boundary conditions is developed. The gridless boundary treatment is implemented by means of a least squares fitting of the conserved flux variables using a cloud of nodes in the vicinity of the surface geometry. The method allows for accurate treatment of the surface boundary conditions using a grid resolution an order of magnitude coarser than required of typical Cartesian approaches. Additionally, the method does not suffer from issues associated with thin body geometry or extremely fine cut cells near the body. Unlike some methods that consider a gridless (or "meshless") treatment throughout the entire domain, multi-grid acceleration can be effectively incorporated and issues associated with global conservation are alleviated. The "gridless" surface boundary condition provides for efficient and simple problem set up since definition of the body geometry is generated independently from the field mesh, and automatically incorporated into the field discretization of the domain. The applicability of the method is first demonstrated for steady flow of single and multi-element airfoil configurations. Using this method, comparisons with traditional body-fitted grid simulations reveal that steady flow solutions can be obtained accurately with minimal effort associated with grid generation. The method is then extended to unsteady flow predictions. In this application, flow field simulations for the prescribed oscillation of an airfoil indicate excellent agreement with experimental data. Furthermore, it is shown that the phase lag associated with shock oscillation is accurately predicted without the need for a deformable mesh. Lastly, the method is applied to the prediction of transonic flutter using a two-dimensional wing model, in which comparisons with moving mesh simulations yield nearly identical results. As a result, applicability of the method to transient and vibrating fluid-structure interaction problems is established in which the requirement for a deformable mesh is eliminated.

How to model supernovae in simulations of star and galaxy formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hopkins, Philip F.; Wetzel, Andrew; Kereš, Dušan; Faucher-Giguère, Claude-André; Quataert, Eliot; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Murray, Norman; Hayward, Christopher C.; El-Badry, Kareem

2018-06-01

We study the implementation of mechanical feedback from supernovae (SNe) and stellar mass loss in galaxy simulations, within the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. We present the FIRE-2 algorithm for coupling mechanical feedback, which can be applied to any hydrodynamics method (e.g. fixed-grid, moving-mesh, and mesh-less methods), and black hole as well as stellar feedback. This algorithm ensures manifest conservation of mass, energy, and momentum, and avoids imprinting `preferred directions' on the ejecta. We show that it is critical to incorporate both momentum and thermal energy of mechanical ejecta in a self-consistent manner, accounting for SNe cooling radii when they are not resolved. Using idealized simulations of single SN explosions, we show that the FIRE-2 algorithm, independent of resolution, reproduces converged solutions in both energy and momentum. In contrast, common `fully thermal' (energy-dump) or `fully kinetic' (particle-kicking) schemes in the literature depend strongly on resolution: when applied at mass resolution ≳100 M⊙, they diverge by orders of magnitude from the converged solution. In galaxy-formation simulations, this divergence leads to orders-of-magnitude differences in galaxy properties, unless those models are adjusted in a resolution-dependent way. We show that all models that individually time-resolve SNe converge to the FIRE-2 solution at sufficiently high resolution (<100 M⊙). However, in both idealized single-SN simulations and cosmological galaxy-formation simulations, the FIRE-2 algorithm converges much faster than other sub-grid models without re-tuning parameters.

Modeling Soft Tissue Damage and Failure Using a Combined Particle/Continuum Approach.

PubMed

Rausch, M K; Karniadakis, G E; Humphrey, J D

2017-02-01

Biological soft tissues experience damage and failure as a result of injury, disease, or simply age; examples include torn ligaments and arterial dissections. Given the complexity of tissue geometry and material behavior, computational models are often essential for studying both damage and failure. Yet, because of the need to account for discontinuous phenomena such as crazing, tearing, and rupturing, continuum methods are limited. Therefore, we model soft tissue damage and failure using a particle/continuum approach. Specifically, we combine continuum damage theory with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). Because SPH is a meshless particle method, and particle connectivity is determined solely through a neighbor list, discontinuities can be readily modeled by modifying this list. We show, for the first time, that an anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive model commonly employed for modeling soft tissue can be conveniently implemented within a SPH framework and that SPH results show excellent agreement with analytical solutions for uniaxial and biaxial extension as well as finite element solutions for clamped uniaxial extension in 2D and 3D. We further develop a simple algorithm that automatically detects damaged particles and disconnects the spatial domain along rupture lines in 2D and rupture surfaces in 3D. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by simulating damage and failure under clamped uniaxial extension and in a peeling experiment of virtual soft tissue samples. In conclusion, SPH in combination with continuum damage theory may provide an accurate and efficient framework for modeling damage and failure in soft tissues.

Modeling Soft Tissue Damage and Failure Using a Combined Particle/Continuum Approach

PubMed Central

Rausch, M. K.; Karniadakis, G. E.; Humphrey, J. D.

2016-01-01

Biological soft tissues experience damage and failure as a result of injury, disease, or simply age; examples include torn ligaments and arterial dissections. Given the complexity of tissue geometry and material behavior, computational models are often essential for studying both damage and failure. Yet, because of the need to account for discontinuous phenomena such as crazing, tearing, and rupturing, continuum methods are limited. Therefore, we model soft tissue damage and failure using a particle/continuum approach. Specifically, we combine continuum damage theory with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). Because SPH is a meshless particle method, and particle connectivity is determined solely through a neighbor list, discontinuities can be readily modeled by modifying this list. We show, for the first time, that an anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive model commonly employed for modeling soft tissue can be conveniently implemented within a SPH framework and that SPH results show excellent agreement with analytical solutions for uniaxial and biaxial extension as well as finite element solutions for clamped uniaxial extension in 2D and 3D. We further develop a simple algorithm that automatically detects damaged particles and disconnects the spatial domain along rupture lines in 2D and rupture surfaces in 3D. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by simulating damage and failure under clamped uniaxial extension and in a peeling experiment of virtual soft tissue samples. In conclusion, SPH in combination with continuum damage theory may provide an accurate and efficient framework for modeling damage and failure in soft tissues. PMID:27538848

Meshless modelling of dynamic behaviour of glasses under intense shock loadings: Application to matter ejection during high velocity impacts on thin brittle targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michel, Y.; Chevalier, J.-M.; Durin, C.; Espinosa, C.; Malaise, F.; Barrau, J.-J.

2006-08-01

The purpose of this study is to present a new material model adapted to SPH modelling of dynamic behaviour of glasses under shock loadings. This model has the ability to reproduce fragmentation and densification of glasses under compression as well as brittle tensile failure. It has been implemented in Ls-Dyna software and coupled with a SPH code. By comparison with CEA-CESTA experimental data the model has been validated for fused silica and Pyrex glass for stress level up to 35GPa. For Laser MegaJoule applications, the present material model was applied to 3D high velocity impacts on thin brittle targets with good agreement with experimental data obtained using CESTA's double stage light gas gun in term of damages and matter ejection.

Development of stress boundary conditions in smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) for the modeling of solids deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Douillet-Grellier, Thomas; Pramanik, Ranjan; Pan, Kai; Albaiz, Abdulaziz; Jones, Bruce D.; Williams, John R.

2017-10-01

This paper develops a method for imposing stress boundary conditions in smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) with and without the need for dummy particles. SPH has been used for simulating phenomena in a number of fields, such as astrophysics and fluid mechanics. More recently, the method has gained traction as a technique for simulation of deformation and fracture in solids, where the meshless property of SPH can be leveraged to represent arbitrary crack paths. Despite this interest, application of boundary conditions within the SPH framework is typically limited to imposed velocity or displacement using fictitious dummy particles to compensate for the lack of particles beyond the boundary interface. While this is enough for a large variety of problems, especially in the case of fluid flow, for problems in solid mechanics there is a clear need to impose stresses upon boundaries. In addition to this, the use of dummy particles to impose a boundary condition is not always suitable or even feasibly, especially for those problems which include internal boundaries. In order to overcome these difficulties, this paper first presents an improved method for applying stress boundary conditions in SPH with dummy particles. This is then followed by a proposal of a formulation which does not require dummy particles. These techniques are then validated against analytical solutions to two common problems in rock mechanics, the Brazilian test and the penny-shaped crack problem both in 2D and 3D. This study highlights the fact that SPH offers a good level of accuracy to solve these problems and that results are reliable. This validation work serves as a foundation for addressing more complex problems involving plasticity and fracture propagation.

GANDALF - Graphical Astrophysics code for N-body Dynamics And Lagrangian Fluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hubber, D. A.; Rosotti, G. P.; Booth, R. A.

2018-01-01

GANDALF is a new hydrodynamics and N-body dynamics code designed for investigating planet formation, star formation and star cluster problems. GANDALF is written in C++, parallelized with both OPENMP and MPI and contains a PYTHON library for analysis and visualization. The code has been written with a fully object-oriented approach to easily allow user-defined implementations of physics modules or other algorithms. The code currently contains implementations of smoothed particle hydrodynamics, meshless finite-volume and collisional N-body schemes, but can easily be adapted to include additional particle schemes. We present in this paper the details of its implementation, results from the test suite, serial and parallel performance results and discuss the planned future development. The code is freely available as an open source project on the code-hosting website github at https://github.com/gandalfcode/gandalf and is available under the GPLv2 license.

Effective grid-dependent dispersion coefficient for conservative and reactive transport simulations in heterogeneous porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cortinez, J. M.; Valocchi, A. J.; Herrera, P. A.

2013-12-01

Because of the finite size of numerical grids, it is very difficult to correctly account for processes that occur at different spatial scales to accurately simulate the migration of conservative and reactive compounds dissolved in groundwater. In one hand, transport processes in heterogeneous porous media are controlled by local-scale dispersion associated to transport processes at the pore-scale. On the other hand, variations of velocity at the continuum- or Darcy-scale produce spreading of the contaminant plume, which is referred to as macro-dispersion. Furthermore, under some conditions both effects interact, so that spreading may enhance the action of local-scale dispersion resulting in higher mixing, dilution and reaction rates. Traditionally, transport processes at different spatial scales have been included in numerical simulations by using a single dispersion coefficient. This approach implicitly assumes that the separate effects of local-dispersion and macro-dispersion can be added and represented by a unique effective dispersion coefficient. Moreover, the selection of the effective dispersion coefficient for numerical simulations usually do not consider the filtering effect of the grid size over the small-scale flow features. We have developed a multi-scale Lagragian numerical method that allows using two different dispersion coefficients to represent local- and macro-scale dispersion. This technique considers fluid particles that carry solute mass and whose locations evolve according to a deterministic component given by the grid-scale velocity and a stochastic component that corresponds to a block-effective macro-dispersion coefficient. Mass transfer between particles due to local-scale dispersion is approximated by a meshless method. We use our model to test under which transport conditions the combined effect of local- and macro-dispersion are additive and can be represented by a single effective dispersion coefficient. We also demonstrate that for the situations where both processes are additive, an effective grid-dependent dispersion coefficient can be derived based on the concept of block-effective dispersion. We show that the proposed effective dispersion coefficient is able to reproduce dilution, mixing and reaction rates for a wide range of transport conditions similar to the ones found in many practical applications.

A compact large-format streak tube for imaging lidar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hui, Dandan; Luo, Duan; Tian, Liping; Lu, Yu; Chen, Ping; Wang, Junfeng; Sai, Xiaofeng; Wen, Wenlong; Wang, Xing; Xin, Liwei; Zhao, Wei; Tian, Jinshou

2018-04-01

The streak tubes with a large effective photocathode area, large effective phosphor screen area, and high photocathode radiant sensitivity are essential for improving the field of view, depth of field, and detectable range of the multiple-slit streak tube imaging lidar. In this paper, a high spatial resolution, large photocathode area, and compact meshless streak tube with a spherically curved cathode and screen is designed and tested. Its spatial resolution reaches 20 lp/mm over the entire Φ28 mm photocathode working area, and the simulated physical temporal resolution is better than 30 ps. The temporal distortion in our large-format streak tube, which is shown to be a non-negligible factor, has a minimum value as the radius of curvature of the photocathode varies. Furthermore, the photocathode radiant sensitivity and radiant power gain reach 41 mA/W and 18.4 at the wavelength of 550 nm, respectively. Most importantly, the external dimensions of our streak tube are no more than Φ60 mm × 110 mm.

Rectus abdominus fascial sheath usage for crural reinforcement during surgical management of GERD: preliminary report of a prospective randomized clinical trial.

PubMed

Yigit, Taner; Coskun, Ali Kagan; Sinan, Huseyin; Harlak, Ali; Kantarcioglu, Murat; Kilbas, Zafer; Kozak, Orhan; Cetiner, Sadettin

2012-08-01

Many materials are currently being used to reinforce the crural repair. Perforation, intensive fibrosis, and price are limiting the usage of these materials. Our purpose was to seek an alternative, cheap, always available, and inert material to use for cruroplasty reinforcement. Twenty-four patients participated and were randomly divided into 2 groups (graft+laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication and laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication alone) with 12 patients in each group. Total operation time, postoperative dysphagia rate, dysphagia improvement time, postoperative pain, recurrence, and incisional hernia rate were compared. There was no difference in terms of study parameters between both groups except for the mean operation time. Autograft hiatoplasty seems to be a good alternative for crural reinforcement. It provides safe reinforcement, has the same dysphagia rates as meshless hiatoplasty, and avoids potential complications of redo surgery by minimizing extensive fibrosis. Furthermore, the rectus abdominus sheath is always available and inexpensive.

A 3D smoothed particle hydrodynamics model for erosional dam-break floods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amicarelli, Andrea; Kocak, Bozhana; Sibilla, Stefano; Grabe, Jürgen

2017-11-01

A mesh-less smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) model for bed-load transport on erosional dam-break floods is presented. This mixture model describes both the liquid phase and the solid granular material. The model is validated on the results from several experiments on erosional dam breaks. A comparison between the present model and a 2-phase SPH model for geotechnical applications (Gadget Soil; TUHH) is performed. A demonstrative 3D erosional dam break on complex topography is investigated. The present 3D mixture model is characterised by: no tuning parameter for the mixture viscosity; consistency with the Kinetic Theory of Granular Flow; ability to reproduce the evolution of the free surface and the bed-load transport layer; applicability to practical problems in civil engineering. The numerical developments of this study are represented by a new SPH scheme for bed-load transport, which is implemented in the SPH code SPHERA v.8.0 (RSE SpA), distributed as FOSS on GitHub.

The natural emergence of the correlation between H2 and star formation rate surface densities in galaxy simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lupi, Alessandro; Bovino, Stefano; Capelo, Pedro R.; Volonteri, Marta; Silk, Joseph

2018-03-01

In this study, we present a suite of high-resolution numerical simulations of an isolated galaxy to test a sub-grid framework to consistently follow the formation and dissociation of H2 with non-equilibrium chemistry. The latter is solved via the package KROME, coupled to the mesh-less hydrodynamic code GIZMO. We include the effect of star formation (SF), modelled with a physically motivated prescription independent of H2, supernova feedback and mass-losses from low-mass stars, extragalactic and local stellar radiation, and dust and H2 shielding, to investigate the emergence of the observed correlation between H2 and SF rate surface densities. We present two different sub-grid models and compare them with on-the-fly radiative transfer (RT) calculations, to assess the main differences and limits of the different approaches. We also discuss a sub-grid clumping factor model to enhance the H2 formation, consistent with our SF prescription, which is crucial, at the achieved resolution, to reproduce the correlation with H2. We find that both sub-grid models perform very well relative to the RT simulation, giving comparable results, with moderate differences, but at much lower computational cost. We also find that, while the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation for the total gas is not strongly affected by the different ingredients included in the simulations, the H2-based counterpart is much more sensitive, because of the crucial role played by the dissociating radiative flux and the gas shielding.

Simplified galaxy formation with mesh-less hydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lupi, Alessandro; Volonteri, Marta; Silk, Joseph

2017-09-01

Numerical simulations have become a necessary tool to describe the complex interactions among the different processes involved in galaxy formation and evolution, unfeasible via an analytic approach. The last decade has seen a great effort by the scientific community in improving the sub-grid physics modelling and the numerical techniques used to make numerical simulations more predictive. Although the recently publicly available code gizmo has proven to be successful in reproducing galaxy properties when coupled with the model of the MUFASA simulations and the more sophisticated prescriptions of the Feedback In Realistic Environment (FIRE) set-up, it has not been tested yet using delayed cooling supernova feedback, which still represent a reasonable approach for large cosmological simulations, for which detailed sub-grid models are prohibitive. In order to limit the computational cost and to be able to resolve the disc structure in the galaxies we perform a suite of zoom-in cosmological simulations with rather low resolution centred around a sub-L* galaxy with a halo mass of 3 × 1011 M⊙ at z = 0, to investigate the ability of this simple model, coupled with the new hydrodynamic method of gizmo, to reproduce observed galaxy scaling relations (stellar to halo mass, stellar and baryonic Tully-Fisher, stellar mass-metallicity and mass-size). We find that the results are in good agreement with the main scaling relations, except for the total stellar mass, larger than that predicted by the abundance matching technique, and the effective sizes for the most massive galaxies in the sample, which are too small.

Resolved simulations of a granular-fluid flow through a check dam with a SPH-DCDEM model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Birjukovs Canelas, Ricardo; Domínguez, Jose; Crespo, Alejandro; Gómez-Gesteira, Moncho; Ferreira, Rui M. L.

2017-04-01

Debris flows represent some of the most relevant phenomena in geomorphological events. Due to the potential destructiveness of such flows, they are the target of a vast amount of research. Experimental research in laboratory facilities or in the field is fundamental to characterize the fundamental rheological properties of these flows and to provide insights on its structure. However, characterizing interparticle contacts and the structure of the motion of the granular phase is difficult, even in controlled laboratory conditions, and possible only for simple geometries. This work addresses the need for a numerical simulation tool applicable to granular-fluid mixtures featuring high spatial and temporal resolution, thus capable of resolving the motion of individual particles, including all interparticle contacts and susceptible to complement laboratory research. The DualSPHysics meshless numerical implementation based on Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) is expanded with a Distributed Contact Discrete Element Method (DCDEM) in order to explicitly solve the fluid and the solid phase. The specific objective is to test the SPH-DCDEM approach by comparing its results with experimental data. An experimental set-up for stony debris flows in a slit check dam is reproduced numerically, where solid material is introduced through a hopper assuring a constant solid discharge for the considered time interval. With each sediment particle possibly undergoing several simultaneous contacts, thousands of time-evolving interactions are efficiently treated due to the model's algorithmic structure and the HPC implementation of DualSPHysics. The results, comprising mainly of retention curves, are in good agreement with the measurements, correctly reproducing the changes in efficiency with slit spacing and density. The encouraging results, coupled with the prospect of so far unique insights into the internal dynamics of a debris flow show the potential of high-performance resolved approaches to the description of the flow and the study of its mitigation strategies. This research as partially supported by Portuguese and European funds, within programs COMPETE2020 and PORL-FEDER, through project PTDC/ECM-HID/6387/2014 granted by the National Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

Meshless bubble filter using ultrasound for extracorporeal circulation and its effect on blood.

PubMed

Mino, Koji; Imura, Masato; Koyama, Daisuke; Omori, Masayoshi; Kawarabata, Shigeki; Sato, Masafumi; Watanabe, Yoshiaki

2015-02-01

A bubble filter with no mesh structure for extracorporeal circulation using ultrasound was developed. Hemolysis was evaluated by measuring free hemoglobin (FHb). FHb in 120 mL of bovine blood was measured in acoustic standing-wave fields. With a sound pressure amplitude of 60 kPa at driving frequencies of 1 MHz, 500 kHz and 27 kHz for 15 min. FHb values were 641.6, 2575 and 8903 mg/dL, respectively. Thus, hemolysis was inhibited with higher driving frequencies when the same sound pressure amplitude was applied. An ultrasound bubble filter with a resonance frequency of 1 MHz was designed. The filtering characteristics of the flowing microbubbles were investigated with a circulation system using bovine blood with a flow rate of 5.0 L/min. Approximately 99.1% of microbubbles were filtered with 250 kPa and a flow of 5.0 L/min. Hemolysis decreased as the sound pressure decreased; FHb values were 225.8 and 490.7 mg/dL when using 150 and 200 kPa, respectively. Copyright © 2015 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Distinguishing cold dark matter dwarfs from self-interacting dark matter dwarfs in baryonic simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strickland, Emily; Fitts, Alex; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael

2018-01-01

Our collaboration has simulated several high-resolution (mbaryon = 500Mo, mdm = 2500Mo) cosmological zoom-in simulations of isolated dwarf galaxies. We simulate each galaxy in standard cold dark matter (ΛCDM) as well as a self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) (with a cross section of σ/m ~ 1 cm2/g), both with and without baryons, to identify distinguishing characteristics between the two. The simulations are run using GIZMO, a meshless-finite-mass (MFM) hydrodynamical code, and are part of the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. By analyzing both the global properties and inner structure of the dwarfs in varying dark matter prescriptions, we provide a side-by-side comparison of isolated, dark matter dominated galaxies at the mass scale where differences in the two models of dark matter are thought to be the most obvious. We find that the edge of classical dwarfs and ultra-faint dwarfs (UFDs) (at ~105 Mo) provides the clearest window for distinguishing between the two theories. Here our SIDM galaxies continue to display a cored inner profile unlike their CDM counterparts. The SIDM versions of each galaxy also have measurably lower stellar velocity dispersions than their CDM counterparts.

Numerical Modelling of the Compressive and Tensile Response of Glass and Ceramic under High Pressure Dynamic Loading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clegg, Richard A.; Hayhurst, Colin J.

1999-06-01

Ceramic materials, including glass, are commonly used as ballistic protection materials. The response of a ceramic to impact, perforation and penetration is complex and difficult and/or expensive to instrument for obtaining detailed physical data. This paper demonstrates how a hydrocode, such as AUTODYN, can be used to aid in the understanding of the response of brittle materials to high pressure impact loading and thus promote an efficient and cost effective design process. Hydrocode simulations cannot be made without appropriate characterisation of the material. Because of the complexitiy of the response of ceramic materials this often requires a number of complex material tests. Here we present a methodology for using the results of flyer plate tests, in conjunction with numerical simulations, to derive input to the Johnson-Holmquist material model for ceramics. Most of the research effort in relation to the development of hydrocode material models for ceramics has concentrated on the material behaviour under compression and shear. While the penetration process is dominated by these aspects of the material response, the final damaged state of the material can be significantly influenced by the tensile behaviour. Modelling of the final damage state is important since this is often the only physical information which is available. In this paper we present a unique implementation, in a hydrocode, for improved modelling of brittle materials in the tensile regime. Tensile failure initiation is based on any combination of principal stress or strain while the post-failure tensile response of the material is controlled through a Rankine plasticity damaging failure surface. The tensile failure surface can be combined with any of the traditional plasticity and/or compressive damage models. Finally, the models and data are applied in both traditional grid based Lagrangian and Eulerian solution techniques and the relativley new SPH (Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics) meshless technique. Simulations of long rod impacts onto ceramic faced armour and hypervelocity impacts on glass solar array space structures are presented and compared with experiments.

Progress on the DPASS project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galkin, Sergei A.; Bogatu, I. N.; Svidzinski, V. A.

2015-11-01

A novel project to develop Disruption Prediction And Simulation Suite (DPASS) of comprehensive computational tools to predict, model, and analyze disruption events in tokamaks has been recently started at FAR-TECH Inc. DPASS will eventually address the following aspects of the disruption problem: MHD, plasma edge dynamics, plasma-wall interaction, generation and losses of runaway electrons. DPASS uses the 3-D Disruption Simulation Code (DSC-3D) as a core tool and will have a modular structure. DSC is a one fluid non-linear, time-dependent 3D MHD code to simulate dynamics of tokamak plasma surrounded by pure vacuum B-field in the real geometry of a conducting tokamak vessel. DSC utilizes the adaptive meshless technique with adaptation to the moving plasma boundary, with accurate magnetic flux conservation and resolution of the plasma surface current. DSC has also an option to neglect the plasma inertia to eliminate fast magnetosonic scale. This option can be turned on/off as needed. During Phase I of the project, two modules will be developed: the computational module for modeling the massive gas injection and main plasma respond; and the module for nanoparticle plasma jet injection as an innovative disruption mitigation scheme. We will report on this development progress. Work is supported by the US DOE SBIR grant # DE-SC0013727.

Forming disk galaxies in major mergers. II. The central mass concentration problem and a comparison of GADGET3 with GIZMO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodionov, S. A.; Athanassoula, E.; Peschken, N.

2017-04-01

Context. In a series of papers, we study the major merger of two disk galaxies in order to establish whether or not such a merger can produce a disk galaxy. Aims: Our aim here is to describe in detail the technical aspects of our numerical experiments. Methods: We discuss the initial conditions of our major merger, which consist of two protogalaxies on a collision orbit. We show that such merger simulations can produce a non-realistic central mass concentration, and we propose simple, parametric, active galactic nuclei (AGN)-like feedback as a solution to this problem. Our AGN-like feedback algorithm is very simple: at each time-step we take all particles whose local volume density is above a given threshold value and increase their temperature to a preset value. We also compare the GADGET3 and GIZMO codes, by applying both of them to the same initial conditions. Results: We show that the evolution of isolated protogalaxies resembles the evolution of disk galaxies, thus arguing that our protogalaxies are well suited for our merger simulations. We demonstrate that the problem with the unphysical central mass concentration in our merger simulations is further aggravated when we increase the resolution. We show that our AGN-like feedback removes this non-physical central mass concentration, and thus allows the formation of realistic bars. Note that our AGN-like feedback mainly affects the central region of a model, without significantly modifying the rest of the galaxy. We demonstrate that, in the context of our kind of simulation, GADGET3 gives results which are very similar to those obtained with the PSPH (density independent SPH) flavor of GIZMO. Moreover, in the examples we tried, the differences between the results of the two flavors of GIZMO - namely PSPH, and MFM (mesh-less algorithm) - are similar to and, in some comparisons, larger than the differences between the results of GADGET3 and PSPH.

Three-Dimensional Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Modeling of Preferential Flow Dynamics at Fracture Intersections on a High-Performance Computing Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kordilla, J.; Bresinsky, L. T.

2017-12-01

The physical mechanisms that govern preferential flow dynamics in unsaturated fractured rock formations are complex and not well understood. Fracture intersections may act as an integrator of unsaturated flow, leading to temporal delay, intermittent flow and partitioning dynamics. In this work, a three-dimensional Pairwise-Force Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (PF-SPH) model is being applied in order to simulate gravity-driven multiphase flow at synthetic fracture intersections. SPH, as a meshless Lagrangian method, is particularly suitable for modeling deformable interfaces, such as three-phase contact dynamics of droplets, rivulets and free-surface films. The static and dynamic contact angle can be recognized as the most important parameter of gravity-driven free-surface flow. In SPH, surface tension and adhesion naturally emerges from the implemented pairwise fluid-fluid (sff) and solid-fluid (ssf) interaction force. The model was calibrated to a contact angle of 65°, which corresponds to the wetting properties of water on Poly(methyl methacrylate). The accuracy of the SPH simulations were validated against an analytical solution of Poiseuille flow between two parallel plates and against laboratory experiments. Using the SPH model, the complex flow mode transitions from droplet to rivulet flow of an experimental study were reproduced. Additionally, laboratory dimensionless scaling experiments of water droplets were successfully replicated in SPH. Finally, SPH simulations were used to investigate the partitioning dynamics of single droplets into synthetic horizontal fractures with various apertures (Δdf = 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 mm) and offsets (Δdoff = -1.5, -1.0, -0.5, 0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 mm). Fluid masses were measured in the domains R1, R2 and R3. The perfect conditions of ideally smooth surfaces and the SPH inherent advantage of particle tracking allow the recognition of small scale partitioning mechanisms and its importance for bulk flow behavior.

Resolved granular debris-flow simulations with a coupled SPH-DCDEM model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Birjukovs Canelas, Ricardo; Domínguez, José M.; Crespo, Alejandro J. C.; Gómez-Gesteira, Moncho; Ferreira, Rui M. L.

2016-04-01

Debris flows represent some of the most relevant phenomena in geomorphological events. Due to the potential destructiveness of such flows, they are the target of a vast amount of research (Takahashi, 2007 and references therein). A complete description of the internal processes of a debris-flow is however still an elusive achievement, explained by the difficulty of accurately measuring important quantities in these flows and developing a comprehensive, generalized theoretical framework capable of describing them. This work addresses the need for a numerical model applicable to granular-fluid mixtures featuring high spatial and temporal resolution, thus capable of resolving the motion of individual particles, including all interparticle contacts. This corresponds to a brute-force approach: by applying simple interaction laws at local scales the macro-scale properties of the flow should be recovered by upscaling. This methodology effectively bypasses the complexity of modelling the intermediate scales by resolving them directly. The only caveat is the need of high performance computing, a demanding but engaging research challenge. The DualSPHysics meshless numerical implementation, based on Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), is expanded with a Distributed Contact Discrete Element Method (DCDEM) in order to explicitly solve the fluid and the solid phase. The model numerically solves the Navier-Stokes and continuity equations for the liquid phase and Newton's motion equations for solid bodies. The interactions between solids are modelled with classical DEM approaches (Kruggel-Emden et al, 2007). Among other validation tests, an experimental set-up for stony debris flows in a slit check dam is reproduced numerically, where solid material is introduced trough a hopper assuring a constant solid discharge for the considered time interval. With each sediment particle undergoing tens of possible contacts, several thousand time-evolving contacts are efficiently treated. Fully periodic boundary conditions allow for the recirculation of the material. The results, comprising mainly of retention curves, are in good agreement with the measurements, correctly reproducing the changes in efficiency with slit spacing and effective density. Ackownledgements: Project RECI/ECM-HID/0371/2012, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), has partially supported this work. It was also partially funded by Xunta de Galicia under project Programa de Consolidacion e Estructuracion de Unidades de Investigacion Competitivas (Grupos de Referencia Competitiva), financed by European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) and by Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad under de Project BIA2012-38676-C03-03. References Takahashi, T. Debris Flow, Mechanics, Prediction and Countermeasures. Taylor and Francis, 2007 Kruggel-Emden, H.; Simsek, E.; Rickelt, S.; Wirtz, S. & Scherer, V. Review and extension of normal force models for the Discrete Element Method. Powder Technology , 2007, 171, 157 - 173

A Meshless Method for Magnetohydrodynamics and Applications to Protoplanetary Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNally, Colin P.

2012-08-01

This thesis presents an algorithm for simulating the equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics and other systems of differential equations on an unstructured set of points represented by sample particles. Local, third-order, least-squares, polynomial interpolations (Moving Least Squares interpolations) are calculated from the field values of neighboring particles to obtain field values and spatial derivatives at the particle position. Field values and particle positions are advanced in time with a second order predictor-corrector scheme. The particles move with the fluid, so the time step is not limited by the Eulerian Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy condition. Full spatial adaptivity is implemented to ensure the particles fill the computational volume, which gives the algorithm substantial flexibility and power. A target resolution is specified for each point in space, with particles being added and deleted as needed to meet this target. Particle addition and deletion is based on a local void and clump detection algorithm. Dynamic artificial viscosity fields provide stability to the integration. The resulting algorithm provides a robust solution for modeling flows that require Lagrangian or adaptive discretizations to resolve. The code has been parallelized by adapting the framework provided by Gadget-2. A set of standard test problems, including one part in a million amplitude linear MHD waves, magnetized shock tubes, and Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities are presented. Finally we demonstrate good agreement with analytic predictions of linear growth rates for magnetorotational instability in a cylindrical geometry. We provide a rigorous methodology for verifying a numerical method on two dimensional Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The test problem was run in the Pencil Code, Athena, Enzo, NDSPHMHD, and Phurbas. A strict comparison, judgment, or ranking, between codes is beyond the scope of this work, although this work provides the mathematical framewor! k needed for such a study. Nonetheless, how the test is posed circumvents the issues raised by tests starting from a sharp contact discontinuity yet it still shows the poor performance of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics. We then comment on the connection between this behavior and the underlying lack of zeroth-order consistency in Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics interpolation. In astrophysical magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and electrodynamics simulations, numerically enforcing the divergence free constraint on the magnetic field has been difficult. We observe that for point-based discretization, as used in finite-difference type and pseudo-spectral methods, the divergence free constraint can be satisfied entirely by a choice of interpolation used to define the derivatives of the magnetic field. As an example we demonstrate a new class of finite-difference type derivative operators on a regular grid which has the divergence free property. This principle clarifies the nature of magnetic monopole errors. The principles and techniques demonstrated in this chapter are particularly useful for the magnetic field, but can be applied to any vector field. Finally, we examine global zoom-in simulations of turbulent magnetorotationally unstable flow. We extract and analyze the high-current regions produced in the turbulent flow. Basic parameters of these regions are abstracted, and we build one dimensional models including non-ideal MHD, and radiative transfer. For sufficiently high temperatures, an instability resulting from the temperature dependence of the Ohmic resistivity is found. This instability concentrates current sheets, resulting in the possibility of rapid heating from temperatures on the order of 600 Kelvin to 2000 Kelvin in magnetorotationally turbulent regions of protoplanetary disks. This is a possible local mechanism for the melting of chondrules and the formation of other high-temperature materials in protoplanetary disks.

Clumpy Disks as a Testbed for Feedback-regulated Galaxy Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayer, Lucio; Tamburello, Valentina; Lupi, Alessandro; Keller, Ben; Wadsley, James; Madau, Piero

2016-10-01

We study the dependence of fragmentation in massive gas-rich galaxy disks at z > 1 on stellar feedback schemes and hydrodynamical solvers, employing the GASOLINE2 SPH code and the lagrangian mesh-less code GIZMO in finite mass mode. Non-cosmological galaxy disk runs with the standard delayed-cooling blastwave feedback are compared with runs adopting a new superbubble feedback, which produces winds by modeling the detailed physics of supernova-driven bubbles and leads to efficient self-regulation of star formation. We find that, with blastwave feedback, massive star-forming clumps form in comparable number and with very similar masses in GASOLINE2 and GIZMO. Typical clump masses are in the range 107-108 M ⊙, lower than in most previous works, while giant clumps with masses above 109 M ⊙ are exceedingly rare. By contrast, superbubble feedback does not produce massive star-forming bound clumps as galaxies never undergo a phase of violent disk instability. In this scheme, only sporadic, unbound star-forming overdensities lasting a few tens of Myr can arise, triggered by non-linear perturbations from massive satellite companions. We conclude that there is severe tension between explaining massive star-forming clumps observed at z > 1 primarily as the result of disk fragmentation driven by gravitational instability and the prevailing view of feedback-regulated galaxy formation. The link between disk stability and star formation efficiency should thus be regarded as a key testing ground for galaxy formation theory.

Distinguishing CDM dwarfs from SIDM dwarfs in baryonic simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strickland, Emily; Fitts, Alex B.; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael

2017-06-01

Dwarf galaxies in the nearby Universe are the most dark-matter-dominated systems known. They are therefore natural probes of the nature of dark matter, which remains unknown. Our collaboration has performed several high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations of isolated dwarf galaxies. We simulate each galaxy in standard cold dark matter (ΛCDM) as well as self-interacting dark matter (SIDM, with a cross section of σ/m ~ 1 cm2/g), both with and without baryons, in order to identify distinguishing characteristics between the two. The simulations are run using GIZMO, a meshless-finite-mass hydrodynamical code, and are part of the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. By analyzing both the global properties and inner structure of the dwarfs in varying dark matter prescriptions, we provide a side-by-side comparison of isolated, dark-matter-dominated galaxies at the mass scale where differences in the two models of dark matter are thought to be the most obvious. We find that the edge of classical dwarfs and ultra-faint dwarfs (at stellar masses of ~105 solar masses) provides the clearest window for distinguishing between the two theories. At these low masses, our SIDM galaxies have a cored inner density profile, while their CDM counterparts have “cuspy” centers. The SIDM versions of each galaxy also have measurably lower stellar velocity dispersions than their CDM counterparts. Future observations of ultra faint dwarfs with JWST and 30-m telescopes will be able to discern whether such alternate theories of dark matter are viable.

A 2D-3D strategy for resolving tsunami-generated debris flow in urban environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Birjukovs Canelas, Ricardo; Conde, Daniel; Garcia-Feal, Orlando; João Telhado, Maria; Ferreira, Rui M. L.

2017-04-01

The incorporation of solids, either sediment from the natural environment or remains from buildings or infrastructures is a relevant feature of tsunami run-up in urban environments, greatly increasing the destructive potential of tsunami propagation. Two-dimensional (2D) models have been used to assess the propagation of the bore, even in dense urban fronts. Computational advances are introduced in this work, namely a fully lagrangian, 3D description of the fluid-solid flow, coupled with a high performance meshless implementation capable of dealing with large domains and fine discretizations. A Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) Navier-Stokes discretization and a Distributed Contact Discrete Element Method (DCDEM) description of solid-solid interactions provide a state-of the-art fluid-solid flow description. Together with support for arbitrary geometries, centimetre scale resolution simulations of a city section in Lisbon downtown are presented. 2D results are used as boundary conditions for the 3D model, characterizing the incoming wave as it approaches the coast. It is shown that the incoming bore is able to mobilize and incorporate standing vehicles and other urban hardware. Such fully featured simulation provides explicit description of the interactions among fluid, floating debris (vehicles and urban furniture), the buildings and the pavement. The proposed model presents both an innovative research tool for the study of these flows and a powerful and robust approach to study, design and test mitigation solutions at the local scale. At the same time, due to the high time and space resolution of these methodologies, new questions are raised: scenario-building and initial configurations play a crucial role but they do not univocally determine the final configuration of the simulation, as the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for high Reynolds numbers possesses a high number of degrees of freedom. This calls for conducting the simulations in a statistical framework, involving both initial conditions generation and interpretation of results, which is only attainable under very high standards of computational efficiency. This research as partially supported by Portuguese and European funds, within programs COMPETE2020 and PORL-FEDER, through project PTDC/ECM-HID/6387/2014 granted by the National Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

Dark Influences at the Threshold of Galaxy Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boylan-Kolchin, Michael

As the faintest, lowest-luminosity, and most dark-matter-dominated extremes of the galaxy population, dwarf galaxies present unique opportunities for studying galaxy formation and the properties of dark matter. Accordingly, they have been observed in detail from the ground and (by NASA missions) from space with the hopes of unraveling how dwarf galaxies form, the effects of reionization on galaxy formation, and whether signatures of the particle nature of dark matter (DM) interactions can be observed. Such work has gained in importance as efforts to directly detect DM have so far yielded only upper limits to the interaction between DM and normal matter, leaving astrophysical tests as the primary means of investigating the nature of DM. We propose to undertake an extensive yet focused program of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations aimed at understanding the formation of dwarf galaxies. We will focus on the interplay between galaxy formation and dark matter in these galaxies, pointing toward specific observables to disentangle the effects of galaxy formation physics from the effects of DM physics. Our simulation suite will explore collisionless Cold Dark Matter (CDM) and broad classes of alternatives, where DM has a nonnegligible free-streaming length and / or self-scattering cross section. The novel aspects of the proposed work will include: (1) a modern treatment of baryonic physics using GIZMO, a new code that uses accurate meshless methods for hydrodynamics; (2) Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE), a suite of galaxy formation parametrizations with well-tested, explicit implementations of stellar feedback; (3) an exploration of realistic models of DM beyond CDM based on an effective theory of structure formation, with full baryonic physics; and (4) detailed mock observations of the simulations in order to identify specific, distinguishing tests for CDM and its alternatives. Our research will provide a framework within which astrophysical inferences about the nature of DM can be fairly and self-consistently tested. Crucially, we will explore uncertain aspects of galaxy formation and DM physics in a controlled manner, focusing on the halo mass range - 9.5 < log10(M/M_sun) < 10.5 - where current models are most uncertain. This will mark a major effort to systematically study different DM models combined with realistic treatments of galaxy formation physics that are implemented in an identical way for the various DM models. The results of the proposed research will be dramatic improvements in the understanding of how baryonic versus DM physics affect astrophysical observables. Such a study is very timely, as observations of dwarf galaxies in and beyond the Local Group have progressed substantially in recent years, with new revelations about dwarfs' DM content, star formation histories, and stellar metallicities challenging previous interpretations.

Water Impact Test and Simulation of a Composite Energy Absorbing Fuselage Section

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fasanella, Edwin L.; Jackson, Karen E.; Sparks, Chad; Sareen, Ashish

2003-01-01

In March 2002, a 25-ft/s vertical drop test of a composite fuselage section was conducted onto water. The purpose of the test was to obtain experimental data characterizing the structural response of the fuselage section during water impact for comparison with two previous drop tests that were performed onto a rigid surface and soft soil. For the drop test, the fuselage section was configured with ten 100-lb. lead masses, five per side, that were attached to seat rails mounted to the floor. The fuselage section was raised to a height of 10-ft. and dropped vertically into a 15-ft. diameter pool filled to a depth of 3.5-ft. with water. Approximately 70 channels of data were collected during the drop test at a 10-kHz sampling rate. The test data were used to validate crash simulations of the water impact that were developed using the nonlinear, explicit transient dynamic codes, MSC.Dytran and LS-DYNA. The fuselage structure was modeled using shell and solid elements with a Lagrangian mesh, and the water was modeled with both Eulerian and Lagrangian techniques. The fluid-structure interactions were executed using the fast general coupling in MSC.Dytran and the Arbitrary Lagrange-Euler (ALE) coupling in LS-DYNA. Additionally, the smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) meshless Lagrangian technique was used in LS-DYNA to represent the fluid. The simulation results were correlated with the test data to validate the modeling approach. Additional simulation studies were performed to determine how changes in mesh density, mesh uniformity, fluid viscosity, and failure strain influence the test-analysis correlation.

CLUMPY DISKS AS A TESTBED FOR FEEDBACK-REGULATED GALAXY FORMATION

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

Mayer, Lucio; Tamburello, Valentina; Lupi, Alessandro

2016-10-10

We study the dependence of fragmentation in massive gas-rich galaxy disks at z >1 on stellar feedback schemes and hydrodynamical solvers, employing the GASOLINE2 SPH code and the lagrangian mesh-less code GIZMO in finite mass mode. Non-cosmological galaxy disk runs with the standard delayed-cooling blastwave feedback are compared with runs adopting a new superbubble feedback, which produces winds by modeling the detailed physics of supernova-driven bubbles and leads to efficient self-regulation of star formation. We find that, with blastwave feedback, massive star-forming clumps form in comparable number and with very similar masses in GASOLINE2 and GIZMO. Typical clump masses aremore » in the range 10{sup 7}–10{sup 8} M {sub ⊙}, lower than in most previous works, while giant clumps with masses above 10{sup 9} M {sub ⊙} are exceedingly rare. By contrast, superbubble feedback does not produce massive star-forming bound clumps as galaxies never undergo a phase of violent disk instability. In this scheme, only sporadic, unbound star-forming overdensities lasting a few tens of Myr can arise, triggered by non-linear perturbations from massive satellite companions. We conclude that there is severe tension between explaining massive star-forming clumps observed at z >1 primarily as the result of disk fragmentation driven by gravitational instability and the prevailing view of feedback-regulated galaxy formation. The link between disk stability and star formation efficiency should thus be regarded as a key testing ground for galaxy formation theory.« less

Nitsche Extended Finite Element Methods for Earthquake Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coon, Ethan T.

Modeling earthquakes and geologically short-time-scale events on fault networks is a difficult problem with important implications for human safety and design. These problems demonstrate a. rich physical behavior, in which distributed loading localizes both spatially and temporally into earthquakes on fault systems. This localization is governed by two aspects: friction and fault geometry. Computationally, these problems provide a stern challenge for modelers --- static and dynamic equations must be solved on domains with discontinuities on complex fault systems, and frictional boundary conditions must be applied on these discontinuities. The most difficult aspect of modeling physics on complicated domains is the mesh. Most numerical methods involve meshing the geometry; nodes are placed on the discontinuities, and edges are chosen to coincide with faults. The resulting mesh is highly unstructured, making the derivation of finite difference discretizations difficult. Therefore, most models use the finite element method. Standard finite element methods place requirements on the mesh for the sake of stability, accuracy, and efficiency. The formation of a mesh which both conforms to fault geometry and satisfies these requirements is an open problem, especially for three dimensional, physically realistic fault. geometries. In addition, if the fault system evolves over the course of a dynamic simulation (i.e. in the case of growing cracks or breaking new faults), the geometry must he re-meshed at each time step. This can be expensive computationally. The fault-conforming approach is undesirable when complicated meshes are required, and impossible to implement when the geometry is evolving. Therefore, meshless and hybrid finite element methods that handle discontinuities without placing them on element boundaries are a desirable and natural way to discretize these problems. Several such methods are being actively developed for use in engineering mechanics involving crack propagation and material failure. While some theory and application of these methods exist, implementations for the simulation of networks of many cracks have not yet been considered. For my thesis, I implement and extend one such method, the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM), for use in static and dynamic models of fault networks. Once this machinery is developed, it is applied to open questions regarding the behavior of networks of faults, including questions of distributed deformation in fault systems and ensembles of magnitude, location, and frequency in repeat ruptures. The theory of XFEM is augmented to allow for solution of problems with alternating regimes of static solves for elastic stress conditions and short, dynamic earthquakes on networks of faults. This is accomplished using Nitsche's approach for implementing boundary conditions. Finally, an optimization problem is developed to determine tractions along the fault, enabling the calculation of frictional constraints and the rupture front. This method is verified via a series of static, quasistatic, and dynamic problems. Armed with this technique, we look at several problems regarding geometry within the earthquake cycle in which geometry is crucial. We first look at quasistatic simulations on a community fault model of Southern California, and model slip distribution across that system. We find the distribution of deformation across faults compares reasonably well with slip rates across the region, as constrained by geologic data. We find geometry can provide constraints for friction, and consider the minimization of shear strain across the zone as a function of friction and plate loading direction, and infer bounds on fault strength in the region. Then we consider the repeated rupture problem, modeling the full earthquake cycle over the course of many events on several fault geometries. In this work, we look at distributions of events, studying the effect of geometry on statistical metrics of event ensembles. Finally, this thesis is a proof of concept for the XFEM on earthquake cycle models on fault systems. We identify strengths and weaknesses of the method, and identify places for future improvement. We discuss the feasibility of the method's use in three dimensions, and find the method to be a strong candidate for future crustal deformation simulations.

Modeling of Flow, Transport and Controlled Sedimentation Phenomena during Mixing of Salt Solutions in Complex Porous Formations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skouras, Eugene D.; Jaho, Sofia; Pavlakou, Efstathia I.; Sygouni, Varvara; Petsi, Anastasia; Paraskeva, Christakis A.

2015-04-01

The deposition of salts in porous media is a major engineering phenomenon encountered in a plethora of industrial and environmental applications where in some cases is desirable and in other not (oil production, geothermal systems, soil stabilization etc). Systematic approach of these problems requires knowledge of the key mechanisms of precipitating salts within the porous structures, in order to develop new methods to control the process. In this work, the development and the solution of spatiotemporally variable mass balances during salt solution mixing along specific pores were performed. Both analytical models and finite differences CFD models were applied for the study of flow and transport with simultaneous homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation (by crystal growth on the surface of the pores) in simple geometries, while unstructured finite elements and meshless methods were developed and implemented for spatial discretization, reconstruction, and solution of transport equations and homogeneous / heterogeneous reactions in more complex geometries. At initial stages of this work, critical problem parameters were identified, such as the characteristics of the porosity, the number of dissolved components, etc. The parameters were then used for solving problems which correspond to available experimental data. For each combination of ions and materials, specific data and process characteristics were included: (a) crystal kinetics (nucleation, growth rates or reaction surface rates of crystals, critical suspension concentrations), (b) physico-chemical properties (bulk density, dimensions of generated crystals, ion diffusion coefficients in the solution), (c) operating parameters (macroscopic velocity, flow, or pressure gradient of the solution, ion concentration) (d) microfluidic data (geometry, flow area), (e) porosity data in Darcy description (initial porosity, specific surface area, tortuosity). During the modeling of flow and transport in three-dimensional pore network, the dependence of the mass balance in all major directions is taken into account, either as a three-dimensional network of pores with specific geometry (cylinders, sinusoidal cells), or as a homogeneous random medium (Darcy description). The distribution of the crystals along the porous medium was calculated in the case of selective crystallization on the walls, which is the predominant effect to date in the experiments. The crystals distribution was also examined in the case where crystallization was carried out in the bulk solution. Salts sedimentation experiments were simulated both in an unsaturated porous medium and in a medium saturated with an oil phase. A comparison of the simulation results with corresponding experimental results was performed in order to design improved selective sedimentation of salts systems in porous formations. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was partially funded by the European Union (European Social Fund-ESF) and Greek National Funds through the Operational program "Education and Lifelong Learning" under the action Aristeia II (Code No 4420).

Key variables influencing patterns of lava dome growth and collapse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husain, T.; Elsworth, D.; Voight, B.; Mattioli, G. S.; Jansma, P. E.

2013-12-01

Lava domes are conical structures that grow by the infusion of viscous silicic or intermediate composition magma from a central volcanic conduit. Dome growth can be characterized by repeated cycles of growth punctuated by collapse, as the structure becomes oversized for its composite strength. Within these cycles, deformation ranges from slow long term deformation to sudden deep-seated collapses. Collapses may range from small raveling failures to voluminous and fast-moving pyroclastic flows with rapid and long-downslope-reach from the edifice. Infusion rate and magma rheology together with crystallization temperature and volatile content govern the spatial distribution of strength in the structure. Solidification, driven by degassing-induced crystallization of magma leads to the formation of a continuously evolving frictional talus as a hard outer shell. This shell encapsulates the cohesion-dominated soft ductile core. Here we explore the mechanics of lava dome growth and failure using a two-dimensional particle-dynamics model. This meshless model follows the natural evolution of a brittle carapace formed by loss of volatiles and rheological stiffening and avoids difficulties of hour-glassing and mesh-entangelment typical in meshed models. We test the fidelity of the model against existing experimental and observational models of lava dome growth. The particle-dynamics model follows the natural development of dome growth and collapse which is infeasible using simple analytical models. The model provides insight into the triggers that lead to the transition in collapse mechasnism from shallow flank collapse to deep seated sector collapse. Increase in material stiffness due to decrease in infusion rate results in the transition of growth pattern from endogenous to exogenous. The material stiffness and strength are strongly controlled by the magma infusion rate. Increase in infusion rate decreases the time available for degassing induced crystallization leading to a transition in the growth pattern, while a decrease in infusion rate results in larger crystals causing the material to stiffen leading to formation of spines. Material stiffness controls the growth direction of the viscous plug in the lava dome interior. Material strength and stiffness controled by rate of infusion influence lava dome growth more significantly than coefficient of frictional of the talus.

Evaluation of medical students of teacher-based and student-based teaching methods in Infectious diseases course.

PubMed

Ghasemzadeh, I; Aghamolaei, T; Hosseini-Parandar, F

2015-01-01

Introduction: In recent years, medical education has changed dramatically and many medical schools in the world have been trying for expand modern training methods. Purpose of the research is to appraise the medical students of teacher-based and student-based teaching methods in Infectious diseases course, in the Medical School of Hormozgan Medical Sciences University. Methods: In this interventional study, a total of 52 medical scholars that used Section in this Infectious diseases course were included. About 50% of this course was presented by a teacher-based teaching method (lecture) and 50% by a student-based teaching method (problem-based learning). The satisfaction of students regarding these methods was assessed by a questionnaire and a test was used to measure their learning. information are examined with using SPSS 19 and paired t-test. Results: The satisfaction of students of student-based teaching method (problem-based learning) was more positive than their satisfaction of teacher-based teaching method (lecture).The mean score of students in teacher-based teaching method was 12.03 (SD=4.08) and in the student-based teaching method it was 15.50 (SD=4.26) and where is a considerable variation among them (p<0.001). Conclusion: The use of the student-based teaching method (problem-based learning) in comparison with the teacher-based teaching method (lecture) to present the Infectious diseases course led to the student satisfaction and provided additional learning opportunities.

Computational Methods in Drug Discovery

PubMed Central

Sliwoski, Gregory; Kothiwale, Sandeepkumar; Meiler, Jens

2014-01-01

Computer-aided drug discovery/design methods have played a major role in the development of therapeutically important small molecules for over three decades. These methods are broadly classified as either structure-based or ligand-based methods. Structure-based methods are in principle analogous to high-throughput screening in that both target and ligand structure information is imperative. Structure-based approaches include ligand docking, pharmacophore, and ligand design methods. The article discusses theory behind the most important methods and recent successful applications. Ligand-based methods use only ligand information for predicting activity depending on its similarity/dissimilarity to previously known active ligands. We review widely used ligand-based methods such as ligand-based pharmacophores, molecular descriptors, and quantitative structure-activity relationships. In addition, important tools such as target/ligand data bases, homology modeling, ligand fingerprint methods, etc., necessary for successful implementation of various computer-aided drug discovery/design methods in a drug discovery campaign are discussed. Finally, computational methods for toxicity prediction and optimization for favorable physiologic properties are discussed with successful examples from literature. PMID:24381236

Reconstruction of fluorescence molecular tomography with a cosinoidal level set method.

PubMed

Zhang, Xuanxuan; Cao, Xu; Zhu, Shouping

2017-06-27

Implicit shape-based reconstruction method in fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) is capable of achieving higher image clarity than image-based reconstruction method. However, the implicit shape method suffers from a low convergence speed and performs unstably due to the utilization of gradient-based optimization methods. Moreover, the implicit shape method requires priori information about the number of targets. A shape-based reconstruction scheme of FMT with a cosinoidal level set method is proposed in this paper. The Heaviside function in the classical implicit shape method is replaced with a cosine function, and then the reconstruction can be accomplished with the Levenberg-Marquardt method rather than gradient-based methods. As a result, the priori information about the number of targets is not required anymore and the choice of step length is avoided. Numerical simulations and phantom experiments were carried out to validate the proposed method. Results of the proposed method show higher contrast to noise ratios and Pearson correlations than the implicit shape method and image-based reconstruction method. Moreover, the number of iterations required in the proposed method is much less than the implicit shape method. The proposed method performs more stably, provides a faster convergence speed than the implicit shape method, and achieves higher image clarity than the image-based reconstruction method.

Optimization of the gypsum-based materials by the sequential simplex method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doleželová, Magdalena; Vimmrová, Alena

2017-11-01

The application of the sequential simplex optimization method for the design of gypsum based materials is described. The principles of simplex method are explained and several examples of the method usage for the optimization of lightweight gypsum and ternary gypsum based materials are given. By this method lightweight gypsum based materials with desired properties and ternary gypsum based material with higher strength (16 MPa) were successfully developed. Simplex method is a useful tool for optimizing of gypsum based materials, but the objective of the optimization has to be formulated appropriately.

A Tale of Two Methods: Chart and Interview Methods for Identifying Delirium

PubMed Central

Saczynski, Jane S.; Kosar, Cyrus M.; Xu, Guoquan; Puelle, Margaret R.; Schmitt, Eva; Jones, Richard N.; Marcantonio, Edward R.; Wong, Bonnie; Isaza, Ilean; Inouye, Sharon K.

2014-01-01

Background Interview and chart-based methods for identifying delirium have been validated. However, relative strengths and limitations of each method have not been described, nor has a combined approach (using both interviews and chart), been systematically examined. Objectives To compare chart and interview-based methods for identification of delirium. Design, Setting and Participants Participants were 300 patients aged 70+ undergoing major elective surgery (majority were orthopedic surgery) interviewed daily during hospitalization for delirium using the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM; interview-based method) and whose medical charts were reviewed for delirium using a validated chart-review method (chart-based method). We examined rate of agreement on the two methods and patient characteristics of those identified using each approach. Predictive validity for clinical outcomes (length of stay, postoperative complications, discharge disposition) was compared. In the absence of a gold-standard, predictive value could not be calculated. Results The cumulative incidence of delirium was 23% (n= 68) by the interview-based method, 12% (n=35) by the chart-based method and 27% (n=82) by the combined approach. Overall agreement was 80%; kappa was 0.30. The methods differed in detection of psychomotor features and time of onset. The chart-based method missed delirium in CAM-identified patients laacking features of psychomotor agitation or inappropriate behavior. The CAM-based method missed chart-identified cases occurring during the night shift. The combined method had high predictive validity for all clinical outcomes. Conclusions Interview and chart-based methods have specific strengths for identification of delirium. A combined approach captures the largest number and the broadest range of delirium cases. PMID:24512042

Do Examinees Understand Score Reports for Alternate Methods of Scoring Computer Based Tests?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whittaker, Tiffany A.; Williams, Natasha J.; Dodd, Barbara G.

2011-01-01

This study assessed the interpretability of scaled scores based on either number correct (NC) scoring for a paper-and-pencil test or one of two methods of scoring computer-based tests: an item pattern (IP) scoring method and a method based on equated NC scoring. The equated NC scoring method for computer-based tests was proposed as an alternative…

Research on the comparison of performance-based concept and force-based concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Zeyu; Wang, Dongwei

2011-03-01

There are two ideologies about structure design: force-based concept and performance-based concept. Generally, if the structure operates during elastic stage, the two philosophies usually attain the same results. But beyond that stage, the shortage of force-based method is exposed, and the merit of performance-based is displayed. Pros and cons of each strategy are listed herein, and then which structure is best suitable to each method analyzed. At last, a real structure is evaluated by adaptive pushover method to verify that performance-based method is better than force-based method.

Comparison of Text-Based and Visual-Based Programming Input Methods for First-Time Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saito, Daisuke; Washizaki, Hironori; Fukazawa, Yoshiaki

2017-01-01

Aim/Purpose: When learning to program, both text-based and visual-based input methods are common. However, it is unclear which method is more appropriate for first-time learners (first learners). Background: The differences in the learning effect between text-based and visual-based input methods for first learners are compared the using a…

Research on segmentation based on multi-atlas in brain MR image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Yuejing

2018-03-01

Accurate segmentation of specific tissues in brain MR image can be effectively achieved with the multi-atlas-based segmentation method, and the accuracy mainly depends on the image registration accuracy and fusion scheme. This paper proposes an automatic segmentation method based on the multi-atlas for brain MR image. Firstly, to improve the registration accuracy in the area to be segmented, we employ a target-oriented image registration method for the refinement. Then In the label fusion, we proposed a new algorithm to detect the abnormal sparse patch and simultaneously abandon the corresponding abnormal sparse coefficients, this method is made based on the remaining sparse coefficients combined with the multipoint label estimator strategy. The performance of the proposed method was compared with those of the nonlocal patch-based label fusion method (Nonlocal-PBM), the sparse patch-based label fusion method (Sparse-PBM) and majority voting method (MV). Based on our experimental results, the proposed method is efficient in the brain MR images segmentation compared with MV, Nonlocal-PBM, and Sparse-PBM methods.

Patch-based generation of a pseudo CT from conventional MRI sequences for MRI-only radiotherapy of the brain

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

Andreasen, Daniel, E-mail: dana@dtu.dk; Van Leemput, Koen; Hansen, Rasmus H.

Purpose: In radiotherapy (RT) based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the only modality, the information on electron density must be derived from the MRI scan by creating a so-called pseudo computed tomography (pCT). This is a nontrivial task, since the voxel-intensities in an MRI scan are not uniquely related to electron density. To solve the task, voxel-based or atlas-based models have typically been used. The voxel-based models require a specialized dual ultrashort echo time MRI sequence for bone visualization and the atlas-based models require deformable registrations of conventional MRI scans. In this study, we investigate the potential of amore » patch-based method for creating a pCT based on conventional T{sub 1}-weighted MRI scans without using deformable registrations. We compare this method against two state-of-the-art methods within the voxel-based and atlas-based categories. Methods: The data consisted of CT and MRI scans of five cranial RT patients. To compare the performance of the different methods, a nested cross validation was done to find optimal model parameters for all the methods. Voxel-wise and geometric evaluations of the pCTs were done. Furthermore, a radiologic evaluation based on water equivalent path lengths was carried out, comparing the upper hemisphere of the head in the pCT and the real CT. Finally, the dosimetric accuracy was tested and compared for a photon treatment plan. Results: The pCTs produced with the patch-based method had the best voxel-wise, geometric, and radiologic agreement with the real CT, closely followed by the atlas-based method. In terms of the dosimetric accuracy, the patch-based method had average deviations of less than 0.5% in measures related to target coverage. Conclusions: We showed that a patch-based method could generate an accurate pCT based on conventional T{sub 1}-weighted MRI sequences and without deformable registrations. In our evaluations, the method performed better than existing voxel-based and atlas-based methods and showed a promising potential for RT of the brain based only on MRI.« less

Overview of fast algorithm in 3D dynamic holographic display

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Juan; Jia, Jia; Pan, Yijie; Wang, Yongtian

2013-08-01

3D dynamic holographic display is one of the most attractive techniques for achieving real 3D vision with full depth cue without any extra devices. However, huge 3D information and data should be preceded and be computed in real time for generating the hologram in 3D dynamic holographic display, and it is a challenge even for the most advanced computer. Many fast algorithms are proposed for speeding the calculation and reducing the memory usage, such as:look-up table (LUT), compressed look-up table (C-LUT), split look-up table (S-LUT), and novel look-up table (N-LUT) based on the point-based method, and full analytical polygon-based methods, one-step polygon-based method based on the polygon-based method. In this presentation, we overview various fast algorithms based on the point-based method and the polygon-based method, and focus on the fast algorithm with low memory usage, the C-LUT, and one-step polygon-based method by the 2D Fourier analysis of the 3D affine transformation. The numerical simulations and the optical experiments are presented, and several other algorithms are compared. The results show that the C-LUT algorithm and the one-step polygon-based method are efficient methods for saving calculation time. It is believed that those methods could be used in the real-time 3D holographic display in future.

Effects of a Format-based Second Language Teaching Method in Kindergarten.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uilenburg, Noelle; Plooij, Frans X.; de Glopper, Kees; Damhuis, Resi

2001-01-01

Focuses on second language teaching with a format-based method. The differences between a format-based teaching method and a standard approach used as treatments in a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group are described in detail. Examines whether the effects of a format-based teaching method and a standard foreign language method differ…

Web-Based Training Methods for Behavioral Health Providers: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Jackson, Carrie B; Quetsch, Lauren B; Brabson, Laurel A; Herschell, Amy D

2018-07-01

There has been an increase in the use of web-based training methods to train behavioral health providers in evidence-based practices. This systematic review focuses solely on the efficacy of web-based training methods for training behavioral health providers. A literature search yielded 45 articles meeting inclusion criteria. Results indicated that the serial instruction training method was the most commonly studied web-based training method. While the current review has several notable limitations, findings indicate that participating in a web-based training may result in greater post-training knowledge and skill, in comparison to baseline scores. Implications and recommendations for future research on web-based training methods are discussed.

Rapid methods for the detection of foodborne bacterial pathogens: principles, applications, advantages and limitations

PubMed Central

Law, Jodi Woan-Fei; Ab Mutalib, Nurul-Syakima; Chan, Kok-Gan; Lee, Learn-Han

2015-01-01

The incidence of foodborne diseases has increased over the years and resulted in major public health problem globally. Foodborne pathogens can be found in various foods and it is important to detect foodborne pathogens to provide safe food supply and to prevent foodborne diseases. The conventional methods used to detect foodborne pathogen are time consuming and laborious. Hence, a variety of methods have been developed for rapid detection of foodborne pathogens as it is required in many food analyses. Rapid detection methods can be categorized into nucleic acid-based, biosensor-based and immunological-based methods. This review emphasizes on the principles and application of recent rapid methods for the detection of foodborne bacterial pathogens. Detection methods included are simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR), multiplex PCR, real-time PCR, nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and oligonucleotide DNA microarray which classified as nucleic acid-based methods; optical, electrochemical and mass-based biosensors which classified as biosensor-based methods; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and lateral flow immunoassay which classified as immunological-based methods. In general, rapid detection methods are generally time-efficient, sensitive, specific and labor-saving. The developments of rapid detection methods are vital in prevention and treatment of foodborne diseases. PMID:25628612

Imaging quality analysis of computer-generated holograms using the point-based method and slice-based method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhen; Chen, Siqing; Zheng, Huadong; Sun, Tao; Yu, Yingjie; Gao, Hongyue; Asundi, Anand K.

2017-06-01

Computer holography has made a notably progress in recent years. The point-based method and slice-based method are chief calculation algorithms for generating holograms in holographic display. Although both two methods are validated numerically and optically, the differences of the imaging quality of these methods have not been specifically analyzed. In this paper, we analyze the imaging quality of computer-generated phase holograms generated by point-based Fresnel zone plates (PB-FZP), point-based Fresnel diffraction algorithm (PB-FDA) and slice-based Fresnel diffraction algorithm (SB-FDA). The calculation formula and hologram generation with three methods are demonstrated. In order to suppress the speckle noise, sequential phase-only holograms are generated in our work. The results of reconstructed images numerically and experimentally are also exhibited. By comparing the imaging quality, the merits and drawbacks with three methods are analyzed. Conclusions are given by us finally.

New classification methods on singularity of mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Jianguo; Han, Jianyou

2010-07-01

Based on the analysis of base and methods of singularity of mechanism, four methods obtained according to the factors of moving states of mechanism and cause of singularity and property of linear complex of singularity and methods in studying singularity, these bases and methods can't reflect the direct property and systematic property and controllable property of the structure of mechanism in macro, thus can't play an excellent role in guiding to evade the configuration before the appearance of singularity. In view of the shortcomings of forementioned four bases and methods, six new methods combined with the structure and exterior phenomena and motion control of mechanism directly and closely, classfication carried out based on the factors of moving base and joint component and executor and branch and acutating source and input parameters, these factors display the systemic property in macro, excellent guiding performance can be expected in singularity evasion and machine design and machine control based on these new bases and methods.

A review of propeller noise prediction methodology: 1919-1994

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Metzger, F. Bruce

1995-01-01

This report summarizes a review of the literature regarding propeller noise prediction methods. The review is divided into six sections: (1) early methods; (2) more recent methods based on earlier theory; (3) more recent methods based on the Acoustic Analogy; (4) more recent methods based on Computational Acoustics; (5) empirical methods; and (6) broadband methods. The report concludes that there are a large number of noise prediction procedures available which vary markedly in complexity. Deficiencies in accuracy of methods in many cases may be related, not to the methods themselves, but the accuracy and detail of the aerodynamic inputs used to calculate noise. The steps recommended in the report to provide accurate and easy to use prediction methods are: (1) identify reliable test data; (2) define and conduct test programs to fill gaps in the existing data base; (3) identify the most promising prediction methods; (4) evaluate promising prediction methods relative to the data base; (5) identify and correct the weaknesses in the prediction methods, including lack of user friendliness, and include features now available only in research codes; (6) confirm the accuracy of improved prediction methods to the data base; and (7) make the methods widely available and provide training in their use.

Integrating structure-based and ligand-based approaches for computational drug design.

PubMed

Wilson, Gregory L; Lill, Markus A

2011-04-01

Methods utilized in computer-aided drug design can be classified into two major categories: structure based and ligand based, using information on the structure of the protein or on the biological and physicochemical properties of bound ligands, respectively. In recent years there has been a trend towards integrating these two methods in order to enhance the reliability and efficiency of computer-aided drug-design approaches by combining information from both the ligand and the protein. This trend resulted in a variety of methods that include: pseudoreceptor methods, pharmacophore methods, fingerprint methods and approaches integrating docking with similarity-based methods. In this article, we will describe the concepts behind each method and selected applications.

Growth and mortality of larval sunfish in backwaters of the upper Mississippi River

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zigler, S.J.; Jennings, C.A.

1993-01-01

The authors estimated the growth and mortality of larval sunfish Lepomis spp. in backwater habitats of the upper Mississippi River with an otolith-based method and a length-based method. Fish were sampled with plankton nets at one station in Navigation Pools 8 and 14 in 1989 and at two stations in Pool 8 in 1990. For both methods, growth was modeled with an exponential equation, and instantaneous mortality was estimated by regressing the natural logarithm of fish catch for each 1-mm size-group against the estimated age of the group, which was derived from the growth equations. At two of the stations, the otolith-based method provided more precise estimates of sunfish growth than the length-based method. We were able to compare length-based and otolith-based estimates of sunfish mortality only at the two stations where we caught the largest numbers of sunfish. Estimates of mortality were similar for both methods in Pool 14, where catches were higher, but the length-based method gave significantly higher estimates in Pool 8, where the catches were lower. The otolith- based method required more laboratory analysis, but provided better estimates of the growth and mortality than the length-based method when catches were low. However, the length-based method was more cost- effective for estimating growth and mortality when catches were large.

Fast and accurate grid representations for atom-based docking with partner flexibility.

PubMed

de Vries, Sjoerd J; Zacharias, Martin

2017-06-30

Macromolecular docking methods can broadly be divided into geometric and atom-based methods. Geometric methods use fast algorithms that operate on simplified, grid-like molecular representations, while atom-based methods are more realistic and flexible, but far less efficient. Here, a hybrid approach of grid-based and atom-based docking is presented, combining precalculated grid potentials with neighbor lists for fast and accurate calculation of atom-based intermolecular energies and forces. The grid representation is compatible with simultaneous multibody docking and can tolerate considerable protein flexibility. When implemented in our docking method ATTRACT, grid-based docking was found to be ∼35x faster. With the OPLSX forcefield instead of the ATTRACT coarse-grained forcefield, the average speed improvement was >100x. Grid-based representations may allow atom-based docking methods to explore large conformational spaces with many degrees of freedom, such as multiple macromolecules including flexibility. This increases the domain of biological problems to which docking methods can be applied. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Identifying species of moths (Lepidoptera) from Baihua Mountain, Beijing, China, using DNA barcodes

PubMed Central

Liu, Xiao F; Yang, Cong H; Han, Hui L; Ward, Robert D; Zhang, Ai-bing

2014-01-01

DNA barcoding has become a promising means for the identification of organisms of all life-history stages. Currently, distance-based and tree-based methods are most widely used to define species boundaries and uncover cryptic species. However, there is no universal threshold of genetic distance values that can be used to distinguish taxonomic groups. Alternatively, DNA barcoding can deploy a “character-based” method, whereby species are identified through the discrete nucleotide substitutions. Our research focuses on the delimitation of moth species using DNA-barcoding methods. We analyzed 393 Lepidopteran specimens belonging to 80 morphologically recognized species with a standard cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequencing approach, and deployed tree-based, distance-based, and diagnostic character-based methods to identify the taxa. The tree-based method divided the 393 specimens into 79 taxa (species), and the distance-based method divided them into 84 taxa (species). Although the diagnostic character-based method found only 39 so-identifiable species in the 80 species, with a reduction in sample size the accuracy rate substantially improved. For example, in the Arctiidae subset, all 12 species had diagnostics characteristics. Compared with traditional morphological method, molecular taxonomy performed well. All three methods enable the rapid delimitation of species, although they have different characteristics and different strengths. The tree-based and distance-based methods can be used for accurate species identification and biodiversity studies in large data sets, while the character-based method performs well in small data sets and can also be used as the foundation of species-specific biochips. PMID:25360280

Evaluation of Alternative Altitude Scaling Methods for Thermal Ice Protection System in NASA Icing Research Tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Sam; Addy, Harold; Broeren, Andy P.; Orchard, David M.

2017-01-01

A test was conducted at NASA Icing Research Tunnel to evaluate altitude scaling methods for thermal ice protection system. Two scaling methods based on Weber number were compared against a method based on the Reynolds number. The results generally agreed with the previous set of tests conducted in NRCC Altitude Icing Wind Tunnel. The Weber number based scaling methods resulted in smaller runback ice mass than the Reynolds number based scaling method. The ice accretions from the Weber number based scaling method also formed farther upstream. However there were large differences in the accreted ice mass between the two Weber number based scaling methods. The difference became greater when the speed was increased. This indicated that there may be some Reynolds number effects that isnt fully accounted for and warrants further study.

The Application of Continuous Wavelet Transform Based Foreground Subtraction Method in 21 cm Sky Surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Junhua; Xu, Haiguang; Wang, Jingying; An, Tao; Chen, Wen

2013-08-01

We propose a continuous wavelet transform based non-parametric foreground subtraction method for the detection of redshifted 21 cm signal from the epoch of reionization. This method works based on the assumption that the foreground spectra are smooth in frequency domain, while the 21 cm signal spectrum is full of saw-tooth-like structures, thus their characteristic scales are significantly different. We can distinguish them in the wavelet coefficient space easily and perform the foreground subtraction. Compared with the traditional spectral fitting based method, our method is more tolerant to complex foregrounds. Furthermore, we also find that when the instrument has uncorrected response error, our method can also work significantly better than the spectral fitting based method. Our method can obtain similar results with the Wp smoothing method, which is also a non-parametric method, but our method consumes much less computing time.

Model-based sensor-less wavefront aberration correction in optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Verstraete, Hans R G W; Wahls, Sander; Kalkman, Jeroen; Verhaegen, Michel

2015-12-15

Several sensor-less wavefront aberration correction methods that correct nonlinear wavefront aberrations by maximizing the optical coherence tomography (OCT) signal are tested on an OCT setup. A conventional coordinate search method is compared to two model-based optimization methods. The first model-based method takes advantage of the well-known optimization algorithm (NEWUOA) and utilizes a quadratic model. The second model-based method (DONE) is new and utilizes a random multidimensional Fourier-basis expansion. The model-based algorithms achieve lower wavefront errors with up to ten times fewer measurements. Furthermore, the newly proposed DONE method outperforms the NEWUOA method significantly. The DONE algorithm is tested on OCT images and shows a significantly improved image quality.

Recent developments in detection and enumeration of waterborne bacteria: a retrospective minireview.

PubMed

Deshmukh, Rehan A; Joshi, Kopal; Bhand, Sunil; Roy, Utpal

2016-12-01

Waterborne diseases have emerged as global health problems and their rapid and sensitive detection in environmental water samples is of great importance. Bacterial identification and enumeration in water samples is significant as it helps to maintain safe drinking water for public consumption. Culture-based methods are laborious, time-consuming, and yield false-positive results, whereas viable but nonculturable (VBNCs) microorganisms cannot be recovered. Hence, numerous methods have been developed for rapid detection and quantification of waterborne pathogenic bacteria in water. These rapid methods can be classified into nucleic acid-based, immunology-based, and biosensor-based detection methods. This review summarizes the principle and current state of rapid methods for the monitoring and detection of waterborne bacterial pathogens. Rapid methods outlined are polymerase chain reaction (PCR), digital droplet PCR, real-time PCR, multiplex PCR, DNA microarray, Next-generation sequencing (pyrosequencing, Illumina technology and genomics), and fluorescence in situ hybridization that are categorized as nucleic acid-based methods. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunofluorescence are classified into immunology-based methods. Optical, electrochemical, and mass-based biosensors are grouped into biosensor-based methods. Overall, these methods are sensitive, specific, time-effective, and important in prevention and diagnosis of waterborne bacterial diseases. © 2016 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A new image segmentation method based on multifractal detrended moving average analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Wen; Zou, Rui-biao; Wang, Fang; Su, Le

2015-08-01

In order to segment and delineate some regions of interest in an image, we propose a novel algorithm based on the multifractal detrended moving average analysis (MF-DMA). In this method, the generalized Hurst exponent h(q) is calculated for every pixel firstly and considered as the local feature of a surface. And then a multifractal detrended moving average spectrum (MF-DMS) D(h(q)) is defined by the idea of box-counting dimension method. Therefore, we call the new image segmentation method MF-DMS-based algorithm. The performance of the MF-DMS-based method is tested by two image segmentation experiments of rapeseed leaf image of potassium deficiency and magnesium deficiency under three cases, namely, backward (θ = 0), centered (θ = 0.5) and forward (θ = 1) with different q values. The comparison experiments are conducted between the MF-DMS method and other two multifractal segmentation methods, namely, the popular MFS-based and latest MF-DFS-based methods. The results show that our MF-DMS-based method is superior to the latter two methods. The best segmentation result for the rapeseed leaf image of potassium deficiency and magnesium deficiency is from the same parameter combination of θ = 0.5 and D(h(- 10)) when using the MF-DMS-based method. An interesting finding is that the D(h(- 10)) outperforms other parameters for both the MF-DMS-based method with centered case and MF-DFS-based algorithms. By comparing the multifractal nature between nutrient deficiency and non-nutrient deficiency areas determined by the segmentation results, an important finding is that the gray value's fluctuation in nutrient deficiency area is much severer than that in non-nutrient deficiency area.

Shrinkage regression-based methods for microarray missing value imputation.

PubMed

Wang, Hsiuying; Chiu, Chia-Chun; Wu, Yi-Ching; Wu, Wei-Sheng

2013-01-01

Missing values commonly occur in the microarray data, which usually contain more than 5% missing values with up to 90% of genes affected. Inaccurate missing value estimation results in reducing the power of downstream microarray data analyses. Many types of methods have been developed to estimate missing values. Among them, the regression-based methods are very popular and have been shown to perform better than the other types of methods in many testing microarray datasets. To further improve the performances of the regression-based methods, we propose shrinkage regression-based methods. Our methods take the advantage of the correlation structure in the microarray data and select similar genes for the target gene by Pearson correlation coefficients. Besides, our methods incorporate the least squares principle, utilize a shrinkage estimation approach to adjust the coefficients of the regression model, and then use the new coefficients to estimate missing values. Simulation results show that the proposed methods provide more accurate missing value estimation in six testing microarray datasets than the existing regression-based methods do. Imputation of missing values is a very important aspect of microarray data analyses because most of the downstream analyses require a complete dataset. Therefore, exploring accurate and efficient methods for estimating missing values has become an essential issue. Since our proposed shrinkage regression-based methods can provide accurate missing value estimation, they are competitive alternatives to the existing regression-based methods.

Comparison of sequencing-based methods to profile DNA methylation and identification of monoallelic epigenetic modifications

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Analysis of DNA methylation patterns relies increasingly on sequencing-based profiling methods. The four most frequently used sequencing-based technologies are the bisulfite-based methods MethylC-seq and reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS), and the enrichment-based techniques methylat...

A practical material decomposition method for x-ray dual spectral computed tomography.

PubMed

Hu, Jingjing; Zhao, Xing

2016-03-17

X-ray dual spectral CT (DSCT) scans the measured object with two different x-ray spectra, and the acquired rawdata can be used to perform the material decomposition of the object. Direct calibration methods allow a faster material decomposition for DSCT and can be separated in two groups: image-based and rawdata-based. The image-based method is an approximative method, and beam hardening artifacts remain in the resulting material-selective images. The rawdata-based method generally obtains better image quality than the image-based method, but this method requires geometrically consistent rawdata. However, today's clinical dual energy CT scanners usually measure different rays for different energy spectra and acquire geometrically inconsistent rawdata sets, and thus cannot meet the requirement. This paper proposes a practical material decomposition method to perform rawdata-based material decomposition in the case of inconsistent measurement. This method first yields the desired consistent rawdata sets from the measured inconsistent rawdata sets, and then employs rawdata-based technique to perform material decomposition and reconstruct material-selective images. The proposed method was evaluated by use of simulated FORBILD thorax phantom rawdata and dental CT rawdata, and simulation results indicate that this method can produce highly quantitative DSCT images in the case of inconsistent DSCT measurements.

Low-dose CT reconstruction with patch based sparsity and similarity constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Qiong; Mou, Xuanqin

2014-03-01

As the rapid growth of CT based medical application, low-dose CT reconstruction becomes more and more important to human health. Compared with other methods, statistical iterative reconstruction (SIR) usually performs better in lowdose case. However, the reconstructed image quality of SIR highly depends on the prior based regularization due to the insufficient of low-dose data. The frequently-used regularization is developed from pixel based prior, such as the smoothness between adjacent pixels. This kind of pixel based constraint cannot distinguish noise and structures effectively. Recently, patch based methods, such as dictionary learning and non-local means filtering, have outperformed the conventional pixel based methods. Patch is a small area of image, which expresses structural information of image. In this paper, we propose to use patch based constraint to improve the image quality of low-dose CT reconstruction. In the SIR framework, both patch based sparsity and similarity are considered in the regularization term. On one hand, patch based sparsity is addressed by sparse representation and dictionary learning methods, on the other hand, patch based similarity is addressed by non-local means filtering method. We conducted a real data experiment to evaluate the proposed method. The experimental results validate this method can lead to better image with less noise and more detail than other methods in low-count and few-views cases.

Comparing team-based and mixed active-learning methods in an ambulatory care elective course.

PubMed

Zingone, Michelle M; Franks, Andrea S; Guirguis, Alexander B; George, Christa M; Howard-Thompson, Amanda; Heidel, Robert E

2010-11-10

To assess students' performance and perceptions of team-based and mixed active-learning methods in 2 ambulatory care elective courses, and to describe faculty members' perceptions of team-based learning. Using the 2 teaching methods, students' grades were compared. Students' perceptions were assessed through 2 anonymous course evaluation instruments. Faculty members who taught courses using the team-based learning method were surveyed regarding their impressions of team-based learning. The ambulatory care course was offered to 64 students using team-based learning (n = 37) and mixed active learning (n = 27) formats. The mean quality points earned were 3.7 (team-based learning) and 3.3 (mixed active learning), p < 0.001. Course evaluations for both courses were favorable. All faculty members who used the team-based learning method reported that they would consider using team-based learning in another course. Students were satisfied with both teaching methods; however, student grades were significantly higher in the team-based learning course. Faculty members recognized team-based learning as an effective teaching strategy for small-group active learning.

Measuring geographic access to health care: raster and network-based methods

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Inequalities in geographic access to health care result from the configuration of facilities, population distribution, and the transportation infrastructure. In recent accessibility studies, the traditional distance measure (Euclidean) has been replaced with more plausible measures such as travel distance or time. Both network and raster-based methods are often utilized for estimating travel time in a Geographic Information System. Therefore, exploring the differences in the underlying data models and associated methods and their impact on geographic accessibility estimates is warranted. Methods We examine the assumptions present in population-based travel time models. Conceptual and practical differences between raster and network data models are reviewed, along with methodological implications for service area estimates. Our case study investigates Limited Access Areas defined by Michigan’s Certificate of Need (CON) Program. Geographic accessibility is calculated by identifying the number of people residing more than 30 minutes from an acute care hospital. Both network and raster-based methods are implemented and their results are compared. We also examine sensitivity to changes in travel speed settings and population assignment. Results In both methods, the areas identified as having limited accessibility were similar in their location, configuration, and shape. However, the number of people identified as having limited accessibility varied substantially between methods. Over all permutations, the raster-based method identified more area and people with limited accessibility. The raster-based method was more sensitive to travel speed settings, while the network-based method was more sensitive to the specific population assignment method employed in Michigan. Conclusions Differences between the underlying data models help to explain the variation in results between raster and network-based methods. Considering that the choice of data model/method may substantially alter the outcomes of a geographic accessibility analysis, we advise researchers to use caution in model selection. For policy, we recommend that Michigan adopt the network-based method or reevaluate the travel speed assignment rule in the raster-based method. Additionally, we recommend that the state revisit the population assignment method. PMID:22587023

Developing a Self-Report-Based Sequential Analysis Method for Educational Technology Systems: A Process-Based Usability Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Yi-Chun; Hsieh, Ya-Hui; Hou, Huei-Tse

2015-01-01

The development of a usability evaluation method for educational systems or applications, called the self-report-based sequential analysis, is described herein. The method aims to extend the current practice by proposing self-report-based sequential analysis as a new usability method, which integrates the advantages of self-report in survey…

Assessment of Web-Based Authentication Methods in the U.S.: Comparing E-Learning Systems to Internet Healthcare Information Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mattord, Herbert J.

2012-01-01

Organizations continue to rely on password-based authentication methods to control access to many Web-based systems. This research study developed a benchmarking instrument intended to assess authentication methods used in Web-based information systems (IS). It developed an Authentication Method System Index (AMSI) to analyze collected data from…

High-efficient and high-content cytotoxic recording via dynamic and continuous cell-based impedance biosensor technology.

PubMed

Hu, Ning; Fang, Jiaru; Zou, Ling; Wan, Hao; Pan, Yuxiang; Su, Kaiqi; Zhang, Xi; Wang, Ping

2016-10-01

Cell-based bioassays were effective method to assess the compound toxicity by cell viability, and the traditional label-based methods missed much information of cell growth due to endpoint detection, while the higher throughputs were demanded to obtain dynamic information. Cell-based biosensor methods can dynamically and continuously monitor with cell viability, however, the dynamic information was often ignored or seldom utilized in the toxin and drug assessment. Here, we reported a high-efficient and high-content cytotoxic recording method via dynamic and continuous cell-based impedance biosensor technology. The dynamic cell viability, inhibition ratio and growth rate were derived from the dynamic response curves from the cell-based impedance biosensor. The results showed that the biosensors has the dose-dependent manners to diarrhetic shellfish toxin, okadiac acid based on the analysis of the dynamic cell viability and cell growth status. Moreover, the throughputs of dynamic cytotoxicity were compared between cell-based biosensor methods and label-based endpoint methods. This cell-based impedance biosensor can provide a flexible, cost and label-efficient platform of cell viability assessment in the shellfish toxin screening fields.

The Base 32 Method: An Improved Method for Coding Sibling Constellations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perfetti, Lawrence J. Carpenter

1990-01-01

Offers new sibling constellation coding method (Base 32) for genograms using binary and base 32 numbers that saves considerable microcomputer memory. Points out that new method will result in greater ability to store and analyze larger amounts of family data. (Author/CM)

Betweenness-Based Method to Identify Critical Transmission Sectors for Supply Chain Environmental Pressure Mitigation.

PubMed

Liang, Sai; Qu, Shen; Xu, Ming

2016-02-02

To develop industry-specific policies for mitigating environmental pressures, previous studies primarily focus on identifying sectors that directly generate large amounts of environmental pressures (a.k.a. production-based method) or indirectly drive large amounts of environmental pressures through supply chains (e.g., consumption-based method). In addition to those sectors as important environmental pressure producers or drivers, there exist sectors that are also important to environmental pressure mitigation as transmission centers. Economy-wide environmental pressure mitigation might be achieved by improving production efficiency of these key transmission sectors, that is, using less upstream inputs to produce unitary output. We develop a betweenness-based method to measure the importance of transmission sectors, borrowing the betweenness concept from network analysis. We quantify the betweenness of sectors by examining supply chain paths extracted from structural path analysis that pass through a particular sector. We take China as an example and find that those critical transmission sectors identified by betweenness-based method are not always identifiable by existing methods. This indicates that betweenness-based method can provide additional insights that cannot be obtained with existing methods on the roles individual sectors play in generating economy-wide environmental pressures. Betweenness-based method proposed here can therefore complement existing methods for guiding sector-level environmental pressure mitigation strategies.

Evaluation of two outlier-detection-based methods for detecting tissue-selective genes from microarray data.

PubMed

Kadota, Koji; Konishi, Tomokazu; Shimizu, Kentaro

2007-05-01

Large-scale expression profiling using DNA microarrays enables identification of tissue-selective genes for which expression is considerably higher and/or lower in some tissues than in others. Among numerous possible methods, only two outlier-detection-based methods (an AIC-based method and Sprent's non-parametric method) can treat equally various types of selective patterns, but they produce substantially different results. We investigated the performance of these two methods for different parameter settings and for a reduced number of samples. We focused on their ability to detect selective expression patterns robustly. We applied them to public microarray data collected from 36 normal human tissue samples and analyzed the effects of both changing the parameter settings and reducing the number of samples. The AIC-based method was more robust in both cases. The findings confirm that the use of the AIC-based method in the recently proposed ROKU method for detecting tissue-selective expression patterns is correct and that Sprent's method is not suitable for ROKU.

Review of Statistical Methods for Analysing Healthcare Resources and Costs

PubMed Central

Mihaylova, Borislava; Briggs, Andrew; O'Hagan, Anthony; Thompson, Simon G

2011-01-01

We review statistical methods for analysing healthcare resource use and costs, their ability to address skewness, excess zeros, multimodality and heavy right tails, and their ease for general use. We aim to provide guidance on analysing resource use and costs focusing on randomised trials, although methods often have wider applicability. Twelve broad categories of methods were identified: (I) methods based on the normal distribution, (II) methods following transformation of data, (III) single-distribution generalized linear models (GLMs), (IV) parametric models based on skewed distributions outside the GLM family, (V) models based on mixtures of parametric distributions, (VI) two (or multi)-part and Tobit models, (VII) survival methods, (VIII) non-parametric methods, (IX) methods based on truncation or trimming of data, (X) data components models, (XI) methods based on averaging across models, and (XII) Markov chain methods. Based on this review, our recommendations are that, first, simple methods are preferred in large samples where the near-normality of sample means is assured. Second, in somewhat smaller samples, relatively simple methods, able to deal with one or two of above data characteristics, may be preferable but checking sensitivity to assumptions is necessary. Finally, some more complex methods hold promise, but are relatively untried; their implementation requires substantial expertise and they are not currently recommended for wider applied work. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:20799344

Estimates of recharge to unconfined aquifers and leakage to confined aquifers in the seven-county metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ruhl, James F.; Kanivetsky, Roman; Shmagin, Boris

2002-01-01

Recharge estimates, which generally varied within 10 in./yr for each of the methods, generally were largest based on the precipitation, ground-water level fluctuation, and age dating of shallow ground water methods, slightly smaller based on the streamflow-recession displacement method, and smallest based on the watershed characteristics method. Leakage, which was less than 1 in./yr, varied within 1 order of magnitude based on the ground-water level fluctuation method and as much as 4 orders of magnitude based on analyses of vertical-hydraulic gradients.

Colloidal Electrolytes and the Critical Micelle Concentration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knowlton, L. G.

1970-01-01

Describes methods for determining the Critical Micelle Concentration of Colloidal Electrolytes; methods described are: (1) methods based on Colligative Properties, (2) methods based on the Electrical Conductivity of Colloidal Electrolytic Solutions, (3) Dye Method, (4) Dye Solubilization Method, and (5) Surface Tension Method. (BR)

Learning linear transformations between counting-based and prediction-based word embeddings

PubMed Central

Hayashi, Kohei; Kawarabayashi, Ken-ichi

2017-01-01

Despite the growing interest in prediction-based word embedding learning methods, it remains unclear as to how the vector spaces learnt by the prediction-based methods differ from that of the counting-based methods, or whether one can be transformed into the other. To study the relationship between counting-based and prediction-based embeddings, we propose a method for learning a linear transformation between two given sets of word embeddings. Our proposal contributes to the word embedding learning research in three ways: (a) we propose an efficient method to learn a linear transformation between two sets of word embeddings, (b) using the transformation learnt in (a), we empirically show that it is possible to predict distributed word embeddings for novel unseen words, and (c) empirically it is possible to linearly transform counting-based embeddings to prediction-based embeddings, for frequent words, different POS categories, and varying degrees of ambiguities. PMID:28926629

Research and development of LANDSAT-based crop inventory techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horvath, R.; Cicone, R. C.; Malila, W. A. (Principal Investigator)

1982-01-01

A wide spectrum of technology pertaining to the inventory of crops using LANDSAT without in situ training data is addressed. Methods considered include Bayesian based through-the-season methods, estimation technology based on analytical profile fitting methods, and expert-based computer aided methods. Although the research was conducted using U.S. data, the adaptation of the technology to the Southern Hemisphere, especially Argentina was considered.

SB certification handout material requirements, test methods, responsibilities, and minimum classification levels for mixture-based specification for flexible base.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-10-01

A handout with tables representing the material requirements, test methods, responsibilities, and minimum classification levels mixture-based specification for flexible base and details on aggregate and test methods employed, along with agency and co...

A comparison of two differential methods for nutrition education in elementary school: lecture-and experience-based learning program.

PubMed

Jung, Lan-Hee; Choi, Jeong-Hwa; Bang, Hyun-Mi; Shin, Jun-Ho; Heo, Young-Ran

2015-02-01

This research was conducted to compare lecture-and experience-based methods of nutritional education as well as provide fundamental data for developing an effective nutritional education program in elementary schools. A total of 110 students in three elementary schools in Jeollanam-do were recruited and randomly distributed in lecture-and experience-based groups. The effects of education on students' dietary knowledge, dietary behaviors, and dietary habits were analyzed using a pre/post-test. Lecture-and experience-based methods did not significantly alter total scores for dietary knowledge in any group, although lecture-based method led to improvement for some detailed questions. In the experience-based group, subjects showed significant alteration of dietary behaviors, whereas lecture-based method showed alteration of dietary habits. These outcomes suggest that lecture-and experience-based methods led to differential improvement of students' dietary habits, behaviors, and knowledge. To obtain better nutritional education results, both lectures and experiential activities need to be considered.

Dereverberation and denoising based on generalized spectral subtraction by multi-channel LMS algorithm using a small-scale microphone array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Longbiao; Odani, Kyohei; Kai, Atsuhiko

2012-12-01

A blind dereverberation method based on power spectral subtraction (SS) using a multi-channel least mean squares algorithm was previously proposed to suppress the reverberant speech without additive noise. The results of isolated word speech recognition experiments showed that this method achieved significant improvements over conventional cepstral mean normalization (CMN) in a reverberant environment. In this paper, we propose a blind dereverberation method based on generalized spectral subtraction (GSS), which has been shown to be effective for noise reduction, instead of power SS. Furthermore, we extend the missing feature theory (MFT), which was initially proposed to enhance the robustness of additive noise, to dereverberation. A one-stage dereverberation and denoising method based on GSS is presented to simultaneously suppress both the additive noise and nonstationary multiplicative noise (reverberation). The proposed dereverberation method based on GSS with MFT is evaluated on a large vocabulary continuous speech recognition task. When the additive noise was absent, the dereverberation method based on GSS with MFT using only 2 microphones achieves a relative word error reduction rate of 11.4 and 32.6% compared to the dereverberation method based on power SS and the conventional CMN, respectively. For the reverberant and noisy speech, the dereverberation and denoising method based on GSS achieves a relative word error reduction rate of 12.8% compared to the conventional CMN with GSS-based additive noise reduction method. We also analyze the effective factors of the compensation parameter estimation for the dereverberation method based on SS, such as the number of channels (the number of microphones), the length of reverberation to be suppressed, and the length of the utterance used for parameter estimation. The experimental results showed that the SS-based method is robust in a variety of reverberant environments for both isolated and continuous speech recognition and under various parameter estimation conditions.

Ratio-based vs. model-based methods to correct for urinary creatinine concentrations.

PubMed

Jain, Ram B

2016-08-01

Creatinine-corrected urinary analyte concentration is usually computed as the ratio of the observed level of analyte concentration divided by the observed level of the urinary creatinine concentration (UCR). This ratio-based method is flawed since it implicitly assumes that hydration is the only factor that affects urinary creatinine concentrations. On the contrary, it has been shown in the literature, that age, gender, race/ethnicity, and other factors also affect UCR. Consequently, an optimal method to correct for UCR should correct for hydration as well as other factors like age, gender, and race/ethnicity that affect UCR. Model-based creatinine correction in which observed UCRs are used as an independent variable in regression models has been proposed. This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of ratio-based and model-based creatinine correction methods when the effects of gender, age, and race/ethnicity are evaluated one factor at a time for selected urinary analytes and metabolites. It was observed that ratio-based method leads to statistically significant pairwise differences, for example, between males and females or between non-Hispanic whites (NHW) and non-Hispanic blacks (NHB), more often than the model-based method. However, depending upon the analyte of interest, the reverse is also possible. The estimated ratios of geometric means (GM), for example, male to female or NHW to NHB, were also compared for the two methods. When estimated UCRs were higher for the group (for example, males) in the numerator of this ratio, these ratios were higher for the model-based method, for example, male to female ratio of GMs. When estimated UCR were lower for the group (for example, NHW) in the numerator of this ratio, these ratios were higher for the ratio-based method, for example, NHW to NHB ratio of GMs. Model-based method is the method of choice if all factors that affect UCR are to be accounted for.

A study of pressure-based methodology for resonant flows in non-linear combustion instabilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yang, H. Q.; Pindera, M. Z.; Przekwas, A. J.; Tucker, K.

1992-01-01

This paper presents a systematic assessment of a large variety of spatial and temporal differencing schemes on nonstaggered grids by the pressure-based methods for the problems of fast transient flows. The observation from the present study is that for steady state flow problems, pressure-based methods can be very competitive with the density-based methods. For transient flow problems, pressure-based methods utilizing the same differencing scheme are less accurate, even though the wave speeds are correctly predicted.

A method for assigning species into groups based on generalized Mahalanobis distance between habitat model coefficients

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williams, C.J.; Heglund, P.J.

2009-01-01

Habitat association models are commonly developed for individual animal species using generalized linear modeling methods such as logistic regression. We considered the issue of grouping species based on their habitat use so that management decisions can be based on sets of species rather than individual species. This research was motivated by a study of western landbirds in northern Idaho forests. The method we examined was to separately fit models to each species and to use a generalized Mahalanobis distance between coefficient vectors to create a distance matrix among species. Clustering methods were used to group species from the distance matrix, and multidimensional scaling methods were used to visualize the relations among species groups. Methods were also discussed for evaluating the sensitivity of the conclusions because of outliers or influential data points. We illustrate these methods with data from the landbird study conducted in northern Idaho. Simulation results are presented to compare the success of this method to alternative methods using Euclidean distance between coefficient vectors and to methods that do not use habitat association models. These simulations demonstrate that our Mahalanobis-distance- based method was nearly always better than Euclidean-distance-based methods or methods not based on habitat association models. The methods used to develop candidate species groups are easily explained to other scientists and resource managers since they mainly rely on classical multivariate statistical methods. ?? 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

A LSQR-type method provides a computationally efficient automated optimal choice of regularization parameter in diffuse optical tomography.

PubMed

Prakash, Jaya; Yalavarthy, Phaneendra K

2013-03-01

Developing a computationally efficient automated method for the optimal choice of regularization parameter in diffuse optical tomography. The least-squares QR (LSQR)-type method that uses Lanczos bidiagonalization is known to be computationally efficient in performing the reconstruction procedure in diffuse optical tomography. The same is effectively deployed via an optimization procedure that uses the simplex method to find the optimal regularization parameter. The proposed LSQR-type method is compared with the traditional methods such as L-curve, generalized cross-validation (GCV), and recently proposed minimal residual method (MRM)-based choice of regularization parameter using numerical and experimental phantom data. The results indicate that the proposed LSQR-type and MRM-based methods performance in terms of reconstructed image quality is similar and superior compared to L-curve and GCV-based methods. The proposed method computational complexity is at least five times lower compared to MRM-based method, making it an optimal technique. The LSQR-type method was able to overcome the inherent limitation of computationally expensive nature of MRM-based automated way finding the optimal regularization parameter in diffuse optical tomographic imaging, making this method more suitable to be deployed in real-time.

Pyrolyzed-parylene based sensors and method of manufacture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tai, Yu-Chong (Inventor); Liger, Matthieu (Inventor); Miserendino, Scott (Inventor); Konishi, Satoshi (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A method (and resulting structure) for fabricating a sensing device. The method includes providing a substrate comprising a surface region and forming an insulating material overlying the surface region. The method also includes forming a film of carbon based material overlying the insulating material and treating to the film of carbon based material to pyrolyzed the carbon based material to cause formation of a film of substantially carbon based material having a resistivity ranging within a predetermined range. The method also provides at least a portion of the pyrolyzed carbon based material in a sensor application and uses the portion of the pyrolyzed carbon based material in the sensing application. In a specific embodiment, the sensing application is selected from chemical, humidity, piezoelectric, radiation, mechanical strain or temperature.

A probability-based multi-cycle sorting method for 4D-MRI: A simulation study.

PubMed

Liang, Xiao; Yin, Fang-Fang; Liu, Yilin; Cai, Jing

2016-12-01

To develop a novel probability-based sorting method capable of generating multiple breathing cycles of 4D-MRI images and to evaluate performance of this new method by comparing with conventional phase-based methods in terms of image quality and tumor motion measurement. Based on previous findings that breathing motion probability density function (PDF) of a single breathing cycle is dramatically different from true stabilized PDF that resulted from many breathing cycles, it is expected that a probability-based sorting method capable of generating multiple breathing cycles of 4D images may capture breathing variation information missing from conventional single-cycle sorting methods. The overall idea is to identify a few main breathing cycles (and their corresponding weightings) that can best represent the main breathing patterns of the patient and then reconstruct a set of 4D images for each of the identified main breathing cycles. This method is implemented in three steps: (1) The breathing signal is decomposed into individual breathing cycles, characterized by amplitude, and period; (2) individual breathing cycles are grouped based on amplitude and period to determine the main breathing cycles. If a group contains more than 10% of all breathing cycles in a breathing signal, it is determined as a main breathing pattern group and is represented by the average of individual breathing cycles in the group; (3) for each main breathing cycle, a set of 4D images is reconstructed using a result-driven sorting method adapted from our previous study. The probability-based sorting method was first tested on 26 patients' breathing signals to evaluate its feasibility of improving target motion PDF. The new method was subsequently tested for a sequential image acquisition scheme on the 4D digital extended cardiac torso (XCAT) phantom. Performance of the probability-based and conventional sorting methods was evaluated in terms of target volume precision and accuracy as measured by the 4D images, and also the accuracy of average intensity projection (AIP) of 4D images. Probability-based sorting showed improved similarity of breathing motion PDF from 4D images to reference PDF compared to single cycle sorting, indicated by the significant increase in Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) (probability-based sorting, DSC = 0.89 ± 0.03, and single cycle sorting, DSC = 0.83 ± 0.05, p-value <0.001). Based on the simulation study on XCAT, the probability-based method outperforms the conventional phase-based methods in qualitative evaluation on motion artifacts and quantitative evaluation on tumor volume precision and accuracy and accuracy of AIP of the 4D images. In this paper the authors demonstrated the feasibility of a novel probability-based multicycle 4D image sorting method. The authors' preliminary results showed that the new method can improve the accuracy of tumor motion PDF and the AIP of 4D images, presenting potential advantages over the conventional phase-based sorting method for radiation therapy motion management.

A Combined Independent Source Separation and Quality Index Optimization Method for Fetal ECG Extraction from Abdominal Maternal Leads

PubMed Central

Billeci, Lucia; Varanini, Maurizio

2017-01-01

The non-invasive fetal electrocardiogram (fECG) technique has recently received considerable interest in monitoring fetal health. The aim of our paper is to propose a novel fECG algorithm based on the combination of the criteria of independent source separation and of a quality index optimization (ICAQIO-based). The algorithm was compared with two methods applying the two different criteria independently—the ICA-based and the QIO-based methods—which were previously developed by our group. All three methods were tested on the recently implemented Fetal ECG Synthetic Database (FECGSYNDB). Moreover, the performance of the algorithm was tested on real data from the PhysioNet fetal ECG Challenge 2013 Database. The proposed combined method outperformed the other two algorithms on the FECGSYNDB (ICAQIO-based: 98.78%, QIO-based: 97.77%, ICA-based: 97.61%). Significant differences were obtained in particular in the conditions when uterine contractions and maternal and fetal ectopic beats occurred. On the real data, all three methods obtained very high performances, with the QIO-based method proving slightly better than the other two (ICAQIO-based: 99.38%, QIO-based: 99.76%, ICA-based: 99.37%). The findings from this study suggest that the proposed method could potentially be applied as a novel algorithm for accurate extraction of fECG, especially in critical recording conditions. PMID:28509860

Compatibility of pedigree-based and marker-based relationship matrices for single-step genetic evaluation.

PubMed

Christensen, Ole F

2012-12-03

Single-step methods provide a coherent and conceptually simple approach to incorporate genomic information into genetic evaluations. An issue with single-step methods is compatibility between the marker-based relationship matrix for genotyped animals and the pedigree-based relationship matrix. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the marker-based relationship matrix to the pedigree-based relationship matrix. Moreover, with data from routine evaluations, this adjustment should in principle be based on both observed marker genotypes and observed phenotypes, but until now this has been overlooked. In this paper, I propose a new method to address this issue by 1) adjusting the pedigree-based relationship matrix to be compatible with the marker-based relationship matrix instead of the reverse and 2) extending the single-step genetic evaluation using a joint likelihood of observed phenotypes and observed marker genotypes. The performance of this method is then evaluated using two simulated datasets. The method derived here is a single-step method in which the marker-based relationship matrix is constructed assuming all allele frequencies equal to 0.5 and the pedigree-based relationship matrix is constructed using the unusual assumption that animals in the base population are related and inbred with a relationship coefficient γ and an inbreeding coefficient γ / 2. Taken together, this γ parameter and a parameter that scales the marker-based relationship matrix can handle the issue of compatibility between marker-based and pedigree-based relationship matrices. The full log-likelihood function used for parameter inference contains two terms. The first term is the REML-log-likelihood for the phenotypes conditional on the observed marker genotypes, whereas the second term is the log-likelihood for the observed marker genotypes. Analyses of the two simulated datasets with this new method showed that 1) the parameters involved in adjusting marker-based and pedigree-based relationship matrices can depend on both observed phenotypes and observed marker genotypes and 2) a strong association between these two parameters exists. Finally, this method performed at least as well as a method based on adjusting the marker-based relationship matrix. Using the full log-likelihood and adjusting the pedigree-based relationship matrix to be compatible with the marker-based relationship matrix provides a new and interesting approach to handle the issue of compatibility between the two matrices in single-step genetic evaluation.

Evaluation of contents-based image retrieval methods for a database of logos on drug tablets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geradts, Zeno J.; Hardy, Huub; Poortman, Anneke; Bijhold, Jurrien

2001-02-01

In this research an evaluation has been made of the different ways of contents based image retrieval of logos of drug tablets. On a database of 432 illicitly produced tablets (mostly containing MDMA), we have compared different retrieval methods. Two of these methods were available from commercial packages, QBIC and Imatch, where the implementation of the contents based image retrieval methods are not exactly known. We compared the results for this database with the MPEG-7 shape comparison methods, which are the contour-shape, bounding box and region-based shape methods. In addition, we have tested the log polar method that is available from our own research.

Comparative analysis of machine learning methods in ligand-based virtual screening of large compound libraries.

PubMed

Ma, Xiao H; Jia, Jia; Zhu, Feng; Xue, Ying; Li, Ze R; Chen, Yu Z

2009-05-01

Machine learning methods have been explored as ligand-based virtual screening tools for facilitating drug lead discovery. These methods predict compounds of specific pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic or toxicological properties based on their structure-derived structural and physicochemical properties. Increasing attention has been directed at these methods because of their capability in predicting compounds of diverse structures and complex structure-activity relationships without requiring the knowledge of target 3D structure. This article reviews current progresses in using machine learning methods for virtual screening of pharmacodynamically active compounds from large compound libraries, and analyzes and compares the reported performances of machine learning tools with those of structure-based and other ligand-based (such as pharmacophore and clustering) virtual screening methods. The feasibility to improve the performance of machine learning methods in screening large libraries is discussed.

Evaluation of Alternative Altitude Scaling Methods for Thermal Ice Protection System in NASA Icing Research Tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Sam; Addy, Harold E. Jr.; Broeren, Andy P.; Orchard, David M.

2017-01-01

A test was conducted at NASA Icing Research Tunnel to evaluate altitude scaling methods for thermal ice protection system. Two new scaling methods based on Weber number were compared against a method based on Reynolds number. The results generally agreed with the previous set of tests conducted in NRCC Altitude Icing Wind Tunnel where the three methods of scaling were also tested and compared along with reference (altitude) icing conditions. In those tests, the Weber number-based scaling methods yielded results much closer to those observed at the reference icing conditions than the Reynolds number-based icing conditions. The test in the NASA IRT used a much larger, asymmetric airfoil with an ice protection system that more closely resembled designs used in commercial aircraft. Following the trends observed during the AIWT tests, the Weber number based scaling methods resulted in smaller runback ice than the Reynolds number based scaling, and the ice formed farther upstream. The results show that the new Weber number based scaling methods, particularly the Weber number with water loading scaling, continue to show promise for ice protection system development and evaluation in atmospheric icing tunnels.

Fast Markerless Tracking for Augmented Reality in Planar Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basori, Ahmad Hoirul; Afif, Fadhil Noer; Almazyad, Abdulaziz S.; AbuJabal, Hamza Ali S.; Rehman, Amjad; Alkawaz, Mohammed Hazim

2015-12-01

Markerless tracking for augmented reality should not only be accurate but also fast enough to provide a seamless synchronization between real and virtual beings. Current reported methods showed that a vision-based tracking is accurate but requires high computational power. This paper proposes a real-time hybrid-based method for tracking unknown environments in markerless augmented reality. The proposed method provides collaboration of vision-based approach with accelerometers and gyroscopes sensors as camera pose predictor. To align the augmentation relative to camera motion, the tracking method is done by substituting feature-based camera estimation with combination of inertial sensors with complementary filter to provide more dynamic response. The proposed method managed to track unknown environment with faster processing time compared to available feature-based approaches. Moreover, the proposed method can sustain its estimation in a situation where feature-based tracking loses its track. The collaboration of sensor tracking managed to perform the task for about 22.97 FPS, up to five times faster than feature-based tracking method used as comparison. Therefore, the proposed method can be used to track unknown environments without depending on amount of features on scene, while requiring lower computational cost.

Use of focused ultrasonication in activity-based profiling of deubiquitinating enzymes in tissue.

PubMed

Nanduri, Bindu; Shack, Leslie A; Rai, Aswathy N; Epperson, William B; Baumgartner, Wes; Schmidt, Ty B; Edelmann, Mariola J

2016-12-15

To develop a reproducible tissue lysis method that retains enzyme function for activity-based protein profiling, we compared four different methods to obtain protein extracts from bovine lung tissue: focused ultrasonication, standard sonication, mortar & pestle method, and homogenization combined with standard sonication. Focused ultrasonication and mortar & pestle methods were sufficiently effective for activity-based profiling of deubiquitinases in tissue, and focused ultrasonication also had the fastest processing time. We used focused-ultrasonicator for subsequent activity-based proteomic analysis of deubiquitinases to test the compatibility of this method in sample preparation for activity-based chemical proteomics. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hybrid PSO-ASVR-based method for data fitting in the calibration of infrared radiometer

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

Yang, Sen; Li, Chengwei, E-mail: heikuanghit@163.com

2016-06-15

The present paper describes a hybrid particle swarm optimization-adaptive support vector regression (PSO-ASVR)-based method for data fitting in the calibration of infrared radiometer. The proposed hybrid PSO-ASVR-based method is based on PSO in combination with Adaptive Processing and Support Vector Regression (SVR). The optimization technique involves setting parameters in the ASVR fitting procedure, which significantly improves the fitting accuracy. However, its use in the calibration of infrared radiometer has not yet been widely explored. Bearing this in mind, the PSO-ASVR-based method, which is based on the statistical learning theory, is successfully used here to get the relationship between the radiationmore » of a standard source and the response of an infrared radiometer. Main advantages of this method are the flexible adjustment mechanism in data processing and the optimization mechanism in a kernel parameter setting of SVR. Numerical examples and applications to the calibration of infrared radiometer are performed to verify the performance of PSO-ASVR-based method compared to conventional data fitting methods.« less

A probability-based multi-cycle sorting method for 4D-MRI: A simulation study

PubMed Central

Liang, Xiao; Yin, Fang-Fang; Liu, Yilin; Cai, Jing

2016-01-01

Purpose: To develop a novel probability-based sorting method capable of generating multiple breathing cycles of 4D-MRI images and to evaluate performance of this new method by comparing with conventional phase-based methods in terms of image quality and tumor motion measurement. Methods: Based on previous findings that breathing motion probability density function (PDF) of a single breathing cycle is dramatically different from true stabilized PDF that resulted from many breathing cycles, it is expected that a probability-based sorting method capable of generating multiple breathing cycles of 4D images may capture breathing variation information missing from conventional single-cycle sorting methods. The overall idea is to identify a few main breathing cycles (and their corresponding weightings) that can best represent the main breathing patterns of the patient and then reconstruct a set of 4D images for each of the identified main breathing cycles. This method is implemented in three steps: (1) The breathing signal is decomposed into individual breathing cycles, characterized by amplitude, and period; (2) individual breathing cycles are grouped based on amplitude and period to determine the main breathing cycles. If a group contains more than 10% of all breathing cycles in a breathing signal, it is determined as a main breathing pattern group and is represented by the average of individual breathing cycles in the group; (3) for each main breathing cycle, a set of 4D images is reconstructed using a result-driven sorting method adapted from our previous study. The probability-based sorting method was first tested on 26 patients’ breathing signals to evaluate its feasibility of improving target motion PDF. The new method was subsequently tested for a sequential image acquisition scheme on the 4D digital extended cardiac torso (XCAT) phantom. Performance of the probability-based and conventional sorting methods was evaluated in terms of target volume precision and accuracy as measured by the 4D images, and also the accuracy of average intensity projection (AIP) of 4D images. Results: Probability-based sorting showed improved similarity of breathing motion PDF from 4D images to reference PDF compared to single cycle sorting, indicated by the significant increase in Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) (probability-based sorting, DSC = 0.89 ± 0.03, and single cycle sorting, DSC = 0.83 ± 0.05, p-value <0.001). Based on the simulation study on XCAT, the probability-based method outperforms the conventional phase-based methods in qualitative evaluation on motion artifacts and quantitative evaluation on tumor volume precision and accuracy and accuracy of AIP of the 4D images. Conclusions: In this paper the authors demonstrated the feasibility of a novel probability-based multicycle 4D image sorting method. The authors’ preliminary results showed that the new method can improve the accuracy of tumor motion PDF and the AIP of 4D images, presenting potential advantages over the conventional phase-based sorting method for radiation therapy motion management. PMID:27908178

Improving target coverage and organ-at-risk sparing in intensity-modulated radiotherapy for cervical oesophageal cancer using a simple optimisation method.

PubMed

Lu, Jia-Yang; Cheung, Michael Lok-Man; Huang, Bao-Tian; Wu, Li-Li; Xie, Wen-Jia; Chen, Zhi-Jian; Li, De-Rui; Xie, Liang-Xi

2015-01-01

To assess the performance of a simple optimisation method for improving target coverage and organ-at-risk (OAR) sparing in intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for cervical oesophageal cancer. For 20 selected patients, clinically acceptable original IMRT plans (Original plans) were created, and two optimisation methods were adopted to improve the plans: 1) a base dose function (BDF)-based method, in which the treatment plans were re-optimised based on the original plans, and 2) a dose-controlling structure (DCS)-based method, in which the original plans were re-optimised by assigning additional constraints for hot and cold spots. The Original, BDF-based and DCS-based plans were compared with regard to target dose homogeneity, conformity, OAR sparing, planning time and monitor units (MUs). Dosimetric verifications were performed and delivery times were recorded for the BDF-based and DCS-based plans. The BDF-based plans provided significantly superior dose homogeneity and conformity compared with both the DCS-based and Original plans. The BDF-based method further reduced the doses delivered to the OARs by approximately 1-3%. The re-optimisation time was reduced by approximately 28%, but the MUs and delivery time were slightly increased. All verification tests were passed and no significant differences were found. The BDF-based method for the optimisation of IMRT for cervical oesophageal cancer can achieve significantly better dose distributions with better planning efficiency at the expense of slightly more MUs.

Goal-based angular adaptivity applied to a wavelet-based discretisation of the neutral particle transport equation

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

Goffin, Mark A., E-mail: mark.a.goffin@gmail.com; Buchan, Andrew G.; Dargaville, Steven

2015-01-15

A method for applying goal-based adaptive methods to the angular resolution of the neutral particle transport equation is presented. The methods are applied to an octahedral wavelet discretisation of the spherical angular domain which allows for anisotropic resolution. The angular resolution is adapted across both the spatial and energy dimensions. The spatial domain is discretised using an inner-element sub-grid scale finite element method. The goal-based adaptive methods optimise the angular discretisation to minimise the error in a specific functional of the solution. The goal-based error estimators require the solution of an adjoint system to determine the importance to the specifiedmore » functional. The error estimators and the novel methods to calculate them are described. Several examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods. It is shown that the methods can significantly reduce the number of unknowns and computational time required to obtain a given error. The novelty of the work is the use of goal-based adaptive methods to obtain anisotropic resolution in the angular domain for solving the transport equation. -- Highlights: •Wavelet angular discretisation used to solve transport equation. •Adaptive method developed for the wavelet discretisation. •Anisotropic angular resolution demonstrated through the adaptive method. •Adaptive method provides improvements in computational efficiency.« less

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

Hohimer, J.P.

The use of laser-based analytical methods in nuclear-fuel processing plants is considered. The species and locations for accountability, process control, and effluent control measurements in the Coprocessing, Thorex, and reference Purex fuel processing operations are identified and the conventional analytical methods used for these measurements are summarized. The laser analytical methods based upon Raman, absorption, fluorescence, and nonlinear spectroscopy are reviewed and evaluated for their use in fuel processing plants. After a comparison of the capabilities of the laser-based and conventional analytical methods, the promising areas of application of the laser-based methods in fuel processing plants are identified.

Metamodel-based inverse method for parameter identification: elastic-plastic damage model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Changwu; El Hami, Abdelkhalak; Radi, Bouchaïb

2017-04-01

This article proposed a metamodel-based inverse method for material parameter identification and applies it to elastic-plastic damage model parameter identification. An elastic-plastic damage model is presented and implemented in numerical simulation. The metamodel-based inverse method is proposed in order to overcome the disadvantage in computational cost of the inverse method. In the metamodel-based inverse method, a Kriging metamodel is constructed based on the experimental design in order to model the relationship between material parameters and the objective function values in the inverse problem, and then the optimization procedure is executed by the use of a metamodel. The applications of the presented material model and proposed parameter identification method in the standard A 2017-T4 tensile test prove that the presented elastic-plastic damage model is adequate to describe the material's mechanical behaviour and that the proposed metamodel-based inverse method not only enhances the efficiency of parameter identification but also gives reliable results.

A scale-invariant change detection method for land use/cover change research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Jin; Sieber, Renee; Caelli, Terrence

2018-07-01

Land Use/Cover Change (LUCC) detection relies increasingly on comparing remote sensing images with different spatial and spectral scales. Based on scale-invariant image analysis algorithms in computer vision, we propose a scale-invariant LUCC detection method to identify changes from scale heterogeneous images. This method is composed of an entropy-based spatial decomposition, two scale-invariant feature extraction methods, Maximally Stable Extremal Region (MSER) and Scale-Invariant Feature Transformation (SIFT) algorithms, a spatial regression voting method to integrate MSER and SIFT results, a Markov Random Field-based smoothing method, and a support vector machine classification method to assign LUCC labels. We test the scale invariance of our new method with a LUCC case study in Montreal, Canada, 2005-2012. We found that the scale-invariant LUCC detection method provides similar accuracy compared with the resampling-based approach but this method avoids the LUCC distortion incurred by resampling.

Evaluation of Two Outlier-Detection-Based Methods for Detecting Tissue-Selective Genes from Microarray Data

PubMed Central

Kadota, Koji; Konishi, Tomokazu; Shimizu, Kentaro

2007-01-01

Large-scale expression profiling using DNA microarrays enables identification of tissue-selective genes for which expression is considerably higher and/or lower in some tissues than in others. Among numerous possible methods, only two outlier-detection-based methods (an AIC-based method and Sprent’s non-parametric method) can treat equally various types of selective patterns, but they produce substantially different results. We investigated the performance of these two methods for different parameter settings and for a reduced number of samples. We focused on their ability to detect selective expression patterns robustly. We applied them to public microarray data collected from 36 normal human tissue samples and analyzed the effects of both changing the parameter settings and reducing the number of samples. The AIC-based method was more robust in both cases. The findings confirm that the use of the AIC-based method in the recently proposed ROKU method for detecting tissue-selective expression patterns is correct and that Sprent’s method is not suitable for ROKU. PMID:19936074

The Tool for Designing Engineering Systems Using a New Optimization Method Based on a Stochastic Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshida, Hiroaki; Yamaguchi, Katsuhito; Ishikawa, Yoshio

The conventional optimization methods were based on a deterministic approach, since their purpose is to find out an exact solution. However, these methods have initial condition dependence and risk of falling into local solution. In this paper, we propose a new optimization method based on a concept of path integral method used in quantum mechanics. The method obtains a solutions as an expected value (stochastic average) using a stochastic process. The advantages of this method are not to be affected by initial conditions and not to need techniques based on experiences. We applied the new optimization method to a design of the hang glider. In this problem, not only the hang glider design but also its flight trajectory were optimized. The numerical calculation results showed that the method has a sufficient performance.

Trajectory Optimization Using Adjoint Method and Chebyshev Polynomial Approximation for Minimizing Fuel Consumption During Climb

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Nhan T.; Hornby, Gregory; Ishihara, Abe

2013-01-01

This paper describes two methods of trajectory optimization to obtain an optimal trajectory of minimum-fuel- to-climb for an aircraft. The first method is based on the adjoint method, and the second method is based on a direct trajectory optimization method using a Chebyshev polynomial approximation and cubic spine approximation. The approximate optimal trajectory will be compared with the adjoint-based optimal trajectory which is considered as the true optimal solution of the trajectory optimization problem. The adjoint-based optimization problem leads to a singular optimal control solution which results in a bang-singular-bang optimal control.

[Comparison of two algorithms for development of design space-overlapping method and probability-based method].

PubMed

Shao, Jing-Yuan; Qu, Hai-Bin; Gong, Xing-Chu

2018-05-01

In this work, two algorithms (overlapping method and the probability-based method) for design space calculation were compared by using the data collected from extraction process of Codonopsis Radix as an example. In the probability-based method, experimental error was simulated to calculate the probability of reaching the standard. The effects of several parameters on the calculated design space were studied, including simulation number, step length, and the acceptable probability threshold. For the extraction process of Codonopsis Radix, 10 000 times of simulation and 0.02 for the calculation step length can lead to a satisfactory design space. In general, the overlapping method is easy to understand, and can be realized by several kinds of commercial software without coding programs, but the reliability of the process evaluation indexes when operating in the design space is not indicated. Probability-based method is complex in calculation, but can provide the reliability to ensure that the process indexes can reach the standard within the acceptable probability threshold. In addition, there is no probability mutation in the edge of design space by probability-based method. Therefore, probability-based method is recommended for design space calculation. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Interactive Land-Use Optimization Using Laguerre Voronoi Diagram with Dynamic Generating Point Allocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaidee, S.; Pakawanwong, P.; Suppakitpaisarn, V.; Teerasawat, P.

2017-09-01

In this work, we devise an efficient method for the land-use optimization problem based on Laguerre Voronoi diagram. Previous Voronoi diagram-based methods are more efficient and more suitable for interactive design than discrete optimization-based method, but, in many cases, their outputs do not satisfy area constraints. To cope with the problem, we propose a force-directed graph drawing algorithm, which automatically allocates generating points of Voronoi diagram to appropriate positions. Then, we construct a Laguerre Voronoi diagram based on these generating points, use linear programs to adjust each cell, and reconstruct the diagram based on the adjustment. We adopt the proposed method to the practical case study of Chiang Mai University's allocated land for a mixed-use complex. For this case study, compared to other Voronoi diagram-based method, we decrease the land allocation error by 62.557 %. Although our computation time is larger than the previous Voronoi-diagram-based method, it is still suitable for interactive design.

Design Tool Using a New Optimization Method Based on a Stochastic Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshida, Hiroaki; Yamaguchi, Katsuhito; Ishikawa, Yoshio

Conventional optimization methods are based on a deterministic approach since their purpose is to find out an exact solution. However, such methods have initial condition dependence and the risk of falling into local solution. In this paper, we propose a new optimization method based on the concept of path integrals used in quantum mechanics. The method obtains a solution as an expected value (stochastic average) using a stochastic process. The advantages of this method are that it is not affected by initial conditions and does not require techniques based on experiences. We applied the new optimization method to a hang glider design. In this problem, both the hang glider design and its flight trajectory were optimized. The numerical calculation results prove that performance of the method is sufficient for practical use.

Study on Hybrid Image Search Technology Based on Texts and Contents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, H. T.; Ma, F. L.; Yan, C.; Pan, H.

2018-05-01

Image search was studied first here based on texts and contents, respectively. The text-based image feature extraction was put forward by integrating the statistical and topic features in view of the limitation of extraction of keywords only by means of statistical features of words. On the other hand, a search-by-image method was put forward based on multi-feature fusion in view of the imprecision of the content-based image search by means of a single feature. The layered-searching method depended on primarily the text-based image search method and additionally the content-based image search was then put forward in view of differences between the text-based and content-based methods and their difficult direct fusion. The feasibility and effectiveness of the hybrid search algorithm were experimentally verified.

Changes in Teaching Efficacy during a Professional Development School-Based Science Methods Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swars, Susan L.; Dooley, Caitlin McMunn

2010-01-01

This mixed methods study offers a theoretically grounded description of a field-based science methods course within a Professional Development School (PDS) model (i.e., PDS-based course). The preservice teachers' (n = 21) experiences within the PDS-based course prompted significant changes in their personal teaching efficacy, with the…

A new wavelet transform to sparsely represent cortical current densities for EEG/MEG inverse problems.

PubMed

Liao, Ke; Zhu, Min; Ding, Lei

2013-08-01

The present study investigated the use of transform sparseness of cortical current density on human brain surface to improve electroencephalography/magnetoencephalography (EEG/MEG) inverse solutions. Transform sparseness was assessed by evaluating compressibility of cortical current densities in transform domains. To do that, a structure compression method from computer graphics was first adopted to compress cortical surface structure, either regular or irregular, into hierarchical multi-resolution meshes. Then, a new face-based wavelet method based on generated multi-resolution meshes was proposed to compress current density functions defined on cortical surfaces. Twelve cortical surface models were built by three EEG/MEG softwares and their structural compressibility was evaluated and compared by the proposed method. Monte Carlo simulations were implemented to evaluate the performance of the proposed wavelet method in compressing various cortical current density distributions as compared to other two available vertex-based wavelet methods. The present results indicate that the face-based wavelet method can achieve higher transform sparseness than vertex-based wavelet methods. Furthermore, basis functions from the face-based wavelet method have lower coherence against typical EEG and MEG measurement systems than vertex-based wavelet methods. Both high transform sparseness and low coherent measurements suggest that the proposed face-based wavelet method can improve the performance of L1-norm regularized EEG/MEG inverse solutions, which was further demonstrated in simulations and experimental setups using MEG data. Thus, this new transform on complicated cortical structure is promising to significantly advance EEG/MEG inverse source imaging technologies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of methods for measuring particulate matter emissions from gas turbines.

PubMed

Petzold, Andreas; Marsh, Richard; Johnson, Mark; Miller, Michael; Sevcenco, Yura; Delhaye, David; Ibrahim, Amir; Williams, Paul; Bauer, Heidi; Crayford, Andrew; Bachalo, William D; Raper, David

2011-04-15

The project SAMPLE evaluated methods for measuring particle properties in the exhaust of aircraft engines with respect to the development of standardized operation procedures for particulate matter measurement in aviation industry. Filter-based off-line mass methods included gravimetry and chemical analysis of carbonaceous species by combustion methods. Online mass methods were based on light absorption measurement or used size distribution measurements obtained from an electrical mobility analyzer approach. Number concentrations were determined using different condensation particle counters (CPC). Total mass from filter-based methods balanced gravimetric mass within 8% error. Carbonaceous matter accounted for 70% of gravimetric mass while the remaining 30% were attributed to hydrated sulfate and noncarbonaceous organic matter fractions. Online methods were closely correlated over the entire range of emission levels studied in the tests. Elemental carbon from combustion methods and black carbon from optical methods deviated by maximum 5% with respect to mass for low to medium emission levels, whereas for high emission levels a systematic deviation between online methods and filter based methods was found which is attributed to sampling effects. CPC based instruments proved highly reproducible for number concentration measurements with a maximum interinstrument standard deviation of 7.5%.

A new rational-based optimal design strategy of ship structure based on multi-level analysis and super-element modeling method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Li; Wang, Deyu

2011-09-01

A new multi-level analysis method of introducing the super-element modeling method, derived from the multi-level analysis method first proposed by O. F. Hughes, has been proposed in this paper to solve the problem of high time cost in adopting a rational-based optimal design method for ship structural design. Furthermore, the method was verified by its effective application in optimization of the mid-ship section of a container ship. A full 3-D FEM model of a ship, suffering static and quasi-static loads, was used as the analyzing object for evaluating the structural performance of the mid-ship module, including static strength and buckling performance. Research results reveal that this new method could substantially reduce the computational cost of the rational-based optimization problem without decreasing its accuracy, which increases the feasibility and economic efficiency of using a rational-based optimal design method in ship structural design.

Project-Based Learning in Undergraduate Environmental Chemistry Laboratory: Using EPA Methods to Guide Student Method Development for Pesticide Quantitation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Eric J.; Pauls, Steve; Dick, Jonathan

2017-01-01

Presented is a project-based learning (PBL) laboratory approach for an upper-division environmental chemistry or quantitative analysis course. In this work, a combined laboratory class of 11 environmental chemistry students developed a method based on published EPA methods for the extraction of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its…

A Review of Methods for Missing Data.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pigott, Therese D.

2001-01-01

Reviews methods for handling missing data in a research study. Model-based methods, such as maximum likelihood using the EM algorithm and multiple imputation, hold more promise than ad hoc methods. Although model-based methods require more specialized computer programs and assumptions about the nature of missing data, these methods are appropriate…

Real-time biscuit tile image segmentation method based on edge detection.

PubMed

Matić, Tomislav; Aleksi, Ivan; Hocenski, Željko; Kraus, Dieter

2018-05-01

In this paper we propose a novel real-time Biscuit Tile Segmentation (BTS) method for images from ceramic tile production line. BTS method is based on signal change detection and contour tracing with a main goal of separating tile pixels from background in images captured on the production line. Usually, human operators are visually inspecting and classifying produced ceramic tiles. Computer vision and image processing techniques can automate visual inspection process if they fulfill real-time requirements. Important step in this process is a real-time tile pixels segmentation. BTS method is implemented for parallel execution on a GPU device to satisfy the real-time constraints of tile production line. BTS method outperforms 2D threshold-based methods, 1D edge detection methods and contour-based methods. Proposed BTS method is in use in the biscuit tile production line. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Novel Method to Identify Differential Pathways in Hippocampus Alzheimer's Disease.

PubMed

Liu, Chun-Han; Liu, Lian

2017-05-08

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia. The objective of this paper is to propose a novel method to identify differential pathways in hippocampus AD. MATERIAL AND METHODS We proposed a combined method by merging existed methods. Firstly, pathways were identified by four known methods (DAVID, the neaGUI package, the pathway-based co-expressed method, and the pathway network approach), and differential pathways were evaluated through setting weight thresholds. Subsequently, we combined all pathways by a rank-based algorithm and called the method the combined method. Finally, common differential pathways across two or more of five methods were selected. RESULTS Pathways obtained from different methods were also different. The combined method obtained 1639 pathways and 596 differential pathways, which included all pathways gained from the four existing methods; hence, the novel method solved the problem of inconsistent results. Besides, a total of 13 common pathways were identified, such as metabolism, immune system, and cell cycle. CONCLUSIONS We have proposed a novel method by combining four existing methods based on a rank product algorithm, and identified 13 significant differential pathways based on it. These differential pathways might provide insight into treatment and diagnosis of hippocampus AD.

Comparative Analysis of a Principal Component Analysis-Based and an Artificial Neural Network-Based Method for Baseline Removal.

PubMed

Carvajal, Roberto C; Arias, Luis E; Garces, Hugo O; Sbarbaro, Daniel G

2016-04-01

This work presents a non-parametric method based on a principal component analysis (PCA) and a parametric one based on artificial neural networks (ANN) to remove continuous baseline features from spectra. The non-parametric method estimates the baseline based on a set of sampled basis vectors obtained from PCA applied over a previously composed continuous spectra learning matrix. The parametric method, however, uses an ANN to filter out the baseline. Previous studies have demonstrated that this method is one of the most effective for baseline removal. The evaluation of both methods was carried out by using a synthetic database designed for benchmarking baseline removal algorithms, containing 100 synthetic composed spectra at different signal-to-baseline ratio (SBR), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and baseline slopes. In addition to deomonstrating the utility of the proposed methods and to compare them in a real application, a spectral data set measured from a flame radiation process was used. Several performance metrics such as correlation coefficient, chi-square value, and goodness-of-fit coefficient were calculated to quantify and compare both algorithms. Results demonstrate that the PCA-based method outperforms the one based on ANN both in terms of performance and simplicity. © The Author(s) 2016.

System and method for integrating hazard-based decision making tools and processes

DOEpatents

Hodgin, C Reed [Westminster, CO

2012-03-20

A system and method for inputting, analyzing, and disseminating information necessary for identified decision-makers to respond to emergency situations. This system and method provides consistency and integration among multiple groups, and may be used for both initial consequence-based decisions and follow-on consequence-based decisions. The system and method in a preferred embodiment also provides tools for accessing and manipulating information that are appropriate for each decision-maker, in order to achieve more reasoned and timely consequence-based decisions. The invention includes processes for designing and implementing a system or method for responding to emergency situations.

Words, concepts, or both: optimal indexing units for automated information retrieval.

PubMed Central

Hersh, W. R.; Hickam, D. H.; Leone, T. J.

1992-01-01

What is the best way to represent the content of documents in an information retrieval system? This study compares the retrieval effectiveness of five different methods for automated (machine-assigned) indexing using three test collections. The consistently best methods are those that use indexing based on the words that occur in the available text of each document. Methods used to map text into concepts from a controlled vocabulary showed no advantage over the word-based methods. This study also looked at an approach to relevance feedback which showed benefit for both word-based and concept-based methods. PMID:1482951

An advanced analysis method of initial orbit determination with too short arc data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Binzhe; Fang, Li

2018-02-01

This paper studies the initial orbit determination (IOD) based on space-based angle measurement. Commonly, these space-based observations have short durations. As a result, classical initial orbit determination algorithms give poor results, such as Laplace methods and Gauss methods. In this paper, an advanced analysis method of initial orbit determination is developed for space-based observations. The admissible region and triangulation are introduced in the method. Genetic algorithm is also used for adding some constraints of parameters. Simulation results show that the algorithm can successfully complete the initial orbit determination.

Analysis and development of adjoint-based h-adaptive direct discontinuous Galerkin method for the compressible Navier-Stokes equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Jian; Yue, Huiqiang; Yu, Shengjiao; Liu, Tiegang

2018-06-01

In this paper, an adjoint-based high-order h-adaptive direct discontinuous Galerkin method is developed and analyzed for the two dimensional steady state compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Particular emphasis is devoted to the analysis of the adjoint consistency for three different direct discontinuous Galerkin discretizations: including the original direct discontinuous Galerkin method (DDG), the direct discontinuous Galerkin method with interface correction (DDG(IC)) and the symmetric direct discontinuous Galerkin method (SDDG). Theoretical analysis shows the extra interface correction term adopted in the DDG(IC) method and the SDDG method plays a key role in preserving the adjoint consistency. To be specific, for the model problem considered in this work, we prove that the original DDG method is not adjoint consistent, while the DDG(IC) method and the SDDG method can be adjoint consistent with appropriate treatment of boundary conditions and correct modifications towards the underlying output functionals. The performance of those three DDG methods is carefully investigated and evaluated through typical test cases. Based on the theoretical analysis, an adjoint-based h-adaptive DDG(IC) method is further developed and evaluated, numerical experiment shows its potential in the applications of adjoint-based adaptation for simulating compressible flows.

MOCC: A Fast and Robust Correlation-Based Method for Interest Point Matching under Large Scale Changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Feng; Huang, Qingming; Wang, Hao; Gao, Wen

2010-12-01

Similarity measures based on correlation have been used extensively for matching tasks. However, traditional correlation-based image matching methods are sensitive to rotation and scale changes. This paper presents a fast correlation-based method for matching two images with large rotation and significant scale changes. Multiscale oriented corner correlation (MOCC) is used to evaluate the degree of similarity between the feature points. The method is rotation invariant and capable of matching image pairs with scale changes up to a factor of 7. Moreover, MOCC is much faster in comparison with the state-of-the-art matching methods. Experimental results on real images show the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Drug exposure in register-based research—An expert-opinion based evaluation of methods

PubMed Central

Taipale, Heidi; Koponen, Marjaana; Tolppanen, Anna-Maija; Hartikainen, Sirpa; Ahonen, Riitta; Tiihonen, Jari

2017-01-01

Background In register-based pharmacoepidemiological studies, construction of drug exposure periods from drug purchases is a major methodological challenge. Various methods have been applied but their validity is rarely evaluated. Our objective was to conduct an expert-opinion based evaluation of the correctness of drug use periods produced by different methods. Methods Drug use periods were calculated with three fixed methods: time windows, assumption of one Defined Daily Dose (DDD) per day and one tablet per day, and with PRE2DUP that is based on modelling of individual drug purchasing behavior. Expert-opinion based evaluation was conducted with 200 randomly selected purchase histories of warfarin, bisoprolol, simvastatin, risperidone and mirtazapine in the MEDALZ-2005 cohort (28,093 persons with Alzheimer’s disease). Two experts reviewed purchase histories and judged which methods had joined correct purchases and gave correct duration for each of 1000 drug exposure periods. Results The evaluated correctness of drug use periods was 70–94% for PRE2DUP, and depending on grace periods and time window lengths 0–73% for tablet methods, 0–41% for DDD methods and 0–11% for time window methods. The highest rate of evaluated correct solutions for each method class were observed for 1 tablet per day with 180 days grace period (TAB_1_180, 43–73%), and 1 DDD per day with 180 days grace period (1–41%). Time window methods produced at maximum only 11% correct solutions. The best performing fixed method TAB_1_180 reached highest correctness for simvastatin 73% (95% CI 65–81%) whereas 89% (95% CI 84–94%) of PRE2DUP periods were judged as correct. Conclusions This study shows inaccuracy of fixed methods and the urgent need for new data-driven methods. In the expert-opinion based evaluation, the lowest error rates were observed with data-driven method PRE2DUP. PMID:28886089

Is multiple-sequence alignment required for accurate inference of phylogeny?

PubMed

Höhl, Michael; Ragan, Mark A

2007-04-01

The process of inferring phylogenetic trees from molecular sequences almost always starts with a multiple alignment of these sequences but can also be based on methods that do not involve multiple sequence alignment. Very little is known about the accuracy with which such alignment-free methods recover the correct phylogeny or about the potential for increasing their accuracy. We conducted a large-scale comparison of ten alignment-free methods, among them one new approach that does not calculate distances and a faster variant of our pattern-based approach; all distance-based alignment-free methods are freely available from http://www.bioinformatics.org.au (as Python package decaf+py). We show that most methods exhibit a higher overall reconstruction accuracy in the presence of high among-site rate variation. Under all conditions that we considered, variants of the pattern-based approach were significantly better than the other alignment-free methods. The new pattern-based variant achieved a speed-up of an order of magnitude in the distance calculation step, accompanied by a small loss of tree reconstruction accuracy. A method of Bayesian inference from k-mers did not improve on classical alignment-free (and distance-based) methods but may still offer other advantages due to its Bayesian nature. We found the optimal word length k of word-based methods to be stable across various data sets, and we provide parameter ranges for two different alphabets. The influence of these alphabets was analyzed to reveal a trade-off in reconstruction accuracy between long and short branches. We have mapped the phylogenetic accuracy for many alignment-free methods, among them several recently introduced ones, and increased our understanding of their behavior in response to biologically important parameters. In all experiments, the pattern-based approach emerged as superior, at the expense of higher resource consumption. Nonetheless, no alignment-free method that we examined recovers the correct phylogeny as accurately as does an approach based on maximum-likelihood distance estimates of multiply aligned sequences.

Students' satisfaction to hybrid problem-based learning format for basic life support/advanced cardiac life support teaching.

PubMed

Chilkoti, Geetanjali; Mohta, Medha; Wadhwa, Rachna; Saxena, Ashok Kumar; Sharma, Chhavi Sarabpreet; Shankar, Neelima

2016-11-01

Students are exposed to basic life support (BLS) and advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) training in the first semester in some medical colleges. The aim of this study was to compare students' satisfaction between lecture-based traditional method and hybrid problem-based learning (PBL) in BLS/ACLS teaching to undergraduate medical students. We conducted a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional survey among 118 1 st -year medical students from a university medical college in the city of New Delhi, India. We aimed to assess the students' satisfaction between lecture-based and hybrid-PBL method in BLS/ACLS teaching. Likert 5-point scale was used to assess students' satisfaction levels between the two teaching methods. Data were collected and scores regarding the students' satisfaction levels between these two teaching methods were analysed using a two-sided paired t -test. Most students preferred hybrid-PBL format over traditional lecture-based method in the following four aspects; learning and understanding, interest and motivation, training of personal abilities and being confident and satisfied with the teaching method ( P < 0.05). Implementation of hybrid-PBL format along with the lecture-based method in BLS/ACLS teaching provided high satisfaction among undergraduate medical students.

Music Retrieval Based on the Relation between Color Association and Lyrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamur, Tetsuaki; Utsumi, Akira; Sakamoto, Maki

Various methods for music retrieval have been proposed. Recently, many researchers are tackling developing methods based on the relationship between music and feelings. In our previous psychological study, we found that there was a significant correlation between colors evoked from songs and colors evoked only from lyrics, and showed that the music retrieval system using lyrics could be developed. In this paper, we focus on the relationship among music, lyrics and colors, and propose a music retrieval method using colors as queries and analyzing lyrics. This method estimates colors evoked from songs by analyzing lyrics of the songs. On the first step of our method, words associated with colors are extracted from lyrics. We assumed two types of methods to extract words associated with colors. In the one of two methods, the words are extracted based on the result of a psychological experiment. In the other method, in addition to the words extracted based on the result of the psychological experiment, the words from corpora for the Latent Semantic Analysis are extracted. On the second step, colors evoked from the extracted words are compounded, and the compounded colors are regarded as those evoked from the song. On the last step, colors as queries are compared with colors estimated from lyrics, and the list of songs is presented based on similarities. We evaluated the two methods described above and found that the method based on the psychological experiment and corpora performed better than the method only based on the psychological experiment. As a result, we showed that the method using colors as queries and analyzing lyrics is effective for music retrieval.

Robust digital image watermarking using distortion-compensated dither modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Mianjie; Yuan, Xiaochen

2018-04-01

In this paper, we propose a robust feature extraction based digital image watermarking method using Distortion- Compensated Dither Modulation (DC-DM). Our proposed local watermarking method provides stronger robustness and better flexibility than traditional global watermarking methods. We improve robustness by introducing feature extraction and DC-DM method. To extract the robust feature points, we propose a DAISY-based Robust Feature Extraction (DRFE) method by employing the DAISY descriptor and applying the entropy calculation based filtering. The experimental results show that the proposed method achieves satisfactory robustness under the premise of ensuring watermark imperceptibility quality compared to other existing methods.

Collaborative voxel-based surgical virtual environments.

PubMed

Acosta, Eric; Muniz, Gilbert; Armonda, Rocco; Bowyer, Mark; Liu, Alan

2008-01-01

Virtual Reality-based surgical simulators can utilize Collaborative Virtual Environments (C-VEs) to provide team-based training. To support real-time interactions, C-VEs are typically replicated on each user's local computer and a synchronization method helps keep all local copies consistent. This approach does not work well for voxel-based C-VEs since large and frequent volumetric updates make synchronization difficult. This paper describes a method that allows multiple users to interact within a voxel-based C-VE for a craniotomy simulator being developed. Our C-VE method requires smaller update sizes and provides faster synchronization update rates than volumetric-based methods. Additionally, we address network bandwidth/latency issues to simulate networked haptic and bone drilling tool interactions with a voxel-based skull C-VE.

Powder-based adsorbents having high adsorption capacities for recovering dissolved metals and methods thereof

DOEpatents

Janke, Christopher J.; Dai, Sheng; Oyola, Yatsandra

2016-05-03

A powder-based adsorbent and a related method of manufacture are provided. The powder-based adsorbent includes polymer powder with grafted side chains and an increased surface area per unit weight to increase the adsorption of dissolved metals, for example uranium, from aqueous solutions. A method for forming the powder-based adsorbent includes irradiating polymer powder, grafting with polymerizable reactive monomers, reacting with hydroxylamine, and conditioning with an alkaline solution. Powder-based adsorbents formed according to the present method demonstrated a significantly improved uranium adsorption capacity per unit weight over existing adsorbents.

Foam-based adsorbents having high adsorption capacities for recovering dissolved metals and methods thereof

DOEpatents

Janke, Christopher J.; Dai, Sheng; Oyola, Yatsandra

2015-06-02

Foam-based adsorbents and a related method of manufacture are provided. The foam-based adsorbents include polymer foam with grafted side chains and an increased surface area per unit weight to increase the adsorption of dissolved metals, for example uranium, from aqueous solutions. A method for forming the foam-based adsorbents includes irradiating polymer foam, grafting with polymerizable reactive monomers, reacting with hydroxylamine, and conditioning with an alkaline solution. Foam-based adsorbents formed according to the present method demonstrated a significantly improved uranium adsorption capacity per unit weight over existing adsorbents.

Language Practitioners' Reflections on Method-Based and Post-Method Pedagogies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soomro, Abdul Fattah; Almalki, Mansoor S.

2017-01-01

Method-based pedagogies are commonly applied in teaching English as a foreign language all over the world. However, in the last quarter of the 20th century, the concept of such pedagogies based on the application of a single best method in EFL started to be viewed with concerns by some scholars. In response to the growing concern against the…

An Exact Model-Based Method for Near-Field Sources Localization with Bistatic MIMO System.

PubMed

Singh, Parth Raj; Wang, Yide; Chargé, Pascal

2017-03-30

In this paper, we propose an exact model-based method for near-field sources localization with a bistatic multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) radar system, and compare it with an approximated model-based method. The aim of this paper is to propose an efficient way to use the exact model of the received signals of near-field sources in order to eliminate the systematic error introduced by the use of approximated model in most existing near-field sources localization techniques. The proposed method uses parallel factor (PARAFAC) decomposition to deal with the exact model. Thanks to the exact model, the proposed method has better precision and resolution than the compared approximated model-based method. The simulation results show the performance of the proposed method.

PASTA for Proteins.

PubMed

Collins, Kodi; Warnow, Tandy

2018-06-19

PASTA is a multiple sequence method that uses divide-and-conquer plus iteration to enable base alignment methods to scale with high accuracy to large sequence datasets. By default, PASTA included MAFFT L-INS-i; our new extension of PASTA enables the use of MAFFT G-INS-i, MAFFT Homologs, CONTRAlign, and ProbCons. We analyzed the performance of each base method and PASTA using these base methods on 224 datasets from BAliBASE 4 with at least 50 sequences. We show that PASTA enables the most accurate base methods to scale to larger datasets at reduced computational effort, and generally improves alignment and tree accuracy on the largest BAliBASE datasets. PASTA is available at https://github.com/kodicollins/pasta and has also been integrated into the original PASTA repository at https://github.com/smirarab/pasta. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Combination of statistical and physically based methods to assess shallow slide susceptibility at the basin scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveira, Sérgio C.; Zêzere, José L.; Lajas, Sara; Melo, Raquel

2017-07-01

Approaches used to assess shallow slide susceptibility at the basin scale are conceptually different depending on the use of statistical or physically based methods. The former are based on the assumption that the same causes are more likely to produce the same effects, whereas the latter are based on the comparison between forces which tend to promote movement along the slope and the counteracting forces that are resistant to motion. Within this general framework, this work tests two hypotheses: (i) although conceptually and methodologically distinct, the statistical and deterministic methods generate similar shallow slide susceptibility results regarding the model's predictive capacity and spatial agreement; and (ii) the combination of shallow slide susceptibility maps obtained with statistical and physically based methods, for the same study area, generate a more reliable susceptibility model for shallow slide occurrence. These hypotheses were tested at a small test site (13.9 km2) located north of Lisbon (Portugal), using a statistical method (the information value method, IV) and a physically based method (the infinite slope method, IS). The landslide susceptibility maps produced with the statistical and deterministic methods were combined into a new landslide susceptibility map. The latter was based on a set of integration rules defined by the cross tabulation of the susceptibility classes of both maps and analysis of the corresponding contingency tables. The results demonstrate a higher predictive capacity of the new shallow slide susceptibility map, which combines the independent results obtained with statistical and physically based models. Moreover, the combination of the two models allowed the identification of areas where the results of the information value and the infinite slope methods are contradictory. Thus, these areas were classified as uncertain and deserve additional investigation at a more detailed scale.

EEG feature selection method based on decision tree.

PubMed

Duan, Lijuan; Ge, Hui; Ma, Wei; Miao, Jun

2015-01-01

This paper aims to solve automated feature selection problem in brain computer interface (BCI). In order to automate feature selection process, we proposed a novel EEG feature selection method based on decision tree (DT). During the electroencephalogram (EEG) signal processing, a feature extraction method based on principle component analysis (PCA) was used, and the selection process based on decision tree was performed by searching the feature space and automatically selecting optimal features. Considering that EEG signals are a series of non-linear signals, a generalized linear classifier named support vector machine (SVM) was chosen. In order to test the validity of the proposed method, we applied the EEG feature selection method based on decision tree to BCI Competition II datasets Ia, and the experiment showed encouraging results.

The Simulation of the Recharging Method Based on Solar Radiation for an Implantable Biosensor.

PubMed

Li, Yun; Song, Yong; Kong, Xianyue; Li, Maoyuan; Zhao, Yufei; Hao, Qun; Gao, Tianxin

2016-09-10

A method of recharging implantable biosensors based on solar radiation is proposed. Firstly, the models of the proposed method are developed. Secondly, the recharging processes based on solar radiation are simulated using Monte Carlo (MC) method and the energy distributions of sunlight within the different layers of human skin have been achieved and discussed. Finally, the simulation results are verified experimentally, which indicates that the proposed method will contribute to achieve a low-cost, convenient and safe method for recharging implantable biosensors.

The Simulation of the Recharging Method Based on Solar Radiation for an Implantable Biosensor

PubMed Central

Li, Yun; Song, Yong; Kong, Xianyue; Li, Maoyuan; Zhao, Yufei; Hao, Qun; Gao, Tianxin

2016-01-01

A method of recharging implantable biosensors based on solar radiation is proposed. Firstly, the models of the proposed method are developed. Secondly, the recharging processes based on solar radiation are simulated using Monte Carlo (MC) method and the energy distributions of sunlight within the different layers of human skin have been achieved and discussed. Finally, the simulation results are verified experimentally, which indicates that the proposed method will contribute to achieve a low-cost, convenient and safe method for recharging implantable biosensors. PMID:27626422

A Method of Spatial Mapping and Reclassification for High-Spatial-Resolution Remote Sensing Image Classification

PubMed Central

Wang, Guizhou; Liu, Jianbo; He, Guojin

2013-01-01

This paper presents a new classification method for high-spatial-resolution remote sensing images based on a strategic mechanism of spatial mapping and reclassification. The proposed method includes four steps. First, the multispectral image is classified by a traditional pixel-based classification method (support vector machine). Second, the panchromatic image is subdivided by watershed segmentation. Third, the pixel-based multispectral image classification result is mapped to the panchromatic segmentation result based on a spatial mapping mechanism and the area dominant principle. During the mapping process, an area proportion threshold is set, and the regional property is defined as unclassified if the maximum area proportion does not surpass the threshold. Finally, unclassified regions are reclassified based on spectral information using the minimum distance to mean algorithm. Experimental results show that the classification method for high-spatial-resolution remote sensing images based on the spatial mapping mechanism and reclassification strategy can make use of both panchromatic and multispectral information, integrate the pixel- and object-based classification methods, and improve classification accuracy. PMID:24453808

Highly efficient preparation of sphingoid bases from glucosylceramides by chemoenzymatic method[S

PubMed Central

Gowda, Siddabasave Gowda B.; Usuki, Seigo; Hammam, Mostafa A. S.; Murai, Yuta; Igarashi, Yasuyuki; Monde, Kenji

2016-01-01

Sphingoid base derivatives have attracted increasing attention as promising chemotherapeutic candidates against lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Natural sphingoid bases can be a potential resource instead of those derived by time-consuming total organic synthesis. In particular, glucosylceramides (GlcCers) in food plants are enriched sources of sphingoid bases, differing from those of animals. Several chemical methodologies to transform GlcCers to sphingoid bases have already investigated; however, these conventional methods using acid or alkaline hydrolysis are not efficient due to poor reaction yield, producing complex by-products and resulting in separation problems. In this study, an extremely efficient and practical chemoenzymatic transformation method has been developed using microwave-enhanced butanolysis of GlcCers and a large amount of readily available almond β-glucosidase for its deglycosylation reaction of lysoGlcCers. The method is superior to conventional acid/base hydrolysis methods in its rapidity and its reaction cleanness (no isomerization, no rearrangement) with excellent overall yield. PMID:26667669

Lessons learned from participating in D3R 2016 Grand Challenge 2: compounds targeting the farnesoid X receptor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, Rui; Xu, Xianjin; Zou, Xiaoqin

2018-01-01

D3R 2016 Grand Challenge 2 focused on predictions of binding modes and affinities for 102 compounds against the farnesoid X receptor (FXR). In this challenge, two distinct methods, a docking-based method and a template-based method, were employed by our team for the binding mode prediction. For the new template-based method, 3D ligand similarities were calculated for each query compound against the ligands in the co-crystal structures of FXR available in Protein Data Bank. The binding mode was predicted based on the co-crystal protein structure containing the ligand with the best ligand similarity score against the query compound. For the FXR dataset, the template-based method achieved a better performance than the docking-based method on the binding mode prediction. For the binding affinity prediction, an in-house knowledge-based scoring function ITScore2 and MM/PBSA approach were employed. Good performance was achieved for MM/PBSA, whereas the performance of ITScore2 was sensitive to ligand composition, e.g. the percentage of carbon atoms in the compounds. The sensitivity to ligand composition could be a clue for the further improvement of our knowledge-based scoring function.

Controlling the joint local false discovery rate is more powerful than meta-analysis methods in joint analysis of summary statistics from multiple genome-wide association studies.

PubMed

Jiang, Wei; Yu, Weichuan

2017-02-15

In genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of common diseases/traits, we often analyze multiple GWASs with the same phenotype together to discover associated genetic variants with higher power. Since it is difficult to access data with detailed individual measurements, summary-statistics-based meta-analysis methods have become popular to jointly analyze datasets from multiple GWASs. In this paper, we propose a novel summary-statistics-based joint analysis method based on controlling the joint local false discovery rate (Jlfdr). We prove that our method is the most powerful summary-statistics-based joint analysis method when controlling the false discovery rate at a certain level. In particular, the Jlfdr-based method achieves higher power than commonly used meta-analysis methods when analyzing heterogeneous datasets from multiple GWASs. Simulation experiments demonstrate the superior power of our method over meta-analysis methods. Also, our method discovers more associations than meta-analysis methods from empirical datasets of four phenotypes. The R-package is available at: http://bioinformatics.ust.hk/Jlfdr.html . eeyu@ust.hk. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Parameter estimation methods for gene circuit modeling from time-series mRNA data: a comparative study.

PubMed

Fan, Ming; Kuwahara, Hiroyuki; Wang, Xiaolei; Wang, Suojin; Gao, Xin

2015-11-01

Parameter estimation is a challenging computational problem in the reverse engineering of biological systems. Because advances in biotechnology have facilitated wide availability of time-series gene expression data, systematic parameter estimation of gene circuit models from such time-series mRNA data has become an important method for quantitatively dissecting the regulation of gene expression. By focusing on the modeling of gene circuits, we examine here the performance of three types of state-of-the-art parameter estimation methods: population-based methods, online methods and model-decomposition-based methods. Our results show that certain population-based methods are able to generate high-quality parameter solutions. The performance of these methods, however, is heavily dependent on the size of the parameter search space, and their computational requirements substantially increase as the size of the search space increases. In comparison, online methods and model decomposition-based methods are computationally faster alternatives and are less dependent on the size of the search space. Among other things, our results show that a hybrid approach that augments computationally fast methods with local search as a subsequent refinement procedure can substantially increase the quality of their parameter estimates to the level on par with the best solution obtained from the population-based methods while maintaining high computational speed. These suggest that such hybrid methods can be a promising alternative to the more commonly used population-based methods for parameter estimation of gene circuit models when limited prior knowledge about the underlying regulatory mechanisms makes the size of the parameter search space vastly large. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Adaptive target binarization method based on a dual-camera system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Jing; Zhang, Ping; Xu, Jiangtao; Gao, Zhiyuan; Gao, Jing

2018-01-01

An adaptive target binarization method based on a dual-camera system that contains two dynamic vision sensors was proposed. First, a preprocessing procedure of denoising is introduced to remove the noise events generated by the sensors. Then, the complete edge of the target is retrieved and represented by events based on an event mosaicking method. Third, the region of the target is confirmed by an event-to-event method. Finally, a postprocessing procedure of image open and close operations of morphology methods is adopted to remove the artifacts caused by event-to-event mismatching. The proposed binarization method has been extensively tested on numerous degraded images with nonuniform illumination, low contrast, noise, or light spots and successfully compared with other well-known binarization methods. The experimental results, which are based on visual and misclassification error criteria, show that the proposed method performs well and has better robustness on the binarization of degraded images.

Patch-based models and algorithms for image processing: a review of the basic principles and methods, and their application in computed tomography.

PubMed

Karimi, Davood; Ward, Rabab K

2016-10-01

Image models are central to all image processing tasks. The great advancements in digital image processing would not have been made possible without powerful models which, themselves, have evolved over time. In the past decade, "patch-based" models have emerged as one of the most effective models for natural images. Patch-based methods have outperformed other competing methods in many image processing tasks. These developments have come at a time when greater availability of powerful computational resources and growing concerns over the health risks of the ionizing radiation encourage research on image processing algorithms for computed tomography (CT). The goal of this paper is to explain the principles of patch-based methods and to review some of their recent applications in CT. We first review the central concepts in patch-based image processing and explain some of the state-of-the-art algorithms, with a focus on aspects that are more relevant to CT. Then, we review some of the recent application of patch-based methods in CT. Patch-based methods have already transformed the field of image processing, leading to state-of-the-art results in many applications. More recently, several studies have proposed patch-based algorithms for various image processing tasks in CT, from denoising and restoration to iterative reconstruction. Although these studies have reported good results, the true potential of patch-based methods for CT has not been yet appreciated. Patch-based methods can play a central role in image reconstruction and processing for CT. They have the potential to lead to substantial improvements in the current state of the art.

Fundamental Vocabulary Selection Based on Word Familiarity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Hiroshi; Kasahara, Kaname; Kanasugi, Tomoko; Amano, Shigeaki

This paper proposes a new method for selecting fundamental vocabulary. We are presently constructing the Fundamental Vocabulary Knowledge-base of Japanese that contains integrated information on syntax, semantics and pragmatics, for the purposes of advanced natural language processing. This database mainly consists of a lexicon and a treebank: Lexeed (a Japanese Semantic Lexicon) and the Hinoki Treebank. Fundamental vocabulary selection is the first step in the construction of Lexeed. The vocabulary should include sufficient words to describe general concepts for self-expandability, and should not be prohibitively large to construct and maintain. There are two conventional methods for selecting fundamental vocabulary. The first is intuition-based selection by experts. This is the traditional method for making dictionaries. A weak point of this method is that the selection strongly depends on personal intuition. The second is corpus-based selection. This method is superior in objectivity to intuition-based selection, however, it is difficult to compile a sufficiently balanced corpora. We propose a psychologically-motivated selection method that adopts word familiarity as the selection criterion. Word familiarity is a rating that represents the familiarity of a word as a real number ranging from 1 (least familiar) to 7 (most familiar). We determined the word familiarity ratings statistically based on psychological experiments over 32 subjects. We selected about 30,000 words as the fundamental vocabulary, based on a minimum word familiarity threshold of 5. We also evaluated the vocabulary by comparing its word coverage with conventional intuition-based and corpus-based selection over dictionary definition sentences and novels, and demonstrated the superior coverage of our lexicon. Based on this, we conclude that the proposed method is superior to conventional methods for fundamental vocabulary selection.

A Multi-level Fuzzy Evaluation Method for Smart Distribution Network Based on Entropy Weight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jianfang; Song, Xiaohui; Gao, Fei; Zhang, Yu

2017-05-01

Smart distribution network is considered as the future trend of distribution network. In order to comprehensive evaluate smart distribution construction level and give guidance to the practice of smart distribution construction, a multi-level fuzzy evaluation method based on entropy weight is proposed. Firstly, focus on both the conventional characteristics of distribution network and new characteristics of smart distribution network such as self-healing and interaction, a multi-level evaluation index system which contains power supply capability, power quality, economy, reliability and interaction is established. Then, a combination weighting method based on Delphi method and entropy weight method is put forward, which take into account not only the importance of the evaluation index in the experts’ subjective view, but also the objective and different information from the index values. Thirdly, a multi-level evaluation method based on fuzzy theory is put forward. Lastly, an example is conducted based on the statistical data of some cites’ distribution network and the evaluation method is proved effective and rational.

Functional connectivity analysis of the neural bases of emotion regulation: A comparison of independent component method with density-based k-means clustering method.

PubMed

Zou, Ling; Guo, Qian; Xu, Yi; Yang, Biao; Jiao, Zhuqing; Xiang, Jianbo

2016-04-29

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an important tool in neuroscience for assessing connectivity and interactions between distant areas of the brain. To find and characterize the coherent patterns of brain activity as a means of identifying brain systems for the cognitive reappraisal of the emotion task, both density-based k-means clustering and independent component analysis (ICA) methods can be applied to characterize the interactions between brain regions involved in cognitive reappraisal of emotion. Our results reveal that compared with the ICA method, the density-based k-means clustering method provides a higher sensitivity of polymerization. In addition, it is more sensitive to those relatively weak functional connection regions. Thus, the study concludes that in the process of receiving emotional stimuli, the relatively obvious activation areas are mainly distributed in the frontal lobe, cingulum and near the hypothalamus. Furthermore, density-based k-means clustering method creates a more reliable method for follow-up studies of brain functional connectivity.

Robust signal recovery using the prolate spherical wave functions and maximum correntropy criterion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Cuiming; Kou, Kit Ian

2018-05-01

Signal recovery is one of the most important problem in signal processing. This paper proposes a novel signal recovery method based on prolate spherical wave functions (PSWFs). PSWFs are a kind of special functions, which have been proved having good performance in signal recovery. However, the existing PSWFs based recovery methods used the mean square error (MSE) criterion, which depends on the Gaussianity assumption of the noise distributions. For the non-Gaussian noises, such as impulsive noise or outliers, the MSE criterion is sensitive, which may lead to large reconstruction error. Unlike the existing PSWFs based recovery methods, our proposed PSWFs based recovery method employs the maximum correntropy criterion (MCC), which is independent of the noise distribution. The proposed method can reduce the impact of the large and non-Gaussian noises. The experimental results on synthetic signals with various types of noises show that the proposed MCC based signal recovery method has better robust property against various noises compared to other existing methods.

Fast Fourier transform-based solution of 2D and 3D magnetization problems in type-II superconductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prigozhin, Leonid; Sokolovsky, Vladimir

2018-05-01

We consider the fast Fourier transform (FFT) based numerical method for thin film magnetization problems (Vestgården and Johansen 2012 Supercond. Sci. Technol. 25 104001), compare it with the finite element methods, and evaluate its accuracy. Proposed modifications of this method implementation ensure stable convergence of iterations and enhance its efficiency. A new method, also based on the FFT, is developed for 3D bulk magnetization problems. This method is based on a magnetic field formulation, different from the popular h-formulation of eddy current problems typically employed with the edge finite elements. The method is simple, easy to implement, and can be used with a general current–voltage relation; its efficiency is illustrated by numerical simulations.

Distance-based microfluidic quantitative detection methods for point-of-care testing.

PubMed

Tian, Tian; Li, Jiuxing; Song, Yanling; Zhou, Leiji; Zhu, Zhi; Yang, Chaoyong James

2016-04-07

Equipment-free devices with quantitative readout are of great significance to point-of-care testing (POCT), which provides real-time readout to users and is especially important in low-resource settings. Among various equipment-free approaches, distance-based visual quantitative detection methods rely on reading the visual signal length for corresponding target concentrations, thus eliminating the need for sophisticated instruments. The distance-based methods are low-cost, user-friendly and can be integrated into portable analytical devices. Moreover, such methods enable quantitative detection of various targets by the naked eye. In this review, we first introduce the concept and history of distance-based visual quantitative detection methods. Then, we summarize the main methods for translation of molecular signals to distance-based readout and discuss different microfluidic platforms (glass, PDMS, paper and thread) in terms of applications in biomedical diagnostics, food safety monitoring, and environmental analysis. Finally, the potential and future perspectives are discussed.

An Evaluation of Web- and Print-Based Methods to Attract People to a Physical Activity Intervention

PubMed Central

Jennings, Cally; Plotnikoff, Ronald C; Vandelanotte, Corneel

2016-01-01

Background Cost-effective and efficient methods to attract people to Web-based health behavior interventions need to be identified. Traditional print methods including leaflets, posters, and newspaper advertisements remain popular despite the expanding range of Web-based advertising options that have the potential to reach larger numbers at lower cost. Objective This study evaluated the effectiveness of multiple Web-based and print-based methods to attract people to a Web-based physical activity intervention. Methods A range of print-based (newspaper advertisements, newspaper articles, letterboxing, leaflets, and posters) and Web-based (Facebook advertisements, Google AdWords, and community calendars) methods were applied to attract participants to a Web-based physical activity intervention in Australia. The time investment, cost, number of first time website visits, the number of completed sign-up questionnaires, and the demographics of participants were recorded for each advertising method. Results A total of 278 people signed up to participate in the physical activity program. Of the print-based methods, newspaper advertisements totaled AUD $145, letterboxing AUD $135, leaflets AUD $66, posters AUD $52, and newspaper article AUD $3 per sign-up. Of the Web-based methods, Google AdWords totaled AUD $495, non-targeted Facebook advertisements AUD $68, targeted Facebook advertisements AUD $42, and community calendars AUD $12 per sign-up. Although the newspaper article and community calendars cost the least per sign-up, they resulted in only 17 and 6 sign-ups respectively. The targeted Facebook advertisements were the next most cost-effective method and reached a large number of sign-ups (n=184). The newspaper article and the targeted Facebook advertisements required the lowest time investment per sign-up (5 and 7 minutes respectively). People reached through the targeted Facebook advertisements were on average older (60 years vs 50 years, P<.001) and had a higher body mass index (32 vs 30, P<.05) than people reached through the other methods. Conclusions Overall, our results demonstrate that targeted Facebook advertising is the most cost-effective and efficient method at attracting moderate numbers to physical activity interventions in comparison to the other methods tested. Newspaper advertisements, letterboxing, and Google AdWords were not effective. The community calendars and newspaper articles may be effective for small community interventions. ClinicalTrial Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12614000339651; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=363570&isReview=true (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6hMnFTvBt) PMID:27235075

Molecular cancer classification using a meta-sample-based regularized robust coding method.

PubMed

Wang, Shu-Lin; Sun, Liuchao; Fang, Jianwen

2014-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated that machine learning based molecular cancer classification using gene expression profiling (GEP) data is promising for the clinic diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Novel classification methods with high efficiency and prediction accuracy are still needed to deal with high dimensionality and small sample size of typical GEP data. Recently the sparse representation (SR) method has been successfully applied to the cancer classification. Nevertheless, its efficiency needs to be improved when analyzing large-scale GEP data. In this paper we present the meta-sample-based regularized robust coding classification (MRRCC), a novel effective cancer classification technique that combines the idea of meta-sample-based cluster method with regularized robust coding (RRC) method. It assumes that the coding residual and the coding coefficient are respectively independent and identically distributed. Similar to meta-sample-based SR classification (MSRC), MRRCC extracts a set of meta-samples from the training samples, and then encodes a testing sample as the sparse linear combination of these meta-samples. The representation fidelity is measured by the l2-norm or l1-norm of the coding residual. Extensive experiments on publicly available GEP datasets demonstrate that the proposed method is more efficient while its prediction accuracy is equivalent to existing MSRC-based methods and better than other state-of-the-art dimension reduction based methods.

Improved patient size estimates for accurate dose calculations in abdomen computed tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Chang-Lae

2017-07-01

The radiation dose of CT (computed tomography) is generally represented by the CTDI (CT dose index). CTDI, however, does not accurately predict the actual patient doses for different human body sizes because it relies on a cylinder-shaped head (diameter : 16 cm) and body (diameter : 32 cm) phantom. The purpose of this study was to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional CTDI and to provide more accurate radiation dose information. Projection radiographs were obtained from water cylinder phantoms of various sizes, and the sizes of the water cylinder phantoms were calculated and verified using attenuation profiles. The effective diameter was also calculated using the attenuation of the abdominal projection radiographs of 10 patients. When the results of the attenuation-based method and the geometry-based method shown were compared with the results of the reconstructed-axial-CT-image-based method, the effective diameter of the attenuation-based method was found to be similar to the effective diameter of the reconstructed-axial-CT-image-based method, with a difference of less than 3.8%, but the geometry-based method showed a difference of less than 11.4%. This paper proposes a new method of accurately computing the radiation dose of CT based on the patient sizes. This method computes and provides the exact patient dose before the CT scan, and can therefore be effectively used for imaging and dose control.

A postprocessing method in the HMC framework for predicting gene function based on biological instrumental data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Shou; Fu, Ping; Zheng, Wenbin

2018-03-01

Predicting gene function based on biological instrumental data is a complicated and challenging hierarchical multi-label classification (HMC) problem. When using local approach methods to solve this problem, a preliminary results processing method is usually needed. This paper proposed a novel preliminary results processing method called the nodes interaction method. The nodes interaction method revises the preliminary results and guarantees that the predictions are consistent with the hierarchy constraint. This method exploits the label dependency and considers the hierarchical interaction between nodes when making decisions based on the Bayesian network in its first phase. In the second phase, this method further adjusts the results according to the hierarchy constraint. Implementing the nodes interaction method in the HMC framework also enhances the HMC performance for solving the gene function prediction problem based on the Gene Ontology (GO), the hierarchy of which is a directed acyclic graph that is more difficult to tackle. The experimental results validate the promising performance of the proposed method compared to state-of-the-art methods on eight benchmark yeast data sets annotated by the GO.

An Improved Azimuth Angle Estimation Method with a Single Acoustic Vector Sensor Based on an Active Sonar Detection System.

PubMed

Zhao, Anbang; Ma, Lin; Ma, Xuefei; Hui, Juan

2017-02-20

In this paper, an improved azimuth angle estimation method with a single acoustic vector sensor (AVS) is proposed based on matched filtering theory. The proposed method is mainly applied in an active sonar detection system. According to the conventional passive method based on complex acoustic intensity measurement, the mathematical and physical model of this proposed method is described in detail. The computer simulation and lake experiments results indicate that this method can realize the azimuth angle estimation with high precision by using only a single AVS. Compared with the conventional method, the proposed method achieves better estimation performance. Moreover, the proposed method does not require complex operations in frequencydomain and achieves computational complexity reduction.

Comparison of Different Recruitment Methods for Sexual and Reproductive Health Research: Social Media-Based Versus Conventional Methods.

PubMed

Motoki, Yoko; Miyagi, Etsuko; Taguri, Masataka; Asai-Sato, Mikiko; Enomoto, Takayuki; Wark, John Dennis; Garland, Suzanne Marie

2017-03-10

Prior research about the sexual and reproductive health of young women has relied mostly on self-reported survey studies. Thus, participant recruitment using Web-based methods can improve sexual and reproductive health research about cervical cancer prevention. In our prior study, we reported that Facebook is a promising way to reach young women for sexual and reproductive health research. However, it remains unknown whether Web-based or other conventional recruitment methods (ie, face-to-face or flyer distribution) yield comparable survey responses from similar participants. We conducted a survey to determine whether there was a difference in the sexual and reproductive health survey responses of young Japanese women based on recruitment methods: social media-based and conventional methods. From July 2012 to March 2013 (9 months), we invited women of ages 16-35 years in Kanagawa, Japan, to complete a Web-based questionnaire. They were recruited through either a social media-based (social networking site, SNS, group) or by conventional methods (conventional group). All participants enrolled were required to fill out and submit their responses through a Web-based questionnaire about their sexual and reproductive health for cervical cancer prevention. Of the 243 participants, 52.3% (127/243) were recruited by SNS, whereas 47.7% (116/243) were recruited by conventional methods. We found no differences between recruitment methods in responses to behaviors and attitudes to sexual and reproductive health survey, although more participants from the conventional group (15%, 14/95) chose not to answer the age of first intercourse compared with those from the SNS group (5.2%, 6/116; P=.03). No differences were found between recruitment methods in the responses of young Japanese women to a Web-based sexual and reproductive health survey. ©Yoko Motoki, Etsuko Miyagi, Masataka Taguri, Mikiko Asai-Sato, Takayuki Enomoto, John Dennis Wark, Suzanne Marie Garland. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 10.03.2017.

Effect of costing methods on unit cost of hospital medical services.

PubMed

Riewpaiboon, Arthorn; Malaroje, Saranya; Kongsawatt, Sukalaya

2007-04-01

To explore the variance of unit costs of hospital medical services due to different costing methods employed in the analysis. Retrospective and descriptive study at Kaengkhoi District Hospital, Saraburi Province, Thailand, in the fiscal year 2002. The process started with a calculation of unit costs of medical services as a base case. After that, the unit costs were re-calculated based on various methods. Finally, the variations of the results obtained from various methods and the base case were computed and compared. The total annualized capital cost of buildings and capital items calculated by the accounting-based approach (averaging the capital purchase prices throughout their useful life) was 13.02% lower than that calculated by the economic-based approach (combination of depreciation cost and interest on undepreciated portion over the useful life). A change of discount rate from 3% to 6% results in a 4.76% increase of the hospital's total annualized capital cost. When the useful life of durable goods was changed from 5 to 10 years, the total annualized capital cost of the hospital decreased by 17.28% from that of the base case. Regarding alternative criteria of indirect cost allocation, unit cost of medical services changed by a range of -6.99% to +4.05%. We explored the effect on unit cost of medical services in one department. Various costing methods, including departmental allocation methods, ranged between -85% and +32% against those of the base case. Based on the variation analysis, the economic-based approach was suitable for capital cost calculation. For the useful life of capital items, appropriate duration should be studied and standardized. Regarding allocation criteria, single-output criteria might be more efficient than the combined-output and complicated ones. For the departmental allocation methods, micro-costing method was the most suitable method at the time of study. These different costing methods should be standardized and developed as guidelines since they could affect implementation of the national health insurance scheme and health financing management.

Accuracy of Dual-Energy Virtual Monochromatic CT Numbers: Comparison between the Single-Source Projection-Based and Dual-Source Image-Based Methods.

PubMed

Ueguchi, Takashi; Ogihara, Ryota; Yamada, Sachiko

2018-03-21

To investigate the accuracy of dual-energy virtual monochromatic computed tomography (CT) numbers obtained by two typical hardware and software implementations: the single-source projection-based method and the dual-source image-based method. A phantom with different tissue equivalent inserts was scanned with both single-source and dual-source scanners. A fast kVp-switching feature was used on the single-source scanner, whereas a tin filter was used on the dual-source scanner. Virtual monochromatic CT images of the phantom at energy levels of 60, 100, and 140 keV were obtained by both projection-based (on the single-source scanner) and image-based (on the dual-source scanner) methods. The accuracy of virtual monochromatic CT numbers for all inserts was assessed by comparing measured values to their corresponding true values. Linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the dependency of measured CT numbers on tissue attenuation, method, and their interaction. Root mean square values of systematic error over all inserts at 60, 100, and 140 keV were approximately 53, 21, and 29 Hounsfield unit (HU) with the single-source projection-based method, and 46, 7, and 6 HU with the dual-source image-based method, respectively. Linear regression analysis revealed that the interaction between the attenuation and the method had a statistically significant effect on the measured CT numbers at 100 and 140 keV. There were attenuation-, method-, and energy level-dependent systematic errors in the measured virtual monochromatic CT numbers. CT number reproducibility was comparable between the two scanners, and CT numbers had better accuracy with the dual-source image-based method at 100 and 140 keV. Copyright © 2018 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Semantic Edge Based Disparity Estimation Using Adaptive Dynamic Programming for Binocular Sensors

PubMed Central

Zhu, Dongchen; Li, Jiamao; Wang, Xianshun; Peng, Jingquan; Shi, Wenjun; Zhang, Xiaolin

2018-01-01

Disparity calculation is crucial for binocular sensor ranging. The disparity estimation based on edges is an important branch in the research of sparse stereo matching and plays an important role in visual navigation. In this paper, we propose a robust sparse stereo matching method based on the semantic edges. Some simple matching costs are used first, and then a novel adaptive dynamic programming algorithm is proposed to obtain optimal solutions. This algorithm makes use of the disparity or semantic consistency constraint between the stereo images to adaptively search parameters, which can improve the robustness of our method. The proposed method is compared quantitatively and qualitatively with the traditional dynamic programming method, some dense stereo matching methods, and the advanced edge-based method respectively. Experiments show that our method can provide superior performance on the above comparison. PMID:29614028

Semantic Edge Based Disparity Estimation Using Adaptive Dynamic Programming for Binocular Sensors.

PubMed

Zhu, Dongchen; Li, Jiamao; Wang, Xianshun; Peng, Jingquan; Shi, Wenjun; Zhang, Xiaolin

2018-04-03

Disparity calculation is crucial for binocular sensor ranging. The disparity estimation based on edges is an important branch in the research of sparse stereo matching and plays an important role in visual navigation. In this paper, we propose a robust sparse stereo matching method based on the semantic edges. Some simple matching costs are used first, and then a novel adaptive dynamic programming algorithm is proposed to obtain optimal solutions. This algorithm makes use of the disparity or semantic consistency constraint between the stereo images to adaptively search parameters, which can improve the robustness of our method. The proposed method is compared quantitatively and qualitatively with the traditional dynamic programming method, some dense stereo matching methods, and the advanced edge-based method respectively. Experiments show that our method can provide superior performance on the above comparison.

A Kalman Filter for SINS Self-Alignment Based on Vector Observation.

PubMed

Xu, Xiang; Xu, Xiaosu; Zhang, Tao; Li, Yao; Tong, Jinwu

2017-01-29

In this paper, a self-alignment method for strapdown inertial navigation systems based on the q -method is studied. In addition, an improved method based on integrating gravitational apparent motion to form apparent velocity is designed, which can reduce the random noises of the observation vectors. For further analysis, a novel self-alignment method using a Kalman filter based on adaptive filter technology is proposed, which transforms the self-alignment procedure into an attitude estimation using the observation vectors. In the proposed method, a linear psuedo-measurement equation is adopted by employing the transfer method between the quaternion and the observation vectors. Analysis and simulation indicate that the accuracy of the self-alignment is improved. Meanwhile, to improve the convergence rate of the proposed method, a new method based on parameter recognition and a reconstruction algorithm for apparent gravitation is devised, which can reduce the influence of the random noises of the observation vectors. Simulations and turntable tests are carried out, and the results indicate that the proposed method can acquire sound alignment results with lower standard variances, and can obtain higher alignment accuracy and a faster convergence rate.

A Kalman Filter for SINS Self-Alignment Based on Vector Observation

PubMed Central

Xu, Xiang; Xu, Xiaosu; Zhang, Tao; Li, Yao; Tong, Jinwu

2017-01-01

In this paper, a self-alignment method for strapdown inertial navigation systems based on the q-method is studied. In addition, an improved method based on integrating gravitational apparent motion to form apparent velocity is designed, which can reduce the random noises of the observation vectors. For further analysis, a novel self-alignment method using a Kalman filter based on adaptive filter technology is proposed, which transforms the self-alignment procedure into an attitude estimation using the observation vectors. In the proposed method, a linear psuedo-measurement equation is adopted by employing the transfer method between the quaternion and the observation vectors. Analysis and simulation indicate that the accuracy of the self-alignment is improved. Meanwhile, to improve the convergence rate of the proposed method, a new method based on parameter recognition and a reconstruction algorithm for apparent gravitation is devised, which can reduce the influence of the random noises of the observation vectors. Simulations and turntable tests are carried out, and the results indicate that the proposed method can acquire sound alignment results with lower standard variances, and can obtain higher alignment accuracy and a faster convergence rate. PMID:28146059

Comparison of hand-craft feature based SVM and CNN based deep learning framework for automatic polyp classification.

PubMed

Younghak Shin; Balasingham, Ilangko

2017-07-01

Colonoscopy is a standard method for screening polyps by highly trained physicians. Miss-detected polyps in colonoscopy are potential risk factor for colorectal cancer. In this study, we investigate an automatic polyp classification framework. We aim to compare two different approaches named hand-craft feature method and convolutional neural network (CNN) based deep learning method. Combined shape and color features are used for hand craft feature extraction and support vector machine (SVM) method is adopted for classification. For CNN approach, three convolution and pooling based deep learning framework is used for classification purpose. The proposed framework is evaluated using three public polyp databases. From the experimental results, we have shown that the CNN based deep learning framework shows better classification performance than the hand-craft feature based methods. It achieves over 90% of classification accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and precision.

A Weighted Multipath Measurement Based on Gene Ontology for Estimating Gene Products Similarity

PubMed Central

Liu, Lizhen; Dai, Xuemin; Song, Wei; Lu, Jingli

2014-01-01

Abstract Many different methods have been proposed for calculating the semantic similarity of term pairs based on gene ontology (GO). Most existing methods are based on information content (IC), and the methods based on IC are used more commonly than those based on the structure of GO. However, most IC-based methods not only fail to handle identical annotations but also show a strong bias toward well-annotated proteins. We propose a new method called weighted multipath measurement (WMM) for estimating the semantic similarity of gene products based on the structure of the GO. We not only considered the contribution of every path between two GO terms but also took the depth of the lowest common ancestors into account. We assigned different weights for different kinds of edges in GO graph. The similarity values calculated by WMM can be reused because they are only relative to the characteristics of GO terms. Experimental results showed that the similarity values obtained by WMM have a higher accuracy. We compared the performance of WMM with that of other methods using GO data and gene annotation datasets for yeast and humans downloaded from the GO database. We found that WMM is more suited for prediction of gene function than most existing IC-based methods and that it can distinguish proteins with identical annotations (two proteins are annotated with the same terms) from each other. PMID:25229994

Hybrid statistics-simulations based method for atom-counting from ADF STEM images.

PubMed

De Wael, Annelies; De Backer, Annick; Jones, Lewys; Nellist, Peter D; Van Aert, Sandra

2017-06-01

A hybrid statistics-simulations based method for atom-counting from annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (ADF STEM) images of monotype crystalline nanostructures is presented. Different atom-counting methods already exist for model-like systems. However, the increasing relevance of radiation damage in the study of nanostructures demands a method that allows atom-counting from low dose images with a low signal-to-noise ratio. Therefore, the hybrid method directly includes prior knowledge from image simulations into the existing statistics-based method for atom-counting, and accounts in this manner for possible discrepancies between actual and simulated experimental conditions. It is shown by means of simulations and experiments that this hybrid method outperforms the statistics-based method, especially for low electron doses and small nanoparticles. The analysis of a simulated low dose image of a small nanoparticle suggests that this method allows for far more reliable quantitative analysis of beam-sensitive materials. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A comparison of analysis methods to estimate contingency strength.

PubMed

Lloyd, Blair P; Staubitz, Johanna L; Tapp, Jon T

2018-05-09

To date, several data analysis methods have been used to estimate contingency strength, yet few studies have compared these methods directly. To compare the relative precision and sensitivity of four analysis methods (i.e., exhaustive event-based, nonexhaustive event-based, concurrent interval, concurrent+lag interval), we applied all methods to a simulated data set in which several response-dependent and response-independent schedules of reinforcement were programmed. We evaluated the degree to which contingency strength estimates produced from each method (a) corresponded with expected values for response-dependent schedules and (b) showed sensitivity to parametric manipulations of response-independent reinforcement. Results indicated both event-based methods produced contingency strength estimates that aligned with expected values for response-dependent schedules, but differed in sensitivity to response-independent reinforcement. The precision of interval-based methods varied by analysis method (concurrent vs. concurrent+lag) and schedule type (continuous vs. partial), and showed similar sensitivities to response-independent reinforcement. Recommendations and considerations for measuring contingencies are identified. © 2018 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Computer-Based Radiographic Quantification of Joint Space Narrowing Progression Using Sequential Hand Radiographs: Validation Study in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients from Multiple Institutions.

PubMed

Ichikawa, Shota; Kamishima, Tamotsu; Sutherland, Kenneth; Fukae, Jun; Katayama, Kou; Aoki, Yuko; Okubo, Takanobu; Okino, Taichi; Kaneda, Takahiko; Takagi, Satoshi; Tanimura, Kazuhide

2017-10-01

We have developed a refined computer-based method to detect joint space narrowing (JSN) progression with the joint space narrowing progression index (JSNPI) by superimposing sequential hand radiographs. The purpose of this study is to assess the validity of a computer-based method using images obtained from multiple institutions in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Sequential hand radiographs of 42 patients (37 females and 5 males) with RA from two institutions were analyzed by a computer-based method and visual scoring systems as a standard of reference. The JSNPI above the smallest detectable difference (SDD) defined JSN progression on the joint level. The sensitivity and specificity of the computer-based method for JSN progression was calculated using the SDD and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Out of 314 metacarpophalangeal joints, 34 joints progressed based on the SDD, while 11 joints widened. Twenty-one joints progressed in the computer-based method, 11 joints in the scoring systems, and 13 joints in both methods. Based on the SDD, we found lower sensitivity and higher specificity with 54.2 and 92.8%, respectively. At the most discriminant cutoff point according to the ROC curve, the sensitivity and specificity was 70.8 and 81.7%, respectively. The proposed computer-based method provides quantitative measurement of JSN progression using sequential hand radiographs and may be a useful tool in follow-up assessment of joint damage in RA patients.

Assessing differential expression in two-color microarrays: a resampling-based empirical Bayes approach.

PubMed

Li, Dongmei; Le Pape, Marc A; Parikh, Nisha I; Chen, Will X; Dye, Timothy D

2013-01-01

Microarrays are widely used for examining differential gene expression, identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms, and detecting methylation loci. Multiple testing methods in microarray data analysis aim at controlling both Type I and Type II error rates; however, real microarray data do not always fit their distribution assumptions. Smyth's ubiquitous parametric method, for example, inadequately accommodates violations of normality assumptions, resulting in inflated Type I error rates. The Significance Analysis of Microarrays, another widely used microarray data analysis method, is based on a permutation test and is robust to non-normally distributed data; however, the Significance Analysis of Microarrays method fold change criteria are problematic, and can critically alter the conclusion of a study, as a result of compositional changes of the control data set in the analysis. We propose a novel approach, combining resampling with empirical Bayes methods: the Resampling-based empirical Bayes Methods. This approach not only reduces false discovery rates for non-normally distributed microarray data, but it is also impervious to fold change threshold since no control data set selection is needed. Through simulation studies, sensitivities, specificities, total rejections, and false discovery rates are compared across the Smyth's parametric method, the Significance Analysis of Microarrays, and the Resampling-based empirical Bayes Methods. Differences in false discovery rates controls between each approach are illustrated through a preterm delivery methylation study. The results show that the Resampling-based empirical Bayes Methods offer significantly higher specificity and lower false discovery rates compared to Smyth's parametric method when data are not normally distributed. The Resampling-based empirical Bayes Methods also offers higher statistical power than the Significance Analysis of Microarrays method when the proportion of significantly differentially expressed genes is large for both normally and non-normally distributed data. Finally, the Resampling-based empirical Bayes Methods are generalizable to next generation sequencing RNA-seq data analysis.

Evaluation of a physically based quasi-linear and a conceptually based nonlinear Muskingum methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perumal, Muthiah; Tayfur, Gokmen; Rao, C. Madhusudana; Gurarslan, Gurhan

2017-03-01

Two variants of the Muskingum flood routing method formulated for accounting nonlinearity of the channel routing process are investigated in this study. These variant methods are: (1) The three-parameter conceptual Nonlinear Muskingum (NLM) method advocated by Gillin 1978, and (2) The Variable Parameter McCarthy-Muskingum (VPMM) method recently proposed by Perumal and Price in 2013. The VPMM method does not require rigorous calibration and validation procedures as required in the case of NLM method due to established relationships of its parameters with flow and channel characteristics based on hydrodynamic principles. The parameters of the conceptual nonlinear storage equation used in the NLM method were calibrated using the Artificial Intelligence Application (AIA) techniques, such as the Genetic Algorithm (GA), the Differential Evolution (DE), the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and the Harmony Search (HS). The calibration was carried out on a given set of hypothetical flood events obtained by routing a given inflow hydrograph in a set of 40 km length prismatic channel reaches using the Saint-Venant (SV) equations. The validation of the calibrated NLM method was investigated using a different set of hypothetical flood hydrographs obtained in the same set of channel reaches used for calibration studies. Both the sets of solutions obtained in the calibration and validation cases using the NLM method were compared with the corresponding solutions of the VPMM method based on some pertinent evaluation measures. The results of the study reveal that the physically based VPMM method is capable of accounting for nonlinear characteristics of flood wave movement better than the conceptually based NLM method which requires the use of tedious calibration and validation procedures.

Dynamic Chest Image Analysis: Evaluation of Model-Based Pulmonary Perfusion Analysis With Pyramid Images

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-10-25

Image Analysis aims to develop model-based computer analysis and visualization methods for showing focal and general abnormalities of lung ventilation and perfusion based on a sequence of digital chest fluoroscopy frames collected with the Dynamic Pulmonary Imaging technique 18,5,17,6. We have proposed and evaluated a multiresolutional method with an explicit ventilation model based on pyramid images for ventilation analysis. We have further extended the method for ventilation analysis to pulmonary perfusion. This paper focuses on the clinical evaluation of our method for

Note: Model-based identification method of a cable-driven wearable device for arm rehabilitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Xiang; Chen, Weihai; Zhang, Jianbin; Wang, Jianhua

2015-09-01

Cable-driven exoskeletons have used active cables to actuate the system and are worn on subjects to provide motion assistance. However, this kind of wearable devices usually contains uncertain kinematic parameters. In this paper, a model-based identification method has been proposed for a cable-driven arm exoskeleton to estimate its uncertainties. The identification method is based on the linearized error model derived from the kinematics of the exoskeleton. Experiment has been conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed model-based method in practical application.

Needs and Opportunities for Uncertainty-Based Multidisciplinary Design Methods for Aerospace Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zang, Thomas A.; Hemsch, Michael J.; Hilburger, Mark W.; Kenny, Sean P; Luckring, James M.; Maghami, Peiman; Padula, Sharon L.; Stroud, W. Jefferson

2002-01-01

This report consists of a survey of the state of the art in uncertainty-based design together with recommendations for a Base research activity in this area for the NASA Langley Research Center. This report identifies the needs and opportunities for computational and experimental methods that provide accurate, efficient solutions to nondeterministic multidisciplinary aerospace vehicle design problems. Barriers to the adoption of uncertainty-based design methods are identified. and the benefits of the use of such methods are explained. Particular research needs are listed.

Video Extrapolation Method Based on Time-Varying Energy Optimization and CIP.

PubMed

Sakaino, Hidetomo

2016-09-01

Video extrapolation/prediction methods are often used to synthesize new videos from images. For fluid-like images and dynamic textures as well as moving rigid objects, most state-of-the-art video extrapolation methods use non-physics-based models that learn orthogonal bases from a number of images but at high computation cost. Unfortunately, data truncation can cause image degradation, i.e., blur, artifact, and insufficient motion changes. To extrapolate videos that more strictly follow physical rules, this paper proposes a physics-based method that needs only a few images and is truncation-free. We utilize physics-based equations with image intensity and velocity: optical flow, Navier-Stokes, continuity, and advection equations. These allow us to use partial difference equations to deal with the local image feature changes. Image degradation during extrapolation is minimized by updating model parameters, where a novel time-varying energy balancer model that uses energy based image features, i.e., texture, velocity, and edge. Moreover, the advection equation is discretized by high-order constrained interpolation profile for lower quantization error than can be achieved by the previous finite difference method in long-term videos. Experiments show that the proposed energy based video extrapolation method outperforms the state-of-the-art video extrapolation methods in terms of image quality and computation cost.

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma: is MRI surveillance improved by region of interest volumetry?

PubMed

Riley, Garan T; Armitage, Paul A; Batty, Ruth; Griffiths, Paul D; Lee, Vicki; McMullan, John; Connolly, Daniel J A

2015-02-01

Paediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is noteworthy for its fibrillary infiltration through neuroparenchyma and its resultant irregular shape. Conventional volumetry methods aim to approximate such irregular tumours to a regular ellipse, which could be less accurate when assessing treatment response on surveillance MRI. Region-of-interest (ROI) volumetry methods, using manually traced tumour profiles on contiguous imaging slices and subsequent computer-aided calculations, may prove more reliable. To evaluate whether the reliability of MRI surveillance of DIPGs can be improved by the use of ROI-based volumetry. We investigated the use of ROI- and ellipsoid-based methods of volumetry for paediatric DIPGs in a retrospective review of 22 MRI examinations. We assessed the inter- and intraobserver variability of the two methods when performed by four observers. ROI- and ellipsoid-based methods strongly correlated for all four observers. The ROI-based volumes showed slightly better agreement both between and within observers than the ellipsoid-based volumes (inter-[intra-]observer agreement 89.8% [92.3%] and 83.1% [88.2%], respectively). Bland-Altman plots show tighter limits of agreement for the ROI-based method. Both methods are reproducible and transferrable among observers. ROI-based volumetry appears to perform better with greater intra- and interobserver agreement for complex-shaped DIPG.

Evaluating the predictive performance of empirical estimators of natural mortality rate using information on over 200 fish species

USGS Publications Warehouse

Then, Amy Y.; Hoenig, John M; Hall, Norman G.; Hewitt, David A.

2015-01-01

Many methods have been developed in the last 70 years to predict the natural mortality rate, M, of a stock based on empirical evidence from comparative life history studies. These indirect or empirical methods are used in most stock assessments to (i) obtain estimates of M in the absence of direct information, (ii) check on the reasonableness of a direct estimate of M, (iii) examine the range of plausible M estimates for the stock under consideration, and (iv) define prior distributions for Bayesian analyses. The two most cited empirical methods have appeared in the literature over 2500 times to date. Despite the importance of these methods, there is no consensus in the literature on how well these methods work in terms of prediction error or how their performance may be ranked. We evaluate estimators based on various combinations of maximum age (tmax), growth parameters, and water temperature by seeing how well they reproduce >200 independent, direct estimates of M. We use tenfold cross-validation to estimate the prediction error of the estimators and to rank their performance. With updated and carefully reviewed data, we conclude that a tmax-based estimator performs the best among all estimators evaluated. The tmax-based estimators in turn perform better than the Alverson–Carney method based on tmax and the von Bertalanffy K coefficient, Pauly’s method based on growth parameters and water temperature and methods based just on K. It is possible to combine two independent methods by computing a weighted mean but the improvement over the tmax-based methods is slight. Based on cross-validation prediction error, model residual patterns, model parsimony, and biological considerations, we recommend the use of a tmax-based estimator (M=4.899tmax−0.916">M=4.899t−0.916maxM=4.899tmax−0.916, prediction error = 0.32) when possible and a growth-based method (M=4.118K0.73L∞−0.33">M=4.118K0.73L−0.33∞M=4.118K0.73L∞−0.33 , prediction error = 0.6, length in cm) otherwise.

A study of active learning methods for named entity recognition in clinical text.

PubMed

Chen, Yukun; Lasko, Thomas A; Mei, Qiaozhu; Denny, Joshua C; Xu, Hua

2015-12-01

Named entity recognition (NER), a sequential labeling task, is one of the fundamental tasks for building clinical natural language processing (NLP) systems. Machine learning (ML) based approaches can achieve good performance, but they often require large amounts of annotated samples, which are expensive to build due to the requirement of domain experts in annotation. Active learning (AL), a sample selection approach integrated with supervised ML, aims to minimize the annotation cost while maximizing the performance of ML-based models. In this study, our goal was to develop and evaluate both existing and new AL methods for a clinical NER task to identify concepts of medical problems, treatments, and lab tests from the clinical notes. Using the annotated NER corpus from the 2010 i2b2/VA NLP challenge that contained 349 clinical documents with 20,423 unique sentences, we simulated AL experiments using a number of existing and novel algorithms in three different categories including uncertainty-based, diversity-based, and baseline sampling strategies. They were compared with the passive learning that uses random sampling. Learning curves that plot performance of the NER model against the estimated annotation cost (based on number of sentences or words in the training set) were generated to evaluate different active learning and the passive learning methods and the area under the learning curve (ALC) score was computed. Based on the learning curves of F-measure vs. number of sentences, uncertainty sampling algorithms outperformed all other methods in ALC. Most diversity-based methods also performed better than random sampling in ALC. To achieve an F-measure of 0.80, the best method based on uncertainty sampling could save 66% annotations in sentences, as compared to random sampling. For the learning curves of F-measure vs. number of words, uncertainty sampling methods again outperformed all other methods in ALC. To achieve 0.80 in F-measure, in comparison to random sampling, the best uncertainty based method saved 42% annotations in words. But the best diversity based method reduced only 7% annotation effort. In the simulated setting, AL methods, particularly uncertainty-sampling based approaches, seemed to significantly save annotation cost for the clinical NER task. The actual benefit of active learning in clinical NER should be further evaluated in a real-time setting. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A flower image retrieval method based on ROI feature.

PubMed

Hong, An-Xiang; Chen, Gang; Li, Jun-Li; Chi, Zhe-Ru; Zhang, Dan

2004-07-01

Flower image retrieval is a very important step for computer-aided plant species recognition. In this paper, we propose an efficient segmentation method based on color clustering and domain knowledge to extract flower regions from flower images. For flower retrieval, we use the color histogram of a flower region to characterize the color features of flower and two shape-based features sets, Centroid-Contour Distance (CCD) and Angle Code Histogram (ACH), to characterize the shape features of a flower contour. Experimental results showed that our flower region extraction method based on color clustering and domain knowledge can produce accurate flower regions. Flower retrieval results on a database of 885 flower images collected from 14 plant species showed that our Region-of-Interest (ROI) based retrieval approach using both color and shape features can perform better than a method based on the global color histogram proposed by Swain and Ballard (1991) and a method based on domain knowledge-driven segmentation and color names proposed by Das et al.(1999).

Raft cultivation area extraction from high resolution remote sensing imagery by fusing multi-scale region-line primitive association features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Min; Cui, Qi; Wang, Jie; Ming, Dongping; Lv, Guonian

2017-01-01

In this paper, we first propose several novel concepts for object-based image analysis, which include line-based shape regularity, line density, and scale-based best feature value (SBV), based on the region-line primitive association framework (RLPAF). We then propose a raft cultivation area (RCA) extraction method for high spatial resolution (HSR) remote sensing imagery based on multi-scale feature fusion and spatial rule induction. The proposed method includes the following steps: (1) Multi-scale region primitives (segments) are obtained by image segmentation method HBC-SEG, and line primitives (straight lines) are obtained by phase-based line detection method. (2) Association relationships between regions and lines are built based on RLPAF, and then multi-scale RLPAF features are extracted and SBVs are selected. (3) Several spatial rules are designed to extract RCAs within sea waters after land and water separation. Experiments show that the proposed method can successfully extract different-shaped RCAs from HR images with good performance.

Evaluation of Deep Learning Based Stereo Matching Methods: from Ground to Aerial Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, J.; Ji, S.; Zhang, C.; Qin, Z.

2018-05-01

Dense stereo matching has been extensively studied in photogrammetry and computer vision. In this paper we evaluate the application of deep learning based stereo methods, which were raised from 2016 and rapidly spread, on aerial stereos other than ground images that are commonly used in computer vision community. Two popular methods are evaluated. One learns matching cost with a convolutional neural network (known as MC-CNN); the other produces a disparity map in an end-to-end manner by utilizing both geometry and context (known as GC-net). First, we evaluate the performance of the deep learning based methods for aerial stereo images by a direct model reuse. The models pre-trained on KITTI 2012, KITTI 2015 and Driving datasets separately, are directly applied to three aerial datasets. We also give the results of direct training on target aerial datasets. Second, the deep learning based methods are compared to the classic stereo matching method, Semi-Global Matching(SGM), and a photogrammetric software, SURE, on the same aerial datasets. Third, transfer learning strategy is introduced to aerial image matching based on the assumption of a few target samples available for model fine tuning. It experimentally proved that the conventional methods and the deep learning based methods performed similarly, and the latter had greater potential to be explored.

Continental-scale Validation of MODIS-based and LEDAPS Landsat ETM+ Atmospheric Correction Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ju, Junchang; Roy, David P.; Vermote, Eric; Masek, Jeffrey; Kovalskyy, Valeriy

2012-01-01

The potential of Landsat data processing to provide systematic continental scale products has been demonstrated by several projects including the NASA Web-enabled Landsat Data (WELD) project. The recent free availability of Landsat data increases the need for robust and efficient atmospheric correction algorithms applicable to large volume Landsat data sets. This paper compares the accuracy of two Landsat atmospheric correction methods: a MODIS-based method and the Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive Processing System (LEDAPS) method. Both methods are based on the 6SV radiative transfer code but have different atmospheric characterization approaches. The MODIS-based method uses the MODIS Terra derived dynamic aerosol type, aerosol optical thickness, and water vapor to atmospherically correct ETM+ acquisitions in each coincident orbit. The LEDAPS method uses aerosol characterizations derived independently from each Landsat acquisition and assumes a fixed continental aerosol type and uses ancillary water vapor. Validation results are presented comparing ETM+ atmospherically corrected data generated using these two methods with AERONET corrected ETM+ data for 95 10 km×10 km 30 m subsets, a total of nearly 8 million 30 m pixels, located across the conterminous United States. The results indicate that the MODIS-based method has better accuracy than the LEDAPS method for the ETM+ red and longer wavelength bands.

Comparing K-mer based methods for improved classification of 16S sequences.

PubMed

Vinje, Hilde; Liland, Kristian Hovde; Almøy, Trygve; Snipen, Lars

2015-07-01

The need for precise and stable taxonomic classification is highly relevant in modern microbiology. Parallel to the explosion in the amount of sequence data accessible, there has also been a shift in focus for classification methods. Previously, alignment-based methods were the most applicable tools. Now, methods based on counting K-mers by sliding windows are the most interesting classification approach with respect to both speed and accuracy. Here, we present a systematic comparison on five different K-mer based classification methods for the 16S rRNA gene. The methods differ from each other both in data usage and modelling strategies. We have based our study on the commonly known and well-used naïve Bayes classifier from the RDP project, and four other methods were implemented and tested on two different data sets, on full-length sequences as well as fragments of typical read-length. The difference in classification error obtained by the methods seemed to be small, but they were stable and for both data sets tested. The Preprocessed nearest-neighbour (PLSNN) method performed best for full-length 16S rRNA sequences, significantly better than the naïve Bayes RDP method. On fragmented sequences the naïve Bayes Multinomial method performed best, significantly better than all other methods. For both data sets explored, and on both full-length and fragmented sequences, all the five methods reached an error-plateau. We conclude that no K-mer based method is universally best for classifying both full-length sequences and fragments (reads). All methods approach an error plateau indicating improved training data is needed to improve classification from here. Classification errors occur most frequent for genera with few sequences present. For improving the taxonomy and testing new classification methods, the need for a better and more universal and robust training data set is crucial.

Weight-based determination of fluid overload status and mortality in pediatric intensive care unit patients requiring continuous renal replacement therapy

PubMed Central

Selewski, David T.; Cornell, Timothy T.; Lombel, Rebecca M.; Blatt, Neal B.; Han, Yong Y.; Mottes, Theresa; Kommareddi, Mallika; Kershaw, David B.; Shanley, Thomas P.; Heung, Michael

2012-01-01

Purpose In pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients, fluid overload (FO) at initiation of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) has been reported to be an independent risk factor for mortality. Previous studies have calculated FO based on daily fluid balance during ICU admission, which is labor intensive and error prone. We hypothesized that a weight-based definition of FO at CRRT initiation would correlate with the fluid balance method and prove predictive of outcome. Methods This is a retrospective single-center review of PICU patients requiring CRRT from July 2006 through February 2010 (n = 113). We compared the degree of FO at CRRT initiation using the standard fluid balance method versus methods based on patient weight changes assessed by both univariate and multivariate analyses. Results The degree of fluid overload at CRRT initiation was significantly greater in nonsurvivors, irrespective of which method was used. The univariate odds ratio for PICU mortality per 1% increase in FO was 1.056 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.025, 1.087] by the fluid balance method, 1.044 (95% CI 1.019, 1.069) by the weight-based method using PICU admission weight, and 1.045 (95% CI 1.022, 1.07) by the weight-based method using hospital admission weight. On multivariate analyses, all three methods approached significance in predicting PICU survival. Conclusions Our findings suggest that weight-based definitions of FO are useful in defining FO at CRRT initiation and are associated with increased mortality in a broad PICU patient population. This study provides evidence for a more practical weight-based definition of FO that can be used at the bedside. PMID:21533569

Towards a formal genealogical classification of the Lezgian languages (North Caucasus): testing various phylogenetic methods on lexical data.

PubMed

Kassian, Alexei

2015-01-01

A lexicostatistical classification is proposed for 20 languages and dialects of the Lezgian group of the North Caucasian family, based on meticulously compiled 110-item wordlists, published as part of the Global Lexicostatistical Database project. The lexical data have been subsequently analyzed with the aid of the principal phylogenetic methods, both distance-based and character-based: Starling neighbor joining (StarlingNJ), Neighbor joining (NJ), Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA), Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), Unweighted maximum parsimony (UMP). Cognation indexes within the input matrix were marked by two different algorithms: traditional etymological approach and phonetic similarity, i.e., the automatic method of consonant classes (Levenshtein distances). Due to certain reasons (first of all, high lexicographic quality of the wordlists and a consensus about the Lezgian phylogeny among Caucasologists), the Lezgian database is a perfect testing area for appraisal of phylogenetic methods. For the etymology-based input matrix, all the phylogenetic methods, with the possible exception of UMP, have yielded trees that are sufficiently compatible with each other to generate a consensus phylogenetic tree of the Lezgian lects. The obtained consensus tree agrees with the traditional expert classification as well as some of the previously proposed formal classifications of this linguistic group. Contrary to theoretical expectations, the UMP method has suggested the least plausible tree of all. In the case of the phonetic similarity-based input matrix, the distance-based methods (StarlingNJ, NJ, UPGMA) have produced the trees that are rather close to the consensus etymology-based tree and the traditional expert classification, whereas the character-based methods (Bayesian MCMC, UMP) have yielded less likely topologies.

Towards a Formal Genealogical Classification of the Lezgian Languages (North Caucasus): Testing Various Phylogenetic Methods on Lexical Data

PubMed Central

Kassian, Alexei

2015-01-01

A lexicostatistical classification is proposed for 20 languages and dialects of the Lezgian group of the North Caucasian family, based on meticulously compiled 110-item wordlists, published as part of the Global Lexicostatistical Database project. The lexical data have been subsequently analyzed with the aid of the principal phylogenetic methods, both distance-based and character-based: Starling neighbor joining (StarlingNJ), Neighbor joining (NJ), Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA), Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), Unweighted maximum parsimony (UMP). Cognation indexes within the input matrix were marked by two different algorithms: traditional etymological approach and phonetic similarity, i.e., the automatic method of consonant classes (Levenshtein distances). Due to certain reasons (first of all, high lexicographic quality of the wordlists and a consensus about the Lezgian phylogeny among Caucasologists), the Lezgian database is a perfect testing area for appraisal of phylogenetic methods. For the etymology-based input matrix, all the phylogenetic methods, with the possible exception of UMP, have yielded trees that are sufficiently compatible with each other to generate a consensus phylogenetic tree of the Lezgian lects. The obtained consensus tree agrees with the traditional expert classification as well as some of the previously proposed formal classifications of this linguistic group. Contrary to theoretical expectations, the UMP method has suggested the least plausible tree of all. In the case of the phonetic similarity-based input matrix, the distance-based methods (StarlingNJ, NJ, UPGMA) have produced the trees that are rather close to the consensus etymology-based tree and the traditional expert classification, whereas the character-based methods (Bayesian MCMC, UMP) have yielded less likely topologies. PMID:25719456

Effectiveness of pharmacovigilance training of general practitioners: a retrospective cohort study in the Netherlands comparing two methods.

PubMed

Gerritsen, Roald; Faddegon, Hans; Dijkers, Fred; van Grootheest, Kees; van Puijenbroek, Eugène

2011-09-01

Spontaneous reporting is a cornerstone of pharmacovigilance. Unfamiliarity with the reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is a major factor leading to not reporting these events. Medical education may promote more effective reporting. Numerous changes have been implemented in medical education over the last decade, with a shift in training methods from those aimed predominantly at the transfer of knowledge towards those that are more practice based and skill oriented. It is conceivable that these changes have an impact on pharmacovigilance training in vocational training programmes. Therefore, this study compares the effectiveness of a skill-oriented, practice-based pharmacovigilance training method, with a traditional, lecture-based pharmacovigilance training method in the vocational training of general practitioners (GPs). The traditional, lecture-based method is common practice in the Netherlands. The purpose of this study was to establish whether the use of a practice-based, skill-oriented method in pharmacovigilance training during GP traineeship leads to an increase of reported ADRs after completion of this traineeship, compared with a lecture-based method. We also investigated whether the applied training method has an impact on the documentation level of the reports and on the number of unlabelled events reported. A retrospective cohort study. The number of ADR reports submitted to the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb (between January 2006 and October 2010) after completion of GP vocational training was compared between the two groups. Documentation level of the reports and the number of labelled/unlabelled events reported were also compared. The practice-based cohort reported 32 times after completion of training (124 subjects, 6.8 reports per 1000 months of follow-up; total follow-up of 4704 months). The lecture-based cohort reported 12 times after training (135 subjects, 2.1 reports per 1000 months of follow-up; total follow-up of 5824 months) [odds ratio 2.9; 95% CI 1.4, 6.1]. Reports from GPs with practice-based training had a better documentation grade than those from GPs with lecture-based training, and more often concerned unlabelled events. The practice-based method resulted in significantly more and better-documented reports and more often concerned unlabelled events than the lecture-based method. This effect persisted and did not appear to diminish over time.

Highly Effective DNA Extraction Method for Nuclear Short Tandem Repeat Testing of Skeletal Remains from Mass Graves

PubMed Central

Davoren, Jon; Vanek, Daniel; Konjhodzić, Rijad; Crews, John; Huffine, Edwin; Parsons, Thomas J.

2007-01-01

Aim To quantitatively compare a silica extraction method with a commonly used phenol/chloroform extraction method for DNA analysis of specimens exhumed from mass graves. Methods DNA was extracted from twenty randomly chosen femur samples, using the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) silica method, based on Qiagen Blood Maxi Kit, and compared with the DNA extracted by the standard phenol/chloroform-based method. The efficacy of extraction methods was compared by real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to measure DNA quantity and the presence of inhibitors and by amplification with the PowerPlex 16 (PP16) multiplex nuclear short tandem repeat (STR) kit. Results DNA quantification results showed that the silica-based method extracted on average 1.94 ng of DNA per gram of bone (range 0.25-9.58 ng/g), compared with only 0.68 ng/g by the organic method extracted (range 0.0016-4.4880 ng/g). Inhibition tests showed that there were on average significantly lower levels of PCR inhibitors in DNA isolated by the organic method. When amplified with PP16, all samples extracted by silica-based method produced 16 full loci profiles, while only 75% of the DNA extracts obtained by organic technique amplified 16 loci profiles. Conclusions The silica-based extraction method showed better results in nuclear STR typing from degraded bone samples than a commonly used phenol/chloroform method. PMID:17696302

A shape-based inter-layer contours correspondence method for ICT-based reverse engineering

PubMed Central

Duan, Liming; Yang, Shangpeng; Zhang, Gui; Feng, Fei; Gu, Minghui

2017-01-01

The correspondence of a stack of planar contours in ICT (industrial computed tomography)-based reverse engineering, a key step in surface reconstruction, is difficult when the contours or topology of the object are complex. Given the regularity of industrial parts and similarity of the inter-layer contours, a specialized shape-based inter-layer contours correspondence method for ICT-based reverse engineering was presented to solve the above problem based on the vectorized contours. In this paper, the vectorized contours extracted from the slices consist of three graphical primitives: circles, arcs and segments. First, the correspondence of the inter-layer primitives is conducted based on the characteristics of the primitives. Second, based on the corresponded primitives, the inter-layer contours correspond with each other using the proximity rules and exhaustive search. The proposed method can make full use of the shape information to handle industrial parts with complex structures. The feasibility and superiority of this method have been demonstrated via the related experiments. This method can play an instructive role in practice and provide a reference for the related research. PMID:28489867

A shape-based inter-layer contours correspondence method for ICT-based reverse engineering.

PubMed

Duan, Liming; Yang, Shangpeng; Zhang, Gui; Feng, Fei; Gu, Minghui

2017-01-01

The correspondence of a stack of planar contours in ICT (industrial computed tomography)-based reverse engineering, a key step in surface reconstruction, is difficult when the contours or topology of the object are complex. Given the regularity of industrial parts and similarity of the inter-layer contours, a specialized shape-based inter-layer contours correspondence method for ICT-based reverse engineering was presented to solve the above problem based on the vectorized contours. In this paper, the vectorized contours extracted from the slices consist of three graphical primitives: circles, arcs and segments. First, the correspondence of the inter-layer primitives is conducted based on the characteristics of the primitives. Second, based on the corresponded primitives, the inter-layer contours correspond with each other using the proximity rules and exhaustive search. The proposed method can make full use of the shape information to handle industrial parts with complex structures. The feasibility and superiority of this method have been demonstrated via the related experiments. This method can play an instructive role in practice and provide a reference for the related research.

Evaluating user reputation in online rating systems via an iterative group-based ranking method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Jian; Zhou, Tao

2017-05-01

Reputation is a valuable asset in online social lives and it has drawn increased attention. Due to the existence of noisy ratings and spamming attacks, how to evaluate user reputation in online rating systems is especially significant. However, most of the previous ranking-based methods either follow a debatable assumption or have unsatisfied robustness. In this paper, we propose an iterative group-based ranking method by introducing an iterative reputation-allocation process into the original group-based ranking method. More specifically, the reputation of users is calculated based on the weighted sizes of the user rating groups after grouping all users by their rating similarities, and the high reputation users' ratings have larger weights in dominating the corresponding user rating groups. The reputation of users and the user rating group sizes are iteratively updated until they become stable. Results on two real data sets with artificial spammers suggest that the proposed method has better performance than the state-of-the-art methods and its robustness is considerably improved comparing with the original group-based ranking method. Our work highlights the positive role of considering users' grouping behaviors towards a better online user reputation evaluation.

Prediction of hot regions in protein-protein interaction by combining density-based incremental clustering with feature-based classification.

PubMed

Hu, Jing; Zhang, Xiaolong; Liu, Xiaoming; Tang, Jinshan

2015-06-01

Discovering hot regions in protein-protein interaction is important for drug and protein design, while experimental identification of hot regions is a time-consuming and labor-intensive effort; thus, the development of predictive models can be very helpful. In hot region prediction research, some models are based on structure information, and others are based on a protein interaction network. However, the prediction accuracy of these methods can still be improved. In this paper, a new method is proposed for hot region prediction, which combines density-based incremental clustering with feature-based classification. The method uses density-based incremental clustering to obtain rough hot regions, and uses feature-based classification to remove the non-hot spot residues from the rough hot regions. Experimental results show that the proposed method significantly improves the prediction performance of hot regions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combined Feature Based and Shape Based Visual Tracker for Robot Navigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deans, J.; Kunz, C.; Sargent, R.; Park, E.; Pedersen, L.

2005-01-01

We have developed a combined feature based and shape based visual tracking system designed to enable a planetary rover to visually track and servo to specific points chosen by a user with centimeter precision. The feature based tracker uses invariant feature detection and matching across a stereo pair, as well as matching pairs before and after robot movement in order to compute an incremental 6-DOF motion at each tracker update. This tracking method is subject to drift over time, which can be compensated by the shape based method. The shape based tracking method consists of 3D model registration, which recovers 6-DOF motion given sufficient shape and proper initialization. By integrating complementary algorithms, the combined tracker leverages the efficiency and robustness of feature based methods with the precision and accuracy of model registration. In this paper, we present the algorithms and their integration into a combined visual tracking system.

Index cost estimate based BIM method - Computational example for sports fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zima, Krzysztof

2017-07-01

The paper presents an example ofcost estimation in the early phase of the project. The fragment of relative database containing solution, descriptions, geometry of construction object and unit cost of sports facilities was shown. The Index Cost Estimate Based BIM method calculationswith use of Case Based Reasoning were presented, too. The article presentslocal and global similarity measurement and example of BIM based quantity takeoff process. The outcome of cost calculations based on CBR method was presented as a final result of calculations.

Lessons learned in induced fit docking and metadynamics in the Drug Design Data Resource Grand Challenge 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumgartner, Matthew P.; Evans, David A.

2018-01-01

Two of the major ongoing challenges in computational drug discovery are predicting the binding pose and affinity of a compound to a protein. The Drug Design Data Resource Grand Challenge 2 was developed to address these problems and to drive development of new methods. The challenge provided the 2D structures of compounds for which the organizers help blinded data in the form of 35 X-ray crystal structures and 102 binding affinity measurements and challenged participants to predict the binding pose and affinity of the compounds. We tested a number of pose prediction methods as part of the challenge; we found that docking methods that incorporate protein flexibility (Induced Fit Docking) outperformed methods that treated the protein as rigid. We also found that using binding pose metadynamics, a molecular dynamics based method, to score docked poses provided the best predictions of our methods with an average RMSD of 2.01 Å. We tested both structure-based (e.g. docking) and ligand-based methods (e.g. QSAR) in the affinity prediction portion of the competition. We found that our structure-based methods based on docking with Smina (Spearman ρ = 0.614), performed slightly better than our ligand-based methods (ρ = 0.543), and had equivalent performance with the other top methods in the competition. Despite the overall good performance of our methods in comparison to other participants in the challenge, there exists significant room for improvement especially in cases such as these where protein flexibility plays such a large role.

On Inertial Body Tracking in the Presence of Model Calibration Errors

PubMed Central

Miezal, Markus; Taetz, Bertram; Bleser, Gabriele

2016-01-01

In inertial body tracking, the human body is commonly represented as a biomechanical model consisting of rigid segments with known lengths and connecting joints. The model state is then estimated via sensor fusion methods based on data from attached inertial measurement units (IMUs). This requires the relative poses of the IMUs w.r.t. the segments—the IMU-to-segment calibrations, subsequently called I2S calibrations—to be known. Since calibration methods based on static poses, movements and manual measurements are still the most widely used, potentially large human-induced calibration errors have to be expected. This work compares three newly developed/adapted extended Kalman filter (EKF) and optimization-based sensor fusion methods with an existing EKF-based method w.r.t. their segment orientation estimation accuracy in the presence of model calibration errors with and without using magnetometer information. While the existing EKF-based method uses a segment-centered kinematic chain biomechanical model and a constant angular acceleration motion model, the newly developed/adapted methods are all based on a free segments model, where each segment is represented with six degrees of freedom in the global frame. Moreover, these methods differ in the assumed motion model (constant angular acceleration, constant angular velocity, inertial data as control input), the state representation (segment-centered, IMU-centered) and the estimation method (EKF, sliding window optimization). In addition to the free segments representation, the optimization-based method also represents each IMU with six degrees of freedom in the global frame. In the evaluation on simulated and real data from a three segment model (an arm), the optimization-based method showed the smallest mean errors, standard deviations and maximum errors throughout all tests. It also showed the lowest dependency on magnetometer information and motion agility. Moreover, it was insensitive w.r.t. I2S position and segment length errors in the tested ranges. Errors in the I2S orientations were, however, linearly propagated into the estimated segment orientations. In the absence of magnetic disturbances, severe model calibration errors and fast motion changes, the newly developed IMU centered EKF-based method yielded comparable results with lower computational complexity. PMID:27455266

Advanced Cardiac Life Support Training by Problem-Based Method: Effect on the Trainee's Skills, Knowledge and Evaluation of Trainers.

PubMed

Hosseini, Seyed Kianoosh; Ghalamkari, Marziyeh; Yousefshahi, Fardin; Mireskandari, Seyed Mohammad; Rezaei Hamami, Mohsen

2013-10-28

Cardiopulmonary-cerebral resuscitation (CPCR) training is essential for all hospital workers, especially junior residents who might become the manager of the resuscitation team. In our center, the traditional CPCR knowledge training curriculum for junior residents up to 5 years ago was lecture-based and had some faults. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a problem-based method on residents' CPCR knowledge and skills as well as their evaluation of their CPCR trainers. This study, conducted at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, included 290 first-year residents in 2009-2010 - who were trained via a problem-based method (the problem-based group) - and 160 first-year residents in 2003-2004 - who were trained via a lecture-based method (the lecture-based group). Other educational techniques and facilities were similar. The participants self-evaluated their own CPCR knowledge and skills pre and post workshop and also assessed their trainers' efficacy post workshop by completing special questionnaires. The problem-based group, trained via the problem-based method, had higher self-assessment scores of CPCR knowledge and skills post workshop: the difference as regards the mean scores between the problem-based and lecture-based groups was 32.36 ± 19.23 vs. 22.33 ± 20.35 for knowledge (p value = 0.003) and 10.13 ± 7.17 vs. 8.19 ± 8.45 for skills (p value = 0.043). The residents' evaluation of their trainers was similar between the two study groups (p value = 0.193), with the mean scores being 15.90 ± 2.59 and 15.46 ± 2.90 in the problem-based and lecture-based groups - respectively. The problem-based method increased our residents' self-evaluation score of their own CPCR knowledge and skills.

Model-based RSA of a femoral hip stem using surface and geometrical shape models.

PubMed

Kaptein, Bart L; Valstar, Edward R; Spoor, Cees W; Stoel, Berend C; Rozing, Piet M

2006-07-01

Roentgen stereophotogrammetry (RSA) is a highly accurate three-dimensional measuring technique for assessing micromotion of orthopaedic implants. A drawback is that markers have to be attached to the implant. Model-based techniques have been developed to prevent using special marked implants. We compared two model-based RSA methods with standard marker-based RSA techniques. The first model-based RSA method used surface models, and the second method used elementary geometrical shape (EGS) models. We used a commercially available stem to perform experiments with a phantom as well as reanalysis of patient RSA radiographs. The data from the phantom experiment indicated the accuracy and precision of the elementary geometrical shape model-based RSA method is equal to marker-based RSA. For model-based RSA using surface models, the accuracy is equal to the accuracy of marker-based RSA, but its precision is worse. We found no difference in accuracy and precision between the two model-based RSA techniques in clinical data. For this particular hip stem, EGS model-based RSA is a good alternative for marker-based RSA.

An Evaluation of Web- and Print-Based Methods to Attract People to a Physical Activity Intervention.

PubMed

Alley, Stephanie; Jennings, Cally; Plotnikoff, Ronald C; Vandelanotte, Corneel

2016-05-27

Cost-effective and efficient methods to attract people to Web-based health behavior interventions need to be identified. Traditional print methods including leaflets, posters, and newspaper advertisements remain popular despite the expanding range of Web-based advertising options that have the potential to reach larger numbers at lower cost. This study evaluated the effectiveness of multiple Web-based and print-based methods to attract people to a Web-based physical activity intervention. A range of print-based (newspaper advertisements, newspaper articles, letterboxing, leaflets, and posters) and Web-based (Facebook advertisements, Google AdWords, and community calendars) methods were applied to attract participants to a Web-based physical activity intervention in Australia. The time investment, cost, number of first time website visits, the number of completed sign-up questionnaires, and the demographics of participants were recorded for each advertising method. A total of 278 people signed up to participate in the physical activity program. Of the print-based methods, newspaper advertisements totaled AUD $145, letterboxing AUD $135, leaflets AUD $66, posters AUD $52, and newspaper article AUD $3 per sign-up. Of the Web-based methods, Google AdWords totaled AUD $495, non-targeted Facebook advertisements AUD $68, targeted Facebook advertisements AUD $42, and community calendars AUD $12 per sign-up. Although the newspaper article and community calendars cost the least per sign-up, they resulted in only 17 and 6 sign-ups respectively. The targeted Facebook advertisements were the next most cost-effective method and reached a large number of sign-ups (n=184). The newspaper article and the targeted Facebook advertisements required the lowest time investment per sign-up (5 and 7 minutes respectively). People reached through the targeted Facebook advertisements were on average older (60 years vs 50 years, P<.001) and had a higher body mass index (32 vs 30, P<.05) than people reached through the other methods. Overall, our results demonstrate that targeted Facebook advertising is the most cost-effective and efficient method at attracting moderate numbers to physical activity interventions in comparison to the other methods tested. Newspaper advertisements, letterboxing, and Google AdWords were not effective. The community calendars and newspaper articles may be effective for small community interventions. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12614000339651; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=363570&isReview=true (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6hMnFTvBt).

Word sense disambiguation in the clinical domain: a comparison of knowledge-rich and knowledge-poor unsupervised methods

PubMed Central

Chasin, Rachel; Rumshisky, Anna; Uzuner, Ozlem; Szolovits, Peter

2014-01-01

Objective To evaluate state-of-the-art unsupervised methods on the word sense disambiguation (WSD) task in the clinical domain. In particular, to compare graph-based approaches relying on a clinical knowledge base with bottom-up topic-modeling-based approaches. We investigate several enhancements to the topic-modeling techniques that use domain-specific knowledge sources. Materials and methods The graph-based methods use variations of PageRank and distance-based similarity metrics, operating over the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). Topic-modeling methods use unlabeled data from the Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care (MIMIC II) database to derive models for each ambiguous word. We investigate the impact of using different linguistic features for topic models, including UMLS-based and syntactic features. We use a sense-tagged clinical dataset from the Mayo Clinic for evaluation. Results The topic-modeling methods achieve 66.9% accuracy on a subset of the Mayo Clinic's data, while the graph-based methods only reach the 40–50% range, with a most-frequent-sense baseline of 56.5%. Features derived from the UMLS semantic type and concept hierarchies do not produce a gain over bag-of-words features in the topic models, but identifying phrases from UMLS and using syntax does help. Discussion Although topic models outperform graph-based methods, semantic features derived from the UMLS prove too noisy to improve performance beyond bag-of-words. Conclusions Topic modeling for WSD provides superior results in the clinical domain; however, integration of knowledge remains to be effectively exploited. PMID:24441986

Modeling and Simulation in Healthcare Future Directions

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-07-13

Collaborate Evidence Based Medicine is . . . The Scientific Method as Applied to Medicine The Evidence IS the Science In order to accept evidence ... based medicine . . . we must accept the current method in Science The Scientific Method is Dead Scientific Method . . . . . . is DEAD? Not necessarily

Morphological observation and analysis using automated image cytometry for the comparison of trypan blue and fluorescence-based viability detection method.

PubMed

Chan, Leo Li-Ying; Kuksin, Dmitry; Laverty, Daniel J; Saldi, Stephanie; Qiu, Jean

2015-05-01

The ability to accurately determine cell viability is essential to performing a well-controlled biological experiment. Typical experiments range from standard cell culturing to advanced cell-based assays that may require cell viability measurement for downstream experiments. The traditional cell viability measurement method has been the trypan blue (TB) exclusion assay. However, since the introduction of fluorescence-based dyes for cell viability measurement using flow or image-based cytometry systems, there have been numerous publications comparing the two detection methods. Although previous studies have shown discrepancies between TB exclusion and fluorescence-based viability measurements, image-based morphological analysis was not performed in order to examine the viability discrepancies. In this work, we compared TB exclusion and fluorescence-based viability detection methods using image cytometry to observe morphological changes due to the effect of TB on dead cells. Imaging results showed that as the viability of a naturally-dying Jurkat cell sample decreased below 70 %, many TB-stained cells began to exhibit non-uniform morphological characteristics. Dead cells with these characteristics may be difficult to count under light microscopy, thus generating an artificially higher viability measurement compared to fluorescence-based method. These morphological observations can potentially explain the differences in viability measurement between the two methods.

New decision criteria for selecting delta check methods based on the ratio of the delta difference to the width of the reference range can be generally applicable for each clinical chemistry test item.

PubMed

Park, Sang Hyuk; Kim, So-Young; Lee, Woochang; Chun, Sail; Min, Won-Ki

2012-09-01

Many laboratories use 4 delta check methods: delta difference, delta percent change, rate difference, and rate percent change. However, guidelines regarding decision criteria for selecting delta check methods have not yet been provided. We present new decision criteria for selecting delta check methods for each clinical chemistry test item. We collected 811,920 and 669,750 paired (present and previous) test results for 27 clinical chemistry test items from inpatients and outpatients, respectively. We devised new decision criteria for the selection of delta check methods based on the ratio of the delta difference to the width of the reference range (DD/RR). Delta check methods based on these criteria were compared with those based on the CV% of the absolute delta difference (ADD) as well as those reported in 2 previous studies. The delta check methods suggested by new decision criteria based on the DD/RR ratio corresponded well with those based on the CV% of the ADD except for only 2 items each in inpatients and outpatients. Delta check methods based on the DD/RR ratio also corresponded with those suggested in the 2 previous studies, except for 1 and 7 items in inpatients and outpatients, respectively. The DD/RR method appears to yield more feasible and intuitive selection criteria and can easily explain changes in the results by reflecting both the biological variation of the test item and the clinical characteristics of patients in each laboratory. We suggest this as a measure to determine delta check methods.

New mobile methods for dietary assessment: review of image-assisted and image-based dietary assessment methods.

PubMed

Boushey, C J; Spoden, M; Zhu, F M; Delp, E J; Kerr, D A

2017-08-01

For nutrition practitioners and researchers, assessing dietary intake of children and adults with a high level of accuracy continues to be a challenge. Developments in mobile technologies have created a role for images in the assessment of dietary intake. The objective of this review was to examine peer-reviewed published papers covering development, evaluation and/or validation of image-assisted or image-based dietary assessment methods from December 2013 to January 2016. Images taken with handheld devices or wearable cameras have been used to assist traditional dietary assessment methods for portion size estimations made by dietitians (image-assisted methods). Image-assisted approaches can supplement either dietary records or 24-h dietary recalls. In recent years, image-based approaches integrating application technology for mobile devices have been developed (image-based methods). Image-based approaches aim at capturing all eating occasions by images as the primary record of dietary intake, and therefore follow the methodology of food records. The present paper reviews several image-assisted and image-based methods, their benefits and challenges; followed by details on an image-based mobile food record. Mobile technology offers a wide range of feasible options for dietary assessment, which are easier to incorporate into daily routines. The presented studies illustrate that image-assisted methods can improve the accuracy of conventional dietary assessment methods by adding eating occasion detail via pictures captured by an individual (dynamic images). All of the studies reduced underreporting with the help of images compared with results with traditional assessment methods. Studies with larger sample sizes are needed to better delineate attributes with regards to age of user, degree of error and cost.

Fluorescence-based methods for detecting caries lesions: systematic review, meta-analysis and sources of heterogeneity.

PubMed

Gimenez, Thais; Braga, Mariana Minatel; Raggio, Daniela Procida; Deery, Chris; Ricketts, David N; Mendes, Fausto Medeiros

2013-01-01

Fluorescence-based methods have been proposed to aid caries lesion detection. Summarizing and analysing findings of studies about fluorescence-based methods could clarify their real benefits. We aimed to perform a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the accuracy of fluorescence-based methods in detecting caries lesions. Two independent reviewers searched PubMed, Embase and Scopus through June 2012 to identify papers/articles published. Other sources were checked to identify non-published literature. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA, PARTICIPANTS AND DIAGNOSTIC METHODS: The eligibility criteria were studies that: (1) have assessed the accuracy of fluorescence-based methods of detecting caries lesions on occlusal, approximal or smooth surfaces, in both primary or permanent human teeth, in the laboratory or clinical setting; (2) have used a reference standard; and (3) have reported sufficient data relating to the sample size and the accuracy of methods. A diagnostic 2×2 table was extracted from included studies to calculate the pooled sensitivity, specificity and overall accuracy parameters (Diagnostic Odds Ratio and Summary Receiver-Operating curve). The analyses were performed separately for each method and different characteristics of the studies. The quality of the studies and heterogeneity were also evaluated. Seventy five studies met the inclusion criteria from the 434 articles initially identified. The search of the grey or non-published literature did not identify any further studies. In general, the analysis demonstrated that the fluorescence-based method tend to have similar accuracy for all types of teeth, dental surfaces or settings. There was a trend of better performance of fluorescence methods in detecting more advanced caries lesions. We also observed moderate to high heterogeneity and evidenced publication bias. Fluorescence-based devices have similar overall performance; however, better accuracy in detecting more advanced caries lesions has been observed.

An Improved Azimuth Angle Estimation Method with a Single Acoustic Vector Sensor Based on an Active Sonar Detection System

PubMed Central

Zhao, Anbang; Ma, Lin; Ma, Xuefei; Hui, Juan

2017-01-01

In this paper, an improved azimuth angle estimation method with a single acoustic vector sensor (AVS) is proposed based on matched filtering theory. The proposed method is mainly applied in an active sonar detection system. According to the conventional passive method based on complex acoustic intensity measurement, the mathematical and physical model of this proposed method is described in detail. The computer simulation and lake experiments results indicate that this method can realize the azimuth angle estimation with high precision by using only a single AVS. Compared with the conventional method, the proposed method achieves better estimation performance. Moreover, the proposed method does not require complex operations in frequency-domain and achieves computational complexity reduction. PMID:28230763

Comparison of Methods for Estimating Low Flow Characteristics of Streams

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tasker, Gary D.

1987-01-01

Four methods for estimating the 7-day, 10-year and 7-day, 20-year low flows for streams are compared by the bootstrap method. The bootstrap method is a Monte Carlo technique in which random samples are drawn from an unspecified sampling distribution defined from observed data. The nonparametric nature of the bootstrap makes it suitable for comparing methods based on a flow series for which the true distribution is unknown. Results show that the two methods based on hypothetical distribution (Log-Pearson III and Weibull) had lower mean square errors than did the G. E. P. Box-D. R. Cox transformation method or the Log-W. C. Boughton method which is based on a fit of plotting positions.

Crack image segmentation based on improved DBC method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Ting; Yang, Nan; Wang, Fengping; Gao, Ting; Wang, Weixing

2017-11-01

With the development of computer vision technology, crack detection based on digital image segmentation method arouses global attentions among researchers and transportation ministries. Since the crack always exhibits the random shape and complex texture, it is still a challenge to accomplish reliable crack detection results. Therefore, a novel crack image segmentation method based on fractal DBC (differential box counting) is introduced in this paper. The proposed method can estimate every pixel fractal feature based on neighborhood information which can consider the contribution from all possible direction in the related block. The block moves just one pixel every time so that it could cover all the pixels in the crack image. Unlike the classic DBC method which only describes fractal feature for the related region, this novel method can effectively achieve crack image segmentation according to the fractal feature of every pixel. The experiment proves the proposed method can achieve satisfactory results in crack detection.

Predicting missing links via correlation between nodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Hao; Zeng, An; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

2015-10-01

As a fundamental problem in many different fields, link prediction aims to estimate the likelihood of an existing link between two nodes based on the observed information. Since this problem is related to many applications ranging from uncovering missing data to predicting the evolution of networks, link prediction has been intensively investigated recently and many methods have been proposed so far. The essential challenge of link prediction is to estimate the similarity between nodes. Most of the existing methods are based on the common neighbor index and its variants. In this paper, we propose to calculate the similarity between nodes by the Pearson correlation coefficient. This method is found to be very effective when applied to calculate similarity based on high order paths. We finally fuse the correlation-based method with the resource allocation method, and find that the combined method can substantially outperform the existing methods, especially in sparse networks.

Image segmentation-based robust feature extraction for color image watermarking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Mianjie; Deng, Zeyu; Yuan, Xiaochen

2018-04-01

This paper proposes a local digital image watermarking method based on Robust Feature Extraction. The segmentation is achieved by Simple Linear Iterative Clustering (SLIC) based on which an Image Segmentation-based Robust Feature Extraction (ISRFE) method is proposed for feature extraction. Our method can adaptively extract feature regions from the blocks segmented by SLIC. This novel method can extract the most robust feature region in every segmented image. Each feature region is decomposed into low-frequency domain and high-frequency domain by Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). Watermark images are then embedded into the coefficients in the low-frequency domain. The Distortion-Compensated Dither Modulation (DC-DM) algorithm is chosen as the quantization method for embedding. The experimental results indicate that the method has good performance under various attacks. Furthermore, the proposed method can obtain a trade-off between high robustness and good image quality.

Competitive region orientation code for palmprint verification and identification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Wenliang

2015-11-01

Orientation features of the palmprint have been widely investigated in coding-based palmprint-recognition methods. Conventional orientation-based coding methods usually used discrete filters to extract the orientation feature of palmprint. However, in real operations, the orientations of the filter usually are not consistent with the lines of the palmprint. We thus propose a competitive region orientation-based coding method. Furthermore, an effective weighted balance scheme is proposed to improve the accuracy of the extracted region orientation. Compared with conventional methods, the region orientation of the palmprint extracted using the proposed method can precisely and robustly describe the orientation feature of the palmprint. Extensive experiments on the baseline PolyU and multispectral palmprint databases are performed and the results show that the proposed method achieves a promising performance in comparison to conventional state-of-the-art orientation-based coding methods in both palmprint verification and identification.

Statistical method evaluation for differentially methylated CpGs in base resolution next-generation DNA sequencing data.

PubMed

Zhang, Yun; Baheti, Saurabh; Sun, Zhifu

2018-05-01

High-throughput bisulfite methylation sequencing such as reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS), Agilent SureSelect Human Methyl-Seq (Methyl-seq) or whole-genome bisulfite sequencing is commonly used for base resolution methylome research. These data are represented either by the ratio of methylated cytosine versus total coverage at a CpG site or numbers of methylated and unmethylated cytosines. Multiple statistical methods can be used to detect differentially methylated CpGs (DMCs) between conditions, and these methods are often the base for the next step of differentially methylated region identification. The ratio data have a flexibility of fitting to many linear models, but the raw count data take consideration of coverage information. There is an array of options in each datatype for DMC detection; however, it is not clear which is an optimal statistical method. In this study, we systematically evaluated four statistic methods on methylation ratio data and four methods on count-based data and compared their performances with regard to type I error control, sensitivity and specificity of DMC detection and computational resource demands using real RRBS data along with simulation. Our results show that the ratio-based tests are generally more conservative (less sensitive) than the count-based tests. However, some count-based methods have high false-positive rates and should be avoided. The beta-binomial model gives a good balance between sensitivity and specificity and is preferred method. Selection of methods in different settings, signal versus noise and sample size estimation are also discussed.

Hospitalization costs of severe bacterial pneumonia in children: comparative analysis considering different costing methods

PubMed Central

Nunes, Sheila Elke Araujo; Minamisava, Ruth; Vieira, Maria Aparecida da Silva; Itria, Alexander; Pessoa, Vicente Porfirio; de Andrade, Ana Lúcia Sampaio Sgambatti; Toscano, Cristiana Maria

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective To determine and compare hospitalization costs of bacterial community-acquired pneumonia cases via different costing methods under the Brazilian Public Unified Health System perspective. Methods Cost-of-illness study based on primary data collected from a sample of 59 children aged between 28 days and 35 months and hospitalized due to bacterial pneumonia. Direct medical and non-medical costs were considered and three costing methods employed: micro-costing based on medical record review, micro-costing based on therapeutic guidelines and gross-costing based on the Brazilian Public Unified Health System reimbursement rates. Costs estimates obtained via different methods were compared using the Friedman test. Results Cost estimates of inpatient cases of severe pneumonia amounted to R$ 780,70/$Int. 858.7 (medical record review), R$ 641,90/$Int. 706.90 (therapeutic guidelines) and R$ 594,80/$Int. 654.28 (Brazilian Public Unified Health System reimbursement rates). Costs estimated via micro-costing (medical record review or therapeutic guidelines) did not differ significantly (p=0.405), while estimates based on reimbursement rates were significantly lower compared to estimates based on therapeutic guidelines (p<0.001) or record review (p=0.006). Conclusion Brazilian Public Unified Health System costs estimated via different costing methods differ significantly, with gross-costing yielding lower cost estimates. Given costs estimated by different micro-costing methods are similar and costing methods based on therapeutic guidelines are easier to apply and less expensive, this method may be a valuable alternative for estimation of hospitalization costs of bacterial community-acquired pneumonia in children. PMID:28767921

On the Formulation of Weakly Singular Displacement/Traction Integral Equations; and Their Solution by the MLPG Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atluri, Satya N.; Shen, Shengping

2002-01-01

In this paper, a very simple method is used to derive the weakly singular traction boundary integral equation based on the integral relationships for displacement gradients. The concept of the MLPG method is employed to solve the integral equations, especially those arising in solid mechanics. A moving Least Squares (MLS) interpolation is selected to approximate the trial functions in this paper. Five boundary integral Solution methods are introduced: direct solution method; displacement boundary-value problem; traction boundary-value problem; mixed boundary-value problem; and boundary variational principle. Based on the local weak form of the BIE, four different nodal-based local test functions are selected, leading to four different MLPG methods for each BIE solution method. These methods combine the advantages of the MLPG method and the boundary element method.

A numerical method to solve the 1D and the 2D reaction diffusion equation based on Bessel functions and Jacobian free Newton-Krylov subspace methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parand, K.; Nikarya, M.

2017-11-01

In this paper a novel method will be introduced to solve a nonlinear partial differential equation (PDE). In the proposed method, we use the spectral collocation method based on Bessel functions of the first kind and the Jacobian free Newton-generalized minimum residual (JFNGMRes) method with adaptive preconditioner. In this work a nonlinear PDE has been converted to a nonlinear system of algebraic equations using the collocation method based on Bessel functions without any linearization, discretization or getting the help of any other methods. Finally, by using JFNGMRes, the solution of the nonlinear algebraic system is achieved. To illustrate the reliability and efficiency of the proposed method, we solve some examples of the famous Fisher equation. We compare our results with other methods.

A novel method for accurate needle-tip identification in trans-rectal ultrasound-based high-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy.

PubMed

Zheng, Dandan; Todor, Dorin A

2011-01-01

In real-time trans-rectal ultrasound (TRUS)-based high-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy, the accurate identification of needle-tip position is critical for treatment planning and delivery. Currently, needle-tip identification on ultrasound images can be subject to large uncertainty and errors because of ultrasound image quality and imaging artifacts. To address this problem, we developed a method based on physical measurements with simple and practical implementation to improve the accuracy and robustness of needle-tip identification. Our method uses measurements of the residual needle length and an off-line pre-established coordinate transformation factor, to calculate the needle-tip position on the TRUS images. The transformation factor was established through a one-time systematic set of measurements of the probe and template holder positions, applicable to all patients. To compare the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method and the conventional method (ultrasound detection), based on the gold-standard X-ray fluoroscopy, extensive measurements were conducted in water and gel phantoms. In water phantom, our method showed an average tip-detection accuracy of 0.7 mm compared with 1.6 mm of the conventional method. In gel phantom (more realistic and tissue-like), our method maintained its level of accuracy while the uncertainty of the conventional method was 3.4mm on average with maximum values of over 10mm because of imaging artifacts. A novel method based on simple physical measurements was developed to accurately detect the needle-tip position for TRUS-based high-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy. The method demonstrated much improved accuracy and robustness over the conventional method. Copyright © 2011 American Brachytherapy Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Benefits and challenges to using DNA-based identification methods: An example study of larval fish from nearshore areas of Lake Superior

EPA Science Inventory

DNA-based identification methods could increase the ability of aquatic resource managers to track patterns of invasive species, especially for taxa that are difficult to identify morphologically. Nonetheless, use of DNA-based identification methods in aquatic surveys is still unc...

An Evaluation of Teaching Introductory Geomorphology Using Computer-based Tools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wentz, Elizabeth A.; Vender, Joann C.; Brewer, Cynthia A.

1999-01-01

Compares student reactions to traditional teaching methods and an approach where computer-based tools (GEODe CD-ROM and GIS-based exercises) were either integrated with or replaced the traditional methods. Reveals that the students found both of these tools valuable forms of instruction when used in combination with the traditional methods. (CMK)

Promotion of Physical Activity of Adolescents by Skill-Based Health Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simbar, Masoumeh; Aarabi, Zeinab; Keshavarz, Zohreh; Ramezani-Tehrani, Fahimeh; Baghestani, Ahmad Reza

2017-01-01

Purpose: Insufficient physical activity leads to an increase in chronic diseases. Skills-based health education methods are supposed to be more successful than traditional methods to promote healthy behaviors. Skills-based health education is an approach to create healthy lifestyles and skills using participatory methods. The purpose of this paper…

Art-Based Learning Strategies in Art Therapy Graduate Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deaver, Sarah P.

2012-01-01

This mixed methods research study examined the use of art-based teaching methods in master's level art therapy graduate education in North America. A survey of program directors yielded information regarding in which courses and how frequently art-based methods (individual in-class art making, dyad or group art making, student art projects as…

Integrative approach for inference of gene regulatory networks using lasso-based random featuring and application to psychiatric disorders.

PubMed

Kim, Dongchul; Kang, Mingon; Biswas, Ashis; Liu, Chunyu; Gao, Jean

2016-08-10

Inferring gene regulatory networks is one of the most interesting research areas in the systems biology. Many inference methods have been developed by using a variety of computational models and approaches. However, there are two issues to solve. First, depending on the structural or computational model of inference method, the results tend to be inconsistent due to innately different advantages and limitations of the methods. Therefore the combination of dissimilar approaches is demanded as an alternative way in order to overcome the limitations of standalone methods through complementary integration. Second, sparse linear regression that is penalized by the regularization parameter (lasso) and bootstrapping-based sparse linear regression methods were suggested in state of the art methods for network inference but they are not effective for a small sample size data and also a true regulator could be missed if the target gene is strongly affected by an indirect regulator with high correlation or another true regulator. We present two novel network inference methods based on the integration of three different criteria, (i) z-score to measure the variation of gene expression from knockout data, (ii) mutual information for the dependency between two genes, and (iii) linear regression-based feature selection. Based on these criterion, we propose a lasso-based random feature selection algorithm (LARF) to achieve better performance overcoming the limitations of bootstrapping as mentioned above. In this work, there are three main contributions. First, our z score-based method to measure gene expression variations from knockout data is more effective than similar criteria of related works. Second, we confirmed that the true regulator selection can be effectively improved by LARF. Lastly, we verified that an integrative approach can clearly outperform a single method when two different methods are effectively jointed. In the experiments, our methods were validated by outperforming the state of the art methods on DREAM challenge data, and then LARF was applied to inferences of gene regulatory network associated with psychiatric disorders.

Investigating the Importance of the Pocket-estimation Method in Pocket-based Approaches: An Illustration Using Pocket-ligand Classification.

PubMed

Caumes, Géraldine; Borrel, Alexandre; Abi Hussein, Hiba; Camproux, Anne-Claude; Regad, Leslie

2017-09-01

Small molecules interact with their protein target on surface cavities known as binding pockets. Pocket-based approaches are very useful in all of the phases of drug design. Their first step is estimating the binding pocket based on protein structure. The available pocket-estimation methods produce different pockets for the same target. The aim of this work is to investigate the effects of different pocket-estimation methods on the results of pocket-based approaches. We focused on the effect of three pocket-estimation methods on a pocket-ligand (PL) classification. This pocket-based approach is useful for understanding the correspondence between the pocket and ligand spaces and to develop pharmacological profiling models. We found pocket-estimation methods yield different binding pockets in terms of boundaries and properties. These differences are responsible for the variation in the PL classification results that can have an impact on the detected correspondence between pocket and ligand profiles. Thus, we highlighted the importance of the pocket-estimation method choice in pocket-based approaches. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A Comparative Study of Two Azimuth Based Non Standard Location Methods

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-23

Standard Location Methods Rongsong JIH U.S. Department of State / Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance Bureau, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington...COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TWO AZIMUTH-BASED NON-STANDARD LOCATION METHODS R. Jih Department of State / Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance Bureau...cable. The so-called “Yin Zhong Xian” (“引中线” in Chinese) algorithm, hereafter the YZX method , is an Oriental version of IPB-based procedure. It

Structure-preserving interpolation of temporal and spatial image sequences using an optical flow-based method.

PubMed

Ehrhardt, J; Säring, D; Handels, H

2007-01-01

Modern tomographic imaging devices enable the acquisition of spatial and temporal image sequences. But, the spatial and temporal resolution of such devices is limited and therefore image interpolation techniques are needed to represent images at a desired level of discretization. This paper presents a method for structure-preserving interpolation between neighboring slices in temporal or spatial image sequences. In a first step, the spatiotemporal velocity field between image slices is determined using an optical flow-based registration method in order to establish spatial correspondence between adjacent slices. An iterative algorithm is applied using the spatial and temporal image derivatives and a spatiotemporal smoothing step. Afterwards, the calculated velocity field is used to generate an interpolated image at the desired time by averaging intensities between corresponding points. Three quantitative measures are defined to evaluate the performance of the interpolation method. The behavior and capability of the algorithm is demonstrated by synthetic images. A population of 17 temporal and spatial image sequences are utilized to compare the optical flow-based interpolation method to linear and shape-based interpolation. The quantitative results show that the optical flow-based method outperforms the linear and shape-based interpolation statistically significantly. The interpolation method presented is able to generate image sequences with appropriate spatial or temporal resolution needed for image comparison, analysis or visualization tasks. Quantitative and qualitative measures extracted from synthetic phantoms and medical image data show that the new method definitely has advantages over linear and shape-based interpolation.

A note on the kappa statistic for clustered dichotomous data.

PubMed

Zhou, Ming; Yang, Zhao

2014-06-30

The kappa statistic is widely used to assess the agreement between two raters. Motivated by a simulation-based cluster bootstrap method to calculate the variance of the kappa statistic for clustered physician-patients dichotomous data, we investigate its special correlation structure and develop a new simple and efficient data generation algorithm. For the clustered physician-patients dichotomous data, based on the delta method and its special covariance structure, we propose a semi-parametric variance estimator for the kappa statistic. An extensive Monte Carlo simulation study is performed to evaluate the performance of the new proposal and five existing methods with respect to the empirical coverage probability, root-mean-square error, and average width of the 95% confidence interval for the kappa statistic. The variance estimator ignoring the dependence within a cluster is generally inappropriate, and the variance estimators from the new proposal, bootstrap-based methods, and the sampling-based delta method perform reasonably well for at least a moderately large number of clusters (e.g., the number of clusters K ⩾50). The new proposal and sampling-based delta method provide convenient tools for efficient computations and non-simulation-based alternatives to the existing bootstrap-based methods. Moreover, the new proposal has acceptable performance even when the number of clusters is as small as K = 25. To illustrate the practical application of all the methods, one psychiatric research data and two simulated clustered physician-patients dichotomous data are analyzed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Fast and robust standard-deviation-based method for bulk motion compensation in phase-based functional OCT.

PubMed

Wei, Xiang; Camino, Acner; Pi, Shaohua; Cepurna, William; Huang, David; Morrison, John C; Jia, Yali

2018-05-01

Phase-based optical coherence tomography (OCT), such as OCT angiography (OCTA) and Doppler OCT, is sensitive to the confounding phase shift introduced by subject bulk motion. Traditional bulk motion compensation methods are limited by their accuracy and computing cost-effectiveness. In this Letter, to the best of our knowledge, we present a novel bulk motion compensation method for phase-based functional OCT. Bulk motion associated phase shift can be directly derived by solving its equation using a standard deviation of phase-based OCTA and Doppler OCT flow signals. This method was evaluated on rodent retinal images acquired by a prototype visible light OCT and human retinal images acquired by a commercial system. The image quality and computational speed were significantly improved, compared to two conventional phase compensation methods.

Estimation of bio-signal based on human motion for integrated visualization of daily-life.

PubMed

Umetani, Tomohiro; Matsukawa, Tsuyoshi; Yokoyama, Kiyoko

2007-01-01

This paper describes a method for the estimation of bio-signals based on human motion in daily life for an integrated visualization system. The recent advancement of computers and measurement technology has facilitated the integrated visualization of bio-signals and human motion data. It is desirable to obtain a method to understand the activities of muscles based on human motion data and evaluate the change in physiological parameters according to human motion for visualization applications. We suppose that human motion is generated by the activities of muscles reflected from the brain to bio-signals such as electromyograms. This paper introduces a method for the estimation of bio-signals based on neural networks. This method can estimate the other physiological parameters based on the same procedure. The experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed method.

Investigation of self-adaptive LED surgical lighting based on entropy contrast enhancing method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Peng; Wang, Huihui; Zhang, Yaqin; Shen, Junfei; Wu, Rengmao; Zheng, Zhenrong; Li, Haifeng; Liu, Xu

2014-05-01

Investigation was performed to explore the possibility of enhancing contrast by varying the spectral distribution (SPD) of the surgical lighting. The illumination scenes with different SPDs were generated by the combination of a self-adaptive white light optimization method and the LED ceiling system, the images of biological sample are taken by a CCD camera and then processed by an 'Entropy' based contrast evaluation model which is proposed specific for surgery occasion. Compared with the neutral white LED based and traditional algorithm based image enhancing methods, the illumination based enhancing method turns out a better performance in contrast enhancing and improves the average contrast value about 9% and 6%, respectively. This low cost method is simple, practicable, and thus may provide an alternative solution for the expensive visual facility medical instruments.

Couple Graph Based Label Propagation Method for Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Data Classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, X. P.; Hu, Y.; Chen, J.

2018-04-01

Graph based semi-supervised classification method are widely used for hyperspectral image classification. We present a couple graph based label propagation method, which contains both the adjacency graph and the similar graph. We propose to construct the similar graph by using the similar probability, which utilize the label similarity among examples probably. The adjacency graph was utilized by a common manifold learning method, which has effective improve the classification accuracy of hyperspectral data. The experiments indicate that the couple graph Laplacian which unite both the adjacency graph and the similar graph, produce superior classification results than other manifold Learning based graph Laplacian and Sparse representation based graph Laplacian in label propagation framework.

A Review on Human Activity Recognition Using Vision-Based Method.

PubMed

Zhang, Shugang; Wei, Zhiqiang; Nie, Jie; Huang, Lei; Wang, Shuang; Li, Zhen

2017-01-01

Human activity recognition (HAR) aims to recognize activities from a series of observations on the actions of subjects and the environmental conditions. The vision-based HAR research is the basis of many applications including video surveillance, health care, and human-computer interaction (HCI). This review highlights the advances of state-of-the-art activity recognition approaches, especially for the activity representation and classification methods. For the representation methods, we sort out a chronological research trajectory from global representations to local representations, and recent depth-based representations. For the classification methods, we conform to the categorization of template-based methods, discriminative models, and generative models and review several prevalent methods. Next, representative and available datasets are introduced. Aiming to provide an overview of those methods and a convenient way of comparing them, we classify existing literatures with a detailed taxonomy including representation and classification methods, as well as the datasets they used. Finally, we investigate the directions for future research.

Finding consistent patterns: A nonparametric approach for identifying differential expression in RNA-Seq data

PubMed Central

Li, Jun; Tibshirani, Robert

2015-01-01

We discuss the identification of features that are associated with an outcome in RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) and other sequencing-based comparative genomic experiments. RNA-Seq data takes the form of counts, so models based on the normal distribution are generally unsuitable. The problem is especially challenging because different sequencing experiments may generate quite different total numbers of reads, or ‘sequencing depths’. Existing methods for this problem are based on Poisson or negative binomial models: they are useful but can be heavily influenced by ‘outliers’ in the data. We introduce a simple, nonparametric method with resampling to account for the different sequencing depths. The new method is more robust than parametric methods. It can be applied to data with quantitative, survival, two-class or multiple-class outcomes. We compare our proposed method to Poisson and negative binomial-based methods in simulated and real data sets, and find that our method discovers more consistent patterns than competing methods. PMID:22127579

Comparison of culture-based, vital stain and PMA-qPCR methods for the quantitative detection of viable hookworm ova.

PubMed

Gyawali, P; Sidhu, J P S; Ahmed, W; Jagals, P; Toze, S

2017-06-01

Accurate quantitative measurement of viable hookworm ova from environmental samples is the key to controlling hookworm re-infections in the endemic regions. In this study, the accuracy of three quantitative detection methods [culture-based, vital stain and propidium monoazide-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PMA-qPCR)] was evaluated by enumerating 1,000 ± 50 Ancylostoma caninum ova in the laboratory. The culture-based method was able to quantify an average of 397 ± 59 viable hookworm ova. Similarly, vital stain and PMA-qPCR methods quantified 644 ± 87 and 587 ± 91 viable ova, respectively. The numbers of viable ova estimated by the culture-based method were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than vital stain and PMA-qPCR methods. Therefore, both PMA-qPCR and vital stain methods appear to be suitable for the quantitative detection of viable hookworm ova. However, PMA-qPCR would be preferable over the vital stain method in scenarios where ova speciation is needed.

A Review on Human Activity Recognition Using Vision-Based Method

PubMed Central

Nie, Jie

2017-01-01

Human activity recognition (HAR) aims to recognize activities from a series of observations on the actions of subjects and the environmental conditions. The vision-based HAR research is the basis of many applications including video surveillance, health care, and human-computer interaction (HCI). This review highlights the advances of state-of-the-art activity recognition approaches, especially for the activity representation and classification methods. For the representation methods, we sort out a chronological research trajectory from global representations to local representations, and recent depth-based representations. For the classification methods, we conform to the categorization of template-based methods, discriminative models, and generative models and review several prevalent methods. Next, representative and available datasets are introduced. Aiming to provide an overview of those methods and a convenient way of comparing them, we classify existing literatures with a detailed taxonomy including representation and classification methods, as well as the datasets they used. Finally, we investigate the directions for future research. PMID:29065585

Method for the determination of natural ester-type gum bases used as food additives via direct analysis of their constituent wax esters using high-temperature GC/MS.

PubMed

Tada, Atsuko; Ishizuki, Kyoko; Yamazaki, Takeshi; Sugimoto, Naoki; Akiyama, Hiroshi

2014-07-01

Natural ester-type gum bases, which are used worldwide as food additives, mainly consist of wax esters composed of long-chain fatty acids and long-chain fatty alcohols. There are many varieties of ester-type gum bases, and thus a useful method for their discrimination is needed in order to establish official specifications and manage their quality control. Herein is reported a rapid and simple method for the analysis of different ester-type gum bases used as food additives by high-temperature gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). With this method, the constituent wax esters in ester-type gum bases can be detected without hydrolysis and derivatization. The method was applied to the determination of 10 types of gum bases, including beeswax, carnauba wax, lanolin, and jojoba wax, and it was demonstrated that the gum bases derived from identical origins have specific and characteristic total ion chromatogram (TIC) patterns and ester compositions. Food additive gum bases were thus distinguished from one another based on their TIC patterns and then more clearly discriminated using simultaneous monitoring of the fragment ions corresponding to the fatty acid moieties of the individual molecular species of the wax esters. This direct high-temperature GC/MS method was shown to be very useful for the rapid and simple discrimination of varieties of ester-type gum bases used as food additives.

Method for the determination of natural ester-type gum bases used as food additives via direct analysis of their constituent wax esters using high-temperature GC/MS

PubMed Central

Tada, Atsuko; Ishizuki, Kyoko; Yamazaki, Takeshi; Sugimoto, Naoki; Akiyama, Hiroshi

2014-01-01

Natural ester-type gum bases, which are used worldwide as food additives, mainly consist of wax esters composed of long-chain fatty acids and long-chain fatty alcohols. There are many varieties of ester-type gum bases, and thus a useful method for their discrimination is needed in order to establish official specifications and manage their quality control. Herein is reported a rapid and simple method for the analysis of different ester-type gum bases used as food additives by high-temperature gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). With this method, the constituent wax esters in ester-type gum bases can be detected without hydrolysis and derivatization. The method was applied to the determination of 10 types of gum bases, including beeswax, carnauba wax, lanolin, and jojoba wax, and it was demonstrated that the gum bases derived from identical origins have specific and characteristic total ion chromatogram (TIC) patterns and ester compositions. Food additive gum bases were thus distinguished from one another based on their TIC patterns and then more clearly discriminated using simultaneous monitoring of the fragment ions corresponding to the fatty acid moieties of the individual molecular species of the wax esters. This direct high-temperature GC/MS method was shown to be very useful for the rapid and simple discrimination of varieties of ester-type gum bases used as food additives. PMID:25473499

Computing travel time when the exact address is unknown: a comparison of point and polygon ZIP code approximation methods.

PubMed

Berke, Ethan M; Shi, Xun

2009-04-29

Travel time is an important metric of geographic access to health care. We compared strategies of estimating travel times when only subject ZIP code data were available. Using simulated data from New Hampshire and Arizona, we estimated travel times to nearest cancer centers by using: 1) geometric centroid of ZIP code polygons as origins, 2) population centroids as origin, 3) service area rings around each cancer center, assigning subjects to rings by assuming they are evenly distributed within their ZIP code, 4) service area rings around each center, assuming the subjects follow the population distribution within the ZIP code. We used travel times based on street addresses as true values to validate estimates. Population-based methods have smaller errors than geometry-based methods. Within categories (geometry or population), centroid and service area methods have similar errors. Errors are smaller in urban areas than in rural areas. Population-based methods are superior to the geometry-based methods, with the population centroid method appearing to be the best choice for estimating travel time. Estimates in rural areas are less reliable.

The microwave-assisted ionic-liquid method: a promising methodology in nanomaterials.

PubMed

Ma, Ming-Guo; Zhu, Jie-Fang; Zhu, Ying-Jie; Sun, Run-Cang

2014-09-01

In recent years, the microwave-assisted ionic-liquid method has been accepted as a promising methodology for the preparation of nanomaterials and cellulose-based nanocomposites. Applications of this method in the preparation of cellulose-based nanocomposites comply with the major principles of green chemistry, that is, they use an environmentally friendly method in environmentally preferable solvents to make use of renewable materials. This minireview focuses on the recent development of the synthesis of nanomaterials and cellulose-based nanocomposites by means of the microwave-assisted ionic-liquid method. We first discuss the preparation of nanomaterials including noble metals, metal oxides, complex metal oxides, metal sulfides, and other nanomaterials by means of this method. Then we provide an overview of the synthesis of cellulose-based nanocomposites by using this method. The emphasis is on the synthesis, microstructure, and properties of nanostructured materials obtained through this methodology. Our recent research on nanomaterials and cellulose-based nanocomposites by this rapid method is summarized. In addition, the formation mechanisms involved in the microwave-assisted ionic-liquid synthesis of nanostructured materials are discussed briefly. Finally, the future perspectives of this methodology in the synthesis of nanostructured materials are proposed. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Improving local clustering based top-L link prediction methods via asymmetric link clustering information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Zhihao; Lin, Youfang; Zhao, Yiji; Yan, Hongyan

2018-02-01

Networks can represent a wide range of complex systems, such as social, biological and technological systems. Link prediction is one of the most important problems in network analysis, and has attracted much research interest recently. Many link prediction methods have been proposed to solve this problem with various techniques. We can note that clustering information plays an important role in solving the link prediction problem. In previous literatures, we find node clustering coefficient appears frequently in many link prediction methods. However, node clustering coefficient is limited to describe the role of a common-neighbor in different local networks, because it cannot distinguish different clustering abilities of a node to different node pairs. In this paper, we shift our focus from nodes to links, and propose the concept of asymmetric link clustering (ALC) coefficient. Further, we improve three node clustering based link prediction methods via the concept of ALC. The experimental results demonstrate that ALC-based methods outperform node clustering based methods, especially achieving remarkable improvements on food web, hamster friendship and Internet networks. Besides, comparing with other methods, the performance of ALC-based methods are very stable in both globalized and personalized top-L link prediction tasks.

Deterministic and fuzzy-based methods to evaluate community resilience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kammouh, Omar; Noori, Ali Zamani; Taurino, Veronica; Mahin, Stephen A.; Cimellaro, Gian Paolo

2018-04-01

Community resilience is becoming a growing concern for authorities and decision makers. This paper introduces two indicator-based methods to evaluate the resilience of communities based on the PEOPLES framework. PEOPLES is a multi-layered framework that defines community resilience using seven dimensions. Each of the dimensions is described through a set of resilience indicators collected from literature and they are linked to a measure allowing the analytical computation of the indicator's performance. The first method proposed in this paper requires data on previous disasters as an input and returns as output a performance function for each indicator and a performance function for the whole community. The second method exploits a knowledge-based fuzzy modeling for its implementation. This method allows a quantitative evaluation of the PEOPLES indicators using descriptive knowledge rather than deterministic data including the uncertainty involved in the analysis. The output of the fuzzy-based method is a resilience index for each indicator as well as a resilience index for the community. The paper also introduces an open source online tool in which the first method is implemented. A case study illustrating the application of the first method and the usage of the tool is also provided in the paper.

Towards an Airframe Noise Prediction Methodology: Survey of Current Approaches

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Farassat, Fereidoun; Casper, Jay H.

2006-01-01

In this paper, we present a critical survey of the current airframe noise (AFN) prediction methodologies. Four methodologies are recognized. These are the fully analytic method, CFD combined with the acoustic analogy, the semi-empirical method and fully numerical method. It is argued that for the immediate need of the aircraft industry, the semi-empirical method based on recent high quality acoustic database is the best available method. The method based on CFD and the Ffowcs William- Hawkings (FW-H) equation with penetrable data surface (FW-Hpds ) has advanced considerably and much experience has been gained in its use. However, more research is needed in the near future particularly in the area of turbulence simulation. The fully numerical method will take longer to reach maturity. Based on the current trends, it is predicted that this method will eventually develop into the method of choice. Both the turbulence simulation and propagation methods need to develop more for this method to become useful. Nonetheless, the authors propose that the method based on a combination of numerical and analytical techniques, e.g., CFD combined with FW-H equation, should also be worked on. In this effort, the current symbolic algebra software will allow more analytical approaches to be incorporated into AFN prediction methods.

A new automated NaCl based robust method for routine production of gallium-68 labeled peptides

PubMed Central

Schultz, Michael K.; Mueller, Dirk; Baum, Richard P.; Watkins, G. Leonard; Breeman, Wouter A. P.

2017-01-01

A new NaCl based method for preparation of gallium-68 labeled radiopharmaceuticals has been adapted for use with an automated gallium-68 generator system. The method was evaluated based on 56 preparations of [68Ga]DOTATOC and compared to a similar acetone-based approach. Advantages of the new NaCl approach include reduced preparation time (< 15 min) and removal of organic solvents. The method produces high peptide-bound % (> 97%), and specific activity (> 40 MBq nmole−1 [68Ga]DOTATOC) and is well-suited for clinical production of radiopharmaceuticals. PMID:23026223

Pre-form ceramic matrix composite cavity and method of forming and method of forming a ceramic matrix composite component

DOEpatents

Monaghan, Philip Harold; Delvaux, John McConnell; Taxacher, Glenn Curtis

2015-06-09

A pre-form CMC cavity and method of forming pre-form CMC cavity for a ceramic matrix component includes providing a mandrel, applying a base ply to the mandrel, laying-up at least one CMC ply on the base ply, removing the mandrel, and densifying the base ply and the at least one CMC ply. The remaining densified base ply and at least one CMC ply form a ceramic matrix component having a desired geometry and a cavity formed therein. Also provided is a method of forming a CMC component.

Effect of three decellularisation protocols on the mechanical behaviour and structural properties of sheep aortic valve conduits.

PubMed

Khorramirouz, Reza; Sabetkish, Shabnam; Akbarzadeh, Aram; Muhammadnejad, Ahad; Heidari, Reza; Kajbafzadeh, Abdol-Mohammad

2014-09-01

To determine the best method for decellularisation of aortic valve conduits (AVCs) that efficiently removes the cells while preserving the extracellular matrix (ECM) by examining the valvular and conduit sections separately. Sheep AVCs were decellularised by using three different protocols: detergent-based (1% SDS+1% SDC), detergent and enzyme-based (Triton+EDTA+RNase and DNase), and enzyme-based (Trypsin+RNase and DNase) methods. The efficacy of the decellularisation methods to completely remove the cells while preserving the ECM was evaluated by histological evaluation, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), hydroxyproline analysis, tensile test, and DAPI staining. The detergent-based method completely removed the cells and left the ECM and collagen content in the valve and conduit sections relatively well preserved. The detergent and enzyme-based protocol did not completely remove the cells, but left the collagen content in both sections well preserved. ECM deterioration was observed in the aortic valves (AVs), but the ultrastructure of the conduits was well preserved, with no media distortion. The enzyme-based protocol removed the cells relatively well; however, mild structural distortion and poor collagen content was observed in the AVs. Incomplete cell removal (better than that observed with the detergent and enzyme-based protocol), poor collagen preservation, and mild structural distortion were observed in conduits treated with the enzyme-based method. The results suggested that the detergent-based methods are the most effective protocols for cell removal and ECM preservation of AVCs. The AVCs treated with this detergent-based method may be excellent scaffolds for recellularisation. Copyright © 2014 Medical University of Bialystok. Published by Elsevier Urban & Partner Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.

Mutually unbiased bases and semi-definite programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brierley, Stephen; Weigert, Stefan

2010-11-01

A complex Hilbert space of dimension six supports at least three but not more than seven mutually unbiased bases. Two computer-aided analytical methods to tighten these bounds are reviewed, based on a discretization of parameter space and on Gröbner bases. A third algorithmic approach is presented: the non-existence of more than three mutually unbiased bases in composite dimensions can be decided by a global optimization method known as semidefinite programming. The method is used to confirm that the spectral matrix cannot be part of a complete set of seven mutually unbiased bases in dimension six.

Performance Evaluation and Online Realization of Data-driven Normalization Methods Used in LC/MS based Untargeted Metabolomics Analysis.

PubMed

Li, Bo; Tang, Jing; Yang, Qingxia; Cui, Xuejiao; Li, Shuang; Chen, Sijie; Cao, Quanxing; Xue, Weiwei; Chen, Na; Zhu, Feng

2016-12-13

In untargeted metabolomics analysis, several factors (e.g., unwanted experimental &biological variations and technical errors) may hamper the identification of differential metabolic features, which requires the data-driven normalization approaches before feature selection. So far, ≥16 normalization methods have been widely applied for processing the LC/MS based metabolomics data. However, the performance and the sample size dependence of those methods have not yet been exhaustively compared and no online tool for comparatively and comprehensively evaluating the performance of all 16 normalization methods has been provided. In this study, a comprehensive comparison on these methods was conducted. As a result, 16 methods were categorized into three groups based on their normalization performances across various sample sizes. The VSN, the Log Transformation and the PQN were identified as methods of the best normalization performance, while the Contrast consistently underperformed across all sub-datasets of different benchmark data. Moreover, an interactive web tool comprehensively evaluating the performance of 16 methods specifically for normalizing LC/MS based metabolomics data was constructed and hosted at http://server.idrb.cqu.edu.cn/MetaPre/. In summary, this study could serve as a useful guidance to the selection of suitable normalization methods in analyzing the LC/MS based metabolomics data.

Performance Evaluation and Online Realization of Data-driven Normalization Methods Used in LC/MS based Untargeted Metabolomics Analysis

PubMed Central

Li, Bo; Tang, Jing; Yang, Qingxia; Cui, Xuejiao; Li, Shuang; Chen, Sijie; Cao, Quanxing; Xue, Weiwei; Chen, Na; Zhu, Feng

2016-01-01

In untargeted metabolomics analysis, several factors (e.g., unwanted experimental & biological variations and technical errors) may hamper the identification of differential metabolic features, which requires the data-driven normalization approaches before feature selection. So far, ≥16 normalization methods have been widely applied for processing the LC/MS based metabolomics data. However, the performance and the sample size dependence of those methods have not yet been exhaustively compared and no online tool for comparatively and comprehensively evaluating the performance of all 16 normalization methods has been provided. In this study, a comprehensive comparison on these methods was conducted. As a result, 16 methods were categorized into three groups based on their normalization performances across various sample sizes. The VSN, the Log Transformation and the PQN were identified as methods of the best normalization performance, while the Contrast consistently underperformed across all sub-datasets of different benchmark data. Moreover, an interactive web tool comprehensively evaluating the performance of 16 methods specifically for normalizing LC/MS based metabolomics data was constructed and hosted at http://server.idrb.cqu.edu.cn/MetaPre/. In summary, this study could serve as a useful guidance to the selection of suitable normalization methods in analyzing the LC/MS based metabolomics data. PMID:27958387

A Channelization-Based DOA Estimation Method for Wideband Signals

PubMed Central

Guo, Rui; Zhang, Yue; Lin, Qianqiang; Chen, Zengping

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose a novel direction of arrival (DOA) estimation method for wideband signals with sensor arrays. The proposed method splits the wideband array output into multiple frequency sub-channels and estimates the signal parameters using a digital channelization receiver. Based on the output sub-channels, a channelization-based incoherent signal subspace method (Channelization-ISM) and a channelization-based test of orthogonality of projected subspaces method (Channelization-TOPS) are proposed. Channelization-ISM applies narrowband signal subspace methods on each sub-channel independently. Then the arithmetic mean or geometric mean of the estimated DOAs from each sub-channel gives the final result. Channelization-TOPS measures the orthogonality between the signal and the noise subspaces of the output sub-channels to estimate DOAs. The proposed channelization-based method isolates signals in different bandwidths reasonably and improves the output SNR. It outperforms the conventional ISM and TOPS methods on estimation accuracy and dynamic range, especially in real environments. Besides, the parallel processing architecture makes it easy to implement on hardware. A wideband digital array radar (DAR) using direct wideband radio frequency (RF) digitization is presented. Experiments carried out in a microwave anechoic chamber with the wideband DAR are presented to demonstrate the performance. The results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:27384566

Effectiveness of Jigsaw learning compared to lecture-based learning in dental education.

PubMed

Sagsoz, O; Karatas, O; Turel, V; Yildiz, M; Kaya, E

2017-02-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the success levels of students using the Jigsaw learning method in dental education. Fifty students with similar grade point average (GPA) scores were selected and randomly assigned into one of two groups (n = 25). A pretest concerning 'adhesion and bonding agents in dentistry' was administered to all students before classes. The Jigsaw learning method was applied to the experimental group for 3 weeks. At the same time, the control group was taking classes using the lecture-based learning method. At the end of the 3 weeks, all students were retested (post-test) on the subject. A retention test was administered 3 weeks after the post-test. Mean scores were calculated for each test for the experimental and control groups, and the data obtained were analysed using the independent samples t-test. No significant difference was determined between the Jigsaw and lecture-based methods at pretest or post-test. The highest mean test score was observed in the post-test with the Jigsaw method. In the retention test, success with the Jigsaw method was significantly higher than that with the lecture-based method. The Jigsaw method is as effective as the lecture-based method. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Spiking cortical model based non-local means method for despeckling multiframe optical coherence tomography data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Yameng; Zhang, Xuming

2017-05-01

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) images are severely degraded by speckle noise. Existing methods for despeckling multiframe OCT data cannot deliver sufficient speckle suppression while preserving image details well. To address this problem, the spiking cortical model (SCM) based non-local means (NLM) method has been proposed in this letter. In the proposed method, the considered frame and two neighboring frames are input into three SCMs to generate the temporal series of pulse outputs. The normalized moment of inertia (NMI) of the considered patches in the pulse outputs is extracted to represent the rotational and scaling invariant features of the corresponding patches in each frame. The pixel similarity is computed based on the Euclidean distance between the NMI features and used as the weight. Each pixel in the considered frame is restored by the weighted averaging of all pixels in the pre-defined search window in the three frames. Experiments on the real multiframe OCT data of the pig eye demonstrate the advantage of the proposed method over the frame averaging method, the multiscale sparsity based tomographic denoising method, the wavelet-based method and the traditional NLM method in terms of visual inspection and objective metrics such as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), equivalent number of looks (ENL) and cross-correlation (XCOR).

A Study of Impact Point Detecting Method Based on Seismic Signal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huo, Pengju; Zhang, Yu; Xu, Lina; Huang, Yong

The projectile landing position has to be determined for its recovery and range in the targeting test. In this paper, a global search method based on the velocity variance is proposed. In order to verify the applicability of this method, simulation analysis within the scope of four million square meters has been conducted in the same array structure of the commonly used linear positioning method, and MATLAB was used to compare and analyze the two methods. The compared simulation results show that the global search method based on the speed of variance has high positioning accuracy and stability, which can meet the needs of impact point location.

Key frame extraction based on spatiotemporal motion trajectory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yunzuo; Tao, Ran; Zhang, Feng

2015-05-01

Spatiotemporal motion trajectory can accurately reflect the changes of motion state. Motivated by this observation, this letter proposes a method for key frame extraction based on motion trajectory on the spatiotemporal slice. Different from the well-known motion related methods, the proposed method utilizes the inflexions of the motion trajectory on the spatiotemporal slice of all the moving objects. Experimental results show that although a similar performance is achieved in the single-objective screen, by comparing the proposed method to that achieved with the state-of-the-art methods based on motion energy or acceleration, the proposed method shows a better performance in a multiobjective video.

Improving the precision of the keyword-matching pornographic text filtering method using a hybrid model.

PubMed

Su, Gui-yang; Li, Jian-hua; Ma, Ying-hua; Li, Sheng-hong

2004-09-01

With the flooding of pornographic information on the Internet, how to keep people away from that offensive information is becoming one of the most important research areas in network information security. Some applications which can block or filter such information are used. Approaches in those systems can be roughly classified into two kinds: metadata based and content based. With the development of distributed technologies, content based filtering technologies will play a more and more important role in filtering systems. Keyword matching is a content based method used widely in harmful text filtering. Experiments to evaluate the recall and precision of the method showed that the precision of the method is not satisfactory, though the recall of the method is rather high. According to the results, a new pornographic text filtering model based on reconfirming is put forward. Experiments showed that the model is practical, has less loss of recall than the single keyword matching method, and has higher precision.

Method to produce nanocrystalline powders of oxide-based phosphors for lighting applications

DOEpatents

Loureiro, Sergio Paulo Martins; Setlur, Anant Achyut; Williams, Darryl Stephen; Manoharan, Mohan; Srivastava, Alok Mani

2007-12-25

Some embodiments of the present invention are directed toward nanocrystalline oxide-based phosphor materials, and methods for making same. Typically, such methods comprise a steric entrapment route for converting precursors into such phosphor material. In some embodiments, the nanocrystalline oxide-based phosphor materials are quantum splitting phosphors. In some or other embodiments, such nanocrystalline oxide based phosphor materials provide reduced scattering, leading to greater efficiency, when used in lighting applications.

Validation of a Smartphone Image-Based Dietary Assessment Method for Pregnant Women

PubMed Central

Ashman, Amy M.; Collins, Clare E.; Brown, Leanne J.; Rae, Kym M.; Rollo, Megan E.

2017-01-01

Image-based dietary records could lower participant burden associated with traditional prospective methods of dietary assessment. They have been used in children, adolescents and adults, but have not been evaluated in pregnant women. The current study evaluated relative validity of the DietBytes image-based dietary assessment method for assessing energy and nutrient intakes. Pregnant women collected image-based dietary records (via a smartphone application) of all food, drinks and supplements consumed over three non-consecutive days. Intakes from the image-based method were compared to intakes collected from three 24-h recalls, taken on random days; once per week, in the weeks following the image-based record. Data were analyzed using nutrient analysis software. Agreement between methods was ascertained using Pearson correlations and Bland-Altman plots. Twenty-five women (27 recruited, one withdrew, one incomplete), median age 29 years, 15 primiparas, eight Aboriginal Australians, completed image-based records for analysis. Significant correlations between the two methods were observed for energy, macronutrients and fiber (r = 0.58–0.84, all p < 0.05), and for micronutrients both including (r = 0.47–0.94, all p < 0.05) and excluding (r = 0.40–0.85, all p < 0.05) supplements in the analysis. Bland-Altman plots confirmed acceptable agreement with no systematic bias. The DietBytes method demonstrated acceptable relative validity for assessment of nutrient intakes of pregnant women. PMID:28106758

Accurate Phylogenetic Tree Reconstruction from Quartets: A Heuristic Approach

PubMed Central

Reaz, Rezwana; Bayzid, Md. Shamsuzzoha; Rahman, M. Sohel

2014-01-01

Supertree methods construct trees on a set of taxa (species) combining many smaller trees on the overlapping subsets of the entire set of taxa. A ‘quartet’ is an unrooted tree over taxa, hence the quartet-based supertree methods combine many -taxon unrooted trees into a single and coherent tree over the complete set of taxa. Quartet-based phylogeny reconstruction methods have been receiving considerable attentions in the recent years. An accurate and efficient quartet-based method might be competitive with the current best phylogenetic tree reconstruction methods (such as maximum likelihood or Bayesian MCMC analyses), without being as computationally intensive. In this paper, we present a novel and highly accurate quartet-based phylogenetic tree reconstruction method. We performed an extensive experimental study to evaluate the accuracy and scalability of our approach on both simulated and biological datasets. PMID:25117474

LEAKAGE CHARACTERISTICS OF BASE OF RIVERBANK BY SELF POTENTIAL METHOD AND EXAMINATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF POTENTIAL METHOD TO HEALTH MONITORING OF BASE OF RIVERBANK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, Kensaku; Okada, Takashi; Takeuchi, Atsuo; Yazawa, Masato; Uchibori, Sumio; Shimizu, Yoshihiko

Field Measurement of Self Potential Method using Copper Sulfate Electrode was performed in base of riverbank in WATARASE River, where has leakage problem to examine leakage characteristics. Measurement results showed typical S-shape what indicates existence of flow groundwater. The results agreed with measurement results by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport with good accuracy. Results of 1m depth ground temperature detection and Chain-Array detection showed good agreement with results of the Self Potential Method. Correlation between Self Potential value and groundwater velocity was examined model experiment. The result showed apparent correlation. These results indicate that the Self Potential Method was effective method to examine the characteristics of ground water of base of riverbank in leakage problem.

A review of numerical techniques approaching microstructures of crystalline rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yahui; Wong, Louis Ngai Yuen

2018-06-01

The macro-mechanical behavior of crystalline rocks including strength, deformability and failure pattern are dominantly influenced by their grain-scale structures. Numerical technique is commonly used to assist understanding the complicated mechanisms from a microscopic perspective. Each numerical method has its respective strengths and limitations. This review paper elucidates how numerical techniques take geometrical aspects of the grain into consideration. Four categories of numerical methods are examined: particle-based methods, block-based methods, grain-based methods, and node-based methods. Focusing on the grain-scale characters, specific relevant issues including increasing complexity of micro-structure, deformation and breakage of model elements, fracturing and fragmentation process are described in more detail. Therefore, the intrinsic capabilities and limitations of different numerical approaches in terms of accounting for the micro-mechanics of crystalline rocks and their phenomenal mechanical behavior are explicitly presented.

Integral-equation based methods for parameter estimation in output pulses of radiation detectors: Application in nuclear medicine and spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammadian-Behbahani, Mohammad-Reza; Saramad, Shahyar

2018-04-01

Model based analysis methods are relatively new approaches for processing the output data of radiation detectors in nuclear medicine imaging and spectroscopy. A class of such methods requires fast algorithms for fitting pulse models to experimental data. In order to apply integral-equation based methods for processing the preamplifier output pulses, this article proposes a fast and simple method for estimating the parameters of the well-known bi-exponential pulse model by solving an integral equation. The proposed method needs samples from only three points of the recorded pulse as well as its first and second order integrals. After optimizing the sampling points, the estimation results were calculated and compared with two traditional integration-based methods. Different noise levels (signal-to-noise ratios from 10 to 3000) were simulated for testing the functionality of the proposed method, then it was applied to a set of experimental pulses. Finally, the effect of quantization noise was assessed by studying different sampling rates. Promising results by the proposed method endorse it for future real-time applications.

Groundwater Evapotranspiration from Diurnal Water Table Fluctuation: a Modified White Based Method Using Drainable and Fillable Porosity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acharya, S.; Mylavarapu, R.; Jawitz, J. W.

2012-12-01

In shallow unconfined aquifers, the water table usually shows a distinct diurnal fluctuation pattern corresponding to the twenty-four hour solar radiation cycle. This diurnal water table fluctuation (DWTF) signal can be used to estimate the groundwater evapotranspiration (ETg) by vegetation, a method known as the White [1932] method. Water table fluctuations in shallow phreatic aquifers is controlled by two distinct storage parameters, drainable porosity (or specific yield) and the fillable porosity. Yet, it is implicitly assumed in most studies that these two parameters are equal, unless hysteresis effect is considered. The White based method available in the literature is also based on a single drainable porosity parameter to estimate the ETg. In this study, we present a modification of the White based method to estimate ETg from DWTF using separate drainable (λd) and fillable porosity (λf) parameters. Separate analytical expressions based on successive steady state moisture profiles are used to estimate λd and λf, instead of the commonly employed hydrostatic moisture profile approach. The modified method is then applied to estimate ETg using the DWTF data observed in a field in northeast Florida and the results are compared with ET estimations from the standard Penman-Monteith equation. It is found that the modified method resulted in significantly better estimates of ETg than the previously available method that used only a single, hydrostatic-moisture-profile based λd. Furthermore, the modified method is also used to estimate ETg even during rainfall events which produced significantly better estimates of ETg as compared to the single λd parameter method.

Comparison of two DSC-based methods to predict drug-polymer solubility.

PubMed

Rask, Malte Bille; Knopp, Matthias Manne; Olesen, Niels Erik; Holm, René; Rades, Thomas

2018-04-05

The aim of the present study was to compare two DSC-based methods to predict drug-polymer solubility (melting point depression method and recrystallization method) and propose a guideline for selecting the most suitable method based on physicochemical properties of both the drug and the polymer. Using the two methods, the solubilities of celecoxib, indomethacin, carbamazepine, and ritonavir in polyvinylpyrrolidone, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, and Soluplus® were determined at elevated temperatures and extrapolated to room temperature using the Flory-Huggins model. For the melting point depression method, it was observed that a well-defined drug melting point was required in order to predict drug-polymer solubility, since the method is based on the depression of the melting point as a function of polymer content. In contrast to previous findings, it was possible to measure melting point depression up to 20 °C below the glass transition temperature (T g ) of the polymer for some systems. Nevertheless, in general it was possible to obtain solubility measurements at lower temperatures using polymers with a low T g . Finally, for the recrystallization method it was found that the experimental composition dependence of the T g must be differentiable for compositions ranging from 50 to 90% drug (w/w) so that one T g corresponds to only one composition. Based on these findings, a guideline for selecting the most suitable thermal method to predict drug-polymer solubility based on the physicochemical properties of the drug and polymer is suggested in the form of a decision tree. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modeling method of time sequence model based grey system theory and application proceedings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Xuexia; Luo, Yaling; Zhang, Shiqiang

2015-12-01

This article gives a modeling method of grey system GM(1,1) model based on reusing information and the grey system theory. This method not only extremely enhances the fitting and predicting accuracy of GM(1,1) model, but also maintains the conventional routes' merit of simple computation. By this way, we have given one syphilis trend forecast method based on reusing information and the grey system GM(1,1) model.

Measurement of susceptibility artifacts with histogram-based reference value on magnetic resonance images according to standard ASTM F2119.

PubMed

Heinrich, Andreas; Teichgräber, Ulf K; Güttler, Felix V

2015-12-01

The standard ASTM F2119 describes a test method for measuring the size of a susceptibility artifact based on the example of a passive implant. A pixel in an image is considered to be a part of an image artifact if the intensity is changed by at least 30% in the presence of a test object, compared to a reference image in which the test object is absent (reference value). The aim of this paper is to simplify and accelerate the test method using a histogram-based reference value. Four test objects were scanned parallel and perpendicular to the main magnetic field, and the largest susceptibility artifacts were measured using two methods of reference value determination (reference image-based and histogram-based reference value). The results between both methods were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test. The difference between both reference values was 42.35 ± 23.66. The difference of artifact size was 0.64 ± 0.69 mm. The artifact sizes of both methods did not show significant differences; the p-value of the Mann-Whitney U-test was between 0.710 and 0.521. A standard-conform method for a rapid, objective, and reproducible evaluation of susceptibility artifacts could be implemented. The result of the histogram-based method does not significantly differ from the ASTM-conform method.

Effectiveness of Variable-Gain Kalman Filter Based on Angle Error Calculated from Acceleration Signals in Lower Limb Angle Measurement with Inertial Sensors

PubMed Central

Watanabe, Takashi

2013-01-01

The wearable sensor system developed by our group, which measured lower limb angles using Kalman-filtering-based method, was suggested to be useful in evaluation of gait function for rehabilitation support. However, it was expected to reduce variations of measurement errors. In this paper, a variable-Kalman-gain method based on angle error that was calculated from acceleration signals was proposed to improve measurement accuracy. The proposed method was tested comparing to fixed-gain Kalman filter and a variable-Kalman-gain method that was based on acceleration magnitude used in previous studies. First, in angle measurement in treadmill walking, the proposed method measured lower limb angles with the highest measurement accuracy and improved significantly foot inclination angle measurement, while it improved slightly shank and thigh inclination angles. The variable-gain method based on acceleration magnitude was not effective for our Kalman filter system. Then, in angle measurement of a rigid body model, it was shown that the proposed method had measurement accuracy similar to or higher than results seen in other studies that used markers of camera-based motion measurement system fixing on a rigid plate together with a sensor or on the sensor directly. The proposed method was found to be effective in angle measurement with inertial sensors. PMID:24282442

Comparison between two statistically based methods, and two physically based models developed to compute daily mean streamflow at ungaged locations in the Cedar River Basin, Iowa

USGS Publications Warehouse

Linhart, S. Mike; Nania, Jon F.; Christiansen, Daniel E.; Hutchinson, Kasey J.; Sanders, Curtis L.; Archfield, Stacey A.

2013-01-01

A variety of individuals from water resource managers to recreational users need streamflow information for planning and decisionmaking at locations where there are no streamgages. To address this problem, two statistically based methods, the Flow Duration Curve Transfer method and the Flow Anywhere method, were developed for statewide application and the two physically based models, the Precipitation Runoff Modeling-System and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, were only developed for application for the Cedar River Basin. Observed and estimated streamflows for the two methods and models were compared for goodness of fit at 13 streamgages modeled in the Cedar River Basin by using the Nash-Sutcliffe and the percent-bias efficiency values. Based on median and mean Nash-Sutcliffe values for the 13 streamgages the Precipitation Runoff Modeling-System and Soil and Water Assessment Tool models appear to have performed similarly and better than Flow Duration Curve Transfer and Flow Anywhere methods. Based on median and mean percent bias values, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model appears to have generally overestimated daily mean streamflows, whereas the Precipitation Runoff Modeling-System model and statistical methods appear to have underestimated daily mean streamflows. The Flow Duration Curve Transfer method produced the lowest median and mean percent bias values and appears to perform better than the other models.

Registration of T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted MR images of the prostate: comparison between manual and landmark-based methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Yahui; Jiang, Yulei; Soylu, Fatma N.; Tomek, Mark; Sensakovic, William; Oto, Aytekin

2012-02-01

Quantitative analysis of multi-parametric magnetic resonance (MR) images of the prostate, including T2-weighted (T2w) and diffusion-weighted (DW) images, requires accurate image registration. We compared two registration methods between T2w and DW images. We collected pre-operative MR images of 124 prostate cancer patients (68 patients scanned with a GE scanner and 56 with Philips scanners). A landmark-based rigid registration was done based on six prostate landmarks in both T2w and DW images identified by a radiologist. Independently, a researcher manually registered the same images. A radiologist visually evaluated the registration results by using a 5-point ordinal scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to determine whether the radiologist's ratings of the results of the two registration methods were significantly different. Results demonstrated that both methods were accurate: the average ratings were 4.2, 3.3, and 3.8 for GE, Philips, and all images, respectively, for the landmark-based method; and 4.6, 3.7, and 4.2, respectively, for the manual method. The manual registration results were more accurate than the landmark-based registration results (p < 0.0001 for GE, Philips, and all images). Therefore, the manual method produces more accurate registration between T2w and DW images than the landmark-based method.

Propensity Score-Based Methods versus MTE-Based Methods in Causal Inference: Identification, Estimation, and Application

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Xiang; Xie, Yu

2016-01-01

Since the seminal introduction of the propensity score (PS) by Rosenbaum and Rubin, PS-based methods have been widely used for drawing causal inferences in the behavioral and social sciences. However, the PS approach depends on the ignorability assumption: there are no unobserved confounders once observed covariates are taken into account. For…

Target Detection and Classification Using Seismic and PIR Sensors

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

time series analysis via wavelet - based partitioning,” Signal Process...regard, this paper presents a wavelet - based method for target detection and classification. The proposed method has been validated on data sets of...The work reported in this paper makes use of a wavelet - based feature extraction method , called Symbolic Dynamic Filtering (SDF) [12]–[14]. The

Proposal of Classification Method of Time Series Data in International Emissions Trading Market Using Agent-based Simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakada, Tomohiro; Takadama, Keiki; Watanabe, Shigeyoshi

This paper proposes the classification method using Bayesian analytical method to classify the time series data in the international emissions trading market depend on the agent-based simulation and compares the case with Discrete Fourier transform analytical method. The purpose demonstrates the analytical methods mapping time series data such as market price. These analytical methods have revealed the following results: (1) the classification methods indicate the distance of mapping from the time series data, it is easier the understanding and inference than time series data; (2) these methods can analyze the uncertain time series data using the distance via agent-based simulation including stationary process and non-stationary process; and (3) Bayesian analytical method can show the 1% difference description of the emission reduction targets of agent.

Ontology-Based Method for Fault Diagnosis of Loaders.

PubMed

Xu, Feixiang; Liu, Xinhui; Chen, Wei; Zhou, Chen; Cao, Bingwei

2018-02-28

This paper proposes an ontology-based fault diagnosis method which overcomes the difficulty of understanding complex fault diagnosis knowledge of loaders and offers a universal approach for fault diagnosis of all loaders. This method contains the following components: (1) An ontology-based fault diagnosis model is proposed to achieve the integrating, sharing and reusing of fault diagnosis knowledge for loaders; (2) combined with ontology, CBR (case-based reasoning) is introduced to realize effective and accurate fault diagnoses following four steps (feature selection, case-retrieval, case-matching and case-updating); and (3) in order to cover the shortages of the CBR method due to the lack of concerned cases, ontology based RBR (rule-based reasoning) is put forward through building SWRL (Semantic Web Rule Language) rules. An application program is also developed to implement the above methods to assist in finding the fault causes, fault locations and maintenance measures of loaders. In addition, the program is validated through analyzing a case study.

Multirate sampled-data yaw-damper and modal suppression system design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berg, Martin C.; Mason, Gregory S.

1990-01-01

A multirate control law synthesized algorithm based on an infinite-time quadratic cost function, was developed along with a method for analyzing the robustness of multirate systems. A generalized multirate sampled-data control law structure (GMCLS) was introduced. A new infinite-time-based parameter optimization multirate sampled-data control law synthesis method and solution algorithm were developed. A singular-value-based method for determining gain and phase margins for multirate systems was also developed. The finite-time-based parameter optimization multirate sampled-data control law synthesis algorithm originally intended to be applied to the aircraft problem was instead demonstrated by application to a simpler problem involving the control of the tip position of a two-link robot arm. The GMCLS, the infinite-time-based parameter optimization multirate control law synthesis method and solution algorithm, and the singular-value based method for determining gain and phase margins were all demonstrated by application to the aircraft control problem originally proposed for this project.

Ontology-Based Method for Fault Diagnosis of Loaders

PubMed Central

Liu, Xinhui; Chen, Wei; Zhou, Chen; Cao, Bingwei

2018-01-01

This paper proposes an ontology-based fault diagnosis method which overcomes the difficulty of understanding complex fault diagnosis knowledge of loaders and offers a universal approach for fault diagnosis of all loaders. This method contains the following components: (1) An ontology-based fault diagnosis model is proposed to achieve the integrating, sharing and reusing of fault diagnosis knowledge for loaders; (2) combined with ontology, CBR (case-based reasoning) is introduced to realize effective and accurate fault diagnoses following four steps (feature selection, case-retrieval, case-matching and case-updating); and (3) in order to cover the shortages of the CBR method due to the lack of concerned cases, ontology based RBR (rule-based reasoning) is put forward through building SWRL (Semantic Web Rule Language) rules. An application program is also developed to implement the above methods to assist in finding the fault causes, fault locations and maintenance measures of loaders. In addition, the program is validated through analyzing a case study. PMID:29495646

Label-free optical detection of single-base mismatches by the combination of nuclease and gold nanoparticles.

PubMed

Liu, Meiying; Yuan, Min; Lou, Xinhui; Mao, Hongju; Zheng, Dongmei; Zou, Ruxing; Zou, Nengli; Tang, Xiangrong; Zhao, Jianlong

2011-07-15

We report here an optical approach that enables highly selective and colorimetric single-base mismatch detection without the need of target modification, precise temperature control or stringent washes. The method is based on the finding that nucleoside monophosphates (dNMPs), which are digested elements of DNA, can better stabilize unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) than single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) with the same base-composition and concentration. The method combines the exceptional mismatch discrimination capability of the structure-selective nucleases with the attractive optical property of AuNPs. Taking S1 nuclease as one example, the perfectly matched 16-base synthetic DNA target was distinctively differentiated from those with single-base mutation located at any position of the 16-base synthetic target. Single-base mutations present in targets with varied length up to 80-base, located either in the middle or near to the end of the targets, were all effectively detected. In order to prove that the method can be potentially used for real clinic samples, the single-base mismatch detections with two HBV genomic DNA samples were conducted. To further prove the generality of this method and potentially overcome the limitation on the detectable lengths of the targets of the S1 nuclease-based method, we also demonstrated the use of a duplex-specific nuclease (DSN) for color reversed single-base mismatch detection. The main limitation of the demonstrated methods is that it is limited to detect mutations in purified ssDNA targets. However, the method coupled with various convenient ssDNA generation and purification techniques, has the potential to be used for the future development of detector-free testing kits in single nucleotide polymorphism screenings for disease diagnostics and treatments. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrochemical Polishing Applications and EIS of a Vitamin B{sub 4}-Based Ionic Liquid

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

Wixtrom, Alex I.; Buhler, Jessica E.; Reece, Charles E.

2013-01-01

Modern particle accelerators require minimal interior surface roughness for Niobium superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. Polishing of the Nb is currently achieved via electrochemical polishing with concentrated mixtures of sulfuric and hydrofluoric acids. This acid-based approach is effective at reducing the surface roughness to acceptable levels for SRF use, but due to acid-related hazards and extra costs (including safe disposal of used polishing solutions), an acid-free method would be preferable. This study focuses on an alternative electrochemical polishing method for Nb, using a novel ionic liquid solution containing choline chloride, also known as Vitamin B{sub 4} (VB{sub 4}). Potentiostatic electrochemicalmore » impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was also performed on the VB4-based system. Nb polished using the VB4-based method was found to have a final surface roughness comparable to that achieved via the acid-based method, as assessed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). These findings indicate that acid-free VB{sub 4}-based electrochemical polishing of Nb represents a promising replacement for acid-based methods of SRF cavity preparation.« less

Comparison of different estimation techniques for biomass concentration in large scale yeast fermentation.

PubMed

Hocalar, A; Türker, M; Karakuzu, C; Yüzgeç, U

2011-04-01

In this study, previously developed five different state estimation methods are examined and compared for estimation of biomass concentrations at a production scale fed-batch bioprocess. These methods are i. estimation based on kinetic model of overflow metabolism; ii. estimation based on metabolic black-box model; iii. estimation based on observer; iv. estimation based on artificial neural network; v. estimation based on differential evaluation. Biomass concentrations are estimated from available measurements and compared with experimental data obtained from large scale fermentations. The advantages and disadvantages of the presented techniques are discussed with regard to accuracy, reproducibility, number of primary measurements required and adaptation to different working conditions. Among the various techniques, the metabolic black-box method seems to have advantages although the number of measurements required is more than that for the other methods. However, the required extra measurements are based on commonly employed instruments in an industrial environment. This method is used for developing a model based control of fed-batch yeast fermentations. Copyright © 2010 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[A graph cuts-based interactive method for segmentation of magnetic resonance images of meningioma].

PubMed

Li, Shuan-qiang; Feng, Qian-jin; Chen, Wu-fan; Lin, Ya-zhong

2011-06-01

For accurate segmentation of the magnetic resonance (MR) images of meningioma, we propose a novel interactive segmentation method based on graph cuts. The high dimensional image features was extracted, and for each pixel, the probabilities of its origin, either the tumor or the background regions, were estimated by exploiting the weighted K-nearest neighborhood classifier. Based on these probabilities, a new energy function was proposed. Finally, a graph cut optimal framework was used for the solution of the energy function. The proposed method was evaluated by application in the segmentation of MR images of meningioma, and the results showed that the method significantly improved the segmentation accuracy compared with the gray level information-based graph cut method.

Scene-based nonuniformity correction with reduced ghosting using a gated LMS algorithm.

PubMed

Hardie, Russell C; Baxley, Frank; Brys, Brandon; Hytla, Patrick

2009-08-17

In this paper, we present a scene-based nouniformity correction (NUC) method using a modified adaptive least mean square (LMS) algorithm with a novel gating operation on the updates. The gating is designed to significantly reduce ghosting artifacts produced by many scene-based NUC algorithms by halting updates when temporal variation is lacking. We define the algorithm and present a number of experimental results to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method in comparison to several previously published methods including other LMS and constant statistics based methods. The experimental results include simulated imagery and a real infrared image sequence. We show that the proposed method significantly reduces ghosting artifacts, but has a slightly longer convergence time. (c) 2009 Optical Society of America

Using distances between Top-n-gram and residue pairs for protein remote homology detection.

PubMed

Liu, Bin; Xu, Jinghao; Zou, Quan; Xu, Ruifeng; Wang, Xiaolong; Chen, Qingcai

2014-01-01

Protein remote homology detection is one of the central problems in bioinformatics, which is important for both basic research and practical application. Currently, discriminative methods based on Support Vector Machines (SVMs) achieve the state-of-the-art performance. Exploring feature vectors incorporating the position information of amino acids or other protein building blocks is a key step to improve the performance of the SVM-based methods. Two new methods for protein remote homology detection were proposed, called SVM-DR and SVM-DT. SVM-DR is a sequence-based method, in which the feature vector representation for protein is based on the distances between residue pairs. SVM-DT is a profile-based method, which considers the distances between Top-n-gram pairs. Top-n-gram can be viewed as a profile-based building block of proteins, which is calculated from the frequency profiles. These two methods are position dependent approaches incorporating the sequence-order information of protein sequences. Various experiments were conducted on a benchmark dataset containing 54 families and 23 superfamilies. Experimental results showed that these two new methods are very promising. Compared with the position independent methods, the performance improvement is obvious. Furthermore, the proposed methods can also provide useful insights for studying the features of protein families. The better performance of the proposed methods demonstrates that the position dependant approaches are efficient for protein remote homology detection. Another advantage of our methods arises from the explicit feature space representation, which can be used to analyze the characteristic features of protein families. The source code of SVM-DT and SVM-DR is available at http://bioinformatics.hitsz.edu.cn/DistanceSVM/index.jsp.

Contact resistance extraction methods for short- and long-channel carbon nanotube field-effect transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pacheco-Sanchez, Anibal; Claus, Martin; Mothes, Sven; Schröter, Michael

2016-11-01

Three different methods for the extraction of the contact resistance based on both the well-known transfer length method (TLM) and two variants of the Y-function method have been applied to simulation and experimental data of short- and long-channel CNTFETs. While for TLM special CNT test structures are mandatory, standard electrical device characteristics are sufficient for the Y-function methods. The methods have been applied to CNTFETs with low and high channel resistance. It turned out that the standard Y-function method fails to deliver the correct contact resistance in case of a relatively high channel resistance compared to the contact resistances. A physics-based validation is also given for the application of these methods based on applying traditional Si MOSFET theory to quasi-ballistic CNTFETs.

MR Imaging-based Semi-quantitative Methods for Knee Osteoarthritis

PubMed Central

JARRAYA, Mohamed; HAYASHI, Daichi; ROEMER, Frank Wolfgang; GUERMAZI, Ali

2016-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based semi-quantitative (SQ) methods applied to knee osteoarthritis (OA) have been introduced during the last decade and have fundamentally changed our understanding of knee OA pathology since then. Several epidemiological studies and clinical trials have used MRI-based SQ methods to evaluate different outcome measures. Interest in MRI-based SQ scoring system has led to continuous update and refinement. This article reviews the different SQ approaches for MRI-based whole organ assessment of knee OA and also discuss practical aspects of whole joint assessment. PMID:26632537

METHOD OF JOINING CARBIDES TO BASE METALS

DOEpatents

Krikorian, N.H.; Farr, J.D.; Witteman, W.G.

1962-02-13

A method is described for joining a refractory metal carbide such as UC or ZrC to a refractory metal base such as Ta or Nb. The method comprises carburizing the surface of the metal base and then sintering the base and carbide at temperatures of about 2000 deg C in a non-oxidizing atmosphere, the base and carbide being held in contact during the sintering step. To reduce the sintering temperature and time, a sintering aid such as iron, nickel, or cobait is added to the carbide, not to exceed 5 wt%. (AEC)

Comparison of traditional trigger tool to data warehouse based screening for identifying hospital adverse events.

PubMed

O'Leary, Kevin J; Devisetty, Vikram K; Patel, Amitkumar R; Malkenson, David; Sama, Pradeep; Thompson, William K; Landler, Matthew P; Barnard, Cynthia; Williams, Mark V

2013-02-01

Research supports medical record review using screening triggers as the optimal method to detect hospital adverse events (AE), yet the method is labour-intensive. This study compared a traditional trigger tool with an enterprise data warehouse (EDW) based screening method to detect AEs. We created 51 automated queries based on 33 traditional triggers from prior research, and then applied them to 250 randomly selected medical patients hospitalised between 1 September 2009 and 31 August 2010. Two physicians each abstracted records from half the patients using a traditional trigger tool and then performed targeted abstractions for patients with positive EDW queries in the complementary half of the sample. A third physician confirmed presence of AEs and assessed preventability and severity. Traditional trigger tool and EDW based screening identified 54 (22%) and 53 (21%) patients with one or more AE. Overall, 140 (56%) patients had one or more positive EDW screens (total 366 positive screens). Of the 137 AEs detected by at least one method, 86 (63%) were detected by a traditional trigger tool, 97 (71%) by EDW based screening and 46 (34%) by both methods. Of the 11 total preventable AEs, 6 (55%) were detected by traditional trigger tool, 7 (64%) by EDW based screening and 2 (18%) by both methods. Of the 43 total serious AEs, 28 (65%) were detected by traditional trigger tool, 29 (67%) by EDW based screening and 14 (33%) by both. We found relatively poor agreement between traditional trigger tool and EDW based screening with only approximately a third of all AEs detected by both methods. A combination of complementary methods is the optimal approach to detecting AEs among hospitalised patients.

A Novel Quantum Dots-Based Point of Care Test for Syphilis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Hao; Li, Ding; He, Rong; Guo, Qin; Wang, Kan; Zhang, Xueqing; Huang, Peng; Cui, Daxiang

2010-05-01

One-step lateral flow test is recommended as the first line screening of syphilis for primary healthcare settings in developing countries. However, it generally shows low sensitivity. We describe here the development of a novel fluorescent POC (Point Of Care) test method to be used for screening for syphilis. The method was designed to combine the rapidness of lateral flow test and sensitiveness of fluorescent method. 50 syphilis-positive specimens and 50 healthy specimens conformed by Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) were tested with Quantum Dot-labeled and colloidal gold-labeled lateral flow test strips, respectively. The results showed that both sensitivity and specificity of the quantum dots-based method reached up to 100% (95% confidence interval [CI], 91-100%), while those of the colloidal gold-based method were 82% (95% CI, 68-91%) and 100% (95% CI, 91-100%), respectively. In addition, the naked-eye detection limit of quantum dot-based method could achieve 2 ng/ml of anti-TP47 polyclonal antibodies purified by affinity chromatography with TP47 antigen, which was tenfold higher than that of colloidal gold-based method. In conclusion, the quantum dots were found to be suitable for labels of lateral flow test strip. Its ease of use, sensitiveness and low cost make it well-suited for population-based on-the-site syphilis screening.

An aggregate method to calibrate the reference point of cumulative prospect theory-based route choice model for urban transit network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yufeng; Long, Man; Luo, Sida; Bao, Yu; Shen, Hanxia

2015-12-01

Transit route choice model is the key technology of public transit systems planning and management. Traditional route choice models are mostly based on expected utility theory which has an evident shortcoming that it cannot accurately portray travelers' subjective route choice behavior for their risk preferences are not taken into consideration. Cumulative prospect theory (CPT), a brand new theory, can be used to describe travelers' decision-making process under the condition of uncertainty of transit supply and risk preferences of multi-type travelers. The method to calibrate the reference point, a key parameter to CPT-based transit route choice model, determines the precision of the model to a great extent. In this paper, a new method is put forward to obtain the value of reference point which combines theoretical calculation and field investigation results. Comparing the proposed method with traditional method, it shows that the new method can promote the quality of CPT-based model by improving the accuracy in simulating travelers' route choice behaviors based on transit trip investigation from Nanjing City, China. The proposed method is of great significance to logical transit planning and management, and to some extent makes up the defect that obtaining the reference point is solely based on qualitative analysis.

Comparative evaluation of tensile bond strength of a polyvinyl acetate-based resilient liner following various denture base surface pre-treatment methods and immersion in artificial salivary medium: An in vitro study.

PubMed

Philip, Jacob M; Ganapathy, Dhanraj M; Ariga, Padma

2012-07-01

This study was formulated to evaluate and estimate the influence of various denture base resin surface pre-treatments (chemical and mechanical and combinations) upon tensile bond strength between a poly vinyl acetate-based denture liner and a denture base resin. A universal testing machine was used for determining the bond strength of the liner to surface pre-treated acrylic resin blocks. The data was analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and the t-test (α =.05). This study infers that denture base surface pre-treatment can improve the adhesive tensile bond strength between the liner and denture base specimens. The results of this study infer that chemical, mechanical, and mechano-chemical pre-treatments will have different effects on the bond strength of the acrylic soft resilient liner to the denture base. Among the various methods of pre-treatment of denture base resins, it was inferred that the mechano-chemical pre-treatment method with air-borne particle abrasion followed by monomer application exhibited superior bond strength than other methods with the resilient liner. Hence, this method could be effectively used to improve bond strength between liner and denture base and thus could minimize delamination of liner from the denture base during function.

Web-Based Versus Conventional Training for Medical Students on Infant Gross Motor Screening.

PubMed

Pusponegoro, Hardiono D; Soebadi, Amanda; Surya, Raymond

2015-12-01

Early detection of developmental abnormalities is important for early intervention. A simple screening method is needed for use by general practitioners, as is an effective and efficient training method. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness, acceptability, and usability of Web-based training for medical students on a simple gross motor screening method in infants. Fifth-year medical students at University of Indonesia in Jakarta were randomized into two groups. A Web-based training group received online video modules, discussions, and assessments (at www.schoology.com ). A conventional training group received a 1-day live training using the same module. Both groups completed identical pre- and posttests and the User Satisfaction Questionnaire (USQ). The Web-based group also completed the System Usability Scale (SUS). The module was based on a gross motor screening method used in the World Health Organization Multicentre Growth Reference Study. There were 39 and 32 subjects in the Web-based and conventional groups, respectively. Mean pretest versus posttest scores (correct answers out of 20) were 9.05 versus 16.95 (p=0.0001) in the Web-based group and 9.31 versus 16.88 (p=0.0001) in the conventional group. Mean difference between pre- and posttest scores did not differ significantly between the Web-based and conventional groups (mean [standard deviation], 7.56 [3.252] versus 7.90 [5.170]; p=0.741]. Both training methods were acceptable based on USQ scores. Based on SUS scores, the Web-based training had good usability. Web-based training is an effective, efficient, and acceptable training method for medical students on simple infant gross motor screening and is as effective as conventional training.

TESOL Methods: Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kumaravadivelu, B.

2006-01-01

This article traces the major trends in TESOL methods in the past 15 years. It focuses on the TESOL profession's evolving perspectives on language teaching methods in terms of three perceptible shifts: (a) from communicative language teaching to task-based language teaching, (b) from method-based pedagogy to postmethod pedagogy, and (c) from…

A comparison between Gauss-Newton and Markov chain Monte Carlo basedmethods for inverting spectral induced polarization data for Cole-Coleparameters

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

Chen, Jinsong; Kemna, Andreas; Hubbard, Susan S.

2008-05-15

We develop a Bayesian model to invert spectral induced polarization (SIP) data for Cole-Cole parameters using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling methods. We compare the performance of the MCMC based stochastic method with an iterative Gauss-Newton based deterministic method for Cole-Cole parameter estimation through inversion of synthetic and laboratory SIP data. The Gauss-Newton based method can provide an optimal solution for given objective functions under constraints, but the obtained optimal solution generally depends on the choice of initial values and the estimated uncertainty information is often inaccurate or insufficient. In contrast, the MCMC based inversion method provides extensive globalmore » information on unknown parameters, such as the marginal probability distribution functions, from which we can obtain better estimates and tighter uncertainty bounds of the parameters than with the deterministic method. Additionally, the results obtained with the MCMC method are independent of the choice of initial values. Because the MCMC based method does not explicitly offer single optimal solution for given objective functions, the deterministic and stochastic methods can complement each other. For example, the stochastic method can first be used to obtain the means of the unknown parameters by starting from an arbitrary set of initial values and the deterministic method can then be initiated using the means as starting values to obtain the optimal estimates of the Cole-Cole parameters.« less

An opinion formation based binary optimization approach for feature selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamedmoghadam, Homayoun; Jalili, Mahdi; Yu, Xinghuo

2018-02-01

This paper proposed a novel optimization method based on opinion formation in complex network systems. The proposed optimization technique mimics human-human interaction mechanism based on a mathematical model derived from social sciences. Our method encodes a subset of selected features to the opinion of an artificial agent and simulates the opinion formation process among a population of agents to solve the feature selection problem. The agents interact using an underlying interaction network structure and get into consensus in their opinions, while finding better solutions to the problem. A number of mechanisms are employed to avoid getting trapped in local minima. We compare the performance of the proposed method with a number of classical population-based optimization methods and a state-of-the-art opinion formation based method. Our experiments on a number of high dimensional datasets reveal outperformance of the proposed algorithm over others.

An XML-based method for astronomy software designing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Mingxue; Aili, Yusupu; Zhang, Jin

XML-based method for standardization of software designing is introduced and analyzed and successfully applied to renovating the hardware and software of the digital clock at Urumqi Astronomical Station. Basic strategy for eliciting time information from the new digital clock of FT206 in the antenna control program is introduced. By FT206, the need to compute how many centuries passed since a certain day with sophisticated formulas is eliminated and it is no longer necessary to set right UT time for the computer holding control over antenna because the information about year, month, day are all deduced from Julian day dwelling in FT206, rather than from computer time. With XML-based method and standard for software designing, various existing designing methods are unified, communications and collaborations between developers are facilitated, and thus Internet-based mode of developing software becomes possible. The trend of development of XML-based designing method is predicted.

Salient object detection: manifold-based similarity adaptation approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Jingbo; Ren, Yongfeng; Yan, Yunyang; Gao, Shangbing

2014-11-01

A saliency detection algorithm based on manifold-based similarity adaptation is proposed. The proposed algorithm is divided into three steps. First, we segment an input image into superpixels, which are represented as the nodes in a graph. Second, a new similarity measurement is used in the proposed algorithm. The weight matrix of the graph, which indicates the similarities between the nodes, uses a similarity-based method. It also captures the manifold structure of the image patches, in which the graph edges are determined in a data adaptive manner in terms of both similarity and manifold structure. Then, we use local reconstruction method as a diffusion method to obtain the saliency maps. The objective function in the proposed method is based on local reconstruction, with which estimated weights capture the manifold structure. Experiments on four bench-mark databases demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method.

Information Theory and Voting Based Consensus Clustering for Combining Multiple Clusterings of Chemical Structures.

PubMed

Saeed, Faisal; Salim, Naomie; Abdo, Ammar

2013-07-01

Many consensus clustering methods have been applied in different areas such as pattern recognition, machine learning, information theory and bioinformatics. However, few methods have been used for chemical compounds clustering. In this paper, an information theory and voting based algorithm (Adaptive Cumulative Voting-based Aggregation Algorithm A-CVAA) was examined for combining multiple clusterings of chemical structures. The effectiveness of clusterings was evaluated based on the ability of the clustering method to separate active from inactive molecules in each cluster, and the results were compared with Ward's method. The chemical dataset MDL Drug Data Report (MDDR) and the Maximum Unbiased Validation (MUV) dataset were used. Experiments suggest that the adaptive cumulative voting-based consensus method can improve the effectiveness of combining multiple clusterings of chemical structures. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Context-sensitive trace inlining for Java.

PubMed

Häubl, Christian; Wimmer, Christian; Mössenböck, Hanspeter

2013-12-01

Method inlining is one of the most important optimizations in method-based just-in-time (JIT) compilers. It widens the compilation scope and therefore allows optimizing multiple methods as a whole, which increases the performance. However, if method inlining is used too frequently, the compilation time increases and too much machine code is generated. This has negative effects on the performance. Trace-based JIT compilers only compile frequently executed paths, so-called traces, instead of whole methods. This may result in faster compilation, less generated machine code, and better optimized machine code. In the previous work, we implemented a trace recording infrastructure and a trace-based compiler for [Formula: see text], by modifying the Java HotSpot VM. Based on this work, we evaluate the effect of trace inlining on the performance and the amount of generated machine code. Trace inlining has several major advantages when compared to method inlining. First, trace inlining is more selective than method inlining, because only frequently executed paths are inlined. Second, the recorded traces may capture information about virtual calls, which simplify inlining. A third advantage is that trace information is context sensitive so that different method parts can be inlined depending on the specific call site. These advantages allow more aggressive inlining while the amount of generated machine code is still reasonable. We evaluate several inlining heuristics on the benchmark suites DaCapo 9.12 Bach, SPECjbb2005, and SPECjvm2008 and show that our trace-based compiler achieves an up to 51% higher peak performance than the method-based Java HotSpot client compiler. Furthermore, we show that the large compilation scope of our trace-based compiler has a positive effect on other compiler optimizations such as constant folding or null check elimination.

9 CFR 149.6 - Slaughter facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... result based on an ELISA method and is confirmed positive by further testing using the digestion method... decertified. (C) If a test sample yields a positive test result based on an ELISA method, but is not confirmed...

9 CFR 149.6 - Slaughter facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... result based on an ELISA method and is confirmed positive by further testing using the digestion method... decertified. (C) If a test sample yields a positive test result based on an ELISA method, but is not confirmed...

9 CFR 149.6 - Slaughter facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... result based on an ELISA method and is confirmed positive by further testing using the digestion method... decertified. (C) If a test sample yields a positive test result based on an ELISA method, but is not confirmed...

9 CFR 149.6 - Slaughter facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... result based on an ELISA method and is confirmed positive by further testing using the digestion method... decertified. (C) If a test sample yields a positive test result based on an ELISA method, but is not confirmed...

9 CFR 149.6 - Slaughter facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... result based on an ELISA method and is confirmed positive by further testing using the digestion method... decertified. (C) If a test sample yields a positive test result based on an ELISA method, but is not confirmed...

Filling the gap in functional trait databases: use of ecological hypotheses to replace missing data.

PubMed

Taugourdeau, Simon; Villerd, Jean; Plantureux, Sylvain; Huguenin-Elie, Olivier; Amiaud, Bernard

2014-04-01

Functional trait databases are powerful tools in ecology, though most of them contain large amounts of missing values. The goal of this study was to test the effect of imputation methods on the evaluation of trait values at species level and on the subsequent calculation of functional diversity indices at community level using functional trait databases. Two simple imputation methods (average and median), two methods based on ecological hypotheses, and one multiple imputation method were tested using a large plant trait database, together with the influence of the percentage of missing data and differences between functional traits. At community level, the complete-case approach and three functional diversity indices calculated from grassland plant communities were included. At the species level, one of the methods based on ecological hypothesis was for all traits more accurate than imputation with average or median values, but the multiple imputation method was superior for most of the traits. The method based on functional proximity between species was the best method for traits with an unbalanced distribution, while the method based on the existence of relationships between traits was the best for traits with a balanced distribution. The ranking of the grassland communities for their functional diversity indices was not robust with the complete-case approach, even for low percentages of missing data. With the imputation methods based on ecological hypotheses, functional diversity indices could be computed with a maximum of 30% of missing data, without affecting the ranking between grassland communities. The multiple imputation method performed well, but not better than single imputation based on ecological hypothesis and adapted to the distribution of the trait values for the functional identity and range of the communities. Ecological studies using functional trait databases have to deal with missing data using imputation methods corresponding to their specific needs and making the most out of the information available in the databases. Within this framework, this study indicates the possibilities and limits of single imputation methods based on ecological hypothesis and concludes that they could be useful when studying the ranking of communities for their functional diversity indices.

Filling the gap in functional trait databases: use of ecological hypotheses to replace missing data

PubMed Central

Taugourdeau, Simon; Villerd, Jean; Plantureux, Sylvain; Huguenin-Elie, Olivier; Amiaud, Bernard

2014-01-01

Functional trait databases are powerful tools in ecology, though most of them contain large amounts of missing values. The goal of this study was to test the effect of imputation methods on the evaluation of trait values at species level and on the subsequent calculation of functional diversity indices at community level using functional trait databases. Two simple imputation methods (average and median), two methods based on ecological hypotheses, and one multiple imputation method were tested using a large plant trait database, together with the influence of the percentage of missing data and differences between functional traits. At community level, the complete-case approach and three functional diversity indices calculated from grassland plant communities were included. At the species level, one of the methods based on ecological hypothesis was for all traits more accurate than imputation with average or median values, but the multiple imputation method was superior for most of the traits. The method based on functional proximity between species was the best method for traits with an unbalanced distribution, while the method based on the existence of relationships between traits was the best for traits with a balanced distribution. The ranking of the grassland communities for their functional diversity indices was not robust with the complete-case approach, even for low percentages of missing data. With the imputation methods based on ecological hypotheses, functional diversity indices could be computed with a maximum of 30% of missing data, without affecting the ranking between grassland communities. The multiple imputation method performed well, but not better than single imputation based on ecological hypothesis and adapted to the distribution of the trait values for the functional identity and range of the communities. Ecological studies using functional trait databases have to deal with missing data using imputation methods corresponding to their specific needs and making the most out of the information available in the databases. Within this framework, this study indicates the possibilities and limits of single imputation methods based on ecological hypothesis and concludes that they could be useful when studying the ranking of communities for their functional diversity indices. PMID:24772273

Reuse of imputed data in microarray analysis increases imputation efficiency

PubMed Central

Kim, Ki-Yeol; Kim, Byoung-Jin; Yi, Gwan-Su

2004-01-01

Background The imputation of missing values is necessary for the efficient use of DNA microarray data, because many clustering algorithms and some statistical analysis require a complete data set. A few imputation methods for DNA microarray data have been introduced, but the efficiency of the methods was low and the validity of imputed values in these methods had not been fully checked. Results We developed a new cluster-based imputation method called sequential K-nearest neighbor (SKNN) method. This imputes the missing values sequentially from the gene having least missing values, and uses the imputed values for the later imputation. Although it uses the imputed values, the efficiency of this new method is greatly improved in its accuracy and computational complexity over the conventional KNN-based method and other methods based on maximum likelihood estimation. The performance of SKNN was in particular higher than other imputation methods for the data with high missing rates and large number of experiments. Application of Expectation Maximization (EM) to the SKNN method improved the accuracy, but increased computational time proportional to the number of iterations. The Multiple Imputation (MI) method, which is well known but not applied previously to microarray data, showed a similarly high accuracy as the SKNN method, with slightly higher dependency on the types of data sets. Conclusions Sequential reuse of imputed data in KNN-based imputation greatly increases the efficiency of imputation. The SKNN method should be practically useful to save the data of some microarray experiments which have high amounts of missing entries. The SKNN method generates reliable imputed values which can be used for further cluster-based analysis of microarray data. PMID:15504240

Sport fishing: a comparison of three indirect methods for estimating benefits.

Treesearch

Darrell L. Hueth; Elizabeth J. Strong; Roger D. Fight

1988-01-01

Three market-based methods for estimating values of sport fishing were compared by using a common data base. The three approaches were the travel-cost method, the hedonic travel-cost method, and the household-production method. A theoretical comparison of the resulting values showed that the results were not fully comparable in several ways. The comparison of empirical...

Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Alignment Mechanisms for Non-Destructive Evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hong, Seunghun

2002-01-01

As proposed in our original proposal, we developed a new innovative method to assemble millions of single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-based circuit components as fast as conventional microfabrication processes. This method is based on surface template assembly strategy. The new method solves one of the major bottlenecks in carbon nanotube based electrical applications and, potentially, may allow us to mass produce a large number of SWCNT-based integrated devices of critical interests to NASA.

Comparing Methods for UAV-Based Autonomous Surveillance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freed, Michael; Harris, Robert; Shafto, Michael

2004-01-01

We describe an approach to evaluating algorithmic and human performance in directing UAV-based surveillance. Its key elements are a decision-theoretic framework for measuring the utility of a surveillance schedule and an evaluation testbed consisting of 243 scenarios covering a well-defined space of possible missions. We apply this approach to two example UAV-based surveillance methods, a TSP-based algorithm and a human-directed approach, then compare them to identify general strengths, and weaknesses of each method.

Space-based optical image encryption.

PubMed

Chen, Wen; Chen, Xudong

2010-12-20

In this paper, we propose a new method based on a three-dimensional (3D) space-based strategy for the optical image encryption. The two-dimensional (2D) processing of a plaintext in the conventional optical encryption methods is extended to a 3D space-based processing. Each pixel of the plaintext is considered as one particle in the proposed space-based optical image encryption, and the diffraction of all particles forms an object wave in the phase-shifting digital holography. The effectiveness and advantages of the proposed method are demonstrated by numerical results. The proposed method can provide a new optical encryption strategy instead of the conventional 2D processing, and may open up a new research perspective for the optical image encryption.

Identifying city PV roof resource based on Gabor filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruhang, Xu; Zhilin, Liu; Yong, Huang; Xiaoyu, Zhang

2017-06-01

To identify a city’s PV roof resources, the area and ownership distribution of residential buildings in an urban district should be assessed. To achieve this assessment, remote sensing data analysing is a promising approach. Urban building roof area estimation is a major topic for remote sensing image information extraction. There are normally three ways to solve this problem. The first way is pixel-based analysis, which is based on mathematical morphology or statistical methods; the second way is object-based analysis, which is able to combine semantic information and expert knowledge; the third way is signal-processing view method. This paper presented a Gabor filter based method. This result shows that the method is fast and with proper accuracy.

Sea Ice Detection Based on an Improved Similarity Measurement Method Using Hyperspectral Data.

PubMed

Han, Yanling; Li, Jue; Zhang, Yun; Hong, Zhonghua; Wang, Jing

2017-05-15

Hyperspectral remote sensing technology can acquire nearly continuous spectrum information and rich sea ice image information, thus providing an important means of sea ice detection. However, the correlation and redundancy among hyperspectral bands reduce the accuracy of traditional sea ice detection methods. Based on the spectral characteristics of sea ice, this study presents an improved similarity measurement method based on linear prediction (ISMLP) to detect sea ice. First, the first original band with a large amount of information is determined based on mutual information theory. Subsequently, a second original band with the least similarity is chosen by the spectral correlation measuring method. Finally, subsequent bands are selected through the linear prediction method, and a support vector machine classifier model is applied to classify sea ice. In experiments performed on images of Baffin Bay and Bohai Bay, comparative analyses were conducted to compare the proposed method and traditional sea ice detection methods. Our proposed ISMLP method achieved the highest classification accuracies (91.18% and 94.22%) in both experiments. From these results the ISMLP method exhibits better performance overall than other methods and can be effectively applied to hyperspectral sea ice detection.

Sea Ice Detection Based on an Improved Similarity Measurement Method Using Hyperspectral Data

PubMed Central

Han, Yanling; Li, Jue; Zhang, Yun; Hong, Zhonghua; Wang, Jing

2017-01-01

Hyperspectral remote sensing technology can acquire nearly continuous spectrum information and rich sea ice image information, thus providing an important means of sea ice detection. However, the correlation and redundancy among hyperspectral bands reduce the accuracy of traditional sea ice detection methods. Based on the spectral characteristics of sea ice, this study presents an improved similarity measurement method based on linear prediction (ISMLP) to detect sea ice. First, the first original band with a large amount of information is determined based on mutual information theory. Subsequently, a second original band with the least similarity is chosen by the spectral correlation measuring method. Finally, subsequent bands are selected through the linear prediction method, and a support vector machine classifier model is applied to classify sea ice. In experiments performed on images of Baffin Bay and Bohai Bay, comparative analyses were conducted to compare the proposed method and traditional sea ice detection methods. Our proposed ISMLP method achieved the highest classification accuracies (91.18% and 94.22%) in both experiments. From these results the ISMLP method exhibits better performance overall than other methods and can be effectively applied to hyperspectral sea ice detection. PMID:28505135

Synthesis of carbohydrate-based surfactants

DOEpatents

Pemberton, Jeanne E.; Polt, Robin L.; Maier, Raina M.

2016-11-22

The present invention provides carbohydrate-based surfactants and methods for producing the same. Methods for producing carbohydrate-based surfactants include using a glycosylation promoter to link a carbohydrate or its derivative to a hydrophobic compound.

Development of performance-based evaluation methods and specifications for roadside maintenance.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-01-01

This report documents the work performed during Project 0-6387, Performance Based Roadside : Maintenance Specifications. Quality assurance methods and specifications for roadside performance-based : maintenance contracts (PBMCs) were developed ...

Improved volumetric measurement of brain structure with a distortion correction procedure using an ADNI phantom.

PubMed

Maikusa, Norihide; Yamashita, Fumio; Tanaka, Kenichiro; Abe, Osamu; Kawaguchi, Atsushi; Kabasawa, Hiroyuki; Chiba, Shoma; Kasahara, Akihiro; Kobayashi, Nobuhisa; Yuasa, Tetsuya; Sato, Noriko; Matsuda, Hiroshi; Iwatsubo, Takeshi

2013-06-01

Serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images acquired from multisite and multivendor MRI scanners are widely used in measuring longitudinal structural changes in the brain. Precise and accurate measurements are important in understanding the natural progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. However, geometric distortions in MRI images decrease the accuracy and precision of volumetric or morphometric measurements. To solve this problem, the authors suggest a commercially available phantom-based distortion correction method that accommodates the variation in geometric distortion within MRI images obtained with multivendor MRI scanners. The authors' method is based on image warping using a polynomial function. The method detects fiducial points within a phantom image using phantom analysis software developed by the Mayo Clinic and calculates warping functions for distortion correction. To quantify the effectiveness of the authors' method, the authors corrected phantom images obtained from multivendor MRI scanners and calculated the root-mean-square (RMS) of fiducial errors and the circularity ratio as evaluation values. The authors also compared the performance of the authors' method with that of a distortion correction method based on a spherical harmonics description of the generic gradient design parameters. Moreover, the authors evaluated whether this correction improves the test-retest reproducibility of voxel-based morphometry in human studies. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test with uncorrected and corrected images was performed. The root-mean-square errors and circularity ratios for all slices significantly improved (p < 0.0001) after the authors' distortion correction. Additionally, the authors' method was significantly better than a distortion correction method based on a description of spherical harmonics in improving the distortion of root-mean-square errors (p < 0.001 and 0.0337, respectively). Moreover, the authors' method reduced the RMS error arising from gradient nonlinearity more than gradwarp methods. In human studies, the coefficient of variation of voxel-based morphometry analysis of the whole brain improved significantly from 3.46% to 2.70% after distortion correction of the whole gray matter using the authors' method (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < 0.05). The authors proposed a phantom-based distortion correction method to improve reproducibility in longitudinal structural brain analysis using multivendor MRI. The authors evaluated the authors' method for phantom images in terms of two geometrical values and for human images in terms of test-retest reproducibility. The results showed that distortion was corrected significantly using the authors' method. In human studies, the reproducibility of voxel-based morphometry analysis for the whole gray matter significantly improved after distortion correction using the authors' method.

Quantifying the quality of medical x-ray images: An evaluation based on normal anatomy for lumbar spine and chest radiography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tingberg, Anders Martin

Optimisation in diagnostic radiology requires accurate methods for determination of patient absorbed dose and clinical image quality. Simple methods for evaluation of clinical image quality are at present scarce and this project aims at developing such methods. Two methods are used and further developed; fulfillment of image criteria (IC) and visual grading analysis (VGA). Clinical image quality descriptors are defined based on these two methods: image criteria score (ICS) and visual grading analysis score (VGAS), respectively. For both methods the basis is the Image Criteria of the ``European Guidelines on Quality Criteria for Diagnostic Radiographic Images''. Both methods have proved to be useful for evaluation of clinical image quality. The two methods complement each other: IC is an absolute method, which means that the quality of images of different patients and produced with different radiographic techniques can be compared with each other. The separating power of IC is, however, weaker than that of VGA. VGA is the best method for comparing images produced with different radiographic techniques and has strong separating power, but the results are relative, since the quality of an image is compared to the quality of a reference image. The usefulness of the two methods has been verified by comparing the results from both of them with results from a generally accepted method for evaluation of clinical image quality, receiver operating characteristics (ROC). The results of the comparison between the two methods based on visibility of anatomical structures and the method based on detection of pathological structures (free-response forced error) indicate that the former two methods can be used for evaluation of clinical image quality as efficiently as the method based on ROC. More studies are, however, needed for us to be able to draw a general conclusion, including studies of other organs, using other radiographic techniques, etc. The results of the experimental evaluation of clinical image quality are compared with physical quantities calculated with a theoretical model based on a voxel phantom, and correlations are found. The results demonstrate that the computer model can be a useful toot in planning further experimental studies.

Measuring Symmetry in Children With Unrepaired Cleft Lip: Defining a Standard for the Three-Dimensional Midfacial Reference Plane.

PubMed

Wu, Jia; Heike, Carrie; Birgfeld, Craig; Evans, Kelly; Maga, Murat; Morrison, Clinton; Saltzman, Babette; Shapiro, Linda; Tse, Raymond

2016-11-01

  Quantitative measures of facial form to evaluate treatment outcomes for cleft lip (CL) are currently limited. Computer-based analysis of three-dimensional (3D) images provides an opportunity for efficient and objective analysis. The purpose of this study was to define a computer-based standard of identifying the 3D midfacial reference plane of the face in children with unrepaired cleft lip for measurement of facial symmetry.   The 3D images of 50 subjects (35 with unilateral CL, 10 with bilateral CL, five controls) were included in this study.   Five methods of defining a midfacial plane were applied to each image, including two human-based (Direct Placement, Manual Landmark) and three computer-based (Mirror, Deformation, Learning) methods.   Six blinded raters (three cleft surgeons, two craniofacial pediatricians, and one craniofacial researcher) independently ranked and rated the accuracy of the defined planes.   Among computer-based methods, the Deformation method performed significantly better than the others. Although human-based methods performed best, there was no significant difference compared with the Deformation method. The average correlation coefficient among raters was .4; however, it was .7 and .9 when the angular difference between planes was greater than 6° and 8°, respectively.   Raters can agree on the 3D midfacial reference plane in children with unrepaired CL using digital surface mesh. The Deformation method performed best among computer-based methods evaluated and can be considered a useful tool to carry out automated measurements of facial symmetry in children with unrepaired cleft lip.

37: COMPARISON OF TWO METHODS: TBL-BASED AND LECTURE-BASED LEARNING IN NURSING CARE OF PATIENTS WITH DIABETES IN NURSING STUDENTS

PubMed Central

Khodaveisi, Masoud; Qaderian, Khosro; Oshvandi, Khodayar; Soltanian, Ali Reza; Vardanjani, Mehdi molavi

2017-01-01

Background and aims learning plays an important role in developing nursing skills and right care-taking. The Present study aims to evaluate two learning methods based on team –based learning and lecture-based learning in learning care-taking of patients with diabetes in nursing students. Method In this quasi-experimental study, 64 students in term 4 in nursing college of Bukan and Miandoab were included in the study based on knowledge and performance questionnaire including 15 questions based on knowledge and 5 questions based on performance on care-taking in patients with diabetes were used as data collection tool whose reliability was confirmed by cronbach alpha (r=0.83) by the researcher. To compare the mean score of knowledge and performance in each group in pre-test step and post-test step, pair –t test and to compare mean of scores in two groups of control and intervention, the independent t- test was used. Results There was not significant statistical difference between two groups in pre terms of knowledge and performance score (p=0.784). There was significant difference between the mean of knowledge scores and diabetes performance in the post-test in the team-based learning group and lecture-based learning group (p=0.001). There was significant difference between the mean score of knowledge of diabetes care in pre-test and post-test in base learning groups (p=0.001). Conclusion In both methods team-based and lecture-based learning approaches resulted in improvement in learning in students, but the rate of learning in the team-based learning approach is greater compared to that of lecture-based learning and it is recommended that this method be used as a higher education method in the education of students.

Collaborative identification method for sea battlefield target based on deep convolutional neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Guangdi; Pan, Mingbo; Liu, Wei; Wu, Xuetong

2018-03-01

The target identification of the sea battlefield is the prerequisite for the judgment of the enemy in the modern naval battle. In this paper, a collaborative identification method based on convolution neural network is proposed to identify the typical targets of sea battlefields. Different from the traditional single-input/single-output identification method, the proposed method constructs a multi-input/single-output co-identification architecture based on optimized convolution neural network and weighted D-S evidence theory. The simulation results show that

Parametric synthesis of a robust controller on a base of mathematical programming method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khozhaev, I. V.; Gayvoronskiy, S. A.; Ezangina, T. A.

2018-05-01

Considered paper is dedicated to deriving sufficient conditions, linking root indices of robust control quality with coefficients of interval characteristic polynomial, on the base of mathematical programming method. On the base of these conditions, a method of PI- and PID-controllers, providing aperiodic transient process with acceptable stability degree and, subsequently, acceptable setting time, synthesis was developed. The method was applied to a problem of synthesizing a controller for a depth control system of an unmanned underwater vehicle.

A method for data base management and analysis for wind tunnel data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biser, Aileen O.

1987-01-01

To respond to the need for improved data base management and analysis capabilities for wind-tunnel data at the Langley 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel, research was conducted into current methods of managing wind-tunnel data and a method was developed as a solution to this need. This paper describes the development of the data base management and analysis method for wind-tunnel data. The design and implementation of the software system are discussed and examples of its use are shown.

Method of production of pure hydrogen near room temperature from aluminum-based hydride materials

DOEpatents

Pecharsky, Vitalij K.; Balema, Viktor P.

2004-08-10

The present invention provides a cost-effective method of producing pure hydrogen gas from hydride-based solid materials. The hydride-based solid material is mechanically processed in the presence of a catalyst to obtain pure gaseous hydrogen. Unlike previous methods, hydrogen may be obtained from the solid material without heating, and without the addition of a solvent during processing. The described method of hydrogen production is useful for energy conversion and production technologies that consume pure gaseous hydrogen as a fuel.

A light intensity monitoring method based on fiber Bragg grating sensing technology and BP neural network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Lu-Ming; Zhu, Qian; Zhang, Zhi-Guo; Cai, Zhi-Min; Liao, Zhi-Jun; Hu, Zhen-Yan

2017-04-01

In this paper, a light intensity monitoring method based on FBG is proposed. The method establishes a light intensity monitoring model with cantilever beam structure and BP neural network algorithm, which is based on fiber grating sensing technology. The accuracy of the model can meet the requirements of engineering project and it can monitor light intensity in real time. The experimental results show that the method has good stability and high sensitivity.

A reconsideration of negative ratings for network-based recommendation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Liang; Ren, Liang; Lin, Wenbin

2018-01-01

Recommendation algorithms based on bipartite networks have become increasingly popular, thanks to their accuracy and flexibility. Currently, many of these methods ignore users' negative ratings. In this work, we propose a method to exploit negative ratings for the network-based inference algorithm. We find that negative ratings play a positive role regardless of sparsity of data sets. Furthermore, we improve the efficiency of our method and compare it with the state-of-the-art algorithms. Experimental results show that the present method outperforms the existing algorithms.

Event-Based Stereo Depth Estimation Using Belief Propagation.

PubMed

Xie, Zhen; Chen, Shengyong; Orchard, Garrick

2017-01-01

Compared to standard frame-based cameras, biologically-inspired event-based sensors capture visual information with low latency and minimal redundancy. These event-based sensors are also far less prone to motion blur than traditional cameras, and still operate effectively in high dynamic range scenes. However, classical framed-based algorithms are not typically suitable for these event-based data and new processing algorithms are required. This paper focuses on the problem of depth estimation from a stereo pair of event-based sensors. A fully event-based stereo depth estimation algorithm which relies on message passing is proposed. The algorithm not only considers the properties of a single event but also uses a Markov Random Field (MRF) to consider the constraints between the nearby events, such as disparity uniqueness and depth continuity. The method is tested on five different scenes and compared to other state-of-art event-based stereo matching methods. The results show that the method detects more stereo matches than other methods, with each match having a higher accuracy. The method can operate in an event-driven manner where depths are reported for individual events as they are received, or the network can be queried at any time to generate a sparse depth frame which represents the current state of the network.

A novel dose-based positioning method for CT image-guided proton therapy

PubMed Central

Cheung, Joey P.; Park, Peter C.; Court, Laurence E.; Ronald Zhu, X.; Kudchadker, Rajat J.; Frank, Steven J.; Dong, Lei

2013-01-01

Purpose: Proton dose distributions can potentially be altered by anatomical changes in the beam path despite perfect target alignment using traditional image guidance methods. In this simulation study, the authors explored the use of dosimetric factors instead of only anatomy to set up patients for proton therapy using in-room volumetric computed tomographic (CT) images. Methods: To simulate patient anatomy in a free-breathing treatment condition, weekly time-averaged four-dimensional CT data near the end of treatment for 15 lung cancer patients were used in this study for a dose-based isocenter shift method to correct dosimetric deviations without replanning. The isocenter shift was obtained using the traditional anatomy-based image guidance method as the starting position. Subsequent isocenter shifts were established based on dosimetric criteria using a fast dose approximation method. For each isocenter shift, doses were calculated every 2 mm up to ±8 mm in each direction. The optimal dose alignment was obtained by imposing a target coverage constraint that at least 99% of the target would receive at least 95% of the prescribed dose and by minimizing the mean dose to the ipsilateral lung. Results: The authors found that 7 of 15 plans did not meet the target coverage constraint when using only the anatomy-based alignment. After the authors applied dose-based alignment, all met the target coverage constraint. For all but one case in which the target dose was met using both anatomy-based and dose-based alignment, the latter method was able to improve normal tissue sparing. Conclusions: The authors demonstrated that a dose-based adjustment to the isocenter can improve target coverage and/or reduce dose to nearby normal tissue. PMID:23635262

Comparison of Standard Culture-Based Method to Culture-Independent Method for Evaluation of Hygiene Effects on the Hand Microbiome

PubMed Central

Leff, J.; Henley, J.; Tittl, J.; De Nardo, E.; Butler, M.; Griggs, R.; Fierer, N.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Hands play a critical role in the transmission of microbiota on one’s own body, between individuals, and on environmental surfaces. Effectively measuring the composition of the hand microbiome is important to hand hygiene science, which has implications for human health. Hand hygiene products are evaluated using standard culture-based methods, but standard test methods for culture-independent microbiome characterization are lacking. We sampled the hands of 50 participants using swab-based and glove-based methods prior to and following four hand hygiene treatments (using a nonantimicrobial hand wash, alcohol-based hand sanitizer [ABHS], a 70% ethanol solution, or tap water). We compared results among culture plate counts, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of DNA extracted directly from hands, and sequencing of DNA extracted from culture plates. Glove-based sampling yielded higher numbers of unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) but had less diversity in bacterial community composition than swab-based sampling. We detected treatment-induced changes in diversity only by using swab-based samples (P < 0.001); we were unable to detect changes with glove-based samples. Bacterial cell counts significantly decreased with use of the ABHS (P < 0.05) and ethanol control (P < 0.05). Skin hydration at baseline correlated with bacterial abundances, bacterial community composition, pH, and redness across subjects. The importance of the method choice was substantial. These findings are important to ensure improvement of hand hygiene industry methods and for future hand microbiome studies. On the basis of our results and previously published studies, we propose recommendations for best practices in hand microbiome research. PMID:28351915

Power System Transient Diagnostics Based on Novel Traveling Wave Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamidi, Reza Jalilzadeh

Modern electrical power systems demand novel diagnostic approaches to enhancing the system resiliency by improving the state-of-the-art algorithms. The proliferation of high-voltage optical transducers and high time-resolution measurements provide opportunities to develop novel diagnostic methods of very fast transients in power systems. At the same time, emerging complex configuration, such as multi-terminal hybrid transmission systems, limits the applications of the traditional diagnostic methods, especially in fault location and health monitoring. The impedance-based fault-location methods are inefficient for cross-bounded cables, which are widely used for connection of offshore wind farms to the main grid. Thus, this dissertation first presents a novel traveling wave-based fault-location method for hybrid multi-terminal transmission systems. The proposed method utilizes time-synchronized high-sampling voltage measurements. The traveling wave arrival times (ATs) are detected by observation of the squares of wavelet transformation coefficients. Using the ATs, an over-determined set of linear equations are developed for noise reduction, and consequently, the faulty segment is determined based on the characteristics of the provided equation set. Then, the fault location is estimated. The accuracy and capabilities of the proposed fault location method are evaluated and also compared to the existing traveling-wave-based method for a wide range of fault parameters. In order to improve power systems stability, auto-reclosing (AR), single-phase auto-reclosing (SPAR), and adaptive single-phase auto-reclosing (ASPAR) methods have been developed with the final objectives of distinguishing between the transient and permanent faults to clear the transient faults without de-energization of the solid phases. However, the features of the electrical arcs (transient faults) are severely influenced by a number of random parameters, including the convection of the air and plasma, wind speed, air pressure, and humidity. Therefore, the dead-time (the de-energization duration of the faulty phase) is unpredictable. Accordingly, conservatively long dead-times are usually considered by protection engineers. However, if the exact arc distinction time is determined, the power system stability and quality will enhance. Therefore, a new method for detection of arc extinction times leading to a new ASPAR method utilizing power line carrier (PLC) signals is presented. The efficiency of the proposed ASPAR method is verified through simulations and compared with the existing ASPAR methods. High-sampling measurements are prone to be skewed by the environmental noises and analog-to-digital (A/D) converters quantization errors. Therefore noise-contaminated measurements are the major source of uncertainties and errors in the outcomes of traveling wave-based diagnostic applications. The existing AT-detection methods do not provide enough sensitivity and selectivity at the same time. Therefore, a new AT-detection method based on short-time matrix pencil (STMPM) is developed to accurately detect ATs of the traveling waves with low signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios. As STMPM is based on matrix algebra, it is a challenging to implement this new technique in microprocessor-based fault locators. Hence, a fully recursive and computationally efficient method based on adaptive discrete Kalman filter (ADKF) is introduced for AT-detection, which is proper for microprocessors and able to accomplish accurate AT-detection for online applications such as ultra-high-speed protection. Both proposed AT-detection methods are evaluated based on extensive simulation studies, and the superior outcomes are compared to the existing methods.

Introductory Talk: Adding Up Chemicals: Component-Based Risk Assessment of Chemical Mixturesand Primary Talk: Grouping Chemicals for Assessment and Conducting Assessments with the Hazard Index and Related Methods

EPA Science Inventory

Dr. Simmons will provide a concise overview of established and emerging methods to group chemicals for component-based mixture risk assessments. This will be followed by introduction to several important component-based methods, the Hazard Index, Target Organ Hazard Index, Multi...

Cellulose I crystallinity determination using FT-Raman spectroscopy : univariate and multivariate methods

Treesearch

Umesh P. Agarwal; Richard S. Reiner; Sally A. Ralph

2010-01-01

Two new methods based on FT–Raman spectroscopy, one simple, based on band intensity ratio, and the other using a partial least squares (PLS) regression model, are proposed to determine cellulose I crystallinity. In the simple method, crystallinity in cellulose I samples was determined based on univariate regression that was first developed using the Raman band...

Interval MULTIMOORA method with target values of attributes based on interval distance and preference degree: biomaterials selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hafezalkotob, Arian; Hafezalkotob, Ashkan

2017-06-01

A target-based MADM method covers beneficial and non-beneficial attributes besides target values for some attributes. Such techniques are considered as the comprehensive forms of MADM approaches. Target-based MADM methods can also be used in traditional decision-making problems in which beneficial and non-beneficial attributes only exist. In many practical selection problems, some attributes have given target values. The values of decision matrix and target-based attributes can be provided as intervals in some of such problems. Some target-based decision-making methods have recently been developed; however, a research gap exists in the area of MADM techniques with target-based attributes under uncertainty of information. We extend the MULTIMOORA method for solving practical material selection problems in which material properties and their target values are given as interval numbers. We employ various concepts of interval computations to reduce degeneration of uncertain data. In this regard, we use interval arithmetic and introduce innovative formula for interval distance of interval numbers to create interval target-based normalization technique. Furthermore, we use a pairwise preference matrix based on the concept of degree of preference of interval numbers to calculate the maximum, minimum, and ranking of these numbers. Two decision-making problems regarding biomaterials selection of hip and knee prostheses are discussed. Preference degree-based ranking lists for subordinate parts of the extended MULTIMOORA method are generated by calculating the relative degrees of preference for the arranged assessment values of the biomaterials. The resultant rankings for the problem are compared with the outcomes of other target-based models in the literature.

Structural reliability analysis under evidence theory using the active learning kriging model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xufeng; Liu, Yongshou; Ma, Panke

2017-11-01

Structural reliability analysis under evidence theory is investigated. It is rigorously proved that a surrogate model providing only correct sign prediction of the performance function can meet the accuracy requirement of evidence-theory-based reliability analysis. Accordingly, a method based on the active learning kriging model which only correctly predicts the sign of the performance function is proposed. Interval Monte Carlo simulation and a modified optimization method based on Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions are introduced to make the method more efficient in estimating the bounds of failure probability based on the kriging model. Four examples are investigated to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.

Vanadium based materials as electrode materials for high performance supercapacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Yan; Li, Bing; Guo, Wei; Pang, Huan; Xue, Huaiguo

2016-10-01

As a kind of supercapacitors, pseudocapacitors have attracted wide attention in recent years. The capacitance of the electrochemical capacitors based on pseudocapacitance arises mainly from redox reactions between electrolytes and active materials. These materials usually have several oxidation states for oxidation and reduction. Many research teams have focused on the development of an alternative material for electrochemical capacitors. Many transition metal oxides have been shown to be suitable as electrode materials of electrochemical capacitors. Among them, vanadium based materials are being developed for this purpose. Vanadium based materials are known as one of the best active materials for high power/energy density electrochemical capacitors due to its outstanding specific capacitance and long cycle life, high conductivity and good electrochemical reversibility. There are different kinds of synthetic methods such as sol-gel hydrothermal/solvothermal method, template method, electrospinning method, atomic layer deposition, and electrodeposition method that have been successfully applied to prepare vanadium based electrode materials. In our review, we give an overall summary and evaluation of the recent progress in the research of vanadium based materials for electrochemical capacitors that include synthesis methods, the electrochemical performances of the electrode materials and the devices.

Volumetric quantification of bone-implant contact using micro-computed tomography analysis based on region-based segmentation

PubMed Central

Kang, Sung-Won; Lee, Woo-Jin; Choi, Soon-Chul; Lee, Sam-Sun; Heo, Min-Suk; Huh, Kyung-Hoe

2015-01-01

Purpose We have developed a new method of segmenting the areas of absorbable implants and bone using region-based segmentation of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) images, which allowed us to quantify volumetric bone-implant contact (VBIC) and volumetric absorption (VA). Materials and Methods The simple threshold technique generally used in micro-CT analysis cannot be used to segment the areas of absorbable implants and bone. Instead, a region-based segmentation method, a region-labeling method, and subsequent morphological operations were successively applied to micro-CT images. The three-dimensional VBIC and VA of the absorbable implant were then calculated over the entire volume of the implant. Two-dimensional (2D) bone-implant contact (BIC) and bone area (BA) were also measured based on the conventional histomorphometric method. Results VA and VBIC increased significantly with as the healing period increased (p<0.05). VBIC values were significantly correlated with VA values (p<0.05) and with 2D BIC values (p<0.05). Conclusion It is possible to quantify VBIC and VA for absorbable implants using micro-CT analysis using a region-based segmentation method. PMID:25793178

Vision Based Obstacle Detection in Uav Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Badrloo, S.; Varshosaz, M.

2017-08-01

Detecting and preventing incidence with obstacles is crucial in UAV navigation and control. Most of the common obstacle detection techniques are currently sensor-based. Small UAVs are not able to carry obstacle detection sensors such as radar; therefore, vision-based methods are considered, which can be divided into stereo-based and mono-based techniques. Mono-based methods are classified into two groups: Foreground-background separation, and brain-inspired methods. Brain-inspired methods are highly efficient in obstacle detection; hence, this research aims to detect obstacles using brain-inspired techniques, which try to enlarge the obstacle by approaching it. A recent research in this field, has concentrated on matching the SIFT points along with, SIFT size-ratio factor and area-ratio of convex hulls in two consecutive frames to detect obstacles. This method is not able to distinguish between near and far obstacles or the obstacles in complex environment, and is sensitive to wrong matched points. In order to solve the above mentioned problems, this research calculates the dist-ratio of matched points. Then, each and every point is investigated for Distinguishing between far and close obstacles. The results demonstrated the high efficiency of the proposed method in complex environments.

A general method for the quantitative assessment of mineral pigments.

PubMed

Ares, M C Zurita; Fernández, J M

2016-01-01

A general method for the estimation of mineral pigment contents in different bases has been proposed using a sole set of calibration curves, (one for each pigment), calculated for a white standard base, thus elaborating patterns for each utilized base is not necessary. The method can be used in different bases and its validity had ev en been proved in strongly tinted bases. The method consists of a novel procedure that combines diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, second derivatives and the Kubelka-Munk function. This technique has proved to be at least one order of magnitude more sensitive than X-Ray diffraction for colored compounds, since it allowed the determination of the pigment amount in colored samples containing 0.5 wt% of pigment that was not detected by X-Ray Diffraction. The method can be used to estimate the concentration of mineral pigments in a wide variety of either natural or artificial materials, since it does not requiere the calculation of each pigment pattern in every base. This fact could have important industrial consequences, as the proposed method would be more convenient, faster and cheaper. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

RuleMonkey: software for stochastic simulation of rule-based models

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The system-level dynamics of many molecular interactions, particularly protein-protein interactions, can be conveniently represented using reaction rules, which can be specified using model-specification languages, such as the BioNetGen language (BNGL). A set of rules implicitly defines a (bio)chemical reaction network. The reaction network implied by a set of rules is often very large, and as a result, generation of the network implied by rules tends to be computationally expensive. Moreover, the cost of many commonly used methods for simulating network dynamics is a function of network size. Together these factors have limited application of the rule-based modeling approach. Recently, several methods for simulating rule-based models have been developed that avoid the expensive step of network generation. The cost of these "network-free" simulation methods is independent of the number of reactions implied by rules. Software implementing such methods is now needed for the simulation and analysis of rule-based models of biochemical systems. Results Here, we present a software tool called RuleMonkey, which implements a network-free method for simulation of rule-based models that is similar to Gillespie's method. The method is suitable for rule-based models that can be encoded in BNGL, including models with rules that have global application conditions, such as rules for intramolecular association reactions. In addition, the method is rejection free, unlike other network-free methods that introduce null events, i.e., steps in the simulation procedure that do not change the state of the reaction system being simulated. We verify that RuleMonkey produces correct simulation results, and we compare its performance against DYNSTOC, another BNGL-compliant tool for network-free simulation of rule-based models. We also compare RuleMonkey against problem-specific codes implementing network-free simulation methods. Conclusions RuleMonkey enables the simulation of rule-based models for which the underlying reaction networks are large. It is typically faster than DYNSTOC for benchmark problems that we have examined. RuleMonkey is freely available as a stand-alone application http://public.tgen.org/rulemonkey. It is also available as a simulation engine within GetBonNie, a web-based environment for building, analyzing and sharing rule-based models. PMID:20673321

Analysis of energy-based algorithms for RNA secondary structure prediction

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background RNA molecules play critical roles in the cells of organisms, including roles in gene regulation, catalysis, and synthesis of proteins. Since RNA function depends in large part on its folded structures, much effort has been invested in developing accurate methods for prediction of RNA secondary structure from the base sequence. Minimum free energy (MFE) predictions are widely used, based on nearest neighbor thermodynamic parameters of Mathews, Turner et al. or those of Andronescu et al. Some recently proposed alternatives that leverage partition function calculations find the structure with maximum expected accuracy (MEA) or pseudo-expected accuracy (pseudo-MEA) methods. Advances in prediction methods are typically benchmarked using sensitivity, positive predictive value and their harmonic mean, namely F-measure, on datasets of known reference structures. Since such benchmarks document progress in improving accuracy of computational prediction methods, it is important to understand how measures of accuracy vary as a function of the reference datasets and whether advances in algorithms or thermodynamic parameters yield statistically significant improvements. Our work advances such understanding for the MFE and (pseudo-)MEA-based methods, with respect to the latest datasets and energy parameters. Results We present three main findings. First, using the bootstrap percentile method, we show that the average F-measure accuracy of the MFE and (pseudo-)MEA-based algorithms, as measured on our largest datasets with over 2000 RNAs from diverse families, is a reliable estimate (within a 2% range with high confidence) of the accuracy of a population of RNA molecules represented by this set. However, average accuracy on smaller classes of RNAs such as a class of 89 Group I introns used previously in benchmarking algorithm accuracy is not reliable enough to draw meaningful conclusions about the relative merits of the MFE and MEA-based algorithms. Second, on our large datasets, the algorithm with best overall accuracy is a pseudo MEA-based algorithm of Hamada et al. that uses a generalized centroid estimator of base pairs. However, between MFE and other MEA-based methods, there is no clear winner in the sense that the relative accuracy of the MFE versus MEA-based algorithms changes depending on the underlying energy parameters. Third, of the four parameter sets we considered, the best accuracy for the MFE-, MEA-based, and pseudo-MEA-based methods is 0.686, 0.680, and 0.711, respectively (on a scale from 0 to 1 with 1 meaning perfect structure predictions) and is obtained with a thermodynamic parameter set obtained by Andronescu et al. called BL* (named after the Boltzmann likelihood method by which the parameters were derived). Conclusions Large datasets should be used to obtain reliable measures of the accuracy of RNA structure prediction algorithms, and average accuracies on specific classes (such as Group I introns and Transfer RNAs) should be interpreted with caution, considering the relatively small size of currently available datasets for such classes. The accuracy of the MEA-based methods is significantly higher when using the BL* parameter set of Andronescu et al. than when using the parameters of Mathews and Turner, and there is no significant difference between the accuracy of MEA-based methods and MFE when using the BL* parameters. The pseudo-MEA-based method of Hamada et al. with the BL* parameter set significantly outperforms all other MFE and MEA-based algorithms on our large data sets. PMID:22296803

Analysis of energy-based algorithms for RNA secondary structure prediction.

PubMed

Hajiaghayi, Monir; Condon, Anne; Hoos, Holger H

2012-02-01

RNA molecules play critical roles in the cells of organisms, including roles in gene regulation, catalysis, and synthesis of proteins. Since RNA function depends in large part on its folded structures, much effort has been invested in developing accurate methods for prediction of RNA secondary structure from the base sequence. Minimum free energy (MFE) predictions are widely used, based on nearest neighbor thermodynamic parameters of Mathews, Turner et al. or those of Andronescu et al. Some recently proposed alternatives that leverage partition function calculations find the structure with maximum expected accuracy (MEA) or pseudo-expected accuracy (pseudo-MEA) methods. Advances in prediction methods are typically benchmarked using sensitivity, positive predictive value and their harmonic mean, namely F-measure, on datasets of known reference structures. Since such benchmarks document progress in improving accuracy of computational prediction methods, it is important to understand how measures of accuracy vary as a function of the reference datasets and whether advances in algorithms or thermodynamic parameters yield statistically significant improvements. Our work advances such understanding for the MFE and (pseudo-)MEA-based methods, with respect to the latest datasets and energy parameters. We present three main findings. First, using the bootstrap percentile method, we show that the average F-measure accuracy of the MFE and (pseudo-)MEA-based algorithms, as measured on our largest datasets with over 2000 RNAs from diverse families, is a reliable estimate (within a 2% range with high confidence) of the accuracy of a population of RNA molecules represented by this set. However, average accuracy on smaller classes of RNAs such as a class of 89 Group I introns used previously in benchmarking algorithm accuracy is not reliable enough to draw meaningful conclusions about the relative merits of the MFE and MEA-based algorithms. Second, on our large datasets, the algorithm with best overall accuracy is a pseudo MEA-based algorithm of Hamada et al. that uses a generalized centroid estimator of base pairs. However, between MFE and other MEA-based methods, there is no clear winner in the sense that the relative accuracy of the MFE versus MEA-based algorithms changes depending on the underlying energy parameters. Third, of the four parameter sets we considered, the best accuracy for the MFE-, MEA-based, and pseudo-MEA-based methods is 0.686, 0.680, and 0.711, respectively (on a scale from 0 to 1 with 1 meaning perfect structure predictions) and is obtained with a thermodynamic parameter set obtained by Andronescu et al. called BL* (named after the Boltzmann likelihood method by which the parameters were derived). Large datasets should be used to obtain reliable measures of the accuracy of RNA structure prediction algorithms, and average accuracies on specific classes (such as Group I introns and Transfer RNAs) should be interpreted with caution, considering the relatively small size of currently available datasets for such classes. The accuracy of the MEA-based methods is significantly higher when using the BL* parameter set of Andronescu et al. than when using the parameters of Mathews and Turner, and there is no significant difference between the accuracy of MEA-based methods and MFE when using the BL* parameters. The pseudo-MEA-based method of Hamada et al. with the BL* parameter set significantly outperforms all other MFE and MEA-based algorithms on our large data sets.

Comparison of Standard Culture-Based Method to Culture-Independent Method for Evaluation of Hygiene Effects on the Hand Microbiome.

PubMed

Zapka, C; Leff, J; Henley, J; Tittl, J; De Nardo, E; Butler, M; Griggs, R; Fierer, N; Edmonds-Wilson, S

2017-03-28

Hands play a critical role in the transmission of microbiota on one's own body, between individuals, and on environmental surfaces. Effectively measuring the composition of the hand microbiome is important to hand hygiene science, which has implications for human health. Hand hygiene products are evaluated using standard culture-based methods, but standard test methods for culture-independent microbiome characterization are lacking. We sampled the hands of 50 participants using swab-based and glove-based methods prior to and following four hand hygiene treatments (using a nonantimicrobial hand wash, alcohol-based hand sanitizer [ABHS], a 70% ethanol solution, or tap water). We compared results among culture plate counts, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of DNA extracted directly from hands, and sequencing of DNA extracted from culture plates. Glove-based sampling yielded higher numbers of unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) but had less diversity in bacterial community composition than swab-based sampling. We detected treatment-induced changes in diversity only by using swab-based samples ( P < 0.001); we were unable to detect changes with glove-based samples. Bacterial cell counts significantly decreased with use of the ABHS ( P < 0.05) and ethanol control ( P < 0.05). Skin hydration at baseline correlated with bacterial abundances, bacterial community composition, pH, and redness across subjects. The importance of the method choice was substantial. These findings are important to ensure improvement of hand hygiene industry methods and for future hand microbiome studies. On the basis of our results and previously published studies, we propose recommendations for best practices in hand microbiome research. IMPORTANCE The hand microbiome is a critical area of research for diverse fields, such as public health and forensics. The suitability of culture-independent methods for assessing effects of hygiene products on microbiota has not been demonstrated. This is the first controlled laboratory clinical hand study to have compared traditional hand hygiene test methods with newer culture-independent characterization methods typically used by skin microbiologists. This study resulted in recommendations for hand hygiene product testing, development of methods, and future hand skin microbiome research. It also demonstrated the importance of inclusion of skin physiological metadata in skin microbiome research, which is atypical for skin microbiome studies. Copyright © 2017 Zapka et al.

Indirect potentiometric titration of ascorbic acid in pharmaceutical preparations using copper based mercury film electrode.

PubMed

Abdul Kamal Nazer, Meeran Mohideen; Hameed, Abdul Rahman Shahul; Riyazuddin, Patel

2004-01-01

A simple and rapid potentiometric method for the estimation of ascorbic acid in pharmaceutical dosage forms has been developed. The method is based on treating ascorbic acid with iodine and titration of the iodide produced equivalent to ascorbic acid with silver nitrate using Copper Based Mercury Film Electrode (CBMFE) as an indicator electrode. Interference study was carried to check possible interference of usual excipients and other vitamins. The precision and accuracy of the method was assessed by the application of lack-of-fit test and other statistical methods. The results of the proposed method and British Pharmacopoeia method were compared using F and t-statistical tests of significance.

SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY A signal processing method for the friction-based endpoint detection system of a CMP process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chi, Xu; Dongming, Guo; Zhuji, Jin; Renke, Kang

2010-12-01

A signal processing method for the friction-based endpoint detection system of a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process is presented. The signal process method uses the wavelet threshold denoising method to reduce the noise contained in the measured original signal, extracts the Kalman filter innovation from the denoised signal as the feature signal, and judges the CMP endpoint based on the feature of the Kalman filter innovation sequence during the CMP process. Applying the signal processing method, the endpoint detection experiments of the Cu CMP process were carried out. The results show that the signal processing method can judge the endpoint of the Cu CMP process.

[Development of selective determination methods for quinones with fluorescence and chemiluminescence detection and their application to environmental and biological samples].

PubMed

Kishikawa, Naoya

2010-10-01

Quinones are compounds that have various characteristics such as a biological electron transporter, an industrial product and a harmful environmental pollutant. Therefore, an effective determination method for quinones is required in many fields. This review describes the development of sensitive and selective determination methods for quinones based on some detection principles and their application to analyses in environmental, pharmaceutical and biological samples. Firstly, a fluorescence method was developed based on fluorogenic derivatization of quinones and applied to environmental analysis. Secondly, a luminol chemiluminescence method was developed based on generation of reactive oxygen species through the redox cycle of quinone and applied to pharmaceutical analysis. Thirdly, a photo-induced chemiluminescence method was developed based on formation of reactive oxygen species and fluorophore or chemiluminescence enhancer by the photoreaction of quinones and applied to biological and environmental analyses.

Impervious surface mapping with Quickbird imagery

PubMed Central

Lu, Dengsheng; Hetrick, Scott; Moran, Emilio

2010-01-01

This research selects two study areas with different urban developments, sizes, and spatial patterns to explore the suitable methods for mapping impervious surface distribution using Quickbird imagery. The selected methods include per-pixel based supervised classification, segmentation-based classification, and a hybrid method. A comparative analysis of the results indicates that per-pixel based supervised classification produces a large number of “salt-and-pepper” pixels, and segmentation based methods can significantly reduce this problem. However, neither method can effectively solve the spectral confusion of impervious surfaces with water/wetland and bare soils and the impacts of shadows. In order to accurately map impervious surface distribution from Quickbird images, manual editing is necessary and may be the only way to extract impervious surfaces from the confused land covers and the shadow problem. This research indicates that the hybrid method consisting of thresholding techniques, unsupervised classification and limited manual editing provides the best performance. PMID:21643434

Multi person detection and tracking based on hierarchical level-set method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khraief, Chadia; Benzarti, Faouzi; Amiri, Hamid

2018-04-01

In this paper, we propose an efficient unsupervised method for mutli-person tracking based on hierarchical level-set approach. The proposed method uses both edge and region information in order to effectively detect objects. The persons are tracked on each frame of the sequence by minimizing an energy functional that combines color, texture and shape information. These features are enrolled in covariance matrix as region descriptor. The present method is fully automated without the need to manually specify the initial contour of Level-set. It is based on combined person detection and background subtraction methods. The edge-based is employed to maintain a stable evolution, guide the segmentation towards apparent boundaries and inhibit regions fusion. The computational cost of level-set is reduced by using narrow band technique. Many experimental results are performed on challenging video sequences and show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A novel energy conversion based method for velocity correction in molecular dynamics simulations

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

Jin, Hanhui; Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Aero-Engine, Hangzhou 310027; Liu, Ningning

2017-05-01

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has become an important tool for studying micro- or nano-scale dynamics and the statistical properties of fluids and solids. In MD simulations, there are mainly two approaches: equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (EMD and NEMD). In this paper, a new energy conversion based correction (ECBC) method for MD is developed. Unlike the traditional systematic correction based on macroscopic parameters, the ECBC method is developed strictly based on the physical interaction processes between the pair of molecules or atoms. The developed ECBC method can apply to EMD and NEMD directly. While using MD with this method, themore » difference between the EMD and NEMD is eliminated, and no macroscopic parameters such as external imposed potentials or coefficients are needed. With this method, many limits of using MD are lifted. The application scope of MD is greatly extended.« less

Near-Field Source Localization by Using Focusing Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Hongyang; Wang, Yide; Saillard, Joseph

2008-12-01

We discuss two fast algorithms to localize multiple sources in near field. The symmetry-based method proposed by Zhi and Chia (2007) is first improved by implementing a search-free procedure for the reduction of computation cost. We present then a focusing-based method which does not require symmetric array configuration. By using focusing technique, the near-field signal model is transformed into a model possessing the same structure as in the far-field situation, which allows the bearing estimation with the well-studied far-field methods. With the estimated bearing, the range estimation of each source is consequently obtained by using 1D MUSIC method without parameter pairing. The performance of the improved symmetry-based method and the proposed focusing-based method is compared by Monte Carlo simulations and with Crammer-Rao bound as well. Unlike other near-field algorithms, these two approaches require neither high-computation cost nor high-order statistics.

A wavelet-based Gaussian method for energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrum.

PubMed

Liu, Pan; Deng, Xiaoyan; Tang, Xin; Shen, Shijian

2017-05-01

This paper presents a wavelet-based Gaussian method (WGM) for the peak intensity estimation of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). The relationship between the parameters of Gaussian curve and the wavelet coefficients of Gaussian peak point is firstly established based on the Mexican hat wavelet. It is found that the Gaussian parameters can be accurately calculated by any two wavelet coefficients at the peak point which has to be known. This fact leads to a local Gaussian estimation method for spectral peaks, which estimates the Gaussian parameters based on the detail wavelet coefficients of Gaussian peak point. The proposed method is tested via simulated and measured spectra from an energy X-ray spectrometer, and compared with some existing methods. The results prove that the proposed method can directly estimate the peak intensity of EDXRF free from the background information, and also effectively distinguish overlap peaks in EDXRF spectrum.

A Mobile Outdoor Augmented Reality Method Combining Deep Learning Object Detection and Spatial Relationships for Geovisualization

PubMed Central

Rao, Jinmeng; Qiao, Yanjun; Ren, Fu; Wang, Junxing; Du, Qingyun

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a robust, fast and markerless mobile augmented reality method for registration, geovisualization and interaction in uncontrolled outdoor environments. We propose a lightweight deep-learning-based object detection approach for mobile or embedded devices; the vision-based detection results of this approach are combined with spatial relationships by means of the host device’s built-in Global Positioning System receiver, Inertial Measurement Unit and magnetometer. Virtual objects generated based on geospatial information are precisely registered in the real world, and an interaction method based on touch gestures is implemented. The entire method is independent of the network to ensure robustness to poor signal conditions. A prototype system was developed and tested on the Wuhan University campus to evaluate the method and validate its results. The findings demonstrate that our method achieves a high detection accuracy, stable geovisualization results and interaction. PMID:28837096

A Mobile Outdoor Augmented Reality Method Combining Deep Learning Object Detection and Spatial Relationships for Geovisualization.

PubMed

Rao, Jinmeng; Qiao, Yanjun; Ren, Fu; Wang, Junxing; Du, Qingyun

2017-08-24

The purpose of this study was to develop a robust, fast and markerless mobile augmented reality method for registration, geovisualization and interaction in uncontrolled outdoor environments. We propose a lightweight deep-learning-based object detection approach for mobile or embedded devices; the vision-based detection results of this approach are combined with spatial relationships by means of the host device's built-in Global Positioning System receiver, Inertial Measurement Unit and magnetometer. Virtual objects generated based on geospatial information are precisely registered in the real world, and an interaction method based on touch gestures is implemented. The entire method is independent of the network to ensure robustness to poor signal conditions. A prototype system was developed and tested on the Wuhan University campus to evaluate the method and validate its results. The findings demonstrate that our method achieves a high detection accuracy, stable geovisualization results and interaction.

General imaging of advanced 3D mask objects based on the fully-vectorial extended Nijboer-Zernike (ENZ) theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Haver, Sven; Janssen, Olaf T. A.; Braat, Joseph J. M.; Janssen, Augustus J. E. M.; Urbach, H. Paul; Pereira, Silvania F.

2008-03-01

In this paper we introduce a new mask imaging algorithm that is based on the source point integration method (or Abbe method). The method presented here distinguishes itself from existing methods by exploiting the through-focus imaging feature of the Extended Nijboer-Zernike (ENZ) theory of diffraction. An introduction to ENZ-theory and its application in general imaging is provided after which we describe the mask imaging scheme that can be derived from it. The remainder of the paper is devoted to illustrating the advantages of the new method over existing methods (Hopkins-based). To this extent several simulation results are included that illustrate advantages arising from: the accurate incorporation of isolated structures, the rigorous treatment of the object (mask topography) and the fully vectorial through-focus image formation of the ENZ-based algorithm.

Approximation-based common principal component for feature extraction in multi-class brain-computer interfaces.

PubMed

Hoang, Tuan; Tran, Dat; Huang, Xu

2013-01-01

Common Spatial Pattern (CSP) is a state-of-the-art method for feature extraction in Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems. However it is designed for 2-class BCI classification problems. Current extensions of this method to multiple classes based on subspace union and covariance matrix similarity do not provide a high performance. This paper presents a new approach to solving multi-class BCI classification problems by forming a subspace resembled from original subspaces and the proposed method for this approach is called Approximation-based Common Principal Component (ACPC). We perform experiments on Dataset 2a used in BCI Competition IV to evaluate the proposed method. This dataset was designed for motor imagery classification with 4 classes. Preliminary experiments show that the proposed ACPC feature extraction method when combining with Support Vector Machines outperforms CSP-based feature extraction methods on the experimental dataset.

A new method based on the Butler-Volmer formalism to evaluate voltammetric cation and anion sensors.

PubMed

Cano, Manuel; Rodríguez-Amaro, Rafael; Fernández Romero, Antonio J

2008-12-11

A new method based on the Butler-Volmer formalism is applied to assess the capability of two voltammetric ion sensors based on polypyrrole films: PPy/DBS and PPy/ClO4 modified electrodes were studied as voltammetric cation and anion sensors, respectively. The reversible potential versus electrolyte concentrations semilogarithm plots provided positive calibration slopes for PPy/DBS and negative ones for PPy/ClO4, as was expected from the proposed method and that based on the Nernst equation. The slope expressions deduced from Butler-Volmer include the electron-transfer coefficient, which allows slope values different from the ideal Nernstian value to be explained. Both polymeric films exhibited a degree of ion-selectivity when they were immersed in mixed-analyte solutions. Selectivity coefficients for the two proposed voltammetric cation and anion sensors were obtained by several experimental methods, including the separated solution method (SSM) and matched potential method (MPM). The K values acquired by the different methods were very close for both polymeric sensors.

Estimation of channel parameters and background irradiance for free-space optical link.

PubMed

Khatoon, Afsana; Cowley, William G; Letzepis, Nick; Giggenbach, Dirk

2013-05-10

Free-space optical communication can experience severe fading due to optical scintillation in long-range links. Channel estimation is also corrupted by background and electrical noise. Accurate estimation of channel parameters and scintillation index (SI) depends on perfect removal of background irradiance. In this paper, we propose three different methods, the minimum-value (MV), mean-power (MP), and maximum-likelihood (ML) based methods, to remove the background irradiance from channel samples. The MV and MP methods do not require knowledge of the scintillation distribution. While the ML-based method assumes gamma-gamma scintillation, it can be easily modified to accommodate other distributions. Each estimator's performance is compared using simulation data as well as experimental measurements. The estimators' performance are evaluated from low- to high-SI areas using simulation data as well as experimental trials. The MV and MP methods have much lower complexity than the ML-based method. However, the ML-based method shows better SI and background-irradiance estimation performance.

Fast spacecraft adaptive attitude tracking control through immersion and invariance design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Haowei; Yue, Xiaokui; Li, Peng; Yuan, Jianping

2017-10-01

This paper presents a novel non-certainty-equivalence adaptive control method for the attitude tracking control problem of spacecraft with inertia uncertainties. The proposed immersion and invariance (I&I) based adaptation law provides a more direct and flexible approach to circumvent the limitations of the basic I&I method without employing any filter signal. By virtue of the adaptation high-gain equivalence property derived from the proposed adaptive method, the closed-loop adaptive system with a low adaptation gain could recover the high adaptation gain performance of the filter-based I&I method, and the resulting control torque demands during the initial transient has been significantly reduced. A special feature of this method is that the convergence of the parameter estimation error has been observably improved by utilizing an adaptation gain matrix instead of a single adaptation gain value. Numerical simulations are presented to highlight the various benefits of the proposed method compared with the certainty-equivalence-based control method and filter-based I&I control schemes.

Nanoparticle filtration performance of NIOSH-certified particulate air-purifying filtering facepiece respirators: evaluation by light scattering photometric and particle number-based test methods.

PubMed

Rengasamy, Samy; Eimer, Benjamin C

2012-01-01

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) certification test methods employ charge neutralized NaCl or dioctyl phthalate (DOP) aerosols to measure filter penetration levels of air-purifying particulate respirators photometrically using a TSI 8130 automated filter tester at 85 L/min. A previous study in our laboratory found that widely different filter penetration levels were measured for nanoparticles depending on whether a particle number (count)-based detector or a photometric detector was used. The purpose of this study was to better understand the influence of key test parameters, including filter media type, challenge aerosol size range, and detector system. Initial penetration levels for 17 models of NIOSH-approved N-, R-, and P-series filtering facepiece respirators were measured using the TSI 8130 photometric method and compared with the particle number-based penetration (obtained using two ultrafine condensation particle counters) for the same challenge aerosols generated by the TSI 8130. In general, the penetration obtained by the photometric method was less than the penetration obtained with the number-based method. Filter penetration was also measured for ambient room aerosols. Penetration measured by the TSI 8130 photometric method was lower than the number-based ambient aerosol penetration values. Number-based monodisperse NaCl aerosol penetration measurements showed that the most penetrating particle size was in the 50 nm range for all respirator models tested, with the exception of one model at ~200 nm size. Respirator models containing electrostatic filter media also showed lower penetration values with the TSI 8130 photometric method than the number-based penetration obtained for the most penetrating monodisperse particles. Results suggest that to provide a more challenging respirator filter test method than what is currently used for respirators containing electrostatic media, the test method should utilize a sufficient number of particles <100 nm and a count (particle number)-based detector.

Combined adaptive multiple subtraction based on optimized event tracing and extended wiener filtering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Jun; Song, Peng; Li, Jinshan; Wang, Lei; Zhong, Mengxuan; Zhang, Xiaobo

2017-06-01

The surface-related multiple elimination (SRME) method is based on feedback formulation and has become one of the most preferred multiple suppression methods used. However, some differences are apparent between the predicted multiples and those in the source seismic records, which may result in conventional adaptive multiple subtraction methods being barely able to effectively suppress multiples in actual production. This paper introduces a combined adaptive multiple attenuation method based on the optimized event tracing technique and extended Wiener filtering. The method firstly uses multiple records predicted by SRME to generate a multiple velocity spectrum, then separates the original record to an approximate primary record and an approximate multiple record by applying the optimized event tracing method and short-time window FK filtering method. After applying the extended Wiener filtering method, residual multiples in the approximate primary record can then be eliminated and the damaged primary can be restored from the approximate multiple record. This method combines the advantages of multiple elimination based on the optimized event tracing method and the extended Wiener filtering technique. It is an ideal method for suppressing typical hyperbolic and other types of multiples, with the advantage of minimizing damage of the primary. Synthetic and field data tests show that this method produces better multiple elimination results than the traditional multi-channel Wiener filter method and is more suitable for multiple elimination in complicated geological areas.

Evaluation of finite difference and FFT-based solutions of the transport of intensity equation.

PubMed

Zhang, Hongbo; Zhou, Wen-Jing; Liu, Ying; Leber, Donald; Banerjee, Partha; Basunia, Mahmudunnabi; Poon, Ting-Chung

2018-01-01

A finite difference method is proposed for solving the transport of intensity equation. Simulation results show that although slower than fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based methods, finite difference methods are able to reconstruct the phase with better accuracy due to relaxed assumptions for solving the transport of intensity equation relative to FFT methods. Finite difference methods are also more flexible than FFT methods in dealing with different boundary conditions.

Three-dimensional compound comparison methods and their application in drug discovery.

PubMed

Shin, Woong-Hee; Zhu, Xiaolei; Bures, Mark Gregory; Kihara, Daisuke

2015-07-16

Virtual screening has been widely used in the drug discovery process. Ligand-based virtual screening (LBVS) methods compare a library of compounds with a known active ligand. Two notable advantages of LBVS methods are that they do not require structural information of a target receptor and that they are faster than structure-based methods. LBVS methods can be classified based on the complexity of ligand structure information utilized: one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D). Unlike 1D and 2D methods, 3D methods can have enhanced performance since they treat the conformational flexibility of compounds. In this paper, a number of 3D methods will be reviewed. In addition, four representative 3D methods were benchmarked to understand their performance in virtual screening. Specifically, we tested overall performance in key aspects including the ability to find dissimilar active compounds, and computational speed.

Availability and performance of image/video-based vital signs monitoring methods: a systematic review protocol.

PubMed

Harford, Mirae; Catherall, Jacqueline; Gerry, Stephen; Young, Duncan; Watkinson, Peter

2017-10-25

For many vital signs, monitoring methods require contact with the patient and/or are invasive in nature. There is increasing interest in developing still and video image-guided monitoring methods that are non-contact and non-invasive. We will undertake a systematic review of still and video image-based monitoring methods. We will perform searches in multiple databases which include MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane library, IEEE Xplore and ACM Digital Library. We will use OpenGrey and Google searches to access unpublished or commercial data. We will not use language or publication date restrictions. The primary goal is to summarise current image-based vital signs monitoring methods, limited to heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturations and blood pressure. Of particular interest will be the effectiveness of image-based methods compared to reference devices. Other outcomes of interest include the quality of the method comparison studies with respect to published reporting guidelines, any limitations of non-contact non-invasive technology and application in different populations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review of image-based non-contact methods of vital signs monitoring. Synthesis of currently available technology will facilitate future research in this highly topical area. PROSPERO CRD42016029167.

A common base method for analysis of qPCR data and the application of simple blocking in qPCR experiments.

PubMed

Ganger, Michael T; Dietz, Geoffrey D; Ewing, Sarah J

2017-12-01

qPCR has established itself as the technique of choice for the quantification of gene expression. Procedures for conducting qPCR have received significant attention; however, more rigorous approaches to the statistical analysis of qPCR data are needed. Here we develop a mathematical model, termed the Common Base Method, for analysis of qPCR data based on threshold cycle values (C q ) and efficiencies of reactions (E). The Common Base Method keeps all calculations in the logscale as long as possible by working with log 10 (E) ∙ C q , which we call the efficiency-weighted C q value; subsequent statistical analyses are then applied in the logscale. We show how efficiency-weighted C q values may be analyzed using a simple paired or unpaired experimental design and develop blocking methods to help reduce unexplained variation. The Common Base Method has several advantages. It allows for the incorporation of well-specific efficiencies and multiple reference genes. The method does not necessitate the pairing of samples that must be performed using traditional analysis methods in order to calculate relative expression ratios. Our method is also simple enough to be implemented in any spreadsheet or statistical software without additional scripts or proprietary components.

An adaptive block-based fusion method with LUE-SSIM for multi-focus images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Jianing; Guo, Yongcai; Huang, Yukun

2016-09-01

Because of the lenses' limited depth of field, digital cameras are incapable of acquiring an all-in-focus image of objects at varying distances in a scene. Multi-focus image fusion technique can effectively solve this problem. Aiming at the block-based multi-focus image fusion methods, the problem that blocking-artifacts often occurs. An Adaptive block-based fusion method based on lifting undistorted-edge structural similarity (LUE-SSIM) is put forward. In this method, image quality metrics LUE-SSIM is firstly proposed, which utilizes the characteristics of human visual system (HVS) and structural similarity (SSIM) to make the metrics consistent with the human visual perception. Particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm which selects LUE-SSIM as the object function is used for optimizing the block size to construct the fused image. Experimental results on LIVE image database shows that LUE-SSIM outperform SSIM on Gaussian defocus blur images quality assessment. Besides, multi-focus image fusion experiment is carried out to verify our proposed image fusion method in terms of visual and quantitative evaluation. The results show that the proposed method performs better than some other block-based methods, especially in reducing the blocking-artifact of the fused image. And our method can effectively preserve the undistorted-edge details in focus region of the source images.

Model-Based Method for Sensor Validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vatan, Farrokh

2012-01-01

Fault detection, diagnosis, and prognosis are essential tasks in the operation of autonomous spacecraft, instruments, and in situ platforms. One of NASA s key mission requirements is robust state estimation. Sensing, using a wide range of sensors and sensor fusion approaches, plays a central role in robust state estimation, and there is a need to diagnose sensor failure as well as component failure. Sensor validation can be considered to be part of the larger effort of improving reliability and safety. The standard methods for solving the sensor validation problem are based on probabilistic analysis of the system, from which the method based on Bayesian networks is most popular. Therefore, these methods can only predict the most probable faulty sensors, which are subject to the initial probabilities defined for the failures. The method developed in this work is based on a model-based approach and provides the faulty sensors (if any), which can be logically inferred from the model of the system and the sensor readings (observations). The method is also more suitable for the systems when it is hard, or even impossible, to find the probability functions of the system. The method starts by a new mathematical description of the problem and develops a very efficient and systematic algorithm for its solution. The method builds on the concepts of analytical redundant relations (ARRs).

Development of a practical image-based scatter correction method for brain perfusion SPECT: comparison with the TEW method.

PubMed

Shidahara, Miho; Watabe, Hiroshi; Kim, Kyeong Min; Kato, Takashi; Kawatsu, Shoji; Kato, Rikio; Yoshimura, Kumiko; Iida, Hidehiro; Ito, Kengo

2005-10-01

An image-based scatter correction (IBSC) method was developed to convert scatter-uncorrected into scatter-corrected SPECT images. The purpose of this study was to validate this method by means of phantom simulations and human studies with 99mTc-labeled tracers, based on comparison with the conventional triple energy window (TEW) method. The IBSC method corrects scatter on the reconstructed image I(mub)AC with Chang's attenuation correction factor. The scatter component image is estimated by convolving I(mub)AC with a scatter function followed by multiplication with an image-based scatter fraction function. The IBSC method was evaluated with Monte Carlo simulations and 99mTc-ethyl cysteinate dimer SPECT human brain perfusion studies obtained from five volunteers. The image counts and contrast of the scatter-corrected images obtained by the IBSC and TEW methods were compared. Using data obtained from the simulations, the image counts and contrast of the scatter-corrected images obtained by the IBSC and TEW methods were found to be nearly identical for both gray and white matter. In human brain images, no significant differences in image contrast were observed between the IBSC and TEW methods. The IBSC method is a simple scatter correction technique feasible for use in clinical routine.

Applying Activity Based Costing (ABC) Method to Calculate Cost Price in Hospital and Remedy Services

PubMed Central

Rajabi, A; Dabiri, A

2012-01-01

Background Activity Based Costing (ABC) is one of the new methods began appearing as a costing methodology in the 1990’s. It calculates cost price by determining the usage of resources. In this study, ABC method was used for calculating cost price of remedial services in hospitals. Methods: To apply ABC method, Shahid Faghihi Hospital was selected. First, hospital units were divided into three main departments: administrative, diagnostic, and hospitalized. Second, activity centers were defined by the activity analysis method. Third, costs of administrative activity centers were allocated into diagnostic and operational departments based on the cost driver. Finally, with regard to the usage of cost objectives from services of activity centers, the cost price of medical services was calculated. Results: The cost price from ABC method significantly differs from tariff method. In addition, high amount of indirect costs in the hospital indicates that capacities of resources are not used properly. Conclusion: Cost price of remedial services with tariff method is not properly calculated when compared with ABC method. ABC calculates cost price by applying suitable mechanisms but tariff method is based on the fixed price. In addition, ABC represents useful information about the amount and combination of cost price services. PMID:23113171

Monitoring the chemical production of citrus-derived bioactive 5-demethylnobiletin using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Zheng, Jinkai; Fang, Xiang; Cao, Yong; Xiao, Hang; He, Lili

2013-01-01

To develop an accurate and convenient method for monitoring the production of citrus-derived bioactive 5-demethylnobiletin from demethylation reaction of nobiletin, we compared surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) methods with a conventional HPLC method. Our results show that both the substrate-based and solution-based SERS methods correlated with HPLC method very well. The solution method produced lower root mean square error of calibration and higher correlation coefficient than the substrate method. The solution method utilized an ‘affinity chromatography’-like procedure to separate the reactant nobiletin from the product 5-demthylnobiletin based on their different binding affinity to the silver dendrites. The substrate method was found simpler and faster to collect the SERS ‘fingerprint’ spectra of the samples as no incubation between samples and silver was needed and only trace amount of samples were required. Our results demonstrated that the SERS methods were superior to HPLC method in conveniently and rapidly characterizing and quantifying 5-demethylnobiletin production. PMID:23885986

Near-Infrared Spectrum Detection of Wheat Gluten Protein Content Based on a Combined Filtering Method.

PubMed

Cai, Jian-Hua

2017-09-01

To eliminate the random error of the derivative near-IR (NIR) spectrum and to improve model stability and the prediction accuracy of the gluten protein content, a combined method is proposed for pretreatment of the NIR spectrum based on both empirical mode decomposition and the wavelet soft-threshold method. The principle and the steps of the method are introduced and the denoising effect is evaluated. The wheat gluten protein content is calculated based on the denoised spectrum, and the results are compared with those of the nine-point smoothing method and the wavelet soft-threshold method. Experimental results show that the proposed combined method is effective in completing pretreatment of the NIR spectrum, and the proposed method improves the accuracy of detection of wheat gluten protein content from the NIR spectrum.

Filmless versus film-based systems in radiographic examination costs: an activity-based costing method

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Since the shift from a radiographic film-based system to that of a filmless system, the change in radiographic examination costs and costs structure have been undetermined. The activity-based costing (ABC) method measures the cost and performance of activities, resources, and cost objects. The purpose of this study is to identify the cost structure of a radiographic examination comparing a filmless system to that of a film-based system using the ABC method. Methods We calculated the costs of radiographic examinations for both a filmless and a film-based system, and assessed the costs or cost components by simulating radiographic examinations in a health clinic. The cost objects of the radiographic examinations included lumbar (six views), knee (three views), wrist (two views), and other. Indirect costs were allocated to cost objects using the ABC method. Results The costs of a radiographic examination using a filmless system are as follows: lumbar 2,085 yen; knee 1,599 yen; wrist 1,165 yen; and other 1,641 yen. The costs for a film-based system are: lumbar 3,407 yen; knee 2,257 yen; wrist 1,602 yen; and other 2,521 yen. The primary activities were "calling patient," "explanation of scan," "take photographs," and "aftercare" for both filmless and film-based systems. The cost of these activities cost represented 36.0% of the total cost for a filmless system and 23.6% of a film-based system. Conclusions The costs of radiographic examinations using a filmless system and a film-based system were calculated using the ABC method. Our results provide clear evidence that the filmless system is more effective than the film-based system in providing greater value services directly to patients. PMID:21961846

A knowledge-driven approach to biomedical document conceptualization.

PubMed

Zheng, Hai-Tao; Borchert, Charles; Jiang, Yong

2010-06-01

Biomedical document conceptualization is the process of clustering biomedical documents based on ontology-represented domain knowledge. The result of this process is the representation of the biomedical documents by a set of key concepts and their relationships. Most of clustering methods cluster documents based on invariant domain knowledge. The objective of this work is to develop an effective method to cluster biomedical documents based on various user-specified ontologies, so that users can exploit the concept structures of documents more effectively. We develop a flexible framework to allow users to specify the knowledge bases, in the form of ontologies. Based on the user-specified ontologies, we develop a key concept induction algorithm, which uses latent semantic analysis to identify key concepts and cluster documents. A corpus-related ontology generation algorithm is developed to generate the concept structures of documents. Based on two biomedical datasets, we evaluate the proposed method and five other clustering algorithms. The clustering results of the proposed method outperform the five other algorithms, in terms of key concept identification. With respect to the first biomedical dataset, our method has the F-measure values 0.7294 and 0.5294 based on the MeSH ontology and gene ontology (GO), respectively. With respect to the second biomedical dataset, our method has the F-measure values 0.6751 and 0.6746 based on the MeSH ontology and GO, respectively. Both results outperforms the five other algorithms in terms of F-measure. Based on the MeSH ontology and GO, the generated corpus-related ontologies show informative conceptual structures. The proposed method enables users to specify the domain knowledge to exploit the conceptual structures of biomedical document collections. In addition, the proposed method is able to extract the key concepts and cluster the documents with a relatively high precision. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reliability-based trajectory optimization using nonintrusive polynomial chaos for Mars entry mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Yuechen; Li, Haiyang

2018-06-01

This paper presents the reliability-based sequential optimization (RBSO) method to settle the trajectory optimization problem with parametric uncertainties in entry dynamics for Mars entry mission. First, the deterministic entry trajectory optimization model is reviewed, and then the reliability-based optimization model is formulated. In addition, the modified sequential optimization method, in which the nonintrusive polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) method and the most probable point (MPP) searching method are employed, is proposed to solve the reliability-based optimization problem efficiently. The nonintrusive PCE method contributes to the transformation between the stochastic optimization (SO) and the deterministic optimization (DO) and to the approximation of trajectory solution efficiently. The MPP method, which is used for assessing the reliability of constraints satisfaction only up to the necessary level, is employed to further improve the computational efficiency. The cycle including SO, reliability assessment and constraints update is repeated in the RBSO until the reliability requirements of constraints satisfaction are satisfied. Finally, the RBSO is compared with the traditional DO and the traditional sequential optimization based on Monte Carlo (MC) simulation in a specific Mars entry mission to demonstrate the effectiveness and the efficiency of the proposed method.

Continental-Scale Validation of Modis-Based and LEDAPS Landsat ETM + Atmospheric Correction Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ju, Junchang; Roy, David P.; Vermote, Eric; Masek, Jeffrey; Kovalskyy, Valeriy

2012-01-01

The potential of Landsat data processing to provide systematic continental scale products has been demonstratedby several projects including the NASA Web-enabled Landsat Data (WELD) project. The recent freeavailability of Landsat data increases the need for robust and efficient atmospheric correction algorithms applicableto large volume Landsat data sets. This paper compares the accuracy of two Landsat atmospheric correctionmethods: a MODIS-based method and the Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive ProcessingSystem (LEDAPS) method. Both methods are based on the 6SV radiative transfer code but have different atmosphericcharacterization approaches. The MODIS-based method uses the MODIS Terra derived dynamicaerosol type, aerosol optical thickness, and water vapor to atmospherically correct ETM+ acquisitions ineach coincident orbit. The LEDAPS method uses aerosol characterizations derived independently from eachLandsat acquisition and assumes a fixed continental aerosol type and uses ancillary water vapor. Validationresults are presented comparing ETM+ atmospherically corrected data generated using these two methodswith AERONET corrected ETM+ data for 95 10 km10 km 30 m subsets, a total of nearly 8 million 30 mpixels, located across the conterminous United States. The results indicate that the MODIS-based methodhas better accuracy than the LEDAPS method for the ETM+ red and longer wavelength bands.

Project-Based Learning in Programmable Logic Controller

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seke, F. R.; Sumilat, J. M.; Kembuan, D. R. E.; Kewas, J. C.; Muchtar, H.; Ibrahim, N.

2018-02-01

Project-based learning is a learning method that uses project activities as the core of learning and requires student creativity in completing the project. The aims of this study is to investigate the influence of project-based learning methods on students with a high level of creativity in learning the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). This study used experimental methods with experimental class and control class consisting of 24 students, with 12 students of high creativity and 12 students of low creativity. The application of project-based learning methods into the PLC courses combined with the level of student creativity enables the students to be directly involved in the work of the PLC project which gives them experience in utilizing PLCs for the benefit of the industry. Therefore, it’s concluded that project-based learning method is one of the superior learning methods to apply on highly creative students to PLC courses. This method can be used as an effort to improve student learning outcomes and student creativity as well as to educate prospective teachers to become reliable educators in theory and practice which will be tasked to create qualified human resources candidates in order to meet future industry needs.

Methods of developing core collections based on the predicted genotypic value of rice ( Oryza sativa L.).

PubMed

Li, C T; Shi, C H; Wu, J G; Xu, H M; Zhang, H Z; Ren, Y L

2004-04-01

The selection of an appropriate sampling strategy and a clustering method is important in the construction of core collections based on predicted genotypic values in order to retain the greatest degree of genetic diversity of the initial collection. In this study, methods of developing rice core collections were evaluated based on the predicted genotypic values for 992 rice varieties with 13 quantitative traits. The genotypic values of the traits were predicted by the adjusted unbiased prediction (AUP) method. Based on the predicted genotypic values, Mahalanobis distances were calculated and employed to measure the genetic similarities among the rice varieties. Six hierarchical clustering methods, including the single linkage, median linkage, centroid, unweighted pair-group average, weighted pair-group average and flexible-beta methods, were combined with random, preferred and deviation sampling to develop 18 core collections of rice germplasm. The results show that the deviation sampling strategy in combination with the unweighted pair-group average method of hierarchical clustering retains the greatest degree of genetic diversities of the initial collection. The core collections sampled using predicted genotypic values had more genetic diversity than those based on phenotypic values.

Ground-based cloud classification by learning stable local binary patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yu; Shi, Cunzhao; Wang, Chunheng; Xiao, Baihua

2018-07-01

Feature selection and extraction is the first step in implementing pattern classification. The same is true for ground-based cloud classification. Histogram features based on local binary patterns (LBPs) are widely used to classify texture images. However, the conventional uniform LBP approach cannot capture all the dominant patterns in cloud texture images, thereby resulting in low classification performance. In this study, a robust feature extraction method by learning stable LBPs is proposed based on the averaged ranks of the occurrence frequencies of all rotation invariant patterns defined in the LBPs of cloud images. The proposed method is validated with a ground-based cloud classification database comprising five cloud types. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves significantly higher classification accuracy than the uniform LBP, local texture patterns (LTP), dominant LBP (DLBP), completed LBP (CLTP) and salient LBP (SaLBP) methods in this cloud image database and under different noise conditions. And the performance of the proposed method is comparable with that of the popular deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) method, but with less computation complexity. Furthermore, the proposed method also achieves superior performance on an independent test data set.

Active treatments for amblyopia: a review of the methods and evidence base.

PubMed

Suttle, Catherine M

2010-09-01

Treatment for amblyopia commonly involves passive methods such as occlusion of the non-amblyopic eye. An evidence base for these methods is provided by animal models of visual deprivation and plasticity in early life and randomised controlled studies in humans with amblyopia. Other treatments of amblyopia, intended to be used instead of or in conjunction with passive methods, are known as 'active' because they require some activity on the part of the patient. Active methods are intended to enhance treatment of amblyopia in a number of ways, including increased compliance and attention during the treatment periods (due to activities that are interesting for the patient) and the use of stimuli designed to activate and to encourage connectivity between certain cortical cell types. Active methods of amblyopia treatment are widely available and are discussed to some extent in the literature, but in many cases the evidence base is unclear, and effectiveness has not been thoroughly tested. This review looks at the techniques and evidence base for a range of these methods and discusses the need for an evidence-based approach to the acceptance and use of active amblyopia treatments.

A fast button surface defects detection method based on convolutional neural network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lizhe; Cao, Danhua; Wu, Songlin; Wu, Yubin; Wei, Taoran

2018-01-01

Considering the complexity of the button surface texture and the variety of buttons and defects, we propose a fast visual method for button surface defect detection, based on convolutional neural network (CNN). CNN has the ability to extract the essential features by training, avoiding designing complex feature operators adapted to different kinds of buttons, textures and defects. Firstly, we obtain the normalized button region and then use HOG-SVM method to identify the front and back side of the button. Finally, a convolutional neural network is developed to recognize the defects. Aiming at detecting the subtle defects, we propose a network structure with multiple feature channels input. To deal with the defects of different scales, we take a strategy of multi-scale image block detection. The experimental results show that our method is valid for a variety of buttons and able to recognize all kinds of defects that have occurred, including dent, crack, stain, hole, wrong paint and uneven. The detection rate exceeds 96%, which is much better than traditional methods based on SVM and methods based on template match. Our method can reach the speed of 5 fps on DSP based smart camera with 600 MHz frequency.

Evaluation of a QuECHERS-like extraction approach for the determination of PBDEs in mussels by immuno-assay-based screening methods

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A sample preparation method was evaluated for the determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in mussel samples, by using colorimetric and electrochemical immunoassay-based screening methods. A simple sample preparation in conjunction with a rapid screening method possesses the desired c...

Multi-Role Project (MRP): A New Project-Based Learning Method for STEM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warin, Bruno; Talbi, Omar; Kolski, Christophe; Hoogstoel, Frédéric

2016-01-01

This paper presents the "Multi-Role Project" method (MRP), a broadly applicable project-based learning method, and describes its implementation and evaluation in the context of a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) course. The MRP method is designed around a meta-principle that considers the project learning activity…

Performance of human fecal anaerobe-associated PCR-based assays in a multi-laboratory method evaluation study

EPA Science Inventory

A number of PCR-based methods for detecting human fecal material in environmental waters have been developed over the past decade, but these methods have rarely received independent comparative testing. Here, we evaluated ten of these methods (BacH, BacHum-UCD, B. thetaiotaomic...

Comparisons of Four Methods for Estimating a Dynamic Factor Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Zhiyong; Hamaker, Ellen L.; Nesselroade, John R.

2008-01-01

Four methods for estimating a dynamic factor model, the direct autoregressive factor score (DAFS) model, are evaluated and compared. The first method estimates the DAFS model using a Kalman filter algorithm based on its state space model representation. The second one employs the maximum likelihood estimation method based on the construction of a…

A new experimental method for the determination of the effective orifice area based on the acoustical source term

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadem, L.; Knapp, Y.; Pibarot, P.; Bertrand, E.; Garcia, D.; Durand, L. G.; Rieu, R.

2005-12-01

The effective orifice area (EOA) is the most commonly used parameter to assess the severity of aortic valve stenosis as well as the performance of valve substitutes. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) may be used for in vitro estimation of valve EOA. In the present study, we propose a new and simple method based on Howe’s developments of Lighthill’s aero-acoustic theory. This method is based on an acoustical source term (AST) to estimate the EOA from the transvalvular flow velocity measurements obtained by PIV. The EOAs measured by the AST method downstream of three sharp-edged orifices were in excellent agreement with the EOAs predicted from the potential flow theory used as the reference method in this study. Moreover, the AST method was more accurate than other conventional PIV methods based on streamlines, inflexion point or vorticity to predict the theoretical EOAs. The superiority of the AST method is likely due to the nonlinear form of the AST. There was also an excellent agreement between the EOAs measured by the AST method downstream of the three sharp-edged orifices as well as downstream of a bioprosthetic valve with those obtained by the conventional clinical method based on Doppler-echocardiographic measurements of transvalvular velocity. The results of this study suggest that this new simple PIV method provides an accurate estimation of the aortic valve flow EOA. This new method may thus be used as a reference method to estimate the EOA in experimental investigation of the performance of valve substitutes and to validate Doppler-echocardiographic measurements under various physiologic and pathologic flow conditions.

Accuracy of different bioinformatics methods in detecting antibiotic resistance and virulence factors from Staphylococcus aureus whole genome sequences.

PubMed

Mason, Amy; Foster, Dona; Bradley, Phelim; Golubchik, Tanya; Doumith, Michel; Gordon, N Claire; Pichon, Bruno; Iqbal, Zamin; Staves, Peter; Crook, Derrick; Walker, A Sarah; Kearns, Angela; Peto, Tim

2018-06-20

Background : In principle, whole genome sequencing (WGS) can predict phenotypic resistance directly from genotype, replacing laboratory-based tests. However, the contribution of different bioinformatics methods to genotype-phenotype discrepancies has not been systematically explored to date. Methods : We compared three WGS-based bioinformatics methods (Genefinder (read-based), Mykrobe (de Bruijn graph-based) and Typewriter (BLAST-based)) for predicting presence/absence of 83 different resistance determinants and virulence genes, and overall antimicrobial susceptibility, in 1379 Staphylococcus aureus isolates previously characterised by standard laboratory methods (disc diffusion, broth and/or agar dilution and PCR). Results : 99.5% (113830/114457) of individual resistance-determinant/virulence gene predictions were identical between all three methods, with only 627 (0.5%) discordant predictions, demonstrating high overall agreement (Fliess-Kappa=0.98, p<0.0001). Discrepancies when identified were in only one of the three methods for all genes except the cassette recombinase, ccrC(b ). Genotypic antimicrobial susceptibility prediction matched laboratory phenotype in 98.3% (14224/14464) cases (2720 (18.8%) resistant, 11504 (79.5%) susceptible). There was greater disagreement between the laboratory phenotypes and the combined genotypic predictions (97 (0.7%) phenotypically-susceptible but all bioinformatic methods reported resistance; 89 (0.6%) phenotypically-resistant, but all bioinformatics methods reported susceptible) than within the three bioinformatics methods (54 (0.4%) cases, 16 phenotypically-resistant, 38 phenotypically-susceptible). However, in 36/54 (67%), the consensus genotype matched the laboratory phenotype. Conclusions : In this study, the choice between these three specific bioinformatic methods to identify resistance-determinants or other genes in S. aureus did not prove critical, with all demonstrating high concordance with each other and phenotypic/molecular methods. However, each has some limitations and therefore consensus methods provide some assurance. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

A low delay transmission method of multi-channel video based on FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Weijian; Wei, Baozhi; Li, Xiaobin; Wang, Quan; Hu, Xiaofei

2018-03-01

In order to guarantee the fluency of multi-channel video transmission in video monitoring scenarios, we designed a kind of video format conversion method based on FPGA and its DMA scheduling for video data, reduces the overall video transmission delay.In order to sace the time in the conversion process, the parallel ability of FPGA is used to video format conversion. In order to improve the direct memory access (DMA) writing transmission rate of PCIe bus, a DMA scheduling method based on asynchronous command buffer is proposed. The experimental results show that this paper designs a low delay transmission method based on FPGA, which increases the DMA writing transmission rate by 34% compared with the existing method, and then the video overall delay is reduced to 23.6ms.

Anchoring quartet-based phylogenetic distances and applications to species tree reconstruction.

PubMed

Sayyari, Erfan; Mirarab, Siavash

2016-11-11

Inferring species trees from gene trees using the coalescent-based summary methods has been the subject of much attention, yet new scalable and accurate methods are needed. We introduce DISTIQUE, a new statistically consistent summary method for inferring species trees from gene trees under the coalescent model. We generalize our results to arbitrary phylogenetic inference problems; we show that two arbitrarily chosen leaves, called anchors, can be used to estimate relative distances between all other pairs of leaves by inferring relevant quartet trees. This results in a family of distance-based tree inference methods, with running times ranging between quadratic to quartic in the number of leaves. We show in simulated studies that DISTIQUE has comparable accuracy to leading coalescent-based summary methods and reduced running times.