A rare cause of bleeding after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy : pseudo-aneurysm of the gastro-omental artery.

PubMed

Mege, D; Louis, G; Berthet, B

2013-01-01

A serious complication of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is bleeding that is primarily located along the staples lines. Bleeding may be due to several causes, including hematomas, trocar sites, or visceral pseudo-aneurysms. We reported here a case of bleeding related to a pseudo-aneurysm of the gastro-omental artery. An LSG was performed on a 43-year-old woman (BMI = 46 kg/m2) without apparent surgical complications. Fifteen days later, she was admitted to the emergency department for hematemesis and symptoms of hemorrhagic shock. Abdominal computed tomography angiography revealed blood in the stomach, without a digestive leak, and active bleeding from a pseudo-aneurysm of the gastro-omental artery. An arterial embolisation was performed with the sandwich technique and angiographic guide wires and the placement of several detachable coils. The patient was discharged two days later. We demonstrated for the first time that post-LSG bleeding may involve a pseudo-aneurysm of the gastro-omental artery.

Accounting for Fault Roughness in Pseudo-Dynamic Ground-Motion Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mai, P. Martin; Galis, Martin; Thingbaijam, Kiran K. S.; Vyas, Jagdish C.; Dunham, Eric M.

2017-09-01

Geological faults comprise large-scale segmentation and small-scale roughness. These multi-scale geometrical complexities determine the dynamics of the earthquake rupture process, and therefore affect the radiated seismic wavefield. In this study, we examine how different parameterizations of fault roughness lead to variability in the rupture evolution and the resulting near-fault ground motions. Rupture incoherence naturally induced by fault roughness generates high-frequency radiation that follows an ω-2 decay in displacement amplitude spectra. Because dynamic rupture simulations are computationally expensive, we test several kinematic source approximations designed to emulate the observed dynamic behavior. When simplifying the rough-fault geometry, we find that perturbations in local moment tensor orientation are important, while perturbations in local source location are not. Thus, a planar fault can be assumed if the local strike, dip, and rake are maintained. We observe that dynamic rake angle variations are anti-correlated with the local dip angles. Testing two parameterizations of dynamically consistent Yoffe-type source-time function, we show that the seismic wavefield of the approximated kinematic ruptures well reproduces the radiated seismic waves of the complete dynamic source process. This finding opens a new avenue for an improved pseudo-dynamic source characterization that captures the effects of fault roughness on earthquake rupture evolution. By including also the correlations between kinematic source parameters, we outline a new pseudo-dynamic rupture modeling approach for broadband ground-motion simulation.

Superconducting state parameters of monovalent and polyvalent amorphous

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

Sonvane, Y. A., E-mail: yas@ashd.svnit.ac.in; Patel, H. P., E-mail: patel.harshal2@gmail.com; Thakor, P. B., E-mail: pbthakor@rediffmail.com

2015-08-28

In the present study deals, we have calculated superconducting state parameter (SSP) like electron-phonon coupling strength λ, coulomb pseudo potential, μ*, transition temperature Tc, isotope effect exponent α and effective interaction strength N{sub 0}V of monovalent (Li), divalent (Zn), trivalent (In) and tetravalent (Pb) amorphous. To carry out this work we have used our newly constructed model pseudo potential to describe electron ion interaction along with three different local field correction functions like Hartree, Taylor and Sarkar et al. The present results are found in good agreement with other available theoretical as well as experimental data.

Superconducting state parameters of monovalent and polyvalent amorphous

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sonvane, Y. A.; Patel, H. P.; Thakor, P. B.

2015-08-01

In the present study deals, we have calculated superconducting state parameter (SSP) like electron-phonon coupling strength λ, coulomb pseudo potential, μ*, transition temperature Tc, isotope effect exponent α and effective interaction strength N0V of monovalent (Li), divalent (Zn), trivalent (In) and tetravalent (Pb) amorphous. To carry out this work we have used our newly constructed model pseudo potential to describe electron ion interaction along with three different local field correction functions like Hartree, Taylor and Sarkar et al. The present results are found in good agreement with other available theoretical as well as experimental data.

Sensor-Only System Identification for Structural Health Monitoring of Advanced Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kukreja, Sunil L.; Bernstein, Dennis S.

2012-01-01

Environmental conditions, cyclic loading, and aging contribute to structural wear and degradation, and thus potentially catastrophic events. The challenge of health monitoring technology is to determine incipient changes accurately and efficiently. This project addresses this challenge by developing health monitoring techniques that depend only on sensor measurements. Since actively controlled excitation is not needed, sensor-to-sensor identification (S2SID) provides an in-flight diagnostic tool that exploits ambient excitation to provide advance warning of significant changes. S2SID can subsequently be followed up by ground testing to localize and quantify structural changes. The conceptual foundation of S2SID is the notion of a pseudo-transfer function, where one sensor is viewed as the pseudo-input and another is viewed as the pseudo-output, is approach is less restrictive than transmissibility identification and operational modal analysis since no assumption is made about the locations of the sensors relative to the excitation.

Accurate prediction of subcellular location of apoptosis proteins combining Chou's PseAAC and PsePSSM based on wavelet denoising.

PubMed

Yu, Bin; Li, Shan; Qiu, Wen-Ying; Chen, Cheng; Chen, Rui-Xin; Wang, Lei; Wang, Ming-Hui; Zhang, Yan

2017-12-08

Apoptosis proteins subcellular localization information are very important for understanding the mechanism of programmed cell death and the development of drugs. The prediction of subcellular localization of an apoptosis protein is still a challenging task because the prediction of apoptosis proteins subcellular localization can help to understand their function and the role of metabolic processes. In this paper, we propose a novel method for protein subcellular localization prediction. Firstly, the features of the protein sequence are extracted by combining Chou's pseudo amino acid composition (PseAAC) and pseudo-position specific scoring matrix (PsePSSM), then the feature information of the extracted is denoised by two-dimensional (2-D) wavelet denoising. Finally, the optimal feature vectors are input to the SVM classifier to predict subcellular location of apoptosis proteins. Quite promising predictions are obtained using the jackknife test on three widely used datasets and compared with other state-of-the-art methods. The results indicate that the method proposed in this paper can remarkably improve the prediction accuracy of apoptosis protein subcellular localization, which will be a supplementary tool for future proteomics research.

Accurate prediction of subcellular location of apoptosis proteins combining Chou’s PseAAC and PsePSSM based on wavelet denoising

PubMed Central

Chen, Cheng; Chen, Rui-Xin; Wang, Lei; Wang, Ming-Hui; Zhang, Yan

2017-01-01

Apoptosis proteins subcellular localization information are very important for understanding the mechanism of programmed cell death and the development of drugs. The prediction of subcellular localization of an apoptosis protein is still a challenging task because the prediction of apoptosis proteins subcellular localization can help to understand their function and the role of metabolic processes. In this paper, we propose a novel method for protein subcellular localization prediction. Firstly, the features of the protein sequence are extracted by combining Chou's pseudo amino acid composition (PseAAC) and pseudo-position specific scoring matrix (PsePSSM), then the feature information of the extracted is denoised by two-dimensional (2-D) wavelet denoising. Finally, the optimal feature vectors are input to the SVM classifier to predict subcellular location of apoptosis proteins. Quite promising predictions are obtained using the jackknife test on three widely used datasets and compared with other state-of-the-art methods. The results indicate that the method proposed in this paper can remarkably improve the prediction accuracy of apoptosis protein subcellular localization, which will be a supplementary tool for future proteomics research. PMID:29296195

Preliminary result of P-wave speed tomography beneath North Sumatera region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jatnika, Jajat; Nugraha, Andri Dian; Wandono

2015-04-01

The structure of P-wave speed beneath the North Sumatra region was determined using P-wave arrival times compiled by MCGA from time periods of January 2009 to December 2012 combining with PASSCAL data for February to May 1995. In total, there are 2,246 local earthquake events with 10,666 P-wave phases from 63 stations seismic around the study area. Ray tracing to estimate travel time from source to receiver in this study by applying pseudo-bending method while the damped LSQR method was used for the tomographic inversion. Based on assessment of ray coverage, earthquakes and stations distribution, horizontal grid nodes was set up of 30×30 km2 for inside the study area and 80×80 km2 for outside the study area. The tomographic inversion results show low Vp anomaly beneath Toba caldera complex region and around the Sumatra Fault Zones (SFZ). These features are consistent with previous study. The low Vp anomaly beneath Toba caldera complex are observed around Mt. Pusuk Bukit at depths of 5 km down to 100 km. The interpretation is these anomalies may be associated with ascending hot materials from subduction processes at depths of 80 km down to 100 km. The obtained Vp structure from local tomography will give valuable information to enhance understanding of tectonic and volcanic in this study area.

Preliminary result of P-wave speed tomography beneath North Sumatera region

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

Jatnika, Jajat; Indonesian Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency; Nugraha, Andri Dian, E-mail: nugraha@gf.itb.ac.id

2015-04-24

The structure of P-wave speed beneath the North Sumatra region was determined using P-wave arrival times compiled by MCGA from time periods of January 2009 to December 2012 combining with PASSCAL data for February to May 1995. In total, there are 2,246 local earthquake events with 10,666 P-wave phases from 63 stations seismic around the study area. Ray tracing to estimate travel time from source to receiver in this study by applying pseudo-bending method while the damped LSQR method was used for the tomographic inversion. Based on assessment of ray coverage, earthquakes and stations distribution, horizontal grid nodes was setmore » up of 30×30 km2 for inside the study area and 80×80 km2 for outside the study area. The tomographic inversion results show low Vp anomaly beneath Toba caldera complex region and around the Sumatra Fault Zones (SFZ). These features are consistent with previous study. The low Vp anomaly beneath Toba caldera complex are observed around Mt. Pusuk Bukit at depths of 5 km down to 100 km. The interpretation is these anomalies may be associated with ascending hot materials from subduction processes at depths of 80 km down to 100 km. The obtained Vp structure from local tomography will give valuable information to enhance understanding of tectonic and volcanic in this study area.« less

Three-dimensional structure of basal body triplet revealed by electron cryo-tomography

PubMed Central

Li, Sam; Fernandez, Jose-Jesus; Marshall, Wallace F; Agard, David A

2012-01-01

Basal bodies and centrioles play central roles in microtubule (MT)-organizing centres within many eukaryotes. They share a barrel-shaped cylindrical structure composed of nine MT triplet blades. Here, we report the structure of the basal body triplet at 33 Å resolution obtained by electron cryo-tomography and 3D subtomogram averaging. By fitting the atomic structure of tubulin into the EM density, we built a pseudo-atomic model of the tubulin protofilaments at the core of the triplet. The 3D density map reveals additional densities that represent non-tubulin proteins attached to the triplet, including a large inner circular structure in the basal body lumen, which functions as a scaffold to stabilize the entire basal body barrel. We found clear longitudinal structural variations along the basal body, suggesting a sequential and coordinated assembly mechanism. We propose a model in which δ-tubulin and other components participate in the assembly of the basal body. PMID:22157822

Metal artifact reduction by filter-based dual-energy cone-beam computed tomography on a bench-top micro-CBCT system: concept and demonstration.

PubMed

Iramina, Hiraku; Hamaguchi, Takumi; Nakamura, Mitsuhiro; Mizowaki, Takashi; Kanno, Ikuo

2018-04-30

We evaluated two dual-energy cone-beam computed tomography (DE-CBCT) methodologies for a bench-top micro-CBCT system to reduce metal artifacts on reconstructed images. Two filter-based DE-CBCT methodologies were tested: (i) alternative spectral switching and (ii) simultaneous beam splitting. We employed filters of 0.6-mm-thick tin and 0.1-mm-thick tungsten to generate high- and low-energy spectra from 120 kVp X-rays, respectively. The spectral switching method was imitated by two half scans with different filters (pseudo-switching). Filters were placed and between the X-ray tube and a phantom ('1-u,' '2-u'), a phantom and a flat panel detector ('1-d,' '2-d'), and compared with (iii) two half scans at 80 and 140 kVp [pseudo-(80,140)]. For the splitting method, two half-width filters were aligned along a rotating axis. Projections were separated into halves and merged with corresponding areas of opposed projections after one full rotation. A solid 30-mm-diameter acrylic phantom and an acrylic phantom with four 5-mm-diameter titanium rods were used. DE images were generated by weighted summation of the high- and low-energy images. The blending factor was changed from 0 to +5 in increments of 0.01. Relative errors (REs) of the linear attenuation coefficients of the two phantoms and the contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) between the titanium and acrylic regions were compared. All methods showed zero REs except for the method (2-d). CNRs for pseudo-switching with upstream placement were 1.4-fold larger than CNRs for the pseudo-(80,140) method. CNRs for the downstream placements were small. It was concluded that the pseudo-switching method with upstream placement is appropriate for reducing metal artifacts.

Frozen Gaussian approximation for 3D seismic tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chai, Lihui; Tong, Ping; Yang, Xu

2018-05-01

Three-dimensional (3D) wave-equation-based seismic tomography is computationally challenging in large scales and high-frequency regime. In this paper, we apply the frozen Gaussian approximation (FGA) method to compute 3D sensitivity kernels and seismic tomography of high-frequency. Rather than standard ray theory used in seismic inversion (e.g. Kirchhoff migration and Gaussian beam migration), FGA is used to compute the 3D high-frequency sensitivity kernels for travel-time or full waveform inversions. Specifically, we reformulate the equations of the forward and adjoint wavefields for the purpose of convenience to apply FGA, and with this reformulation, one can efficiently compute the Green’s functions whose convolutions with source time function produce wavefields needed for the construction of 3D kernels. Moreover, a fast summation method is proposed based on local fast Fourier transform which greatly improves the speed of reconstruction as the last step of FGA algorithm. We apply FGA to both the travel-time adjoint tomography and full waveform inversion (FWI) on synthetic crosswell seismic data with dominant frequencies as high as those of real crosswell data, and confirm again that FWI requires a more sophisticated initial velocity model for the convergence than travel-time adjoint tomography. We also numerically test the accuracy of applying FGA to local earthquake tomography. This study paves the way to directly apply wave-equation-based seismic tomography methods into real data around their dominant frequencies.

FUNDUS AUTOFLUORESCENCE IN RUBELLA RETINOPATHY: Correlation With Photoreceptor Structure and Function.

PubMed

Bukowska, Danuta M; Wan, Sue Ling; Chew, Avenell L; Chelva, Enid; Tang, Ivy; Mackey, David A; Chen, Fred K

2017-01-01

To illustrate altered fundus autofluorescence in rubella retinopathy and to investigate their relationships with photoreceptor structure and function using multimodal imaging. The authors report four cases of rubella retinopathy aged 8, 33, 42, and 50 years. All patients had dilated clinical fundus examination; wide-field color photography; blue, green, and near-infrared autofluorescence imaging and spectral domain optical coherence tomography. Two patients also underwent microperimetry and adaptive optics imaging. En face optical coherence tomography, cone mosaic, and microperimetry were coregistered with autofluorescence images. The authors explored the structure-function correlation. All four patients had a "salt-and-pepper" appearance on dilated fundus examination and wide-field color photography. There were variable-sized patches of hypoautofluorescence on both blue and near-infrared excitation in all four patients. Wave-guiding cones were visible and retinal sensitivity was intact over these regions. There was no correlation between hypoautofluorescence and regions of attenuated ellipsoid and interdigitation zones. Hyperautofluorescent lesions were also noted and some of these were pseudo-vitelliform lesions. Patchy hypoautofluorescence on near-infrared excitation can be a feature of rubella retinopathy. This may be due to abnormal melanin production or loss of melanin within retinal pigment epithelium cells harboring persistent rubella virus infection. Preservation of the ellipsoid zone, wave-guiding cones, and retinal sensitivity within hypoautofluorescent lesions suggest that these retinal pigment epithelium changes have only mild impact on photoreceptor cell function.

Tuning the Pseudospin Polarization of Graphene by a Pseudomagnetic Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgi, Alexander; Nemes-Incze, Peter; Carrillo-Bastos, Ramon; Faria, Daiara; Viola Kusminskiy, Silvia; Zhai, Dawei; Schneider, Martin; Subramaniam, Dinesh; Mashoff, Torge; Freitag, Nils M.; Liebmann, Marcus; Pratzer, Marco; Wirtz, Ludger; Woods, Colin R.; Gorbachev, Roman V.; Cao, Yang; Novoselov, Kostya S.; Sandler, Nancy; Morgenstern, Markus

2017-04-01

One of the intriguing characteristics of honeycomb lattices is the appearance of a pseudo-magnetic field as a result of mechanical deformation. In the case of graphene, the Landau quantization resulting from this pseudo-magnetic field has been measured using scanning tunneling microscopy. Here we show that a signature of the pseudo-magnetic field is a local sublattice symmetry breaking observable as a redistribution of the local density of states. This can be interpreted as a polarization of graphene's pseudospin due to a strain induced pseudo-magnetic field, in analogy to the alignment of a real spin in a magnetic field. We reveal this sublattice symmetry breaking by tunably straining graphene using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope. The tip locally lifts the graphene membrane from a SiO$_2$ support, as visible by an increased slope of the $I(z)$ curves. The amount of lifting is consistent with molecular dynamics calculations, which reveal a deformed graphene area under the tip in the shape of a Gaussian. The pseudo-magnetic field induced by the deformation becomes visible as a sublattice symmetry breaking which scales with the lifting height of the strained deformation and therefore with the pseudo-magnetic field strength. Its magnitude is quantitatively reproduced by analytic and tight-binding models, revealing fields of 1000 T. These results might be the starting point for an effective THz valley filter, as a basic element of valleytronics.

Airborne electromagnetic data levelling using principal component analysis based on flight line difference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qiong; Peng, Cong; Lu, Yiming; Wang, Hao; Zhu, Kaiguang

2018-04-01

A novel technique is developed to level airborne geophysical data using principal component analysis based on flight line difference. In the paper, flight line difference is introduced to enhance the features of levelling error for airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data and improve the correlation between pseudo tie lines. Thus we conduct levelling to the flight line difference data instead of to the original AEM data directly. Pseudo tie lines are selected distributively cross profile direction, avoiding the anomalous regions. Since the levelling errors of selective pseudo tie lines show high correlations, principal component analysis is applied to extract the local levelling errors by low-order principal components reconstruction. Furthermore, we can obtain the levelling errors of original AEM data through inverse difference after spatial interpolation. This levelling method does not need to fly tie lines and design the levelling fitting function. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated by the levelling results of survey data, comparing with the results from tie-line levelling and flight-line correlation levelling.

Long-term survival in pseudo-Meigs' syndrome caused by ovarian metastases from colon cancer.

PubMed

Tajima, Yosuke; Kameyama, Hitoshi; Yamada, Saki; Yagi, Ryoma; Nakano, Masato; Nagahashi, Masayuki; Shimada, Yoshifumi; Sakata, Jun; Kobayashi, Takashi; Umezu, Hajime; Wakai, Toshifumi

2016-11-14

Meigs' syndrome is defined as the co-existence of benign ovarian fibroma or fibroma-like tumor, ascites, and pleural effusion. In contrast, pseudo-Meigs' syndrome is defined as the co-existence of other ovarian or pelvic tumors, ascites, and pleural effusion. In Meigs' and pseudo-Meigs' syndromes, ascites and pleural effusion resolve promptly after the complete resection of the ovarian or pelvic tumor(s). Secondary ovarian tumors from colorectal gastrointestinal metastases rarely cause pseudo-Meigs' syndrome; only 11 cases of pseudo-Meigs' syndrome secondary to colorectal cancers have been reported in the literature. Therefore, the prognosis and etiology of pseudo-Meigs' syndrome caused by ovarian metastasis from colorectal cancers remain unclear. We report here a rare case of pseudo-Meigs' syndrome caused by ovarian metastases from sigmoid colon cancer with long-term survival. A 47-year-old woman presented with abdominal distention of 1-month duration. She developed acute dyspnea 2 weeks after the initial presentation. Colonoscopy and computed tomography revealed sigmoid colon cancer with an ovarian metastasis, along with massive ascites and bilateral pleural effusion. Emergency operation, including bilateral oophorectomy and sigmoidectomy, was performed. Subsequently, ascites and bilateral pleural effusion resolved rapidly. Curative hepatic resection was performed for liver metastases 29 months after the first operation, and as of this writing, the patient is alive with no evidence of a disease 78 months after the first operation. In general, colorectal cancer with ovarian metastasis is hard to cure, and long-term survival in patients with colorectal cancer with pseudo-Meigs' syndrome is rare. Our experience suggests that curative resection for pseudo-Meigs' syndrome caused by ovarian metastasis from colorectal cancer may offer long-term survival. Our experience suggests that pseudo-Meigs' syndrome can occur in a patient with colorectal cancer after metastasis to the ovaries, causing massive ascites and pleural effusion. Aggressive treatment, including R0 resection, for this disease if allowed by the patient's general condition may offer long-term survival.

An Analysis of Two Layers of Encryption to Protect Network Traffic

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-01

Published: 06/18/2001 CVSS Severity: 7.5 (HIGH) CVE-2001-1141 Summary: The Pseudo-Random Number Generator (PRNG) in SSLeay and OpenSSL be- fore 0.9.6b allows...x509cert function in KAME Racoon successfully verifies certifi- cates even when OpenSSL validation fails, which could allow remote attackers to...montgomery function in crypto/bn/bn mont.c in OpenSSL 0.9.8e and earlier does not properly perform Montgomery multiplication, which might allow local users to

Ultrasonically Encoded Photoacoustic Flowgraphy in Biological Tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lidai; Xia, Jun; Yao, Junjie; Maslov, Konstantin I.; Wang, Lihong V.

2013-11-01

Blood flow speed is an important functional parameter. Doppler ultrasound flowmetry lacks sufficient sensitivity to slow blood flow (several to tens of millimeters per second) in deep tissue. To address this challenge, we developed ultrasonically encoded photoacoustic flowgraphy combining ultrasonic thermal tagging with photoacoustic imaging. Focused ultrasound generates a confined heat source in acoustically absorptive fluid. Thermal waves propagate with the flow and are directly visualized in pseudo color using photoacoustic computed tomography. The Doppler shift is employed to calculate the flow speed. This method requires only acoustic and optical absorption, and thus is applicable to continuous fluid. A blood flow speed as low as 0.24mm·s-1 was successfully measured. Deep blood flow imaging was experimentally demonstrated under 5-mm-thick chicken breast tissue.

Visualization of x-ray computer tomography using computer-generated holography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daibo, Masahiro; Tayama, Norio

1998-09-01

The theory converted from x-ray projection data to the hologram directly by combining the computer tomography (CT) with the computer generated hologram (CGH), is proposed. The purpose of this study is to offer the theory for realizing the all- electronic and high-speed seeing through 3D visualization system, which is for the application to medical diagnosis and non- destructive testing. First, the CT is expressed using the pseudo- inverse matrix which is obtained by the singular value decomposition. CGH is expressed in the matrix style. Next, `projection to hologram conversion' (PTHC) matrix is calculated by the multiplication of phase matrix of CGH with pseudo-inverse matrix of the CT. Finally, the projection vector is converted to the hologram vector directly, by multiplication of the PTHC matrix with the projection vector. Incorporating holographic analog computation into CT reconstruction, it becomes possible that the calculation amount is drastically reduced. We demonstrate the CT cross section which is reconstituted by He-Ne laser in the 3D space from the real x-ray projection data acquired by x-ray television equipment, using our direct conversion technique.

Local Risk-Minimization for Defaultable Claims with Recovery Process

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

Biagini, Francesca, E-mail: biagini@mathematik.uni-muenchen.de; Cretarola, Alessandra, E-mail: alessandra.cretarola@dmi.unipg.it

We study the local risk-minimization approach for defaultable claims with random recovery at default time, seen as payment streams on the random interval [0,{tau} Logical-And T], where T denotes the fixed time-horizon. We find the pseudo-locally risk-minimizing strategy in the case when the agent information takes into account the possibility of a default event (local risk-minimization with G-strategies) and we provide an application in the case of a corporate bond. We also discuss the problem of finding a pseudo-locally risk-minimizing strategy if we suppose the agent obtains her information only by observing the non-defaultable assets.

Longitudinal spatial coherence gated high-resolution tomography and quantitative phase microscopy of biological cells and tissues with uniform illumination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehta, Dalip Singh; Ahmad, Azeem; Dubey, Vishesh; Singh, Veena; Butola, Ankit; Mohanty, Tonmoy; Nandi, Sreyankar

2018-02-01

We report longitudinal spatial coherence (LSC) gated high-resolution tomography and quantitative phase microscopy of biological cells and tissues with uniform illumination using laser as a light source. To accomplish this a pseudo thermal light source was synthesized by passing laser beams through an optical system, which is basically a speckle reduction system with combined effect of spatial, temporal, angular and polarisation diversity. The longitudinal spatial coherence length of such light was significantly reduced by synthesizing a pseudo thermal source with the combined effect of spatial, angular and temporal diversity. This results in a low spatially coherent (i.e., broad angular frequency spectrum) light source with narrow temporal frequency spectrum. Light from such a pseudo thermal light source was passed through an interference microscope with varying magnification, such as, 10X and 50X. The interference microscope was used for full-field OCT imaging of multilayer objects and topography of industrial objects. Experimental results of optical sectioning of multilayer biological objects with high axial-resolution less than 10μm was achieved which is comparable to broadband white light source. The synthesized light source with reduced speckles having uniform illumination on the sample, which can be very useful for fluorescence microscopy as well as quantitative phase microscopy with less phase noise. The present system does not require any dispersion compensation optical system for biological samples as a highly monochromatic light source is used.

Pseudo-pseudo Meigs' syndrome in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus.

PubMed

Dalvi, S R; Yildirim, R; Santoriello, D; Belmont, H M

2012-11-01

Pseudo-pseudo Meigs' syndrome (PPMS) is a rare manifestation of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), defined by the presence of ascites, pleural effusions and an elevated CA-125 level. We describe a patient with longstanding lupus who presented with localized lymphadenopathy and subsequently developed massive chylous ascites with marked hypoalbuminemia. A brief historical overview of Meigs' syndrome and related entities is presented, along with a discussion of the differential diagnosis of hypoalbuminemia and ascites in an SLE patient. In addition, we speculate on the optimal therapeutic intervention in such a patient.

Higher-order assembly of BRCC36–KIAA0157 is required for DUB activity and biological function

DOE PAGES

Zeqiraj, Elton; Tian, Lei; Piggott, Christopher  A.; ...

2015-09-03

BRCC36 is a Zn 2+-dependent deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) that hydrolyzes lysine-63-linked ubiquitin chains as part of distinct macromolecular complexes that participate in either interferon signaling or DNA-damage recognition. The MPN + domain protein BRCC36 associates with pseudo DUB MPN– proteins KIAA0157 or Abraxas, which are essential for BRCC36 enzymatic activity. Here, to understand the basis for BRCC36 regulation, we have solved the structure of an active BRCC36-KIAA0157 heterodimer and an inactive BRCC36 homodimer. Structural and functional characterizations show how BRCC36 is switched to an active conformation by contacts with KIAA0157. Higher-order association of BRCC36 and KIAA0157 into a dimer ofmore » heterodimers (super dimers) was required for DUB activity and interaction with targeting proteins SHMT2 and RAP80. Lastly, these data provide an explanation of how an inactive pseudo DUB allosterically activates a cognate DUB partner and implicates super dimerization as a new regulatory mechanism underlying BRCC36 DUB activity, subcellular localization, and biological function.« less

Finite element analysis of true and pseudo surface acoustic waves in one-dimensional phononic crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graczykowski, B.; Alzina, F.; Gomis-Bresco, J.; Sotomayor Torres, C. M.

2016-01-01

In this paper, we report a theoretical investigation of surface acoustic waves propagating in one-dimensional phononic crystal. Using finite element method eigenfrequency and frequency response studies, we develop two model geometries suitable to distinguish true and pseudo (or leaky) surface acoustic waves and determine their propagation through finite size phononic crystals, respectively. The novelty of the first model comes from the application of a surface-like criterion and, additionally, functional damping domain. Exemplary calculated band diagrams show sorted branches of true and pseudo surface acoustic waves and their quantified surface confinement. The second model gives a complementary study of transmission, reflection, and surface-to-bulk losses of Rayleigh surface waves in the case of a phononic crystal with a finite number of periods. Here, we demonstrate that a non-zero transmission within non-radiative band gaps can be carried via leaky modes originating from the coupling of local resonances with propagating waves in the substrate. Finally, we show that the transmission, reflection, and surface-to-bulk losses can be effectively optimised by tuning the geometrical properties of a stripe.

Dynamic Reconstruction Algorithm of Three-Dimensional Temperature Field Measurement by Acoustic Tomography

PubMed Central

Li, Yanqiu; Liu, Shi; Inaki, Schlaberg H.

2017-01-01

Accuracy and speed of algorithms play an important role in the reconstruction of temperature field measurements by acoustic tomography. Existing algorithms are based on static models which only consider the measurement information. A dynamic model of three-dimensional temperature reconstruction by acoustic tomography is established in this paper. A dynamic algorithm is proposed considering both acoustic measurement information and the dynamic evolution information of the temperature field. An objective function is built which fuses measurement information and the space constraint of the temperature field with its dynamic evolution information. Robust estimation is used to extend the objective function. The method combines a tunneling algorithm and a local minimization technique to solve the objective function. Numerical simulations show that the image quality and noise immunity of the dynamic reconstruction algorithm are better when compared with static algorithms such as least square method, algebraic reconstruction technique and standard Tikhonov regularization algorithms. An effective method is provided for temperature field reconstruction by acoustic tomography. PMID:28895930

Using Chou's pseudo amino acid composition based on approximate entropy and an ensemble of AdaBoost classifiers to predict protein subnuclear location.

PubMed

Jiang, Xiaoying; Wei, Rong; Zhao, Yanjun; Zhang, Tongliang

2008-05-01

The knowledge of subnuclear localization in eukaryotic cells is essential for understanding the life function of nucleus. Developing prediction methods and tools for proteins subnuclear localization become important research fields in protein science for special characteristics in cell nuclear. In this study, a novel approach has been proposed to predict protein subnuclear localization. Sample of protein is represented by Pseudo Amino Acid (PseAA) composition based on approximate entropy (ApEn) concept, which reflects the complexity of time series. A novel ensemble classifier is designed incorporating three AdaBoost classifiers. The base classifier algorithms in three AdaBoost are decision stumps, fuzzy K nearest neighbors classifier, and radial basis-support vector machines, respectively. Different PseAA compositions are used as input data of different AdaBoost classifier in ensemble. Genetic algorithm is used to optimize the dimension and weight factor of PseAA composition. Two datasets often used in published works are used to validate the performance of the proposed approach. The obtained results of Jackknife cross-validation test are higher and more balance than them of other methods on same datasets. The promising results indicate that the proposed approach is effective and practical. It might become a useful tool in protein subnuclear localization. The software in Matlab and supplementary materials are available freely by contacting the corresponding author.

(/sup 11/C)clorgyline and (/sup 11/C)-L-deprenyl and their use in measuring functional monoamine oxidase activity in the brain using positron emission tomography

DOEpatents

Fowler, J.S.; MacGregor, R.R.; Wolf, A.P.

1986-04-17

This invention involves a new strategy for imaging the activity of the enzyme monoamine oxidase in the living body by using /sup 11/C-labeled enzyme inhibitors which bind irreversibly to an enzyme as a result of catalysis. By using positron emission tomography to image the distribution of radioactivity produced by the body penetrating radiation emitted by carbon-11, a map of functionally active monoamine oxidase activity is obtained. Clorgyline and L-deprenyl are suicide enzyme inhibitors and irreversibly inhibit monoamine oxidase. When these inhibitors are labeled with carbon-11 they provide selective probes for monoamine oxidase localization and reactivity in vivo using positron emission tomography. 2 figs.

Subcortical roles in lexical task processing: Inferences from thalamic and subthalamic event-related potentials.

PubMed

Tiedt, Hannes O; Ehlen, Felicitas; Krugel, Lea K; Horn, Andreas; Kühn, Andrea A; Klostermann, Fabian

2017-01-01

Subcortical functions for language capacities are poorly defined, but may be investigated in the context of deep brain stimulation. Here, we studied event-related potentials recorded from electrodes in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) together with surface-EEG. Participants completed a lexical decision task (LDT), which required the differentiation of acoustically presented words from pseudo-words by button press. Target stimuli were preceded by prime-words. In recordings from VIM, a slow potential shift apparent at the lower electrode contacts persisted during target stimulus presentation (equally for words and pseudo-words). In contrast, recordings from STN electrodes showed a short local activation on prime-words but not target-stimuli. In both depth-recording regions, further components related to contralateral motor responses to target words were evident. On scalp level, mid-central activations on (pseudo)lexical stimuli were obtained, in line with the expression of N400 potentials. The prolonged activity recorded from VIM, exclusively accompanying the relevant LDT phase, is in line with the idea of thalamic "selective engagement" for supporting the realization of the behavioral focus demanded by the task. In contrast, the phasic prime related activity rather indicates "procedural" STN functions, for example, for trial sequencing or readiness inhibition of prepared target reactions. Hum Brain Mapp 38:370-383, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Functional imaging of SDHx-related head and neck paragangliomas: comparison of 18F-fluorodihydroxyphenylalanine, 18F-fluorodopamine, 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose PET, 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy, and 111In-pentetreotide scintigraphy.

PubMed

King, Kathryn S; Chen, Clara C; Alexopoulos, Dimitrios K; Whatley, Millie A; Reynolds, James C; Patronas, Nicholas; Ling, Alexander; Adams, Karen T; Xekouki, Paraskevi; Lando, Howard; Stratakis, Constantine A; Pacak, Karel

2011-09-01

Accurate diagnosis of head and neck paragangliomas is often complicated by biochemical silence and lack of catecholamine-associated symptoms, making accurate anatomical and functional imaging techniques essential to the diagnostic process. Ten patients (seven SDHD, three SDHB), with a total of 26 head and neck paragangliomas, were evaluated with anatomical and functional imaging. This study compares five different functional imaging techniques [(18)F-fluorodihydroxyphenylalanine ((18)F-FDOPA) positron emission tomography (PET), (18)F-fluorodopamine ((18)F-FDA) PET/computed tomography (CT), (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG) PET/CT, (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine ((123)I-MIBG) scintigraphy, and (111)In-pentetreotide scintigraphy] in the localization of head and neck paragangliomas. Prospectively (18)F-FDOPA PET localized 26 of 26 lesions in the 10 patients, CT/magnetic resonance imaging localized 21 of 26 lesions, (18)F-FDG PET/CT localized 20 of 26 lesions, (111)In-pentetreotide scintigraphy localized 16 of 25 lesions, (18)F-FDA PET/CT localized 12 of 26 lesions, and (123)I-MIBG scintigraphy localized eight of 26 lesions. Differences in imaging efficacy related to genetic phenotype, even in the present small sample size, included the negativity of (18)F-FDA PET/CT and (123)I-MIBG scintigraphy in patients with SDHB mutations and the accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in all patients with SDHD mutations, as compared with the accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in only one patient with an SDHB mutation. Overall, (18)F-FDOPA PET proved to be the most efficacious functional imaging modality in the localization of SDHx-related head and neck paragangliomas and may be a potential first-line functional imaging agent for the localization of these tumors.

Combining controlled-source seismology and receiver function information to derive 3-D Moho topography for Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spada, M.; Bianchi, I.; Kissling, E.; Agostinetti, N. Piana; Wiemer, S.

2013-08-01

The accurate definition of 3-D crustal structures and, in primis, the Moho depth, are the most important requirement for seismological, geophysical and geodynamic modelling in complex tectonic regions. In such areas, like the Mediterranean region, various active and passive seismic experiments are performed, locally reveal information on Moho depth, average and gradient crustal Vp velocity and average Vp/Vs velocity ratios. Until now, the most reliable information on crustal structures stems from controlled-source seismology experiments. In most parts of the Alpine region, a relatively large number of controlled-source seismology information are available though the overall coverage in the central Mediterranean area is still sparse due to high costs of such experiments. Thus, results from other seismic methodologies, such as local earthquake tomography, receiver functions and ambient noise tomography can be used to complement the controlled-source seismology information to increase coverage and thus the quality of 3-D crustal models. In this paper, we introduce a methodology to directly combine controlled-source seismology and receiver functions information relying on the strengths of each method and in relation to quantitative uncertainty estimates for all data to derive a well resolved Moho map for Italy. To obtain a homogeneous elaboration of controlled-source seismology and receiver functions results, we introduce a new classification/weighting scheme based on uncertainty assessment for receiver functions data. In order to tune the receiver functions information quality, we compare local receiver functions Moho depths and uncertainties with a recently derived well-resolved local earthquake tomography-derived Moho map and with controlled-source seismology information. We find an excellent correlation in the Moho information obtained by these three methodologies in Italy. In the final step, we interpolate the controlled-source seismology and receiver functions information to derive the map of Moho topography in Italy and surrounding regions. Our results show high-frequency undulation in the Moho topography of three different Moho interfaces, the European, the Adriatic-Ionian, and the Liguria-Corsica-Sardinia-Tyrrhenia, reflecting the complexity of geodynamical evolution.

A gantry-based tri-modality system for bioluminescence tomography

PubMed Central

Yan, Han; Lin, Yuting; Barber, William C.; Unlu, Mehmet Burcin; Gulsen, Gultekin

2012-01-01

A gantry-based tri-modality system that combines bioluminescence (BLT), diffuse optical (DOT), and x-ray computed tomography (XCT) into the same setting is presented here. The purpose of this system is to perform bioluminescence tomography using a multi-modality imaging approach. As parts of this hybrid system, XCT and DOT provide anatomical information and background optical property maps. This structural and functional a priori information is used to guide and restrain bioluminescence reconstruction algorithm and ultimately improve the BLT results. The performance of the combined system is evaluated using multi-modality phantoms. In particular, a cylindrical heterogeneous multi-modality phantom that contains regions with higher optical absorption and x-ray attenuation is constructed. We showed that a 1.5 mm diameter bioluminescence inclusion can be localized accurately with the functional a priori information while its source strength can be recovered more accurately using both structural and the functional a priori information. PMID:22559540

Mott Transition in GdMnO3: an Ab Initio Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, W. S.; Moreira, E.; Frazão, N. F.

2018-04-01

Orthorhombic GdMnO3 is studied using density functional theory considering the pseudo-potential plane-wave method within local-spin-density approximation, LSDA. The electronic band structure and density of states, for several hydrostatic pressures, are studied. The Mott transition was observed at 60 GPa. Calculated lattice parameters are close to the experimental measurements, and some indirect band gaps (S→Γ) were obtained within the LSDA level of calculation, between the occupied O-2 p and unoccupied Gd-4 f states. The variation of the gap reduces with increasing pressure, being well fitted to a quadratic function.

Finite element analysis of true and pseudo surface acoustic waves in one-dimensional phononic crystals

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

Graczykowski, B., E-mail: bartlomiej.graczykowski@icn.cat; Alzina, F.; Gomis-Bresco, J.

In this paper, we report a theoretical investigation of surface acoustic waves propagating in one-dimensional phononic crystal. Using finite element method eigenfrequency and frequency response studies, we develop two model geometries suitable to distinguish true and pseudo (or leaky) surface acoustic waves and determine their propagation through finite size phononic crystals, respectively. The novelty of the first model comes from the application of a surface-like criterion and, additionally, functional damping domain. Exemplary calculated band diagrams show sorted branches of true and pseudo surface acoustic waves and their quantified surface confinement. The second model gives a complementary study of transmission, reflection,more » and surface-to-bulk losses of Rayleigh surface waves in the case of a phononic crystal with a finite number of periods. Here, we demonstrate that a non-zero transmission within non-radiative band gaps can be carried via leaky modes originating from the coupling of local resonances with propagating waves in the substrate. Finally, we show that the transmission, reflection, and surface-to-bulk losses can be effectively optimised by tuning the geometrical properties of a stripe.« less

Functional imaging of the human brain using a modular, fibre-less, high-density diffuse optical tomography system.

PubMed

Chitnis, Danial; Cooper, Robert J; Dempsey, Laura; Powell, Samuel; Quaggia, Simone; Highton, David; Elwell, Clare; Hebden, Jeremy C; Everdell, Nicholas L

2016-10-01

We present the first three-dimensional, functional images of the human brain to be obtained using a fibre-less, high-density diffuse optical tomography system. Our technology consists of independent, miniaturized, silicone-encapsulated DOT modules that can be placed directly on the scalp. Four of these modules were arranged to provide up to 128, dual-wavelength measurement channels over a scalp area of approximately 60 × 65 mm 2 . Using a series of motor-cortex stimulation experiments, we demonstrate that this system can obtain high-quality, continuous-wave measurements at source-detector separations ranging from 14 to 55 mm in adults, in the presence of hair. We identify robust haemodynamic response functions in 5 out of 5 subjects, and present diffuse optical tomography images that depict functional haemodynamic responses that are well-localized in all three dimensions at both the individual and group levels. This prototype modular system paves the way for a new generation of wearable, wireless, high-density optical neuroimaging technologies.

Combined crystal chemistry and DFT studies of ThNCl and Th2N2X (X: chalcogen) behaving as pseudo-binaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matar, Samir F.; Kfoury, Charbel N.

2018-02-01

Common features and peculiar differentiations characterize binary and ternary thorium nitride Th3N4, thorium nitride chloride ThNCl and the family of thorium nitride chalcogenides Th2N2X (X = O, S, Se, Te) investigated in the framework of the quantum density functional theory DFT. Particularly the dominant effect of the Th-N covalent bond stronger than ionic Th-Cl/Th-X ones as identified from analyses of bonding from overlap integral, electron localization function mapping, electronic density of states and charge transfer, is found at the origin of the layered-like structural arrangements in Th-N monolayers within ThNCl (Cl / [ThN]/ Cl) and Th-N double layers in Th2N2X (X / [Th2N2] / X) with the result of pseudo binary compounds: [ThN]+Cl- and [Th2N2] 2+X2-. All compounds are found semi-conducting with ∼2 eV band gap. It is claimed that such insights into Solid State Chemistry can help rationalizing complex compounds more comprehensively (two examples given).

Reconstruction of human brain spontaneous activity based on frequency-pattern analysis of magnetoencephalography data

PubMed Central

Llinás, Rodolfo R.; Ustinin, Mikhail N.; Rykunov, Stanislav D.; Boyko, Anna I.; Sychev, Vyacheslav V.; Walton, Kerry D.; Rabello, Guilherme M.; Garcia, John

2015-01-01

A new method for the analysis and localization of brain activity has been developed, based on multichannel magnetic field recordings, over minutes, superimposed on the MRI of the individual. Here, a high resolution Fourier Transform is obtained over the entire recording period, leading to a detailed multi-frequency spectrum. Further analysis implements a total decomposition of the frequency components into functionally invariant entities, each having an invariant field pattern localizable in recording space. The method, addressed as functional tomography, makes it possible to find the distribution of magnetic field sources in space. Here, the method is applied to the analysis of simulated data, to oscillating signals activating a physical current dipoles phantom, and to recordings of spontaneous brain activity in 10 healthy adults. In the analysis of simulated data, 61 dipoles are localized with 0.7 mm precision. Concerning the physical phantom the method is able to localize three simultaneously activated current dipoles with 1 mm precision. Spatial resolution 3 mm was attained when localizing spontaneous alpha rhythm activity in 10 healthy adults, where the alpha peak was specified for each subject individually. Co-registration of the functional tomograms with each subject's head MRI localized alpha range activity to the occipital and/or posterior parietal brain region. This is the first application of this new functional tomography to human brain activity. The method successfully provides an overall view of brain electrical activity, a detailed spectral description and, combined with MRI, the localization of sources in anatomical brain space. PMID:26528119

Revealing text in a complexly rolled silver scroll from Jerash with computed tomography and advanced imaging software

PubMed Central

Hoffmann Barfod, Gry; Larsen, John Møller; Raja, Rubina

2015-01-01

Throughout Antiquity magical amulets written on papyri, lead and silver were used for apotropaic reasons. While papyri often can be unrolled and deciphered, metal scrolls, usually very thin and tightly rolled up, cannot easily be unrolled without damaging the metal. This leaves us with unreadable results due to the damage done or with the decision not to unroll the scroll. The texts vary greatly and tell us about the cultural environment and local as well as individual practices at a variety of locations across the Mediterranean. Here we present the methodology and the results of the digital unfolding of a silver sheet from Jerash in Jordan from the mid-8th century CE. The scroll was inscribed with 17 lines in presumed pseudo-Arabic as well as some magical signs. The successful unfolding shows that it is possible to digitally unfold complexly folded scrolls, but that it requires a combination of the know-how of the software and linguistic knowledge. PMID:26648504

Pseudo-hemothorax at computed tomography due to residual contrast media.

PubMed

Romero, Matías; Bächler, Pablo

2014-01-01

Pleural effusion is a clinical problem that has many causes, with hemothorax being one of them. Computed tomography readily characterizes pleural fluid with determination of the attenuation value, helping to distinguish hemothorax from other types of effusion. Herein, we report the case of a 67-year-old man with end-stage renal disease in which a high-density pleural effusion due to residual contrast media was misinterpreted as hemothorax. Radiologists should consider the possibility of contrast media retention when interpreting a high-density pleural effusion in patients with end-stage renal disease. Recognition of this entity is crucial to avoid misdiagnosis, which might lead to unnecessary testing or procedures. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Accurate modeling of plasma acceleration with arbitrary order pseudo-spectral particle-in-cell methods

DOE PAGES

Jalas, S.; Dornmair, I.; Lehe, R.; ...

2017-03-20

Particle in Cell (PIC) simulations are a widely used tool for the investigation of both laser- and beam-driven plasma acceleration. It is a known issue that the beam quality can be artificially degraded by numerical Cherenkov radiation (NCR) resulting primarily from an incorrectly modeled dispersion relation. Pseudo-spectral solvers featuring infinite order stencils can strongly reduce NCR - or even suppress it - and are therefore well suited to correctly model the beam properties. For efficient parallelization of the PIC algorithm, however, localized solvers are inevitable. Arbitrary order pseudo-spectral methods provide this needed locality. Yet, these methods can again be pronemore » to NCR. Here in this paper, we show that acceptably low solver orders are sufficient to correctly model the physics of interest, while allowing for parallel computation by domain decomposition.« less

Detection of smoothly distributed spatial outliers, with applications to identifying the distribution of parenchymal hyperinflation following an airway challenge in asthmatics.

PubMed

Thurman, Andrew L; Choi, Jiwoong; Choi, Sanghun; Lin, Ching-Long; Hoffman, Eric A; Lee, Chang Hyun; Chan, Kung-Sik

2017-05-10

Methacholine challenge tests are used to measure changes in pulmonary function that indicate symptoms of asthma. In addition to pulmonary function tests, which measure global changes in pulmonary function, computed tomography images taken at full inspiration before and after administration of methacholine provide local air volume changes (hyper-inflation post methacholine) at individual acinar units, indicating local airway hyperresponsiveness. Some of the acini may have extreme air volume changes relative to the global average, indicating hyperresponsiveness, and those extreme values may occur in clusters. We propose a Gaussian mixture model with a spatial smoothness penalty to improve prediction of hyperresponsive locations that occur in spatial clusters. A simulation study provides evidence that the spatial smoothness penalty improves prediction under different data-generating mechanisms. We apply this method to computed tomography data from Seoul National University Hospital on five healthy and ten asthmatic subjects. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Functional kaolin supported nanoscale zero-valent iron as a Fenton-like catalyst for the degradation of Direct Black G.

PubMed

Lin, Jiajiang; Sun, Mengqiang; Liu, Xinwen; Chen, Zuliang

2017-10-01

Kaolin supported nanoscale zero-valent iron (K-nZVI) is synthesized and applied as the Fenton-like oxidation catalyst to degrade a model azo dye, Direct Black G (DBG). The characterization of K-nZVI by the high resolution transmission electronmicroscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy Diffraction Spectrum (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) show that kaolin as a support material not only reduces the aggregation of zero-valent iron (nZVI) but also facilitates the Fenton-like oxidation by increasing the local concentration of DBG in the vicinity of nZVI. Pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order kinetic models are employed to reveal the adsorption and degradation of the DBG using K-nZVI as the catalyst. A better fit with pseudo second-order model for the adsorption process and equal excellent fits with pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order models for the degradation process are observed; the adsorption process is found to be the rate limiting step for overall reactions. The adsorption, evaluated by isotherms and thermodynamic parameters is a spontaneous and endothermic process. High-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis was used to test degraded products in the degradation of DGB by K-nZVI. A removal mechanism based on the adsorption and degradation is proposed, including (i) prompt adsorption of DBG onto the K-nZVI surface, and (ii) oxidation of DBG by hydroxyl radicals at the K-nZVI surface. The application of K-nZVI to treat real wastewater containing azo dyes shows excellent degradation efficiency. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electromagnetic Navigational Bronchoscopy Reduces the Time Required for Localization and Resection of Lung Nodules.

PubMed

Bolton, William David; Cochran, Thomas; Ben-Or, Sharon; Stephenson, James E; Ellis, William; Hale, Allyson L; Binks, Andrew P

The aims of the study were to evaluate electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy (ENB) and computed tomography-guided placement as localization techniques for minimally invasive resection of small pulmonary nodules and determine whether electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy is a safer and more effective method than computed tomography-guided localization. We performed a retrospective review of our thoracic surgery database to identify patients who underwent minimally invasive resection for a pulmonary mass and used either electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy or computed tomography-guided localization techniques between July 2011 and May 2015. Three hundred eighty-three patients had a minimally invasive resection during our study period, 117 of whom underwent electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy or computed tomography localization (electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy = 81; computed tomography = 36). There was no significant difference between computed tomography and electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy patient groups with regard to age, sex, race, pathology, nodule size, or location. Both computed tomography and electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy were 100% successful at localizing the mass, and there was no difference in the type of definitive surgical resection (wedge, segmentectomy, or lobectomy) (P = 0.320). Postoperative complications occurred in 36% of all patients, but there were no complications related to the localization procedures. In terms of localization time and surgical time, there was no difference between groups. However, the down/wait time between localization and resection was significant (computed tomography = 189 minutes; electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy = 27 minutes); this explains why the difference in total time (sum of localization, down, and surgery) was significant (P < 0.001). We found electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy to be as safe and effective as computed tomography-guided wire placement and to provide a significantly decreased down time between localization and surgical resection.

Choice of data types in time resolved fluorescence enhanced diffuse optical tomography.

PubMed

Riley, Jason; Hassan, Moinuddin; Chernomordik, Victor; Gandjbakhche, Amir

2007-12-01

In this paper we examine possible data types for time resolved fluorescence enhanced diffuse optical tomography (FDOT). FDOT is a particular case of diffuse optical tomography, where our goal is to analyze fluorophores deeply embedded in a turbid medium. We focus on the relative robustness of the different sets of data types to noise. We use an analytical model to generate the expected temporal point spread function (TPSF) and generate the data types from this. Varying levels of noise are applied to the TPSF before generating the data types. We show that local data types are more robust to noise than global data types, and should provide enhanced information to the inverse problem. We go on to show that with a simple reconstruction algorithm, depth and lifetime (the parameters of interest) of the fluorophore are better reconstructed using the local data types. Further we show that the relationship between depth and lifetime is better preserved for the local data types, suggesting they are in some way not only more robust, but also self-regularizing. We conclude that while the local data types may be more expensive to generate in the general case, they do offer clear advantages over the standard global data types.

Remote Sensing of the Ionosphere and Plasmasphere from Space Using Radiowaves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mannucci, Anthony J.

2008-01-01

Topics include the scientific context, trans-ionospheric and sounding, small-scale structure, plasmasphere, fast and slow tomography, and pseudo-imaging. Individual slides focus on where geospace science stands today, variability in inner magnetosphere electric fields, Appleton-Hartree formula, phase and range ionospheric observables, examples of leveling, large ionization changes during storms, new mid-latitude phenomena, ionospheric sounding, COSMIC CERTO/Tri-band beacon, LEO-ground radio tomography, irregularity measurements, COSMIC, critical sensor data from COSMIC GPS limb sounding, occultation geometry, comparison of calibrated slant TEC measurements for 26 June 2006, historic examples of Abel electron density profiles, comparison of UCAR and JPL Able profiles of 26 June 2006, validating UCAR and JPL Abel profiles using Arecibo ISR measurements for 26 June 2006, E-region from GPS/MET 1995, Abel versus gradient assisted retrieval, 3000 profiles/day, plasmasphere, JASON TEC above satellite, GPS equatorial plasmasphere measurements, April 2002 geomagnetic storm, and space-based GPS tomography.

A parallel competitive Particle Swarm Optimization for non-linear first arrival traveltime tomography and uncertainty quantification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luu, Keurfon; Noble, Mark; Gesret, Alexandrine; Belayouni, Nidhal; Roux, Pierre-François

2018-04-01

Seismic traveltime tomography is an optimization problem that requires large computational efforts. Therefore, linearized techniques are commonly used for their low computational cost. These local optimization methods are likely to get trapped in a local minimum as they critically depend on the initial model. On the other hand, global optimization methods based on MCMC are insensitive to the initial model but turn out to be computationally expensive. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is a rather new global optimization approach with few tuning parameters that has shown excellent convergence rates and is straightforwardly parallelizable, allowing a good distribution of the workload. However, while it can traverse several local minima of the evaluated misfit function, classical implementation of PSO can get trapped in local minima at later iterations as particles inertia dim. We propose a Competitive PSO (CPSO) to help particles to escape from local minima with a simple implementation that improves swarm's diversity. The model space can be sampled by running the optimizer multiple times and by keeping all the models explored by the swarms in the different runs. A traveltime tomography algorithm based on CPSO is successfully applied on a real 3D data set in the context of induced seismicity.

Implementation of Soft X-ray Tomography on NSTX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tritz, K.; Stutman, D.; Finkenthal, M.; Granetz, R.; Menard, J.; Park, W.

2003-10-01

A set of poloidal ultrasoft X-ray arrays is operated by the Johns Hopkins group on NSTX. To enable MHD mode analysis independent of the magnetic reconstruction, the McCormick-Granetz tomography code developed at MIT is being adapted to the NSTX geometry. Tests of the code using synthetic data show that that present X-ray system is adequate for m=1 tomography. In addition, we have found that spline basis functions may be better suited than Bessel functions for the reconstruction of radially localized phenomena in NSTX. The tomography code was also used to determine the necessary array expansion and optimal array placement for the characterization of higher m modes (m=2,3) in the future. Initial reconstruction of experimental soft X-ray data has been performed for m=1 internal modes, which are often encountered in high beta NSTX discharges. The reconstruction of these modes will be compared to predictions from the M3D code and magnetic measurements.

Space-Pseudo-Time Method: Application to the One-Dimensional Coulomb Potential and Density Funtional Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weatherford, Charles; Gebremedhin, Daniel

2016-03-01

A new and efficient way of evolving a solution to an ordinary differential equation is presented. A finite element method is used where we expand in a convenient local basis set of functions that enforce both function and first derivative continuity across the boundaries of each element. We also implement an adaptive step size choice for each element that is based on a Taylor series expansion. The method is applied to solve for the eigenpairs of the one-dimensional soft-coulomb potential and the hard-coulomb limit is studied. The method is then used to calculate a numerical solution of the Kohn-Sham differential equation within the local density approximation is presented and is applied to the helium atom. Supported by the National Nuclear Security Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Breaking the acoustic diffraction barrier with localization optoacoustic tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deán-Ben, X. Luís.; Razansky, Daniel

2018-02-01

Diffraction causes blurring of high-resolution features in images and has been traditionally associated to the resolution limit in light microscopy and other imaging modalities. The resolution of an imaging system can be generally assessed via its point spread function, corresponding to the image acquired from a point source. However, the precision in determining the position of an isolated source can greatly exceed the diffraction limit. By combining the estimated positions of multiple sources, localization-based imaging has resulted in groundbreaking methods such as super-resolution fluorescence optical microscopy and has also enabled ultrasound imaging of microvascular structures with unprecedented spatial resolution in deep tissues. Herein, we introduce localization optoacoustic tomography (LOT) and discuss on the prospects of using localization imaging principles in optoacoustic imaging. LOT was experimentally implemented by real-time imaging of flowing particles in 3D with a recently-developed volumetric optoacoustic tomography system. Provided the particles were separated by a distance larger than the diffraction-limited resolution, their individual locations could be accurately determined in each frame of the acquired image sequence and the localization image was formed by superimposing a set of points corresponding to the localized positions of the absorbers. The presented results demonstrate that LOT can significantly enhance the well-established advantages of optoacoustic imaging by breaking the acoustic diffraction barrier in deep tissues and mitigating artifacts due to limited-view tomographic acquisitions.

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

Korhonen, Juha, E-mail: juha.p.korhonen@hus.fi; Kapanen, Mika; Department of Oncology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, POB-180, 00029 HUS

Purpose: The lack of electron density information in magnetic resonance images (MRI) poses a major challenge for MRI-based radiotherapy treatment planning (RTP). In this study the authors convert MRI intensity values into Hounsfield units (HUs) in the male pelvis and thus enable accurate MRI-based RTP for prostate cancer patients with varying tissue anatomy and body fat contents. Methods: T{sub 1}/T{sub 2}*-weighted MRI intensity values and standard computed tomography (CT) image HUs in the male pelvis were analyzed using image data of 10 prostate cancer patients. The collected data were utilized to generate a dual model HU conversion technique from MRImore » intensity values of the single image set separately within and outside of contoured pelvic bones. Within the bone segment local MRI intensity values were converted to HUs by applying a second-order polynomial model. This model was tuned for each patient by two patient-specific adjustments: MR signal normalization to correct shifts in absolute intensity level and application of a cutoff value to accurately represent low density bony tissue HUs. For soft tissues, such as fat and muscle, located outside of the bone contours, a threshold-based segmentation method without requirements for any patient-specific adjustments was introduced to convert MRI intensity values into HUs. The dual model HU conversion technique was implemented by constructing pseudo-CT images for 10 other prostate cancer patients. The feasibility of these images for RTP was evaluated by comparing HUs in the generated pseudo-CT images with those in standard CT images, and by determining deviations in MRI-based dose distributions compared to those in CT images with 7-field intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with the anisotropic analytical algorithm and 360° volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) with the Voxel Monte Carlo algorithm. Results: The average HU differences between the constructed pseudo-CT images and standard CT images of each test patient ranged from −2 to 5 HUs and from 22 to 78 HUs in soft and bony tissues, respectively. The average local absolute value differences were 11 HUs in soft tissues and 99 HUs in bones. The planning target volume doses (volumes 95%, 50%, 5%) in the pseudo-CT images were within 0.8% compared to those in CT images in all of the 20 treatment plans. The average deviation was 0.3%. With all the test patients over 94% (IMRT) and 92% (VMAT) of dose points within body (lower than 10% of maximum dose suppressed) passed the 1 mm and 1% 2D gamma index criterion. The statistical tests (t- and F-tests) showed significantly improved (p ≤ 0.05) HU and dose calculation accuracies with the soft tissue conversion method instead of homogeneous representation of these tissues in MRI-based RTP images. Conclusions: This study indicates that it is possible to construct high quality pseudo-CT images by converting the intensity values of a single MRI series into HUs in the male pelvis, and to use these images for accurate MRI-based prostate RTP dose calculations.« less

A dual model HU conversion from MRI intensity values within and outside of bone segment for MRI-based radiotherapy treatment planning of prostate cancer

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

Korhonen, Juha, E-mail: juha.p.korhonen@hus.fi; Department of Oncology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, POB-180, 00029 HUS; Kapanen, Mika

2014-01-15

Purpose: The lack of electron density information in magnetic resonance images (MRI) poses a major challenge for MRI-based radiotherapy treatment planning (RTP). In this study the authors convert MRI intensity values into Hounsfield units (HUs) in the male pelvis and thus enable accurate MRI-based RTP for prostate cancer patients with varying tissue anatomy and body fat contents. Methods: T{sub 1}/T{sub 2}*-weighted MRI intensity values and standard computed tomography (CT) image HUs in the male pelvis were analyzed using image data of 10 prostate cancer patients. The collected data were utilized to generate a dual model HU conversion technique from MRImore » intensity values of the single image set separately within and outside of contoured pelvic bones. Within the bone segment local MRI intensity values were converted to HUs by applying a second-order polynomial model. This model was tuned for each patient by two patient-specific adjustments: MR signal normalization to correct shifts in absolute intensity level and application of a cutoff value to accurately represent low density bony tissue HUs. For soft tissues, such as fat and muscle, located outside of the bone contours, a threshold-based segmentation method without requirements for any patient-specific adjustments was introduced to convert MRI intensity values into HUs. The dual model HU conversion technique was implemented by constructing pseudo-CT images for 10 other prostate cancer patients. The feasibility of these images for RTP was evaluated by comparing HUs in the generated pseudo-CT images with those in standard CT images, and by determining deviations in MRI-based dose distributions compared to those in CT images with 7-field intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with the anisotropic analytical algorithm and 360° volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) with the Voxel Monte Carlo algorithm. Results: The average HU differences between the constructed pseudo-CT images and standard CT images of each test patient ranged from −2 to 5 HUs and from 22 to 78 HUs in soft and bony tissues, respectively. The average local absolute value differences were 11 HUs in soft tissues and 99 HUs in bones. The planning target volume doses (volumes 95%, 50%, 5%) in the pseudo-CT images were within 0.8% compared to those in CT images in all of the 20 treatment plans. The average deviation was 0.3%. With all the test patients over 94% (IMRT) and 92% (VMAT) of dose points within body (lower than 10% of maximum dose suppressed) passed the 1 mm and 1% 2D gamma index criterion. The statistical tests (t- and F-tests) showed significantly improved (p ≤ 0.05) HU and dose calculation accuracies with the soft tissue conversion method instead of homogeneous representation of these tissues in MRI-based RTP images. Conclusions: This study indicates that it is possible to construct high quality pseudo-CT images by converting the intensity values of a single MRI series into HUs in the male pelvis, and to use these images for accurate MRI-based prostate RTP dose calculations.« less

Polarity control at interfaces: Quantifying pseudo-solvent effects in nano-confined systems

DOE PAGES

Singappuli-Arachchige, Dilini; Manzano, J. Sebastian; Sherman, Lindy M.; ...

2016-08-02

Surface functionalization controls local environments and induces solvent-like effects at liquid–solid interfaces. We explored structure–property relationships between organic groups bound to pore surfaces of mesoporous silica nanoparticles and Stokes shifts of the adsorbed solvatochromic dye Prodan. Correlating shifts of the dye on the surfaces with its shifts in solvents resulted in a local polarity scale for functionalized pores. The scale was validated by studying the effects of pore polarity on quenching of Nile Red fluorescence and on the vibronic band structure of pyrene. Measurements were done in aqueous suspensions of porous particles, proving that the dielectric properties in the poresmore » are different from the bulk solvent. The precise control of pore polarity was used to enhance the catalytic activity of TEMPO in the aerobic oxidation of furfuryl alcohol in water. Furthermore, an inverse relationship was found between pore polarity and activity of TEMPO in the pores, demonstrating that controlling the local polarity around an active site allows modulating the activity of nanoconfined catalysts.« less

Validation of diffuse optical tomography using a bi-functional optical-MRI contrast agent and a hybrid MRI-DOT system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luk, Alex T.; Lin, Yuting; Grimmond, Brian; Sood, Anup; Uzgiris, Egidijus E.; Nalcioglu, Orhan; Gulsen, Gultekin

2013-03-01

Since diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a low spatial resolution modality, it is desirable to validate its quantitative accuracy with another well-established imaging modality, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this work, we have used a polymer based bi-functional MRI-optical contrast agent (Gd-DTPA-polylysine-IR800) in collaboration with GE Global Research. This multi-modality contrast agent provided not only co-localization but also the same kinetics, to cross-validate two imaging modalities. Bi-functional agents are injected to the rats and pharmacokinetics at the bladder are recovered using both optical and MR imaging. DOT results are validated using MRI results as "gold standard"

A novel argument for the Universality of Parsing principles.

PubMed

Grillo, Nino; Costa, João

2014-10-01

Previous work on Relative Clause attachment has overlooked a crucial grammatical distinction across both the languages and structures tested: the selective availability of Pseudo Relatives. We reconsider the literature in light of this observation and argue that, all else being equal, local attachment is found with genuine Relative Clauses and that non-local attachment emerges when their surface identical imposters, Pseudo Relatives, are available. Hence, apparent cross-linguistic variation in parsing preferences is reducible to grammatical factors. The results from two novel experiments in Italian are presented in support of these conclusions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Highly specific noninvasive photoacoustic and positron emission tomography of brain plaque with functionalized croconium dye labeled by a radiotracer† †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6sc04798j Click here for additional data file.

PubMed Central

Liu, Yajing; Yang, Yanping; Sun, Mingjian; Cui, Mengchao; Fu, Ying; Lin, Yu

2017-01-01

Highly-efficient targeting probes are desirable for disease diagnosis and functional imaging. However, most of the current near-infrared (NIR) probes suffer from low signal conversion, insufficient photostability, poor probe specificity, and limited functions. Herein, an NIR ultrahigh absorbing croconium dye for amyloid (CDA) was designed and synthesized to specifically bind to cerebrovascular amyloid without antibody linkage. This unique CDA is able to strongly bind the hydrophobic channels of amyloid beta (Aβ) fiber with a very strong binding energy of –9.3 kcal mol–1. Our experimental results demonstrate that the amphipathic dye with an intense absorption peak at 800 nm generated a significant local temperature surge under low-power laser irradiation. Compared with representative prominent indocyanine green, Prussian blue, and gold nanorods, this probe can produce the strongest photoacoustic signal based on the same mass concentration. Labeled with radioactive 18F, this multifunctional probe allowed for the ultrasensitive photoacoustic tomography (PAT)/positron emission tomography (PET)/fluorescence imaging of Aβ plaques in the brain cortex. Featured with high spatial resolution and optical specificity, PAT was intrinsically suitable for imaging pathological sites on cortical vessels, whereas PET revealed whole-body anatomy with quantitative biodistribution information. Our study shows that a CDA-based functionalized dye aided with PAT and PET is capable of plaque diagnosis and localization. PMID:28451353

'What' and 'where' in the human brain.

PubMed

Ungerleider, L G; Haxby, J V

1994-04-01

Multiple visual areas in the cortex of nonhuman primates are organized into two hierarchically organized and functionally specialized processing pathways, a 'ventral stream' for object vision and a 'dorsal stream' for spatial vision. Recent findings from positron emission tomography activation studies have localized these pathways within the human brain, yielding insights into cortical hierarchies, specialization of function, and attentional mechanisms.

Using a pseudo-dynamic source inversion approach to improve earthquake source imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Song, S. G.; Dalguer, L. A.; Clinton, J. F.

2014-12-01

Imaging a high-resolution spatio-temporal slip distribution of an earthquake rupture is a core research goal in seismology. In general we expect to obtain a higher quality source image by improving the observational input data (e.g. using more higher quality near-source stations). However, recent studies show that increasing the surface station density alone does not significantly improve source inversion results (Custodio et al. 2005; Zhang et al. 2014). We introduce correlation structures between the kinematic source parameters: slip, rupture velocity, and peak slip velocity (Song et al. 2009; Song and Dalguer 2013) in the non-linear source inversion. The correlation structures are physical constraints derived from rupture dynamics that effectively regularize the model space and may improve source imaging. We name this approach pseudo-dynamic source inversion. We investigate the effectiveness of this pseudo-dynamic source inversion method by inverting low frequency velocity waveforms from a synthetic dynamic rupture model of a buried vertical strike-slip event (Mw 6.5) in a homogeneous half space. In the inversion, we use a genetic algorithm in a Bayesian framework (Moneli et al. 2008), and a dynamically consistent regularized Yoffe function (Tinti, et al. 2005) was used for a single-window slip velocity function. We search for local rupture velocity directly in the inversion, and calculate the rupture time using a ray-tracing technique. We implement both auto- and cross-correlation of slip, rupture velocity, and peak slip velocity in the prior distribution. Our results suggest that kinematic source model estimates capture the major features of the target dynamic model. The estimated rupture velocity closely matches the target distribution from the dynamic rupture model, and the derived rupture time is smoother than the one we searched directly. By implementing both auto- and cross-correlation of kinematic source parameters, in comparison to traditional smoothing constraints, we are in effect regularizing the model space in a more physics-based manner without loosing resolution of the source image. Further investigation is needed to tune the related parameters of pseudo-dynamic source inversion and relative weighting between the prior and the likelihood function in the Bayesian inversion.

The implementation of thermal image visualization by HDL based on pseudo-color

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Yong; Zhang, JiangLing

2004-11-01

The pseudo-color method which maps the sampled data to intuitive perception colors is a kind of powerful visualization way. And the all-around system of pseudo-color visualization, which includes the primary principle, model and HDL (Hardware Description Language) implementation for the thermal images, is expatiated on in the paper. The thermal images whose signal is modulated as video reflect the temperature distribution of measured object, so they have the speciality of mass and real-time. The solution to the intractable problem is as follows: First, the reasonable system, i.e. the combining of global pseudo-color visualization and local special area accurate measure, muse be adopted. Then, the HDL pseudo-color algorithms in SoC (System on Chip) carry out the system to ensure the real-time. Finally, the key HDL algorithms for direct gray levels connection coding, proportional gray levels map coding and enhanced gray levels map coding are presented, and its simulation results are showed. The pseudo-color visualization of thermal images implemented by HDL in the paper has effective application in the aspect of electric power equipment test and medical health diagnosis.

Radiation therapy planning and simulation with magnetic resonance images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boettger, Thomas; Nyholm, Tufve; Karlsson, Magnus; Nunna, Chandrasekhar; Celi, Juan Carlos

2008-03-01

We present a system which allows for use of magnetic resonance (MR) images as primary RT workflow modality alone and no longer limits the user to computed tomography data for radiation therapy (RT) planning, simulation and patient localization. The single steps for achieving this goal are explained in detail. For planning two MR data sets, MR1 and MR2 are acquired sequentially. For MR1 a standardized Ultrashort TE (UTE) sequence is used enhancing bony anatomy. The sequence for MR2 is chosen to get optimal contrast for the target and the organs at risk for each individual patient. Both images are naturally in registration, neglecting elastic soft tissue deformations. The planning software first automatically extracts skin and bony anatomy from MR1. The user can semi-automatically delineate target structures and organs at risk based on MR1 or MR2, associate all segmentations with MR1 and create a plan in the coordinate system of MR1. Projections similar to digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR) enhancing bony anatomy are calculated from the MR1 directly and can be used for iso-center definition and setup verification. Furthermore we present a method for creating a Pseudo-CT data set which assigns electron densities to the voxels of MR1 based on the skin and bone segmentations. The Pseudo-CT is then used for dose calculation. Results from first tests under clinical conditions show the feasibility of the completely MR based workflow in RT for necessary clinical cases. It needs to be investigated in how far geometrical distortions influence accuracy of MR-based RT planning.

Arterial spin labelling reveals an abnormal cerebral perfusion pattern in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Melzer, Tracy R; Watts, Richard; MacAskill, Michael R; Pearson, John F; Rüeger, Sina; Pitcher, Toni L; Livingston, Leslie; Graham, Charlotte; Keenan, Ross; Shankaranarayanan, Ajit; Alsop, David C; Dalrymple-Alford, John C; Anderson, Tim J

2011-03-01

There is a need for objective imaging markers of Parkinson's disease status and progression. Positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography studies have suggested patterns of abnormal cerebral perfusion in Parkinson's disease as potential functional biomarkers. This study aimed to identify an arterial spin labelling magnetic resonance-derived perfusion network as an accessible, non-invasive alternative. We used pseudo-continuous arterial spin labelling to measure cerebral grey matter perfusion in 61 subjects with Parkinson's disease with a range of motor and cognitive impairment, including patients with dementia and 29 age- and sex-matched controls. Principal component analysis was used to derive a Parkinson's disease-related perfusion network via logistic regression. Region of interest analysis of absolute perfusion values revealed that the Parkinson's disease pattern was characterized by decreased perfusion in posterior parieto-occipital cortex, precuneus and cuneus, and middle frontal gyri compared with healthy controls. Perfusion was preserved in globus pallidus, putamen, anterior cingulate and post- and pre-central gyri. Both motor and cognitive statuses were significant factors related to network score. A network approach, supported by arterial spin labelling-derived absolute perfusion values may provide a readily accessible neuroimaging method to characterize and track progression of both motor and cognitive status in Parkinson's disease.

Nonconvex Sparse Logistic Regression With Weakly Convex Regularization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Xinyue; Gu, Yuantao

2018-06-01

In this work we propose to fit a sparse logistic regression model by a weakly convex regularized nonconvex optimization problem. The idea is based on the finding that a weakly convex function as an approximation of the $\\ell_0$ pseudo norm is able to better induce sparsity than the commonly used $\\ell_1$ norm. For a class of weakly convex sparsity inducing functions, we prove the nonconvexity of the corresponding sparse logistic regression problem, and study its local optimality conditions and the choice of the regularization parameter to exclude trivial solutions. Despite the nonconvexity, a method based on proximal gradient descent is used to solve the general weakly convex sparse logistic regression, and its convergence behavior is studied theoretically. Then the general framework is applied to a specific weakly convex function, and a necessary and sufficient local optimality condition is provided. The solution method is instantiated in this case as an iterative firm-shrinkage algorithm, and its effectiveness is demonstrated in numerical experiments by both randomly generated and real datasets.

Measurements of mechanical anisotropy in brain tissue and implications for transversely isotropic material models of white matter

PubMed Central

Feng, Yuan; Okamoto, Ruth J.; Namani, Ravi; Genin, Guy M.; Bayly, Philip V.

2013-01-01

White matter in the brain is structurally anisotropic, consisting largely of bundles of aligned, myelin-sheathed axonal fibers. White matter is believed to be mechanically anisotropic as well. Specifically, transverse isotropy is expected locally, with the plane of isotropy normal to the local mean fiber direction. Suitable material models involve strain energy density functions that depend on the I4 and I5 pseudo-invariants of the Cauchy–Green strain tensor to account for the effects of relatively stiff fibers. The pseudo-invariant I4 is the square of the stretch ratio in the fiber direction; I5 contains contributions of shear strain in planes parallel to the fiber axis. Most, if not all, published models of white matter depend on I4 but not on I5. Here, we explore the small strain limits of these models in the context of experimental measurements that probe these dependencies. Models in which strain energy depends on I4 but not I5 can capture differences in Young’s (tensile) moduli, but will not exhibit differences in shear moduli for loading parallel and normal to the mean direction of axons. We show experimentally, using a combination of shear and asymmetric indentation tests, that white matter does exhibit such differences in both tensile and shear moduli. Indentation tests were interpreted through inverse fitting of finite element models in the limit of small strains. Results highlight that: (1) hyperelastic models of transversely isotropic tissues such as white matter should include contributions of both the I4 and I5 strain pseudo-invariants; and (2) behavior in the small strain regime can usefully guide the choice and initial parameterization of more general material models of white matter. PMID:23680651

The influence of temperature on the work function of W, LaB 6 and pseudo-alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulyga, A. V.; Solonovich, V. K.

1989-12-01

The experimental temperature dependences α f = d F/d T of the work function F = F( T) for W(111), LaB 6(100) and W-Ni-LaB 6 pseudo-alloy surfaces emitting thermoelectrons are compared with α f predicted by the Hohenberg-Lang-Kohn theory.

Pre-seizure state identified by diffuse optical tomography

PubMed Central

Zhang, Tao; Zhou, Junli; Jiang, Ruixin; Yang, Hao; Carney, Paul R.; Jiang, Huabei

2014-01-01

In epilepsy it has been challenging to detect early changes in brain activity that occurs prior to seizure onset and to map their origin and evolution for possible intervention. Here we demonstrate using a rat model of generalized epilepsy that diffuse optical tomography (DOT) provides a unique functional neuroimaging modality for noninvasively and continuously tracking such brain activities with high spatiotemporal resolution. We detected early hemodynamic responses with heterogeneous patterns, along with intracranial electroencephalogram gamma power changes, several minutes preceding the electroencephalographic seizure onset, supporting the presence of a “pre-seizure” state. We also observed the decoupling between local hemodynamic and neural activities. We found widespread hemodynamic changes evolving from local regions of the bilateral cortex and thalamus to the entire brain, indicating that the onset of generalized seizures may originate locally rather than diffusely. Together, these findings suggest DOT represents a powerful tool for mapping early seizure onset and propagation pathways. PMID:24445927

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

Thomas, D; Kishan, A; Santhanam, A

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of inter- and intra-fractional tumor motion on the error in four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) maximal intensity projection (MIP)–based lung tumor internal target volumes (ITV), using deformable image registration of real-time 2D-sagital cine-mode MRI acquired during lung SBRT treatments. Methods: Five lung tumor patients underwent free breathing SBRT treatment on the ViewRay, with dose prescribed to PTV (4DCT MIP-based ITV+3–6mm margin). Sagittal slice cine-MR images (3.5×3.5mm pixels) were acquired through the center of the tumor at 4 frames per second throughout the treatments (3–4 fractions of 21–32 minutes duration). Tumor GTVs were contoured on the firstmore » frame of the cine and tracked throughout the treatment using off-line optical-flow based deformable registration implemented on a GPU cluster. Pseudo-4DCT MIP-based ITVs were generated from MIPs of the deformed GTV contours limited to short segments of image data. All possible pseudo-4DCT MIP-based ITV volumes were generated with 1s resolution and compared to the ITV volume of the entire treatment course. Varying pseudo-4DCT durations from 10-50s were analyzed. Results: Tumors were covered in their entirety by PTV in the patients analysed here. However, pseudo-4DCT based ITV volumes were observed that were as small as 29% of the entire treatment-ITV, depending on breathing irregularity and the duration of pseudo-4DCT. With an increase in duration of pseudo-4DCT from 10–50s the minimum volume acquired from 95% of all pseudo-4DCTs increased from 62%–81% of the treatment ITV. Conclusion: A 4DCT MIP-based ITV offers a ‘snap-shot’ of breathing motion for the brief period of time the tumor is imaged on a specific day. Real time MRI over prolonged periods of time and over multiple treatment fractions shows that the accuracy of this snap-shot varies according to inter- and intra-fractional tumor motion. Further work is required to investigate the dosimetric effect of these results.« less

Accuracy and precision of pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling perfusion during baseline and hypercapnia: a head-to-head comparison with ¹⁵O H₂O positron emission tomography.

PubMed

Heijtel, D F R; Mutsaerts, H J M M; Bakker, E; Schober, P; Stevens, M F; Petersen, E T; van Berckel, B N M; Majoie, C B L M; Booij, J; van Osch, M J P; Vanbavel, E; Boellaard, R; Lammertsma, A A; Nederveen, A J

2014-05-15

Measurements of the cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) provide useful information about cerebrovascular condition and regional metabolism. Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) is a promising non-invasive MRI technique to quantitatively measure the CBF, whereas additional hypercapnic pCASL measurements are currently showing great promise to quantitatively assess the CVR. However, the introduction of pCASL at a larger scale awaits further evaluation of the exact accuracy and precision compared to the gold standard. (15)O H₂O positron emission tomography (PET) is currently regarded as the most accurate and precise method to quantitatively measure both CBF and CVR, though it is one of the more invasive methods as well. In this study we therefore assessed the accuracy and precision of quantitative pCASL-based CBF and CVR measurements by performing a head-to-head comparison with (15)O H₂O PET, based on quantitative CBF measurements during baseline and hypercapnia. We demonstrate that pCASL CBF imaging is accurate during both baseline and hypercapnia with respect to (15)O H₂O PET with a comparable precision. These results pave the way for quantitative usage of pCASL MRI in both clinical and research settings. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Estimation of Ordinary Differential Equation Parameters Using Constrained Local Polynomial Regression.

PubMed

Ding, A Adam; Wu, Hulin

2014-10-01

We propose a new method to use a constrained local polynomial regression to estimate the unknown parameters in ordinary differential equation models with a goal of improving the smoothing-based two-stage pseudo-least squares estimate. The equation constraints are derived from the differential equation model and are incorporated into the local polynomial regression in order to estimate the unknown parameters in the differential equation model. We also derive the asymptotic bias and variance of the proposed estimator. Our simulation studies show that our new estimator is clearly better than the pseudo-least squares estimator in estimation accuracy with a small price of computational cost. An application example on immune cell kinetics and trafficking for influenza infection further illustrates the benefits of the proposed new method.

Estimation of Ordinary Differential Equation Parameters Using Constrained Local Polynomial Regression

PubMed Central

Ding, A. Adam; Wu, Hulin

2015-01-01

We propose a new method to use a constrained local polynomial regression to estimate the unknown parameters in ordinary differential equation models with a goal of improving the smoothing-based two-stage pseudo-least squares estimate. The equation constraints are derived from the differential equation model and are incorporated into the local polynomial regression in order to estimate the unknown parameters in the differential equation model. We also derive the asymptotic bias and variance of the proposed estimator. Our simulation studies show that our new estimator is clearly better than the pseudo-least squares estimator in estimation accuracy with a small price of computational cost. An application example on immune cell kinetics and trafficking for influenza infection further illustrates the benefits of the proposed new method. PMID:26401093

Clinical utility of BOLD fMRI in preoperative work-up of epilepsy

PubMed Central

Ganesan, Karthik; Ursekar, Meher

2014-01-01

Surgical techniques have emerged as a viable therapeutic option in patients with drug refractory epilepsy. Pre-surgical evaluation of epilepsy requires a comprehensive, multiparametric, and multimodal approach for precise localization of the epileptogenic focus. Various non-invasive techniques are available at the disposal of the treating physician to detect the epileptogenic focus, which include electroencephalography (EEG), video-EEG, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI including blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) techniques, single photon emission tomography (SPECT), and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET). Currently, non-invasive high-resolution MR imaging techniques play pivotal roles in the preoperative detection of the seizure focus, and represent the foundation for successful epilepsy surgery. BOLD functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) maps allow for precise localization of the eloquent cortex in relation to the seizure focus. This review article focuses on the clinical utility of BOLD (fMRI) in the pre-surgical work-up of epilepsy patients. PMID:24851002

Quantum Hash function and its application to privacy amplification in quantum key distribution, pseudo-random number generation and image encryption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yu-Guang; Xu, Peng; Yang, Rui; Zhou, Yi-Hua; Shi, Wei-Min

2016-01-01

Quantum information and quantum computation have achieved a huge success during the last years. In this paper, we investigate the capability of quantum Hash function, which can be constructed by subtly modifying quantum walks, a famous quantum computation model. It is found that quantum Hash function can act as a hash function for the privacy amplification process of quantum key distribution systems with higher security. As a byproduct, quantum Hash function can also be used for pseudo-random number generation due to its inherent chaotic dynamics. Further we discuss the application of quantum Hash function to image encryption and propose a novel image encryption algorithm. Numerical simulations and performance comparisons show that quantum Hash function is eligible for privacy amplification in quantum key distribution, pseudo-random number generation and image encryption in terms of various hash tests and randomness tests. It extends the scope of application of quantum computation and quantum information.

Quantum Hash function and its application to privacy amplification in quantum key distribution, pseudo-random number generation and image encryption

PubMed Central

Yang, Yu-Guang; Xu, Peng; Yang, Rui; Zhou, Yi-Hua; Shi, Wei-Min

2016-01-01

Quantum information and quantum computation have achieved a huge success during the last years. In this paper, we investigate the capability of quantum Hash function, which can be constructed by subtly modifying quantum walks, a famous quantum computation model. It is found that quantum Hash function can act as a hash function for the privacy amplification process of quantum key distribution systems with higher security. As a byproduct, quantum Hash function can also be used for pseudo-random number generation due to its inherent chaotic dynamics. Further we discuss the application of quantum Hash function to image encryption and propose a novel image encryption algorithm. Numerical simulations and performance comparisons show that quantum Hash function is eligible for privacy amplification in quantum key distribution, pseudo-random number generation and image encryption in terms of various hash tests and randomness tests. It extends the scope of application of quantum computation and quantum information. PMID:26823196

Quantum Hash function and its application to privacy amplification in quantum key distribution, pseudo-random number generation and image encryption.

PubMed

Yang, Yu-Guang; Xu, Peng; Yang, Rui; Zhou, Yi-Hua; Shi, Wei-Min

2016-01-29

Quantum information and quantum computation have achieved a huge success during the last years. In this paper, we investigate the capability of quantum Hash function, which can be constructed by subtly modifying quantum walks, a famous quantum computation model. It is found that quantum Hash function can act as a hash function for the privacy amplification process of quantum key distribution systems with higher security. As a byproduct, quantum Hash function can also be used for pseudo-random number generation due to its inherent chaotic dynamics. Further we discuss the application of quantum Hash function to image encryption and propose a novel image encryption algorithm. Numerical simulations and performance comparisons show that quantum Hash function is eligible for privacy amplification in quantum key distribution, pseudo-random number generation and image encryption in terms of various hash tests and randomness tests. It extends the scope of application of quantum computation and quantum information.

Variability of Pseudo-Nitzschia and Domoic Acid Along the U.S. West Coast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wood, S.; Bill, B. D.; Trainer, V. L.

2017-12-01

A massive, destructive harmful algal bloom (HAB) along the U.S. West Coast in 2015 illustrated the threat posed to fisheries, marine mammal survival, and public health by toxigenic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia. Certain species of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia produce the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA), which can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) in humans who consume shellfish contaminated with DA. The specific environmental conditions producing toxic algal blooms remain largely unclear. The continued assessment of the abundance and toxicity of Pseudo-nitzschia is used to identify emerging hotspots, investigate the occurrence of Pseudo-nitzschia and DA relative to environmental phenomena such as El Niño and the Blob, and make more robust the data that are incorporated into the HAB early-warning system. Seawater samples collected on NOAA research vessel Bell M. Shimada in May 2017 were analyzed in the laboratory using the following methods: 1. indirect cBASI Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) to determine DA concentration; 2. light microscopy to determine abundance of Pseudo-nitzschia; and 3. scanning electron microscopy to determine Pseudo-nitzschia species composition at select locations. Results indicated that freshwater plumes can affect the location and abundance of Pseudo-nitzschia at HAB hotspots near Heceta Bank. Future analysis will examine the potential connection between the abundance of toxic species of Pseudo-nitzschia with nutrient and chlorophyll data. This research adds to the time series data needed to determine the relative influence of various drivers of Pseudo-nitzschia blooms, including local factors such as macronutrient concentrations, and climatic influences such as El Niño, La Niña, and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

Zero echo time MRI-only treatment planning for radiation therapy of brain tumors after resection.

PubMed

Boydev, C; Demol, B; Pasquier, D; Saint-Jalmes, H; Delpon, G; Reynaert, N

2017-10-01

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the sole imaging modality for patient modeling in radiation therapy (RT) is a challenging task due to the need to derive electron density information from MRI and construct a so-called pseudo-computed tomography (pCT) image. We have previously published a new method to derive pCT images from head T1-weighted (T1-w) MR images using a single-atlas propagation scheme followed by a post hoc correction of the mapped CT numbers using local intensity information. The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of our method with head zero echo time (ZTE) MR images. To evaluate results, the mean absolute error in bins of 20 HU was calculated with respect to the true planning CT scan of the patient. We demonstrated that applying our method using ZTE MR images instead of T1-w improved the correctness of the pCT in case of bone resection surgery prior to RT (that is, an example of large anatomical difference between the atlas and the patient). Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The data preprocessing in apparent resistivity pesudo-section construction of two-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Q.

2015-12-01

Although three-dimensional (3-D) electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) survey has become a popular practice in the site characterization and process monitoring, the two-dimensional (2-D) ERT survey is still often used in the field. This is because that the 2-D ERT survey is relatively easy to do and the focus of site characterization is on the information of 2-D cross section, not necessarily of the 3-D subsurface structure. Examples of such practice include tunnel line and crossing fault survey. In these cases, depending on the property of surface soil to be surveyed, the 2-D ERT survey with pole-pole array may occasionally make us obtain quality good data, however it often gives us a suit of data set both with real and erroneous ones that incorporated the effects of electrode contact and not far enough far electrodes. Without preprocessing, the apparent resistivity pseudo-section constructed from this kind of data set may quite deviate from the real one and the information obtained from it may be misleading and even completely incorrect. In this study, we developed a method of far electrode dynamic correction that is appropriate for raw data preprocessing from 2-D pole-pole array ERT survey. Based on this method, we not only can find and delete the abnormal data points easily, but also can position the coordinates of far electrodes actually working in the field, thus delete the far electrode effects and make best use of the looked strange data points. The method also makes us to be able to judge the effects of electrode contact and avoid using such data points in the following apparent resistivity pseudo-section construction. With this preprocessing to the data set, the constructed apparent resistivity pseudo-section is demonstrated to be more approximate to the real one. This makes the following reversion calculation more robust. We'll introduce this far electrode dynamic correction method and show application examples in the meeting.

Atom probe trajectory mapping using experimental tip shape measurements.

PubMed

Haley, D; Petersen, T; Ringer, S P; Smith, G D W

2011-11-01

Atom probe tomography is an accurate analytical and imaging technique which can reconstruct the complex structure and composition of a specimen in three dimensions. Despite providing locally high spatial resolution, atom probe tomography suffers from global distortions due to a complex projection function between the specimen and detector which is different for each experiment and can change during a single run. To aid characterization of this projection function, this work demonstrates a method for the reverse projection of ions from an arbitrary projection surface in 3D space back to an atom probe tomography specimen surface. Experimental data from transmission electron microscopy tilt tomography are combined with point cloud surface reconstruction algorithms and finite element modelling to generate a mapping back to the original tip surface in a physically and experimentally motivated manner. As a case study, aluminium tips are imaged using transmission electron microscopy before and after atom probe tomography, and the specimen profiles used as input in surface reconstruction methods. This reconstruction method is a general procedure that can be used to generate mappings between a selected surface and a known tip shape using numerical solutions to the electrostatic equation, with quantitative solutions to the projection problem readily achievable in tens of minutes on a contemporary workstation. © 2011 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2011 Royal Microscopical Society.

Pseudo-Random Number Generation in Children with High-Functioning Autism and Asperger's Disorder: Further Evidence for a Dissociation in Executive Functioning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rinehart, Nicole J.; Bradshaw, John L.; Moss, Simon A.; Brereton, Avril V.; Tonge, Bruce J.

2006-01-01

The repetitive, stereotyped and obsessive behaviours, which are core diagnostic features of autism, are thought to be underpinned by executive dysfunction. This study examined executive impairment in individuals with autism and Asperger's disorder using a verbal equivalent of an established pseudo-random number generating task. Different patterns…

[Pseudo-continent perineal colostomy. Results and techniques].

PubMed

Lasser, P; Dubé, P; Guillot, J M; Elias, D

1997-09-01

This prospective study was conducted to assess functional results obtained after pseudo-continent perineal colostomy using the Schmidt procedure. Functional outcome was assessed in 40 patients who had undergone amputation of the rectum for cancer and pseudo-continent perineal colostomy reconstruction between 1989 and 1995 in our institution. The cancer pathology, operative procedure and post-operative care were noted. Morbidity, functional outcome and degree of patient satisfaction were recorded. Mean follow-up was 45 months (18-87) in 100% of the patients. There were no operative deaths. Twenty patients had post-operative complications and 2 patients required early conversion to definitive abdominal colostomy due to severe perineal complications. Function outcome showed normal continence in 4 patients, air incontinence in 23, occasional minimal leakage in 9 and incontinence requiring iliac colostomy in 2. Eighty-six percent of the patients were highly satisfied or satisfied with their continence capacity. Pseudo-continent perineal colostomy is a reliable technique which can be proposed as an alternative to left iliac colostomy after amputation of the rectum for cancer if a rigorous procedure is applied: careful patient selection, informed consent, rigorous surgical procedure, daily life-long irrigation of the colon.

Constants and pseudo-constants of the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation

PubMed Central

Case, K. M.

1985-01-01

Elucidating earlier work, it is shown that the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation has n + 2 constants for all n ≥ 0. It also has a pseudo-constant from which the constants can be obtained by differentiation with respect to time. The pseudo-constant can be obtained from a basis functional Jn(n+2) = -1/18 [unk] yn+2q by taking repeated Poisson brackets with the Hamiltonian. PMID:16593588

Constants and pseudo-constants of the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation.

PubMed

Case, K M

1985-08-01

Elucidating earlier work, it is shown that the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation has n + 2 constants for all n >/= 0. It also has a pseudo-constant from which the constants can be obtained by differentiation with respect to time. The pseudo-constant can be obtained from a basis functional J(n) ((n+2)) = -1/18 [unk] y(n+2)q by taking repeated Poisson brackets with the Hamiltonian.

Infectious Hepatitis C Virus Pseudo-particles Containing Functional E1–E2 Envelope Protein Complexes

PubMed Central

Bartosch, Birke; Dubuisson, Jean; Cosset, François-Loïc

2003-01-01

The study of hepatitis C virus (HCV), a major cause of chronic liver disease, has been hampered by the lack of a cell culture system supporting its replication. Here, we have successfully generated infectious pseudo-particles that were assembled by displaying unmodified and functional HCV glycoproteins onto retroviral and lentiviral core particles. The presence of a green fluorescent protein marker gene packaged within these HCV pseudo-particles allowed reliable and fast determination of infectivity mediated by the HCV glycoproteins. Primary hepatocytes as well as hepato-carcinoma cells were found to be the major targets of infection in vitro. High infectivity of the pseudo-particles required both E1 and E2 HCV glycoproteins, and was neutralized by sera from HCV-infected patients and by some anti-E2 monoclonal antibodies. In addition, these pseudo-particles allowed investigation of the role of putative HCV receptors. Although our results tend to confirm their involvement, they provide evidence that neither LDLr nor CD81 is sufficient to mediate HCV cell entry. Altogether, these studies indicate that these pseudo-particles may mimic the early infection steps of parental HCV and will be suitable for the development of much needed new antiviral therapies. PMID:12615904

Pseudo-entanglement evaluated in noninertial frames

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

Mehri-Dehnavi, Hossein, E-mail: mehri@alice.math.kindai.ac.jp; Research Center for Quantum Computing, Kinki University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashi-Osaka, Osaka 577-8502; Mirza, Behrouz, E-mail: b.mirza@cc.iut.ac.ir

2011-05-15

Research Highlights: > We study pseudo-entanglement in noninertial frames. > We examine different measures of entanglement and nonclassical correlation for the state. > We find the threshold for entanglement is changed in noninertial frames. > We also describe the behavior of local unitary classes of states in noninertial frames. - Abstract: We study quantum discord, in addition to entanglement, of bipartite pseudo-entanglement in noninertial frames. It is shown that the entanglement degrades from its maximum value in a stationary frame to a minimum value in an infinite accelerating frame. There is a critical region found in which, for particular cases,more » entanglement of states vanishes for certain accelerations. The quantum discord of pseudo-entanglement decreases by increasing the acceleration. Also, for a physically inaccessible region, entanglement and nonclassical correlation are evaluated and shown to match the corresponding values of the physically accessible region for an infinite acceleration.« less

Hippocrates in the pseudo-Galenic Introduction: or how was medicine taught in Roman times?

PubMed

Petit, Caroline

2010-01-01

The Pseudo-Galenic Introduction (Introductio Sive medicus, 14.674-797 K.), a medical handbook of the Roman period, witnesses the importance of Hippocrates in medical teaching at the time. Numerous quotations, allusions and reminiscences from the Hippocratic Corpus illustrate Hippocrates' authority for Pseudo-Galen. In the light of the first critical edition of the text (C. Petit, Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 2009), this article discusses the function of Hippocrates, and the various reminiscences of the Hippocratic Corpus, in order to assess Pseudo-Galen's quotation technique and, ultimately, his reliability as a source for the history of medicine.

Quantum State Tomography via Reduced Density Matrices.

PubMed

Xin, Tao; Lu, Dawei; Klassen, Joel; Yu, Nengkun; Ji, Zhengfeng; Chen, Jianxin; Ma, Xian; Long, Guilu; Zeng, Bei; Laflamme, Raymond

2017-01-13

Quantum state tomography via local measurements is an efficient tool for characterizing quantum states. However, it requires that the original global state be uniquely determined (UD) by its local reduced density matrices (RDMs). In this work, we demonstrate for the first time a class of states that are UD by their RDMs under the assumption that the global state is pure, but fail to be UD in the absence of that assumption. This discovery allows us to classify quantum states according to their UD properties, with the requirement that each class be treated distinctly in the practice of simplifying quantum state tomography. Additionally, we experimentally test the feasibility and stability of performing quantum state tomography via the measurement of local RDMs for each class. These theoretical and experimental results demonstrate the advantages and possible pitfalls of quantum state tomography with local measurements.

Therapy-related longitudinal brain perfusion changes in patients with chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

PubMed

Weisstanner, Christian; Mordasini, Livio; Thalmann, George N; Verma, Rajeev K; Rummel, Christian; Federspiel, Andrea; Kessler, Thomas M; Wiest, Roland

2017-08-03

The imaging method most frequently employed to identify brain areas involved in neuronal processing of nociception and brain pain perception is blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Arterial spin labelling (ASL), in contrast, offers advantages when slow varying changes in brain function are investigated. Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) is a disorder of, mostly, young males that leads to altered pain perceptions in structures related to the pelvis. We aimed to investigate the potential of ASL to monitor longitudinal cranial blood flow (CBF) changes in patients with CPPS. In a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind single centre trial, we investigated treatment effects in CPPS after 12 weeks in patients that underwent sono-electro-magnetic therapy vs placebo. We investigated changes of CBF related to treatment outcome using pseudo-continuous arterial spin labelling (pCASL)-MRI. We observed CBF downregulation in the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex and upregulation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in responders. Nonresponders presented with CBF upregulation in the hippocampus. In patients with a history of CPPS of less than 12 months, there were significant correlations between longitudinal CBF changes and the Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index pain subscore within the joint clusters anterior cingulate cortex and left anterior prefrontal cortex in responders, and the right hippocampus in nonresponders. We demonstrated therapy-related and stimulus-free longitudinal CBF changes in core areas of the pain matrix using ASL. ASL may act as a complementary noninvasive method to functional MRI and single-photon emission computed tomography / positron emission tomography, especially in the longitudinal assessment of pain response in clinical trials.

An optimal resolved rate law for kindematically redundant manipulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bourgeois, B. J.

1987-01-01

The resolved rate law for a manipulator provides the instantaneous joint rates required to satisfy a given instantaneous hand motion. When the joint space has more degrees of freedom than the task space, the manipulator is kinematically redundant and the kinematic rate equations are underdetermined. These equations can be locally optimized, but the resulting pseudo-inverse solution was found to cause large joint rates in some case. A weighting matrix in the locally optimized (pseudo-inverse) solution is dynamically adjusted to control the joint motion as desired. Joint reach limit avoidance is demonstrated in a kinematically redundant planar arm model. The treatment is applicable to redundant manipulators with any number of revolute joints and to nonplanar manipulators.

Fractional spectral and pseudo-spectral methods in unbounded domains: Theory and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khosravian-Arab, Hassan; Dehghan, Mehdi; Eslahchi, M. R.

2017-06-01

This paper is intended to provide exponentially accurate Galerkin, Petrov-Galerkin and pseudo-spectral methods for fractional differential equations on a semi-infinite interval. We start our discussion by introducing two new non-classical Lagrange basis functions: NLBFs-1 and NLBFs-2 which are based on the two new families of the associated Laguerre polynomials: GALFs-1 and GALFs-2 obtained recently by the authors in [28]. With respect to the NLBFs-1 and NLBFs-2, two new non-classical interpolants based on the associated- Laguerre-Gauss and Laguerre-Gauss-Radau points are introduced and then fractional (pseudo-spectral) differentiation (and integration) matrices are derived. Convergence and stability of the new interpolants are proved in detail. Several numerical examples are considered to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the basis functions to approximate fractional derivatives (and integrals) of some functions. Moreover, the pseudo-spectral, Galerkin and Petrov-Galerkin methods are successfully applied to solve some physical ordinary differential equations of either fractional orders or integer ones. Some useful comments from the numerical point of view on Galerkin and Petrov-Galerkin methods are listed at the end.

Rupture Dynamics and Seismic Radiation on Rough Faults for Simulation-Based PSHA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mai, P. M.; Galis, M.; Thingbaijam, K. K. S.; Vyas, J. C.; Dunham, E. M.

2017-12-01

Simulation-based ground-motion predictions may augment PSHA studies in data-poor regions or provide additional shaking estimations, incl. seismic waveforms, for critical facilities. Validation and calibration of such simulation approaches, based on observations and GMPE's, is important for engineering applications, while seismologists push to include the precise physics of the earthquake rupture process and seismic wave propagation in 3D heterogeneous Earth. Geological faults comprise both large-scale segmentation and small-scale roughness that determine the dynamics of the earthquake rupture process and its radiated seismic wavefield. We investigate how different parameterizations of fractal fault roughness affect the rupture evolution and resulting near-fault ground motions. Rupture incoherence induced by fault roughness generates realistic ω-2 decay for high-frequency displacement amplitude spectra. Waveform characteristics and GMPE-based comparisons corroborate that these rough-fault rupture simulations generate realistic synthetic seismogram for subsequent engineering application. Since dynamic rupture simulations are computationally expensive, we develop kinematic approximations that emulate the observed dynamics. Simplifying the rough-fault geometry, we find that perturbations in local moment tensor orientation are important, while perturbations in local source location are not. Thus, a planar fault can be assumed if the local strike, dip, and rake are maintained. The dynamic rake angle variations are anti-correlated with local dip angles. Based on a dynamically consistent Yoffe source-time function, we show that the seismic wavefield of the approximated kinematic rupture well reproduces the seismic radiation of the full dynamic source process. Our findings provide an innovative pseudo-dynamic source characterization that captures fault roughness effects on rupture dynamics. Including the correlations between kinematic source parameters, we present a new pseudo-dynamic rupture modeling approach for computing broadband ground-motion time-histories for simulation-based PSHA

Implementation and applications of dual-modality imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasegawa, Bruce H.; Barber, William C.; Funk, Tobias; Hwang, Andrew B.; Taylor, Carmen; Sun, Mingshan; Seo, Youngho

2004-06-01

In medical diagnosis, functional or physiological data can be acquired using radionuclide imaging with positron emission tomography or with single-photon emission computed tomography. However, anatomical or structural data can be acquired using X-ray computed tomography. In dual-modality imaging, both radionuclide and X-ray detectors are incorporated in an imaging system to allow both functional and structural data to be acquired in a single procedure without removing the patient from the imaging system. In a clinical setting, dual-modality imaging systems commonly are used to localize radiopharmaceutical uptake with respect to the patient's anatomy. This helps the clinician to differentiate disease from regions of normal radiopharmaceutical accumulation, to improve diagnosis or cancer staging, or to facilitate planning for radiation therapy or surgery. While initial applications of dual-modality imaging were developed for clinical imaging on humans, it now is recognized that these systems have potentially important applications for imaging small animals involved in experimental studies including basic investigations of mammalian biology and development of new pharmaceuticals for diagnosis or treatment of disease.

Structural Brain Connectivity Constrains within-a-Day Variability of Direct Functional Connectivity

PubMed Central

Park, Bumhee; Eo, Jinseok; Park, Hae-Jeong

2017-01-01

The idea that structural white matter connectivity constrains functional connectivity (interactions among brain regions) has widely been explored in studies of brain networks; studies have mostly focused on the “average” strength of functional connectivity. The question of how structural connectivity constrains the “variability” of functional connectivity remains unresolved. In this study, we investigated the variability of resting state functional connectivity that was acquired every 3 h within a single day from 12 participants (eight time sessions within a 24-h period, 165 scans per session). Three different types of functional connectivity (functional connectivity based on Pearson correlation, direct functional connectivity based on partial correlation, and the pseudo functional connectivity produced by their difference) were estimated from resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data along with structural connectivity defined using fiber tractography of diffusion tensor imaging. Those types of functional connectivity were evaluated with regard to properties of structural connectivity (fiber streamline counts and lengths) and types of structural connectivity such as intra-/inter-hemispheric edges and topological edge types in the rich club organization. We observed that the structural connectivity constrained the variability of direct functional connectivity more than pseudo-functional connectivity and that the constraints depended strongly on structural connectivity types. The structural constraints were greater for intra-hemispheric and heterologous inter-hemispheric edges than homologous inter-hemispheric edges, and feeder and local edges than rich club edges in the rich club architecture. While each edge was highly variable, the multivariate patterns of edge involvement, especially the direct functional connectivity patterns among the rich club brain regions, showed low variability over time. This study suggests that structural connectivity not only constrains the strength of functional connectivity, but also the within-a-day variability of functional connectivity and connectivity patterns, particularly the direct functional connectivity among brain regions. PMID:28848416

Seeing the order in a mess: optical signature of periodicity in a cloud of plasmonic nanowires.

PubMed

Natarov, Denys M; Marciniak, Marian; Sauleau, Ronan; Nosich, Alexander I

2014-11-17

We consider the two-dimensional (2-D) problem of the H-polarized plane wave scattering by a linear chain of silver nanowires in a cloud of similar pseudo-randomly located wires, in the visible range. Numerical solution uses the field expansions in local coordinates and addition theorems for cylindrical functions and has a guaranteed convergence. The total scattering cross-sections and near- and far-zone field patterns are presented. The observed resonance effects are studied and compared with their counterparts in the scattering by the same linear chain of wires in free space.

The theory of pseudo-differential operators on the noncommutative n-torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tao, J.

2018-02-01

The methods of spectral geometry are useful for investigating the metric aspects of noncommutative geometry and in these contexts require extensive use of pseudo-differential operators. In a foundational paper, Connes showed that, by direct analogy with the theory of pseudo-differential operators on finite-dimensional real vector spaces, one may derive a similar pseudo-differential calculus on noncommutative n-tori, and with the development of this calculus came many results concerning the local differential geometry of noncommutative tori for n=2,4, as shown in the groundbreaking paper in which the Gauss-Bonnet theorem on the noncommutative two-torus is proved and later papers. Certain details of the proofs in the original derivation of the calculus were omitted, such as the evaluation of oscillatory integrals, so we make it the objective of this paper to fill in all the details. After reproving in more detail the formula for the symbol of the adjoint of a pseudo-differential operator and the formula for the symbol of a product of two pseudo-differential operators, we extend these results to finitely generated projective right modules over the noncommutative n-torus. Then we define the corresponding analog of Sobolev spaces and prove equivalents of the Sobolev and Rellich lemmas.

Electrical imaging for localizing historical tunnels at an urban environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osella, Ana; Martinelli, Patricia; Grunhut, Vivian; de la Vega, Matías; Bonomo, Néstor; Weissel, Marcelo

2015-08-01

We performed a geophysical study at a historical site in Buenos Aires, Argentina, corresponding to the location of a Jesuit Mission established during the 17th century, remaining there until the 18th century. The site consisted of a church, cloisters, a school, orchards and a procurator’s office; also several tunnels were built, connecting the mission with different public buildings in the town. In the 19th century the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires was built in a sector of the site originally occupied by an orchard, functioning until its demolition in 1973. At present, this area is a cobbled square. With the aim of preserving and restoring the buried structures, work was carried out in this square looking for tunnels and remains of the basement of the old building. Considering the conductive features of the subsoil, mainly formed by clays and silt, the complex characteristics of the buried structures, and the urban localization of the study area with its consequent high level of environmental electromagnetic noise, we performed pre-feasibility studies to determine the usefulness of different geophysical methods. The best results were achieved from the geoelectrical method. Dipole-dipole profiles with electrode spacings of 1.5 and 3 m provided enough lateral and vertical resolution and the required penetration depth. Reliable data were obtained as long as the electrodes were buried at least 15 cm among the cobble stones. Nine 2D electrical resistivity tomographies were obtained by using a robust inversion procedure to reduce the effect of possible data outliers in the resulting models. The effect on these models of different error estimations was also analyzed. Then, we built up a pseudo-3D model by laterally interpolating the 2D inversion results. Finally, by correlating the resulting model with the original plans, the remains of the expected main structures embedded in the site were characterized. In addition, an anomaly was identified that indicates the presence of a tunnel not previously reported.

Advanced prior modeling for 3D bright field electron tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sreehari, Suhas; Venkatakrishnan, S. V.; Drummy, Lawrence F.; Simmons, Jeffrey P.; Bouman, Charles A.

2015-03-01

Many important imaging problems in material science involve reconstruction of images containing repetitive non-local structures. Model-based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) could in principle exploit such redundancies through the selection of a log prior probability term. However, in practice, determining such a log prior term that accounts for the similarity between distant structures in the image is quite challenging. Much progress has been made in the development of denoising algorithms like non-local means and BM3D, and these are known to successfully capture non-local redundancies in images. But the fact that these denoising operations are not explicitly formulated as cost functions makes it unclear as to how to incorporate them in the MBIR framework. In this paper, we formulate a solution to bright field electron tomography by augmenting the existing bright field MBIR method to incorporate any non-local denoising operator as a prior model. We accomplish this using a framework we call plug-and-play priors that decouples the log likelihood and the log prior probability terms in the MBIR cost function. We specifically use 3D non-local means (NLM) as the prior model in the plug-and-play framework, and showcase high quality tomographic reconstructions of a simulated aluminum spheres dataset, and two real datasets of aluminum spheres and ferritin structures. We observe that streak and smear artifacts are visibly suppressed, and that edges are preserved. Also, we report lower RMSE values compared to the conventional MBIR reconstruction using qGGMRF as the prior model.

The development of a pseudo-chamber after balloon pulmonary angioplasty: long-term complications of balloon pulmonary angioplasty.

PubMed

Sugiyama, Hisashi; Kise, Hiroaki; Toda, Takako; Hoshiai, Minako

2016-11-01

We experienced a rare complication where extravasation developed a pseudo-chamber long after the balloon pulmonary angioplasty for supravalvular pulmonary stenosis. A 3-month-old girl was diagnosed with an anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery. She underwent the Takeuchi procedure at 10 months of age. During the follow-up, the supravalvular pulmonary stenosis deteriorated, and was treated by balloon pulmonary angioplasty with the double balloon technique catheter at 6 years of age. Angiography at the main pulmonary artery showed a small amount of extravasation contrast medium after the procedure. Follow-up echocardiography showed a diminished extravasation hemorrhage. Twelve years later, right ventricular enlargement due to pulmonary regurgitation had been observed on echocardiography. In addition, abnormal echo free space was detected at the left posterior of the left atrium. Enhanced computed tomography clearly demonstrated there was an orifice and extent of the pseudo-chamber. Surgical findings revealed a large tear just distal to the coronary tunnel. We speculated that extravasation blood was limited in the perivascular area early after the procedure but eventually reached the non-adhesive oblique pericardial sinus with age. Consequently, pulmonary to oblique pericardial sinus communication was established and looked like a pseudo-chamber long after the procedure. In conclusion, even if extravasation seems to be limited immediately after the balloon pulmonary angioplasty, it could expand for non-adhesive space and could develop a huge blood space like chamber. Long-term careful observation should be necessary for extravasation of pulmonary artery even with surgical adhesion.

Spatial localization of the Ebola virus glycoprotein mucin-like domain determined by cryo-electron tomography.

PubMed

Tran, Erin E H; Simmons, James A; Bartesaghi, Alberto; Shoemaker, Charles J; Nelson, Elizabeth; White, Judith M; Subramaniam, Sriram

2014-09-01

The Ebola virus glycoprotein mucin-like domain (MLD) is implicated in Ebola virus cell entry and immune evasion. Using cryo-electron tomography of Ebola virus-like particles, we determined a three-dimensional structure for the full-length glycoprotein in a near-native state and compared it to that of a glycoprotein lacking the MLD. Our results, which show that the MLD is located at the apex and the sides of each glycoprotein monomer, provide a structural template for analysis of MLD function. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Second order Pseudo-gaussian shaper

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

Beche, Jean-Francois

2002-11-22

The purpose of this document is to provide a calculus spreadsheet for the design of second-order pseudo-gaussian shapers. A very interesting reference is given by C.H. Mosher ''Pseudo-Gaussian Transfer Functions with Superlative Recovery'', IEEE TNS Volume 23, p. 226-228 (1976). Fred Goulding and Don Landis have studied the structure of those filters and their implementation and this document will outline the calculation leading to the relation between the coefficients of the filter. The general equation of the second order pseudo-gaussian filter is: f(t) = P{sub 0} {center_dot} e{sup -3kt} {center_dot} sin{sup 2}(kt). The parameter k is a normalization factor.

Even and odd normalized zero modes in random interacting Majorana models respecting the parity P and the time-reversal-symmetry T

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monthus, Cécile

2018-06-01

For random interacting Majorana models where the only symmetries are the parity P and the time-reversal-symmetry T, various approaches are compared to construct exact even and odd normalized zero modes Γ in finite size, i.e. Hermitian operators that commute with the Hamiltonian, that square to the identity, and that commute (even) or anticommute (odd) with the parity P. Even normalized zero-modes are well known under the name of ‘pseudo-spins’ in the field of many-body-localization or more precisely ‘local integrals of motion’ (LIOMs) in the many-body-localized-phase where the pseudo-spins happens to be spatially localized. Odd normalized zero-modes are popular under the name of ‘Majorana zero modes’ or ‘strong zero modes’. Explicit examples for small systems are described in detail. Applications to real-space renormalization procedures based on blocks containing an odd number of Majorana fermions are also discussed.

Mott Transition of MnO under Pressure: A Comparison of Correlated Band Theories

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

Kasinathan, Deepa; Kunes, Jan; Koepernik, K

The electronic structure, magnetic moment, and volume collapse of MnO under pressure are obtained from four different correlated band theory methods; local density approximation+Hubbard U (LDA+U), pseudopotential self-interaction correction (pseudo-SIC), the hybrid functional (combined local exchange plus Hartree-Fock exchange), and the local spin density SIC (SIC-LSD) method. Each method treats correlation among the five Mn 3d orbitals (per spin), including their hybridization with three O 2p orbitals in the valence bands and their changes with pressure. The focus is on comparison of the methods for rock salt MnO (neglecting the observed transition to the NiAs structure in the 90-100 GPamore » range). Each method predicts a first-order volume collapse, but with variation in the predicted volume and critical pressure. Accompanying the volume collapse is a moment collapse, which for all methods is from high-spin to low-spin ((5/2){yields}(1/2)), not to nonmagnetic as the simplest scenario would have. The specific manner in which the transition occurs varies considerably among the methods: pseudo-SIC and SIC-LSD give insulator-to-metal, while LDA+U gives insulator-to-insulator and the hybrid method gives an insulator-to-semimetal transition. Projected densities of states above and below the transition are presented for each of the methods and used to analyze the character of each transition. In some cases the rhombohedral symmetry of the antiferromagnetically ordered phase clearly influences the character of the transition.« less

Constants and pseudo-constants of the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation

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

Case, K.M.

1985-08-01

Elucidating earlier work, it is shown that the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation has n + 2 constants for all n greater than or equal to 0. It also has a pseudo-constant from which the constants can be obtained by differentiation with respect to time. The pseudo-constant can be obtained from a basis functional J/sub n/sup (n+2)/ = -1/18 integral y/sup n+2/ q by taking repeated Poisson brackets with the Hamiltonian.

Definitive Radiotherapy for T1-T2 Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Pyriform Sinus

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

Rabbani, Anna; Amdur, Robert J.; Mancuso, Anthony A.

2008-10-01

Purpose: To report the long-term results after definitive radiotherapy (RT) for T1-T2 pyriform sinus squamous cell carcinoma. Patients and Methods: The data from 123 patients with T1-T2 pyriform sinus squamous cell carcinoma treated with RT with or without neck dissection between November 1964 and June 2003 were analyzed. The median follow-up for all patients was 3.2 years, and the median follow-up for living patients was 10.7 years. Results: The 5-year local control, locoregional control, freedom from distant metastasis, cause-specific survival, and overall survival rate was 85%, 70%, 75%, 61%, and 35%, respectively. The ultimate local control rate, including successful salvagemore » of RT failure, for T1 and T2 cancer patients was 96% and 94%, respectively. The overall local control rate with a functional larynx was 83%. Pretreatment computed tomography tumor volume data were available for 55 patients. The median computed tomography tumor volume was 4.2 cm{sup 3} (range, 0-22.4). Local control was worse for patients with a tumor volume >6.5 cm{sup 3} compared with those with a smaller tumor volume. Of the 123 patients, 16% developed moderate to severe acute (2%), late (9%), or postoperative (5%) complications. Conclusions: Local control with larynx preservation after definitive RT for T1-T2 pyriform sinus squamous cell carcinoma likely results in local control and survival similar to that after total laryngectomy or larynx-conserving surgery. Two-thirds of our living patients retained a functional larynx.« less

Prediction of rat protein subcellular localization with pseudo amino acid composition based on multiple sequential features.

PubMed

Shi, Ruijia; Xu, Cunshuan

2011-06-01

The study of rat proteins is an indispensable task in experimental medicine and drug development. The function of a rat protein is closely related to its subcellular location. Based on the above concept, we construct the benchmark rat proteins dataset and develop a combined approach for predicting the subcellular localization of rat proteins. From protein primary sequence, the multiple sequential features are obtained by using of discrete Fourier analysis, position conservation scoring function and increment of diversity, and these sequential features are selected as input parameters of the support vector machine. By the jackknife test, the overall success rate of prediction is 95.6% on the rat proteins dataset. Our method are performed on the apoptosis proteins dataset and the Gram-negative bacterial proteins dataset with the jackknife test, the overall success rates are 89.9% and 96.4%, respectively. The above results indicate that our proposed method is quite promising and may play a complementary role to the existing predictors in this area.

Efficient implicit LES method for the simulation of turbulent cavitating flows

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

Egerer, Christian P., E-mail: christian.egerer@aer.mw.tum.de; Schmidt, Steffen J.; Hickel, Stefan

2016-07-01

We present a numerical method for efficient large-eddy simulation of compressible liquid flows with cavitation based on an implicit subgrid-scale model. Phase change and subgrid-scale interface structures are modeled by a homogeneous mixture model that assumes local thermodynamic equilibrium. Unlike previous approaches, emphasis is placed on operating on a small stencil (at most four cells). The truncation error of the discretization is designed to function as a physically consistent subgrid-scale model for turbulence. We formulate a sensor functional that detects shock waves or pseudo-phase boundaries within the homogeneous mixture model for localizing numerical dissipation. In smooth regions of the flowmore » field, a formally non-dissipative central discretization scheme is used in combination with a regularization term to model the effect of unresolved subgrid scales. The new method is validated by computing standard single- and two-phase test-cases. Comparison of results for a turbulent cavitating mixing layer obtained with the new method demonstrates its suitability for the target applications.« less

Computed tomography synthesis from magnetic resonance images in the pelvis using multiple random forests and auto-context features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andreasen, Daniel; Edmund, Jens M.; Zografos, Vasileios; Menze, Bjoern H.; Van Leemput, Koen

2016-03-01

In radiotherapy treatment planning that is only based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the electron density information usually obtained from computed tomography (CT) must be derived from the MRI by synthesizing a so-called pseudo CT (pCT). This is a non-trivial task since MRI intensities are neither uniquely nor quantitatively related to electron density. Typical approaches involve either a classification or regression model requiring specialized MRI sequences to solve intensity ambiguities, or an atlas-based model necessitating multiple registrations between atlases and subject scans. In this work, we explore a machine learning approach for creating a pCT of the pelvic region from conventional MRI sequences without using atlases. We use a random forest provided with information about local texture, edges and spatial features derived from the MRI. This helps to solve intensity ambiguities. Furthermore, we use the concept of auto-context by sequentially training a number of classification forests to create and improve context features, which are finally used to train a regression forest for pCT prediction. We evaluate the pCT quality in terms of the voxel-wise error and the radiologic accuracy as measured by water-equivalent path lengths. We compare the performance of our method against two baseline pCT strategies, which either set all MRI voxels in the subject equal to the CT value of water, or in addition transfer the bone volume from the real CT. We show an improved performance compared to both baseline pCTs suggesting that our method may be useful for MRI-only radiotherapy.

An optimal resolved rate law for kinematically redundant manipulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bourgeois, B. J.

1987-01-01

The resolved rate law for a manipulator provides the instantaneous joint rates required to satisfy a given instantaneous hand motion. When the joint space has more degrees of freedom than the task space, the manipulator is kinematically redundant and the kinematic rate equations are underdetermined. These equations can be locally optimized, but the resulting pseudo-inverse solution has been found to cause large joint rates in some cases. A weighting matrix in the locally optimized (pseudo-inverse) solution is dynamically adjusted to control the joint motion as desired. Joint reach limit avoidance is demonstrated in a kinematically redundant planar arm model. The treatment is applicable to redundant manipulators with any number of revolute joints and to non-planar manipulators.

Density functional theory calculations of 95Mo NMR parameters in solid-state compounds.

PubMed

Cuny, Jérôme; Furet, Eric; Gautier, Régis; Le Pollès, Laurent; Pickard, Chris J; d'Espinose de Lacaillerie, Jean-Baptiste

2009-12-21

The application of periodic density functional theory-based methods to the calculation of (95)Mo electric field gradient (EFG) and chemical shift (CS) tensors in solid-state molybdenum compounds is presented. Calculations of EFG tensors are performed using the projector augmented-wave (PAW) method. Comparison of the results with those obtained using the augmented plane wave + local orbitals (APW+lo) method and with available experimental values shows the reliability of the approach for (95)Mo EFG tensor calculation. CS tensors are calculated using the recently developed gauge-including projector augmented-wave (GIPAW) method. This work is the first application of the GIPAW method to a 4d transition-metal nucleus. The effects of ultra-soft pseudo-potential parameters, exchange-correlation functionals and structural parameters are precisely examined. Comparison with experimental results allows the validation of this computational formalism.

SLLE for predicting membrane protein types.

PubMed

Wang, Meng; Yang, Jie; Xu, Zhi-Jie; Chou, Kuo-Chen

2005-01-07

Introduction of the concept of pseudo amino acid composition (PROTEINS: Structure, Function, and Genetics 43 (2001) 246; Erratum: ibid. 44 (2001) 60) has made it possible to incorporate a considerable amount of sequence-order effects by representing a protein sample in terms of a set of discrete numbers, and hence can significantly enhance the prediction quality of membrane protein type. As a continuous effort along such a line, the Supervised Locally Linear Embedding (SLLE) technique for nonlinear dimensionality reduction is introduced (Science 22 (2000) 2323). The advantage of using SLLE is that it can reduce the operational space by extracting the essential features from the high-dimensional pseudo amino acid composition space, and that the cluster-tolerant capacity can be increased accordingly. As a consequence by combining these two approaches, high success rates have been observed during the tests of self-consistency, jackknife and independent data set, respectively, by using the simplest nearest neighbour classifier. The current approach represents a new strategy to deal with the problems of protein attribute prediction, and hence may become a useful vehicle in the area of bioinformatics and proteomics.

EEG, PET, SPET and MRI in intractable childhood epilepsies: possible surgical correlations.

PubMed

Fois, A; Farnetani, M A; Balestri, P; Buoni, S; Di Cosmo, G; Vattimo, A; Guazzelli, M; Guzzardi, R; Salvadori, P A

1995-12-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single photon emission tomography (SPET), and positron emission tomography (PET) using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose were used in combination with scalp and scalp-video EEGs in a group of 30 pediatric patients with drug resistant epilepsy (DRE) in order to identify patients who could benefit from neurosurgical approach. Seizures were classified according to the consensus criteria of The International League Against Epilepsy. In three patients infantile spasms (IS) were diagnosed; 13 subjects were affected by different types of generalized seizures, associated with complex partial seizures (CPS) in three. In the other 14 patients partial seizures, either simple (SPS) or complex, were present. A localized abnormality was demonstrated in one patient with IS and in three patients with generalized seizures. Of the group of 14 subjects with CPS, MRI and CT were normal in 7, but SPET or PET indicated focal hypoperfusion or hypometabolism concordant with the localization of the EEG abnormalities. In 5 of the other 7 patients anatomical and functional imaging and EEG findings were concordant for a localized abnormality. It can be concluded that functional imaging combined with scalp EEGs appears to be superior to the use of only CT and MRI for selecting children with epilepsy in whom a surgical approach can be considered, in particular when CPS resistant to therapy are present.

Maintaining heterokaryosis in pseudo-homothallic fungi

PubMed Central

Grognet, Pierre; Silar, Philippe

2015-01-01

Among all the strategies displayed by fungi to reproduce and propagate, some species have adopted a peculiar behavior called pseudo-homothallism. Pseudo-homothallic fungi are true heterothallics, i.e., they need 2 genetically-compatible partners to mate, but they produce self-fertile mycelium in which the 2 different nuclei carrying the compatible mating types are present. This lifestyle not only enables the fungus to reproduce without finding a compatible partner, but also to cross with any mate it may encounter. However, to be fully functional, pseudo-homothallism requires maintaining heterokaryosis at every stage of the life cycle. We recently showed that neither the structure of the mating-type locus nor hybrid-enhancing effect due to the presence of the 2 mating types accounts for the maintenance of heterokaryosis in the pseudo-homothallic fungus P. anserina. In this addendum, we summarize the mechanisms creating heterokaryosis in P. anserina and 2 other well-known pseudo-homothallic fungi, Neurospora tetrasperma and Agaricus bisporus. We also discuss mechanisms potentially involved in maintaining heterokaryosis in these 3 species. PMID:26479494

Maintaining heterokaryosis in pseudo-homothallic fungi.

PubMed

Grognet, Pierre; Silar, Philippe

2015-01-01

Among all the strategies displayed by fungi to reproduce and propagate, some species have adopted a peculiar behavior called pseudo-homothallism. Pseudo-homothallic fungi are true heterothallics, i.e., they need 2 genetically-compatible partners to mate, but they produce self-fertile mycelium in which the 2 different nuclei carrying the compatible mating types are present. This lifestyle not only enables the fungus to reproduce without finding a compatible partner, but also to cross with any mate it may encounter. However, to be fully functional, pseudo-homothallism requires maintaining heterokaryosis at every stage of the life cycle. We recently showed that neither the structure of the mating-type locus nor hybrid-enhancing effect due to the presence of the 2 mating types accounts for the maintenance of heterokaryosis in the pseudo-homothallic fungus P. anserina. In this addendum, we summarize the mechanisms creating heterokaryosis in P. anserina and 2 other well-known pseudo-homothallic fungi, Neurospora tetrasperma and Agaricus bisporus. We also discuss mechanisms potentially involved in maintaining heterokaryosis in these 3 species.

Multiphysics modelling of the separation of suspended particles via frequency ramping of ultrasonic standing waves.

PubMed

Trujillo, Francisco J; Eberhardt, Sebastian; Möller, Dirk; Dual, Jurg; Knoerzer, Kai

2013-03-01

A model was developed to determine the local changes of concentration of particles and the formations of bands induced by a standing acoustic wave field subjected to a sawtooth frequency ramping pattern. The mass transport equation was modified to incorporate the effect of acoustic forces on the concentration of particles. This was achieved by balancing the forces acting on particles. The frequency ramping was implemented as a parametric sweep for the time harmonic frequency response in time steps of 0.1s. The physics phenomena of piezoelectricity, acoustic fields and diffusion of particles were coupled and solved in COMSOL Multiphysics™ (COMSOL AB, Stockholm, Sweden) following a three step approach. The first step solves the governing partial differential equations describing the acoustic field by assuming that the pressure field achieves a pseudo steady state. In the second step, the acoustic radiation force is calculated from the pressure field. The final step allows calculating the locally changing concentration of particles as a function of time by solving the modified equation of particle transport. The diffusivity was calculated as function of concentration following the Garg and Ruthven equation which describes the steep increase of diffusivity when the concentration approaches saturation. However, it was found that this steep increase creates numerical instabilities at high voltages (in the piezoelectricity equations) and high initial particle concentration. The model was simplified to a pseudo one-dimensional case due to computation power limitations. The predicted particle distribution calculated with the model is in good agreement with the experimental data as it follows accurately the movement of the bands in the centre of the chamber. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dual-modality imaging of function and physiology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasegawa, Bruce H.; Iwata, Koji; Wong, Kenneth H.; Wu, Max C.; Da Silva, Angela; Tang, Hamilton R.; Barber, William C.; Hwang, Andrew B.; Sakdinawat, Anne E.

2002-04-01

Dual-modality imaging is a technique where computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging is combined with positron emission tomography or single-photon computed tomography to acquire structural and functional images with an integrated system. The data are acquired during a single procedure with the patient on a table viewed by both detectors to facilitate correlation between the structural and function images. The resulting data can be useful for localization for more specific diagnosis of disease. In addition, the anatomical information can be used to compensate the correlated radionuclide data for physical perturbations such as photon attenuation, scatter radiation, and partial volume errors. Thus, dual-modality imaging provides a priori information that can be used to improve both the visual quality and the quantitative accuracy of the radionuclide images. Dual-modality imaging systems also are being developed for biological research that involves small animals. The small-animal dual-modality systems offer advantages for measurements that currently are performed invasively using autoradiography and tissue sampling. By acquiring the required data noninvasively, dual-modality imaging has the potential to allow serial studies in a single animal, to perform measurements with fewer animals, and to improve the statistical quality of the data.

Real-Time Parallel Software Design Case Study: Implementation of the RASSP SAR Benchmark on the Intel Paragon.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-01-01

Real-Time 19 5 Conclusion 23 List of References 25 ii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 3-1 Test Bench Pseudo Code 7 3-2 Fast Convolution...3-1 shows pseudo - code for a test bench with two application nodes. The outer test bench wrapper consists of three functions: pipeline_init, pipeline...exit_func); Figure 3-1. Test Bench Pseudo Code The application wrapper is contained in the pipeline routine and similarly consists of an

Bertolotti's syndrome: A commonly missed cause of back pain in young patients.

PubMed

Manmohan, S; Dzulkarnain, A; Nor Azlin, Z A; Fazir, M

2015-01-01

Bertolotti's syndrome must be considered as a differential diagnosis for lower back pain in young people. Treatment, whether conservative or operative, is still debatable. In this paper, we report a case of a 20-year-old girl presenting with lower back pain for 8 years. We administered injection with local anaesthetic and steroid injections within the pseudo-articulation; however, the pain was relieved for 3 weeks. Surgical excision of the pseudo-articulation successfully treated her back pain and the sciatica.

High quality 4D cone-beam CT reconstruction using motion-compensated total variation regularization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hua; Ma, Jianhua; Bian, Zhaoying; Zeng, Dong; Feng, Qianjin; Chen, Wufan

2017-04-01

Four dimensional cone-beam computed tomography (4D-CBCT) has great potential clinical value because of its ability to describe tumor and organ motion. But the challenge in 4D-CBCT reconstruction is the limited number of projections at each phase, which result in a reconstruction full of noise and streak artifacts with the conventional analytical algorithms. To address this problem, in this paper, we propose a motion compensated total variation regularization approach which tries to fully explore the temporal coherence of the spatial structures among the 4D-CBCT phases. In this work, we additionally conduct motion estimation/motion compensation (ME/MC) on the 4D-CBCT volume by using inter-phase deformation vector fields (DVFs). The motion compensated 4D-CBCT volume is then viewed as a pseudo-static sequence, of which the regularization function was imposed on. The regularization used in this work is the 3D spatial total variation minimization combined with 1D temporal total variation minimization. We subsequently construct a cost function for a reconstruction pass, and minimize this cost function using a variable splitting algorithm. Simulation and real patient data were used to evaluate the proposed algorithm. Results show that the introduction of additional temporal correlation along the phase direction can improve the 4D-CBCT image quality.

Distinct quantitative computed tomography emphysema patterns are associated with physiology and function in smokers.

PubMed

Castaldi, Peter J; San José Estépar, Raúl; Mendoza, Carlos S; Hersh, Craig P; Laird, Nan; Crapo, James D; Lynch, David A; Silverman, Edwin K; Washko, George R

2013-11-01

Emphysema occurs in distinct pathologic patterns, but little is known about the epidemiologic associations of these patterns. Standard quantitative measures of emphysema from computed tomography (CT) do not distinguish between distinct patterns of parenchymal destruction. To study the epidemiologic associations of distinct emphysema patterns with measures of lung-related physiology, function, and health care use in smokers. Using a local histogram-based assessment of lung density, we quantified distinct patterns of low attenuation in 9,313 smokers in the COPDGene Study. To determine if such patterns provide novel insights into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease epidemiology, we tested for their association with measures of physiology, function, and health care use. Compared with percentage of low-attenuation area less than -950 Hounsfield units (%LAA-950), local histogram-based measures of distinct CT low-attenuation patterns are more predictive of measures of lung function, dyspnea, quality of life, and health care use. These patterns are strongly associated with a wide array of measures of respiratory physiology and function, and most of these associations remain highly significant (P < 0.005) after adjusting for %LAA-950. In smokers without evidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the mild centrilobular disease pattern is associated with lower FEV1 and worse functional status (P < 0.005). Measures of distinct CT emphysema patterns provide novel information about the relationship between emphysema and key measures of physiology, physical function, and health care use. Measures of mild emphysema in smokers with preserved lung function can be extracted from CT scans and are significantly associated with functional measures.

A numerical study of adaptive space and time discretisations for Gross–Pitaevskii equations

PubMed Central

Thalhammer, Mechthild; Abhau, Jochen

2012-01-01

As a basic principle, benefits of adaptive discretisations are an improved balance between required accuracy and efficiency as well as an enhancement of the reliability of numerical computations. In this work, the capacity of locally adaptive space and time discretisations for the numerical solution of low-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equations is investigated. The considered model equation is related to the time-dependent Gross–Pitaevskii equation arising in the description of Bose–Einstein condensates in dilute gases. The performance of the Fourier-pseudo spectral method constrained to uniform meshes versus the locally adaptive finite element method and of higher-order exponential operator splitting methods with variable time stepsizes is studied. Numerical experiments confirm that a local time stepsize control based on a posteriori local error estimators or embedded splitting pairs, respectively, is effective in different situations with an enhancement either in efficiency or reliability. As expected, adaptive time-splitting schemes combined with fast Fourier transform techniques are favourable regarding accuracy and efficiency when applied to Gross–Pitaevskii equations with a defocusing nonlinearity and a mildly varying regular solution. However, the numerical solution of nonlinear Schrödinger equations in the semi-classical regime becomes a demanding task. Due to the highly oscillatory and nonlinear nature of the problem, the spatial mesh size and the time increments need to be of the size of the decisive parameter 0<ε≪1, especially when it is desired to capture correctly the quantitative behaviour of the wave function itself. The required high resolution in space constricts the feasibility of numerical computations for both, the Fourier pseudo-spectral and the finite element method. Nevertheless, for smaller parameter values locally adaptive time discretisations facilitate to determine the time stepsizes sufficiently small in order that the numerical approximation captures correctly the behaviour of the analytical solution. Further illustrations for Gross–Pitaevskii equations with a focusing nonlinearity or a sharp Gaussian as initial condition, respectively, complement the numerical study. PMID:25550676

A numerical study of adaptive space and time discretisations for Gross-Pitaevskii equations.

PubMed

Thalhammer, Mechthild; Abhau, Jochen

2012-08-15

As a basic principle, benefits of adaptive discretisations are an improved balance between required accuracy and efficiency as well as an enhancement of the reliability of numerical computations. In this work, the capacity of locally adaptive space and time discretisations for the numerical solution of low-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equations is investigated. The considered model equation is related to the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation arising in the description of Bose-Einstein condensates in dilute gases. The performance of the Fourier-pseudo spectral method constrained to uniform meshes versus the locally adaptive finite element method and of higher-order exponential operator splitting methods with variable time stepsizes is studied. Numerical experiments confirm that a local time stepsize control based on a posteriori local error estimators or embedded splitting pairs, respectively, is effective in different situations with an enhancement either in efficiency or reliability. As expected, adaptive time-splitting schemes combined with fast Fourier transform techniques are favourable regarding accuracy and efficiency when applied to Gross-Pitaevskii equations with a defocusing nonlinearity and a mildly varying regular solution. However, the numerical solution of nonlinear Schrödinger equations in the semi-classical regime becomes a demanding task. Due to the highly oscillatory and nonlinear nature of the problem, the spatial mesh size and the time increments need to be of the size of the decisive parameter [Formula: see text], especially when it is desired to capture correctly the quantitative behaviour of the wave function itself. The required high resolution in space constricts the feasibility of numerical computations for both, the Fourier pseudo-spectral and the finite element method. Nevertheless, for smaller parameter values locally adaptive time discretisations facilitate to determine the time stepsizes sufficiently small in order that the numerical approximation captures correctly the behaviour of the analytical solution. Further illustrations for Gross-Pitaevskii equations with a focusing nonlinearity or a sharp Gaussian as initial condition, respectively, complement the numerical study.

Thermodynamics of the pseudo-knot in helix 18 of 16S ribosomal RNA.

PubMed

Wojciechowska, Monika; Dudek, Marta; Trylska, Joanna

2018-04-01

A fragment of E. coli 16S rRNA formed by nucleotides 500 to 545 is termed helix 18. Nucleotides 505-507 and 524-526 form a pseudo-knot and its distortion affects ribosome function. Helix 18 isolated from the ribosome context is thus an interesting fragment to investigate the structural properties and folding of RNA with pseudo-knots. With all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, spectroscopic and gel electrophoresis experiments, we investigated thermodynamics of helix 18, with a focus on its pseudo-knot. In solution studies at ambient conditions we observed dimerization of helix 18. We proposed that the loop, containing nucleotides forming the pseudo-knot, interacts with another monomer of helix 18. The native dimer is difficult to break but introducing mutations in the pseudo-knot indeed assured a monomeric form of helix 18. Molecular dynamics simulations at 310 K confirmed the stability of the pseudo-knot but at elevated temperatures this pseudo-knot was the first part of helix 18 to lose the hydrogen bond pattern. To further determine helix 18 stability, we analyzed the interactions of helix 18 with short oligomers complementary to a nucleotide stretch containing the pseudo-knot. The formation of higher-order structures by helix 18 impacts hybridization efficiency of peptide nucleic acid and 2'-O methyl RNA oligomers. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Meaning of Interior Tomography

PubMed Central

Wang, Ge; Yu, Hengyong

2013-01-01

The classic imaging geometry for computed tomography is for collection of un-truncated projections and reconstruction of a global image, with the Fourier transform as the theoretical foundation that is intrinsically non-local. Recently, interior tomography research has led to theoretically exact relationships between localities in the projection and image spaces and practically promising reconstruction algorithms. Initially, interior tomography was developed for x-ray computed tomography. Then, it has been elevated as a general imaging principle. Finally, a novel framework known as “omni-tomography” is being developed for grand fusion of multiple imaging modalities, allowing tomographic synchrony of diversified features. PMID:23912256

Functional imaging with low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA): a review.

PubMed

Pascual-Marqui, R D; Esslen, M; Kochi, K; Lehmann, D

2002-01-01

This paper reviews several recent publications that have successfully used the functional brain imaging method known as LORETA. Emphasis is placed on the electrophysiological and neuroanatomical basis of the method, on the localization properties of the method, and on the validation of the method in real experimental human data. Papers that criticize LORETA are briefly discussed. LORETA publications in the 1994-1997 period based localization inference on images of raw electric neuronal activity. In 1998, a series of papers appeared that based localization inference on the statistical parametric mapping methodology applied to high-time resolution LORETA images. Starting in 1999, quantitative neuroanatomy was added to the methodology, based on the digitized Talairach atlas provided by the Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute. The combination of these methodological developments has placed LORETA at a level that compares favorably to the more classical functional imaging methods, such as PET and fMRI.

Clustering Coefficients for Correlation Networks.

PubMed

Masuda, Naoki; Sakaki, Michiko; Ezaki, Takahiro; Watanabe, Takamitsu

2018-01-01

Graph theory is a useful tool for deciphering structural and functional networks of the brain on various spatial and temporal scales. The clustering coefficient quantifies the abundance of connected triangles in a network and is a major descriptive statistics of networks. For example, it finds an application in the assessment of small-worldness of brain networks, which is affected by attentional and cognitive conditions, age, psychiatric disorders and so forth. However, it remains unclear how the clustering coefficient should be measured in a correlation-based network, which is among major representations of brain networks. In the present article, we propose clustering coefficients tailored to correlation matrices. The key idea is to use three-way partial correlation or partial mutual information to measure the strength of the association between the two neighboring nodes of a focal node relative to the amount of pseudo-correlation expected from indirect paths between the nodes. Our method avoids the difficulties of previous applications of clustering coefficient (and other) measures in defining correlational networks, i.e., thresholding on the correlation value, discarding of negative correlation values, the pseudo-correlation problem and full partial correlation matrices whose estimation is computationally difficult. For proof of concept, we apply the proposed clustering coefficient measures to functional magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from healthy participants of various ages and compare them with conventional clustering coefficients. We show that the clustering coefficients decline with the age. The proposed clustering coefficients are more strongly correlated with age than the conventional ones are. We also show that the local variants of the proposed clustering coefficients (i.e., abundance of triangles around a focal node) are useful in characterizing individual nodes. In contrast, the conventional local clustering coefficients were strongly correlated with and therefore may be confounded by the node's connectivity. The proposed methods are expected to help us to understand clustering and lack thereof in correlational brain networks, such as those derived from functional time series and across-participant correlation in neuroanatomical properties.

Clustering Coefficients for Correlation Networks

PubMed Central

Masuda, Naoki; Sakaki, Michiko; Ezaki, Takahiro; Watanabe, Takamitsu

2018-01-01

Graph theory is a useful tool for deciphering structural and functional networks of the brain on various spatial and temporal scales. The clustering coefficient quantifies the abundance of connected triangles in a network and is a major descriptive statistics of networks. For example, it finds an application in the assessment of small-worldness of brain networks, which is affected by attentional and cognitive conditions, age, psychiatric disorders and so forth. However, it remains unclear how the clustering coefficient should be measured in a correlation-based network, which is among major representations of brain networks. In the present article, we propose clustering coefficients tailored to correlation matrices. The key idea is to use three-way partial correlation or partial mutual information to measure the strength of the association between the two neighboring nodes of a focal node relative to the amount of pseudo-correlation expected from indirect paths between the nodes. Our method avoids the difficulties of previous applications of clustering coefficient (and other) measures in defining correlational networks, i.e., thresholding on the correlation value, discarding of negative correlation values, the pseudo-correlation problem and full partial correlation matrices whose estimation is computationally difficult. For proof of concept, we apply the proposed clustering coefficient measures to functional magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from healthy participants of various ages and compare them with conventional clustering coefficients. We show that the clustering coefficients decline with the age. The proposed clustering coefficients are more strongly correlated with age than the conventional ones are. We also show that the local variants of the proposed clustering coefficients (i.e., abundance of triangles around a focal node) are useful in characterizing individual nodes. In contrast, the conventional local clustering coefficients were strongly correlated with and therefore may be confounded by the node's connectivity. The proposed methods are expected to help us to understand clustering and lack thereof in correlational brain networks, such as those derived from functional time series and across-participant correlation in neuroanatomical properties. PMID:29599714

Quantification of Load Dependent Brain Activity in Parametric N-Back Working Memory Tasks using Pseudo-continuous Arterial Spin Labeling (pCASL) Perfusion Imaging.

PubMed

Zou, Qihong; Gu, Hong; Wang, Danny J J; Gao, Jia-Hong; Yang, Yihong

2011-04-01

Brain activation and deactivation induced by N-back working memory tasks and their load effects have been extensively investigated using positron emission tomography (PET) and blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, the underlying mechanisms of BOLD fMRI are still not completely understood and PET imaging requires injection of radioactive tracers. In this study, a pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) perfusion imaging technique was used to quantify cerebral blood flow (CBF), a well understood physiological index reflective of cerebral metabolism, in N-back working memory tasks. Using pCASL, we systematically investigated brain activation and deactivation induced by the N-back working memory tasks and further studied the load effects on brain activity based on quantitative CBF. Our data show increased CBF in the fronto-parietal cortices, thalamus, caudate, and cerebellar regions, and decreased CBF in the posterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex, during the working memory tasks. Most of the activated/deactivated brain regions show an approximately linear relationship between CBF and task loads (0, 1, 2 and 3 back), although several regions show non-linear relationships (quadratic and cubic). The CBF-based spatial patterns of brain activation/deactivation and load effects from this study agree well with those obtained from BOLD fMRI and PET techniques. These results demonstrate the feasibility of ASL techniques to quantify human brain activity during high cognitive tasks, suggesting its potential application to assessing the mechanisms of cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders.

lop-DWI: A Novel Scheme for Pre-Processing of Diffusion-Weighted Images in the Gradient Direction Domain.

PubMed

Sepehrband, Farshid; Choupan, Jeiran; Caruyer, Emmanuel; Kurniawan, Nyoman D; Gal, Yaniv; Tieng, Quang M; McMahon, Katie L; Vegh, Viktor; Reutens, David C; Yang, Zhengyi

2014-01-01

We describe and evaluate a pre-processing method based on a periodic spiral sampling of diffusion-gradient directions for high angular resolution diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. Our pre-processing method incorporates prior knowledge about the acquired diffusion-weighted signal, facilitating noise reduction. Periodic spiral sampling of gradient direction encodings results in an acquired signal in each voxel that is pseudo-periodic with characteristics that allow separation of low-frequency signal from high frequency noise. Consequently, it enhances local reconstruction of the orientation distribution function used to define fiber tracks in the brain. Denoising with periodic spiral sampling was tested using synthetic data and in vivo human brain images. The level of improvement in signal-to-noise ratio and in the accuracy of local reconstruction of fiber tracks was significantly improved using our method.

Functional connectivity arises from a slow rhythmic mechanism

PubMed Central

Li, Jingfeng M.; Bentley, William J.; Snyder, Lawrence H.

2015-01-01

The mechanism underlying temporal correlations among blood oxygen level-dependent signals is unclear. We used oxygen polarography to better characterize oxygen fluctuations and their correlation and to gain insight into the driving mechanism. The power spectrum of local oxygen fluctuations is inversely proportional to frequency raised to a power (1/f) raised to the beta, with an additional positive band-limited component centered at 0.06 Hz. In contrast, the power of the correlated oxygen signal is band limited from ∼0.01 Hz to 0.4 Hz with a peak at 0.06 Hz. These results suggest that there is a band-limited mechanism (or mechanisms) driving interregional oxygen correlation that is distinct from the mechanism(s) driving local (1/f) oxygen fluctuations. Candidates for driving interregional oxygen correlation include rhythmic or pseudo-oscillatory mechanisms. PMID:25918427

Recognition of Simple 3D Geometrical Objects under Partial Occlusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barchunova, Alexandra; Sommer, Gerald

In this paper we present a novel procedure for contour-based recognition of partially occluded three-dimensional objects. In our approach we use images of real and rendered objects whose contours have been deformed by a restricted change of the viewpoint. The preparatory part consists of contour extraction, preprocessing, local structure analysis and feature extraction. The main part deals with an extended construction and functionality of the classifier ensemble Adaptive Occlusion Classifier (AOC). It relies on a hierarchical fragmenting algorithm to perform a local structure analysis which is essential when dealing with occlusions. In the experimental part of this paper we present classification results for five classes of simple geometrical figures: prism, cylinder, half cylinder, a cube, and a bridge. We compare classification results for three classical feature extractors: Fourier descriptors, pseudo Zernike and Zernike moments.

Enhanced vibronic interaction caused by local lattice symmetry lowering in the (Fe, Mg)As2 ternary system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pishtshev, A.; Rubin, P.

2018-04-01

By means of periodic density functional theory (DFT) electronic structure calculations, we investigate iron-site doping effects in a structural model of bulk FeAs2. Simulations performed within the projector augmented-wave method-Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functional scheme reveal that the impacts of the two stoichiometric substitutions Fe → Mg and Fe → Ni are radically different with respect to the structural and electronic behavior of the dopants. In particular, unlike the Ni dopant, the Mg dopant incorporated in FeAs2 occupies a noncentral equilibrium position characterized by an off-center displacement from the reference higher-symmetry position. Analysis of the respective electron and vibrational factors allows us to explain this result in terms of the local pseudo Jahn-Teller effect (pJTE). On the basis of DFT calculations, we deduce which electron orbitals and lattice vibrational modes are appropriate for promoting the local instability at the origin of the pJTE. Quantitative evaluations of the pJTE parameters performed within the polyatomic formalism of an effective tight-binding model show that it is just the enhanced vibronic interaction in the Mg-[FeAs6] cluster that is responsible for the local lattice symmetry breaking.

Effect of bioaugmentation and biostimulation on sulfate-reducing column startup captured by functional gene profiling.

PubMed

Pereyra, Luciana P; Hiibel, Sage R; Perrault, Elizabeth M; Reardon, Kenneth F; Pruden, Amy

2012-10-01

Sulfate-reducing permeable reactive zones (SR-PRZs) depend upon a complex microbial community to utilize a lignocellulosic substrate and produce sulfides, which remediate mine drainage by binding heavy metals. To gain insight into the impact of the microbial community composition on the startup time and pseudo-steady-state performance, functional genes corresponding to cellulose-degrading (CD), fermentative, sulfate-reducing, and methanogenic microorganisms were characterized in columns simulating SR-PRZs using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Duplicate columns were bioaugmented with sulfate-reducing or CD bacteria or biostimulated with ethanol or carboxymethyl cellulose and compared with baseline dairy manure inoculum and uninoculated controls. Sulfate removal began after ~ 15 days for all columns and pseudo-steady state was achieved by Day 30. Despite similar performance, DGGE profiles of 16S rRNA gene and functional genes at pseudo-steady state were distinct among the column treatments, suggesting the potential to control ultimate microbial community composition via bioaugmentation and biostimulation. qPCR revealed enrichment of functional genes in all columns between the initial and pseudo-steady-state time points. This is the first functional gene-based study of CD, fermentative and sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea in a lignocellulose-based environment and provides new qualitative and quantitative insight into startup of a complex microbial system. © 2012 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extended pseudo-screen migration with multiple reference velocities

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

Huang, Lian-Jie; Fehler, M.C.

1997-11-01

The pseudo-screen propagator is a kind of one way wave propagation based on the local Born approximation. The problem of the propagator is that it is difficult to calculate the scattered fields when the velocity perturbation is large; not to mention the accuracy of the propagator. We develop an extended pseudo-screen propagator by introducing different reference velocities in different regions of a medium to ensure the condition of small perturbation. The exploding reflector data for a 2D slice of the SEG/EAEG 3D salt model is generated by a finite difference scheme to test the feasibility of the method. The migrationmore » result demonstrates that the method can handle severe lateral velocity variations and provides high quality images for complex structures.« less

Thermocouple assembly

DOEpatents

Thermos, Anthony Constantine; Rahal, Fadi Elias

2002-01-01

A thermocouple assembly includes a thermocouple; a plurality of lead wires extending from the thermocouple; an insulating jacket extending along and enclosing the plurality of leads; and at least one internally sealed area within the insulating jacket to prevent fluid leakage along and within the insulating jacket. The invention also provides a method of preventing leakage of a fluid along and through an insulating jacket of a thermocouple including the steps of a) attaching a plurality of lead wires to a thermocouple; b) adding a heat sensitive pseudo-wire to extend along the plurality of lead wires; c) enclosing the lead wires and pseudo-wire inside an insulating jacket; d) locally heating axially spaced portions of the insulating jacket to a temperature which melts the pseudo-wire and fuses it with an interior surface of the jacket.

IMAGING WITH MULTIMODAL ADAPTIVE-OPTICS OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IN MULTIPLE EVANESCENT WHITE DOT SYNDROME: THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIP.

PubMed

Labriola, Leanne T; Legarreta, Andrew D; Legarreta, John E; Nadler, Zach; Gallagher, Denise; Hammer, Daniel X; Ferguson, R Daniel; Iftimia, Nicusor; Wollstein, Gadi; Schuman, Joel S

2016-01-01

To elucidate the location of pathological changes in multiple evanescent white dot syndrome (MEWDS) with the use of multimodal adaptive optics (AO) imaging. A 5-year observational case study of a 24-year-old female with recurrent MEWDS. Full examination included history, Snellen chart visual acuity, pupil assessment, intraocular pressures, slit lamp evaluation, dilated fundoscopic exam, imaging with Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT), blue-light fundus autofluorescence (FAF), fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and adaptive-optics optical coherence tomography. Three distinct acute episodes of MEWDS occurred during the period of follow-up. Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography and adaptive-optics imaging showed disturbance in the photoreceptor outer segments (PR OS) in the posterior pole with each flare. The degree of disturbance at the photoreceptor level corresponded to size and extent of the visual field changes. All findings were transient with delineation of the photoreceptor recovery from the outer edges of the lesion inward. Hyperautofluorescence was seen during acute flares. Increase in choroidal thickness did occur with each active flare but resolved. Although changes in the choroid and RPE can be observed in MEWDS, Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography, and multimodal adaptive optics imaging localized the visually significant changes seen in this disease at the level of the photoreceptors. These transient retinal changes specifically occur at the level of the inner segment ellipsoid and OS/RPE line. En face optical coherence tomography imaging provides a detailed, yet noninvasive method for following the convalescence of MEWDS and provides insight into the structural and functional relationship of this transient inflammatory retinal disease.

On the Plasticity of Amorphous Solids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Jie

Mechanical behaviors of amorphous materials under external stress are central to various phenomena including earthquakes and landslides. Most amorphous materials possess a well defined yield stress when thermal fluctuations are negligible. Only when the shear stress is above the yield stress, the material can flow as a fluid, otherwise it deforms as a solid. There are accumulating evidences that the yielding transition between the flowing and solid phase is a critical phenomenon, and one evidence is the long ranged correlations of plastic strain during adiabatic shear. In spite of this, we still have not fully understood the associated critical exponents and their scaling relations. In the last decade, it has been widely accepted that the elementary rearrangements in amorphous solids are not well-defined topological defects as crystals, instead they are local irreversible rearrangements of a few particles, denoted as shear transformations. Because a single shear transformation changes the local arrangement of particles, it therefore generates an elastic stress field propagating over the whole system. The resulting changes in the local stresses in other regions of the system may in turn trigger more shear transformations. A central feature that complicates the yielding transition is the long range and anisotropic stress field generated by shear transformations. This peculiar interaction between shear transformations leads to two important characteristics: 1.the mechanical noises generated by plastic deformation are broadly distributed 2.those regions that are undergoing plastic deformation has equal probability to make other parts of the material to be more stable or more unstable, depending on the direction between them. In this thesis, we show that these two important factors leads to a singular density of shear transformations, P( x) xtheta at small x, where x is a local measure of stability, namely, the extra stress one needs to add locally to reach the elastic instabilities. We denote such a singular distribution as a pseudo gap, and the theta exponent as the pseudo gap exponent. The fact that the plastic avalanche rates, i.e., number of avalanches per unit strain, during quasi-static shear is not proportional to system size implies the existence of a finite pseudo gap exponent. Arguments based on stability against local perturbations lead to a lower bound of the pseudo gap exponents. In the flowing phase, we construct the scaling description of the yielding transition of soft amorphous solids at zero temperature. The yielding transition shares similarities with another well studied dynamic phase transition, the depinning transition where an elastic interface is driven in a disordered medium, however, there are also striking differences between them. Avalanches are fractal in the yielding transition, characterized by a fractal dimension smaller than the spatial dimension, while avalanches are compact with a fractal dimension, not smaller than the spatial dimension in the depinning transition. We make connections between the Herschel-Bulkley exponent characterizing the singularity of the flow curve near the yield stress, the extension and duration of the avalanches of plasticity, and the pseudo gap exponent. On the other hand, in the solid phase, the pseudo gap also plays a significant role as one increases the shear stress adiabatically. We point out the connection between the local slope of stress-strain curve in the transient state and mean avalanche sizes as the system approaches failure. We argue that the entire solid phase below the yield stress is critical as long as there is finite amount of plastic strain, and plasticity always involves system-spanning events because of the finite pseudo gap exponent. We use the elasto-plastic model, a mesoscopic approach, to verify our theoretical predictions and obtain satisfying results. Finally, a mean field description of plastic flow in amorphous solids are proposed and solved analytically. The mean field models captures the broad distribution of mechanical noise generated by plasticity, leading to a biased Levy flight behavior of local stresses, with the elastic instabilities as the absorbing boundary. The mean field model implies an upper critical dimension as dc = 4.

Probabilistic Air Segmentation and Sparse Regression Estimated Pseudo CT for PET/MR Attenuation Correction

PubMed Central

Chen, Yasheng; Juttukonda, Meher; Su, Yi; Benzinger, Tammie; Rubin, Brian G.; Lee, Yueh Z.; Lin, Weili; Shen, Dinggang; Lalush, David

2015-01-01

Purpose To develop a positron emission tomography (PET) attenuation correction method for brain PET/magnetic resonance (MR) imaging by estimating pseudo computed tomographic (CT) images from T1-weighted MR and atlas CT images. Materials and Methods In this institutional review board–approved and HIPAA-compliant study, PET/MR/CT images were acquired in 20 subjects after obtaining written consent. A probabilistic air segmentation and sparse regression (PASSR) method was developed for pseudo CT estimation. Air segmentation was performed with assistance from a probabilistic air map. For nonair regions, the pseudo CT numbers were estimated via sparse regression by using atlas MR patches. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) on PET images was computed as the normalized mean absolute difference in PET signal intensity between a method and the reference standard continuous CT attenuation correction method. Friedman analysis of variance and Wilcoxon matched-pairs tests were performed for statistical comparison of MAPE between the PASSR method and Dixon segmentation, CT segmentation, and population averaged CT atlas (mean atlas) methods. Results The PASSR method yielded a mean MAPE ± standard deviation of 2.42% ± 1.0, 3.28% ± 0.93, and 2.16% ± 1.75, respectively, in the whole brain, gray matter, and white matter, which were significantly lower than the Dixon, CT segmentation, and mean atlas values (P < .01). Moreover, 68.0% ± 16.5, 85.8% ± 12.9, and 96.0% ± 2.5 of whole-brain volume had within ±2%, ±5%, and ±10% percentage error by using PASSR, respectively, which was significantly higher than other methods (P < .01). Conclusion PASSR outperformed the Dixon, CT segmentation, and mean atlas methods by reducing PET error owing to attenuation correction. © RSNA, 2014 PMID:25521778

A hybrid approach to appendicitis with right external iliac artery pseudo aneurysm: A case report.

PubMed

Chandler, Benjamin T; Ryer, Evan J; Keyser, Benjamin M; Elmore, James R

2017-01-01

While acute appendicitis is a common surgical problem, the simultaneous occurrence of appendicitis and an infected iliac artery pseudoaneurysm is exceedingly rare. We report the successful treatment of an infected right external iliac artery pseudo aneurysm in the 1setting of acute appendicitis. The patient is an 83-year-old male who presents with severe sepsis, right lower quadrant and right leg pain. Additional past medical history is significant for rectal cancer status post resection and radiation therapy in 1997. Computed tomography (CT) on admission revealed a right iliopsoas muscle abscess, an inflamed Appendix and a pseudo aneurysm arising from the right external iliac artery. After consultations by multiple specialties, the plan was to proceed with percutaneous drainage of the abscess, antibiotic therapy and subsequent repair of the pseudoaneurysm. CT guided drainage of the iliopsoas abscess was performed with return of hemorrhagic fluid. Due to the concern of contained pseudoaneurysm rupture, the patient was taken for expedited repair. Due to the patient's frailty and hostile abdomen, we performed embolization of the right external iliac artery pseudoaneurysm with Amplatzer I plugs (St. Jude Medical, St. Paul MN) and left common femoral to right superficial femoral bypass with cryopreserved cadaveric femoral vein. Following pseudoaneurysm exclusion, continued percutaneous drainage and antibiotic therapy, the patient has done well with no further evidence of infection. Repair of infected pseudo aneurysms can prove challenging. Ongoing infection, a hostile surgical abdomen and patient frailty further complicates the treatment of these patients. This case displays a minimally invasive approach to this rare but morbid condition. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Technical aspects of positron emission tomography/computed tomography in radiotherapy treatment planning.

PubMed

Scripes, Paola G; Yaparpalvi, Ravindra

2012-09-01

The usage of functional data in radiation therapy (RT) treatment planning (RTP) process is currently the focus of significant technical, scientific, and clinical development. Positron emission tomography (PET) using ((18)F) fluorodeoxyglucose is being increasingly used in RT planning in recent years. Fluorodeoxyglucose is the most commonly used radiotracer for diagnosis, staging, recurrent disease detection, and monitoring of tumor response to therapy (Lung Cancer 2012;76:344-349; Lung Cancer 2009;64:301-307; J Nucl Med 2008;49:532-540; J Nucl Med 2007;48:58S-67S). All the efforts to improve both PET and computed tomography (CT) image quality and, consequently, lesion detectability have a common objective to increase the accuracy in functional imaging and thus of coregistration into RT planning systems. In radiotherapy, improvement in target localization permits reduction of tumor margins, consequently reducing volume of normal tissue irradiated. Furthermore, smaller treated target volumes create the possibility of dose escalation, leading to increased chances of tumor cure and control. This article focuses on the technical aspects of PET/CT image acquisition, fusion, usage, and impact on the physics of RTP. The authors review the basic elements of RTP, modern radiation delivery, and the technical parameters of coregistration of PET/CT into RT computerized planning systems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Outlier Detection in GNSS Pseudo-Range/Doppler Measurements for Robust Localization

PubMed Central

Zair, Salim; Le Hégarat-Mascle, Sylvie; Seignez, Emmanuel

2016-01-01

In urban areas or space-constrained environments with obstacles, vehicle localization using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data is hindered by Non-Line Of Sight (NLOS) and multipath receptions. These phenomena induce faulty data that disrupt the precise localization of the GNSS receiver. In this study, we detect the outliers among the observations, Pseudo-Range (PR) and/or Doppler measurements, and we evaluate how discarding them improves the localization. We specify a contrario modeling for GNSS raw data to derive an algorithm that partitions the dataset between inliers and outliers. Then, only the inlier data are considered in the localization process performed either through a classical Particle Filter (PF) or a Rao-Blackwellization (RB) approach. Both localization algorithms exclusively use GNSS data, but they differ by the way Doppler measurements are processed. An experiment has been performed with a GPS receiver aboard a vehicle. Results show that the proposed algorithms are able to detect the ‘outliers’ in the raw data while being robust to non-Gaussian noise and to intermittent satellite blockage. We compare the performance results achieved either estimating only PR outliers or estimating both PR and Doppler outliers. The best localization is achieved using the RB approach coupled with PR-Doppler outlier estimation. PMID:27110796

Outlier Detection in GNSS Pseudo-Range/Doppler Measurements for Robust Localization.

PubMed

Zair, Salim; Le Hégarat-Mascle, Sylvie; Seignez, Emmanuel

2016-04-22

In urban areas or space-constrained environments with obstacles, vehicle localization using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data is hindered by Non-Line Of Sight (NLOS) and multipath receptions. These phenomena induce faulty data that disrupt the precise localization of the GNSS receiver. In this study, we detect the outliers among the observations, Pseudo-Range (PR) and/or Doppler measurements, and we evaluate how discarding them improves the localization. We specify a contrario modeling for GNSS raw data to derive an algorithm that partitions the dataset between inliers and outliers. Then, only the inlier data are considered in the localization process performed either through a classical Particle Filter (PF) or a Rao-Blackwellization (RB) approach. Both localization algorithms exclusively use GNSS data, but they differ by the way Doppler measurements are processed. An experiment has been performed with a GPS receiver aboard a vehicle. Results show that the proposed algorithms are able to detect the 'outliers' in the raw data while being robust to non-Gaussian noise and to intermittent satellite blockage. We compare the performance results achieved either estimating only PR outliers or estimating both PR and Doppler outliers. The best localization is achieved using the RB approach coupled with PR-Doppler outlier estimation.

Tomographic reconstruction of atmospheric turbulence with the use of time-dependent stochastic inversion.

PubMed

Vecherin, Sergey N; Ostashev, Vladimir E; Ziemann, A; Wilson, D Keith; Arnold, K; Barth, M

2007-09-01

Acoustic travel-time tomography allows one to reconstruct temperature and wind velocity fields in the atmosphere. In a recently published paper [S. Vecherin et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 119, 2579 (2006)], a time-dependent stochastic inversion (TDSI) was developed for the reconstruction of these fields from travel times of sound propagation between sources and receivers in a tomography array. TDSI accounts for the correlation of temperature and wind velocity fluctuations both in space and time and therefore yields more accurate reconstruction of these fields in comparison with algebraic techniques and regular stochastic inversion. To use TDSI, one needs to estimate spatial-temporal covariance functions of temperature and wind velocity fluctuations. In this paper, these spatial-temporal covariance functions are derived for locally frozen turbulence which is a more general concept than a widely used hypothesis of frozen turbulence. The developed theory is applied to reconstruction of temperature and wind velocity fields in the acoustic tomography experiment carried out by University of Leipzig, Germany. The reconstructed temperature and velocity fields are presented and errors in reconstruction of these fields are studied.

Solid-state structures and properties of scandium hydride; hydrogen storage and switchable mirrors application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khodja, Khadidja; Bouhadda, Youcef; Seddik, Larbi; Benyelloul, Kamel

2016-05-01

First-principles calculation has been performed on the rare earth hydride ScH2 for hydrogen storage and switchable mirror applications, using the pseudo-potentials and plane waves based on the density-functional theory (DFT). The electronic and structural properties are studied within both local-density and generalized gradient approximations for exchange energy. The formation energy and the optical properties have been investigated and discussed. Our calculated results are generally in good agreement with theoretical and experimental data. Contribution to the topical issue "Materials for Energy Harvesting, Conversion and Storage (ICOME 2015) - Elected submissions", edited by Jean-Michel Nunzi, Rachid Bennacer and Mohammed El Ganaoui

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

Jalas, S.; Dornmair, I.; Lehe, R.

Particle in Cell (PIC) simulations are a widely used tool for the investigation of both laser- and beam-driven plasma acceleration. It is a known issue that the beam quality can be artificially degraded by numerical Cherenkov radiation (NCR) resulting primarily from an incorrectly modeled dispersion relation. Pseudo-spectral solvers featuring infinite order stencils can strongly reduce NCR - or even suppress it - and are therefore well suited to correctly model the beam properties. For efficient parallelization of the PIC algorithm, however, localized solvers are inevitable. Arbitrary order pseudo-spectral methods provide this needed locality. Yet, these methods can again be pronemore » to NCR. Here in this paper, we show that acceptably low solver orders are sufficient to correctly model the physics of interest, while allowing for parallel computation by domain decomposition.« less

Generating patient specific pseudo-CT of the head from MR using atlas-based regression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sjölund, J.; Forsberg, D.; Andersson, M.; Knutsson, H.

2015-01-01

Radiotherapy planning and attenuation correction of PET images require simulation of radiation transport. The necessary physical properties are typically derived from computed tomography (CT) images, but in some cases, including stereotactic neurosurgery and combined PET/MR imaging, only magnetic resonance (MR) images are available. With these applications in mind, we describe how a realistic, patient-specific, pseudo-CT of the head can be derived from anatomical MR images. We refer to the method as atlas-based regression, because of its similarity to atlas-based segmentation. Given a target MR and an atlas database comprising MR and CT pairs, atlas-based regression works by registering each atlas MR to the target MR, applying the resulting displacement fields to the corresponding atlas CTs and, finally, fusing the deformed atlas CTs into a single pseudo-CT. We use a deformable registration algorithm known as the Morphon and augment it with a certainty mask that allows a tailoring of the influence certain regions are allowed to have on the registration. Moreover, we propose a novel method of fusion, wherein the collection of deformed CTs is iteratively registered to their joint mean and find that the resulting mean CT becomes more similar to the target CT. However, the voxelwise median provided even better results; at least as good as earlier work that required special MR imaging techniques. This makes atlas-based regression a good candidate for clinical use.

3D velocity structure of upper crust beneath NW Bohemia/Vogtland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Javad Fallahi, Mohammad; Mousavi, Sima; Korn, Michael; Sens-Schönfelder, Christoph; Bauer, Klaus; Rößler, Dirk

2013-04-01

The 3D structure of the upper crust beneath west Bohemia/Vogtland region, analyzed with travel time tomography and ambient noise surface wave tomography using existing data. This region is characterized by a series of phenomena like occurrence of repeated earthquake swarms, surface exhalation, CO2 enriched fluids, mofettes, mineral springs and enhanced heat flow, and has been proposed as an excellent location for an ICDP drilling project targeted to a better understanding of the crust in an active magmatic environment. We performed a 3D tomography using P-and S-wave travel times of local earthquakes and explosions. The data set were taken from permanent and temporary seismic networks in Germany and Czech Republic from 2000 to 2010, as well as active seismic experiments like Celebration 2000 and quarry blasts. After picking P and S wave arrival times, 399 events which were recorded by 9 or more stations and azimuthal gap<160° were selected for inversion. A simultaneous inversion of P and S wave 1D velocity models together with relocations of hypocenters and station corrections was performed. The obtained minimum 1D velocity model was used as starting model for the 3D Vp and Vp/Vs velocity models. P and S wave travel time tomography employs damped least-square method and ray tracing by pseudo-bending algorithm. For model parametrization different cell node spacings have been tested to evaluate the resolution in each node. Synthetic checkerboard tests have been done to check the structural resolution. Then Vp and Vp/Vs in the preferred 3D grid model have been determined. Earthquakes locations in iteration process change till the hypocenter adjustments and travel time residuals become smaller than the defined threshold criteria. Finally the analysis of the resolution depicts the well resolved features for interpretation. We observed lower Vp/Vs ratio in depth of 5-10 km close to the foci of earthquake swarms and higher Vp/Vs ratio is observed in Saxoturingian zone and surrounding area. Surface wave tomography using ambient noise provides additional constraints on shear velocities. The detailed knowledge of the 3D structure is essential to select the optimal future borehole locations. we use the vertical and transverse component ambient noise data to estimate both Rayleigh and Love waves from ambient noise cross-correlation waveforms to investigate the crustal seismic structure of W-Bohemia/Vogtland. More than 2000 Rayleigh and Love group-velocity dispersion curves are obtained by time-frequency analysis of stacked ambient noise cross-correlation functions between station pairs. We used the data between 2002 and 2004 recorded at 43 seismic stations from BOHEMA experiment and between 2006 and 2008 recorded at 79 seismic stations from permanent station networks of Germany, Czech Academy of Sciences (WEBNET) and PASSEQ experiments. At each period between 1 and 10 s, group velocity maps are constructed, all corresponding to different sampling depths, and thus together giving an indication of the 3D shear wave velocity structure extending to a depth of about 15 km.

3D robust Chan-Vese model for industrial computed tomography volume data segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Linghui; Zeng, Li; Luan, Xiao

2013-11-01

Industrial computed tomography (CT) has been widely applied in many areas of non-destructive testing (NDT) and non-destructive evaluation (NDE). In practice, CT volume data to be dealt with may be corrupted by noise. This paper addresses the segmentation of noisy industrial CT volume data. Motivated by the research on the Chan-Vese (CV) model, we present a region-based active contour model that draws upon intensity information in local regions with a controllable scale. In the presence of noise, a local energy is firstly defined according to the intensity difference within a local neighborhood. Then a global energy is defined to integrate local energy with respect to all image points. In a level set formulation, this energy is represented by a variational level set function, where a surface evolution equation is derived for energy minimization. Comparative analysis with the CV model indicates the comparable performance of the 3D robust Chan-Vese (RCV) model. The quantitative evaluation also shows the segmentation accuracy of 3D RCV. In addition, the efficiency of our approach is validated under several types of noise, such as Poisson noise, Gaussian noise, salt-and-pepper noise and speckle noise.

Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measured with optical coherence tomography is related to visual function in glaucomatous eyes.

PubMed

El Beltagi, Tarek A; Bowd, Christopher; Boden, Catherine; Amini, Payam; Sample, Pamela A; Zangwill, Linda M; Weinreb, Robert N

2003-11-01

To determine the relationship between areas of glaucomatous retinal nerve fiber layer thinning identified by optical coherence tomography and areas of decreased visual field sensitivity identified by standard automated perimetry in glaucomatous eyes. Retrospective observational case series. Forty-three patients with glaucomatous optic neuropathy identified by optic disc stereo photographs and standard automated perimetry mean deviations >-8 dB were included. Participants were imaged with optical coherence tomography within 6 months of reliable standard automated perimetry testing. The location and number of optical coherence tomography clock hour retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measures outside normal limits were compared with the location and number of standard automated perimetry visual field zones outside normal limits. Further, the relationship between the deviation from normal optical coherence tomography-measured retinal nerve fiber layer thickness at each clock hour and the average pattern deviation in each visual field zone was examined by using linear regression (R(2)). The retinal nerve fiber layer areas most frequently outside normal limits were the inferior and inferior temporal regions. The least sensitive visual field zones were in the superior hemifield. Linear regression results (R(2)) showed that deviation from the normal retinal nerve fiber layer thickness at optical coherence tomography clock hour positions 6 o'clock, 7 o'clock, and 8 o'clock (inferior and inferior temporal) was best correlated with standard automated perimetry pattern deviation in visual field zones corresponding to the superior arcuate and nasal step regions (R(2) range, 0.34-0.57). These associations were much stronger than those between clock hour position 6 o'clock and the visual field zone corresponding to the inferior nasal step region (R(2) = 0.01). Localized retinal nerve fiber layer thinning, measured by optical coherence tomography, is topographically related to decreased localized standard automated perimetry sensitivity in glaucoma patients.

WriteShield: A Pseudo Thin Client for Prevention of Information Leakage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirihata, Yasuhiro; Sameshima, Yoshiki; Onoyama, Takashi; Komoda, Norihisa

While thin-client systems are diffusing as an effective security method in enterprises and organizations, there is a new approach called pseudo thin-client system. In this system, local disks of clients are write-protected and user data is forced to save on the central file server to realize the same security effect of conventional thin-client systems. Since it takes purely the software-based simple approach, it does not require the hardware enhancement of network and servers to reduce the installation cost. However there are several problems such as no write control to external media, memory depletion possibility, and lower security because of the exceptional write permission to the system processes. In this paper, we propose WriteShield, a pseudo thin-client system which solves these issues. In this system, the local disks are write-protected with volume filter driver and it has a virtual cache mechanism to extend the memory cache size for the write protection. This paper presents design and implementation details of WriteShield. Besides we describe the security analysis and simulation evaluation of paging algorithms for virtual cache mechanism and measure the disk I/O performance to verify its feasibility in the actual environment.

Non-destructive and three-dimensional measurement of local strain development during tensile deformation in an aluminium alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobayashi, M.; Miura, H.; Toda, H.

2015-08-01

Anisotropy of mechanical responses depending on crystallographic orientation causes inhomogeneous deformation on the mesoscopic scale (grain size scale). Investigation of the local plastic strain development is important for discussing recrystallization mechanisms, because the sites with higher local plastic strain may act as potential nucleation sites for recrystallization. Recently, high-resolution X-ray tomography, which is non-destructive inspection method, has been utilized for observation of the materials structure. In synchrotron radiation X-ray tomography, more than 10,000 microstructural features, like precipitates, dispersions, compounds and hydrogen pores, can be observed in aluminium alloys. We have proposed employing these microstructural features as marker gauges to measure local strains, and then have developed a method to calculate the three-dimensional strain distribution by tracking the microstructural features. In this study, we report the development of local plastic strain as a function of the grain microstructure in an aluminium alloy by means of this three-dimensional strain measurement technique. Strongly heterogeneous strain development was observed during tensile loading to 30%. In other words, some parts of the sample deform little whereas another deforms a lot. However, strain in the whole specimen was keeping harmony. Comparing the microstructure with the strain concentration that is obtained by this method has a potential to reveal potential nucleation sites of recrystallization.

Robust method to detect and locate local earthquakes by means of amplitude measurements.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

del Puy Papí Isaba, María; Brückl, Ewald

2016-04-01

In this study we present a robust new method to detect and locate medium and low magnitude local earthquakes. This method is based on an empirical model of the ground motion obtained from amplitude data of earthquakes in the area of interest, which were located using traditional methods. The first step of our method is the computation of maximum resultant ground velocities in sliding time windows covering the whole period of interest. In the second step, these maximum resultant ground velocities are back-projected to every point of a grid covering the whole area of interest while applying the empirical amplitude - distance relations. We refer to these back-projected ground velocities as pseudo-magnitudes. The number of operating seismic stations in the local network equals the number of pseudo-magnitudes at each grid-point. Our method introduces the new idea of selecting the minimum pseudo-magnitude at each grid-point for further analysis instead of searching for a minimum of the L2 or L1 norm. In case no detectable earthquake occurred, the spatial distribution of the minimum pseudo-magnitudes constrains the magnitude of weak earthquakes hidden in the ambient noise. In the case of a detectable local earthquake, the spatial distribution of the minimum pseudo-magnitudes shows a significant maximum at the grid-point nearest to the actual epicenter. The application of our method is restricted to the area confined by the convex hull of the seismic station network. Additionally, one must ensure that there are no dead traces involved in the processing. Compared to methods based on L2 and even L1 norms, our new method is almost wholly insensitive to outliers (data from locally disturbed seismic stations). A further advantage is the fast determination of the epicenter and magnitude of a seismic event located within a seismic network. This is possible due to the method of obtaining and storing a back-projected matrix, independent of the registered amplitude, for each seismic station. As a direct consequence, we are able to save computing time for the calculation of the final back-projected maximum resultant amplitude at every grid-point. The capability of the method was demonstrated firstly using synthetic data. In the next step, this method was applied to data of 43 local earthquakes of low and medium magnitude (1.7 < magnitude scale < 4.3). These earthquakes were recorded and detected by the seismic network ALPAACT (seismological and geodetic monitoring of Alpine PAnnonian ACtive Tectonics) in the period 2010/06/11 to 2013/09/20. Data provided by the ALPAACT network is used in order to understand seismic activity in the Mürz Valley - Semmering - Vienna Basin transfer fault system in Austria and what makes it such a relatively high earthquake hazard and risk area. The method will substantially support our efforts to involve scholars from polytechnic schools in seismological work within the Sparkling Science project Schools & Quakes.

Computed tomography guided localization of clinically occult breast carcinoma-the ''N'' skin guide

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

Kopans, D.B.; Meyer, J.E.

1982-10-01

Standard computed tomography (CT) can be used for the three-dimensional localization of clinically occult suspicious breast lesions whose exact position cannot be determined by standard mammographic views. A method is described that facilitates accurate preoperative needle localization using CT guidance, once the position of these lesions is defined.

On pseudo-spectral time discretizations in summation-by-parts form

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruggiu, Andrea A.; Nordström, Jan

2018-05-01

Fully-implicit discrete formulations in summation-by-parts form for initial-boundary value problems must be invertible in order to provide well functioning procedures. We prove that, under mild assumptions, pseudo-spectral collocation methods for the time derivative lead to invertible discrete systems when energy-stable spatial discretizations are used.

First-Principles Study of the Self-Assembled Pentacene Molecules on Metal Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Kyuho; Han, Myung-Joon; Yu, Jaejun

2003-03-01

Oriented thin films of organic semiconducting small molecules have received considerable attention as active semiconductors for device applications such as Schottky diodes and thin-film transistors (TFTs). Among these organic materials, pentacene has been found to have the highest mobilities for hole transport. Understanding the formation of self-organized ad-layers of pentacene would contribute to the fabrication of nanostructures and possibly highly oriented pentacene layers by epitaxy for use in electronic devices. To understand the ordering patterns of pentacene ad-layers on metal surfaces, we investigated the energetics between pentacene molecules with and without metal substrates and analyzed its electronic structure. We used a self-consistent first-principles calculation method based on the density functional theory (DFT) within local density approximation (LDA). The localized pseudo-atomic orbitals (PAO) are employed for a real-space numerical basis set, which was suggested by Sankey and Niklewski, and the Troullier-Martins-type pseudo-potential is used. As results, we found that the ordering patterns can be explained by the energetics between pentacene molecules, and the metal substrates appears not to influence too much on the interaction between pentacenes. To investigate the nature of the self-assembled structure, we calculated the total energies of various configurations for the molecule pattern, e.g., side-by-side and head-to-head ordering or on-top stacking. Depending on its direction, extremely different interaction character between two pentacenes is found and explained by its electronic structure analysis.

Video Completion in Digital Stabilization Task Using Pseudo-Panoramic Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Favorskaya, M. N.; Buryachenko, V. V.; Zotin, A. G.; Pakhirka, A. I.

2017-05-01

Video completion is a necessary stage after stabilization of a non-stationary video sequence, if it is desirable to make the resolution of the stabilized frames equalled the resolution of the original frames. Usually the cropped stabilized frames lose 10-20% of area that means the worse visibility of the reconstructed scenes. The extension of a view of field may appear due to the pan-tilt-zoom unwanted camera movement. Our approach deals with a preparing of pseudo-panoramic key frame during a stabilization stage as a pre-processing step for the following inpainting. It is based on a multi-layered representation of each frame including the background and objects, moving differently. The proposed algorithm involves four steps, such as the background completion, local motion inpainting, local warping, and seamless blending. Our experiments show that a necessity of a seamless stitching occurs often than a local warping step. Therefore, a seamless blending was investigated in details including four main categories, such as feathering-based, pyramid-based, gradient-based, and optimal seam-based blending.

{sup 18}F-Fluorodeoxyglucose/Positron Emission Tomography Predicts Patterns of Failure After Definitive Chemoradiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

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

Ohri, Nitin, E-mail: ohri.nitin@gmail.com; Bodner, William R.; Halmos, Balazs

Background: We previously reported that pretreatment positron emission tomography (PET) identifies lesions at high risk for progression after concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CRT) for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here we validate those findings and generate tumor control probability (TCP) models. Methods: We identified patients treated with definitive, concurrent CRT for locally advanced NSCLC who underwent staging {sup 18}F-fluorodeoxyglucose/PET/computed tomography. Visible hypermetabolic lesions (primary tumors and lymph nodes) were delineated on each patient's pretreatment PET scan. Posttreatment imaging was reviewed to identify locations of disease progression. Competing risks analyses were performed to examine metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and radiation therapymore » dose as predictors of local disease progression. TCP modeling was performed to describe the likelihood of local disease control as a function of lesion size. Results: Eighty-nine patients with 259 hypermetabolic lesions (83 primary tumors and 176 regional lymph nodes) met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-eight patients were included in our previous report, and the remaining 61 constituted our validation cohort. The median follow-up time was 22.7 months for living patients. In 20 patients, the first site of progression was a primary tumor or lymph node treated with radiation therapy. The median time to progression for those patients was 11.5 months. Data from our validation cohort confirmed that lesion MTV predicts local progression, with a 30-month cumulative incidence rate of 23% for lesions above 25 cc compared with 4% for lesions below 25 cc (P=.008). We found no evidence that radiation therapy dose was associated with local progression risk. TCP modeling yielded predicted 30-month local control rates of 98% for a 1-cc lesion, 94% for a 10-cc lesion, and 74% for a 50-cc lesion. Conclusion: Pretreatment FDG-PET identifies lesions at risk for progression after CRT for locally advanced NSCLC. Strategies to improve local control should be tested on high-risk lesions, and treatment deintensification for low-risk lesions should be explored.« less

Distinct Quantitative Computed Tomography Emphysema Patterns Are Associated with Physiology and Function in Smokers

PubMed Central

San José Estépar, Raúl; Mendoza, Carlos S.; Hersh, Craig P.; Laird, Nan; Crapo, James D.; Lynch, David A.; Silverman, Edwin K.; Washko, George R.

2013-01-01

Rationale: Emphysema occurs in distinct pathologic patterns, but little is known about the epidemiologic associations of these patterns. Standard quantitative measures of emphysema from computed tomography (CT) do not distinguish between distinct patterns of parenchymal destruction. Objectives: To study the epidemiologic associations of distinct emphysema patterns with measures of lung-related physiology, function, and health care use in smokers. Methods: Using a local histogram-based assessment of lung density, we quantified distinct patterns of low attenuation in 9,313 smokers in the COPDGene Study. To determine if such patterns provide novel insights into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease epidemiology, we tested for their association with measures of physiology, function, and health care use. Measurements and Main Results: Compared with percentage of low-attenuation area less than −950 Hounsfield units (%LAA-950), local histogram-based measures of distinct CT low-attenuation patterns are more predictive of measures of lung function, dyspnea, quality of life, and health care use. These patterns are strongly associated with a wide array of measures of respiratory physiology and function, and most of these associations remain highly significant (P < 0.005) after adjusting for %LAA-950. In smokers without evidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the mild centrilobular disease pattern is associated with lower FEV1 and worse functional status (P < 0.005). Conclusions: Measures of distinct CT emphysema patterns provide novel information about the relationship between emphysema and key measures of physiology, physical function, and health care use. Measures of mild emphysema in smokers with preserved lung function can be extracted from CT scans and are significantly associated with functional measures. PMID:23980521

Evaluation of a 3D local multiresolution algorithm for the correction of partial volume effects in positron emission tomography.

PubMed

Le Pogam, Adrien; Hatt, Mathieu; Descourt, Patrice; Boussion, Nicolas; Tsoumpas, Charalampos; Turkheimer, Federico E; Prunier-Aesch, Caroline; Baulieu, Jean-Louis; Guilloteau, Denis; Visvikis, Dimitris

2011-09-01

Partial volume effects (PVEs) are consequences of the limited spatial resolution in emission tomography leading to underestimation of uptake in tissues of size similar to the point spread function (PSF) of the scanner as well as activity spillover between adjacent structures. Among PVE correction methodologies, a voxel-wise mutual multiresolution analysis (MMA) was recently introduced. MMA is based on the extraction and transformation of high resolution details from an anatomical image (MR/CT) and their subsequent incorporation into a low-resolution PET image using wavelet decompositions. Although this method allows creating PVE corrected images, it is based on a 2D global correlation model, which may introduce artifacts in regions where no significant correlation exists between anatomical and functional details. A new model was designed to overcome these two issues (2D only and global correlation) using a 3D wavelet decomposition process combined with a local analysis. The algorithm was evaluated on synthetic, simulated and patient images, and its performance was compared to the original approach as well as the geometric transfer matrix (GTM) method. Quantitative performance was similar to the 2D global model and GTM in correlated cases. In cases where mismatches between anatomical and functional information were present, the new model outperformed the 2D global approach, avoiding artifacts and significantly improving quality of the corrected images and their quantitative accuracy. A new 3D local model was proposed for a voxel-wise PVE correction based on the original mutual multiresolution analysis approach. Its evaluation demonstrated an improved and more robust qualitative and quantitative accuracy compared to the original MMA methodology, particularly in the absence of full correlation between anatomical and functional information.

Evaluation of a 3D local multiresolution algorithm for the correction of partial volume effects in positron emission tomography

PubMed Central

Le Pogam, Adrien; Hatt, Mathieu; Descourt, Patrice; Boussion, Nicolas; Tsoumpas, Charalampos; Turkheimer, Federico E.; Prunier-Aesch, Caroline; Baulieu, Jean-Louis; Guilloteau, Denis; Visvikis, Dimitris

2011-01-01

Purpose Partial volume effects (PVE) are consequences of the limited spatial resolution in emission tomography leading to under-estimation of uptake in tissues of size similar to the point spread function (PSF) of the scanner as well as activity spillover between adjacent structures. Among PVE correction methodologies, a voxel-wise mutual multi-resolution analysis (MMA) was recently introduced. MMA is based on the extraction and transformation of high resolution details from an anatomical image (MR/CT) and their subsequent incorporation into a low resolution PET image using wavelet decompositions. Although this method allows creating PVE corrected images, it is based on a 2D global correlation model which may introduce artefacts in regions where no significant correlation exists between anatomical and functional details. Methods A new model was designed to overcome these two issues (2D only and global correlation) using a 3D wavelet decomposition process combined with a local analysis. The algorithm was evaluated on synthetic, simulated and patient images, and its performance was compared to the original approach as well as the geometric transfer matrix (GTM) method. Results Quantitative performance was similar to the 2D global model and GTM in correlated cases. In cases where mismatches between anatomical and functional information were present the new model outperformed the 2D global approach, avoiding artefacts and significantly improving quality of the corrected images and their quantitative accuracy. Conclusions A new 3D local model was proposed for a voxel-wise PVE correction based on the original mutual multi-resolution analysis approach. Its evaluation demonstrated an improved and more robust qualitative and quantitative accuracy compared to the original MMA methodology, particularly in the absence of full correlation between anatomical and functional information. PMID:21978037

Elastic turbulence in entangled semi-dilute DNA solutions measured with optical coherence tomography velocimetry.

PubMed

Malm, A V; Waigh, T A

2017-04-26

The flow instabilities of solutions of high molecular weight DNA in the entangled semi-dilute concentration regime were investigated using optical coherence tomography velocimetry, a technique that provides high spatial (probe volumes of 3.4 pL) and temporal resolution (sub μs) information on the flow behaviour of complex fluids in a rheometer. The velocity profiles of the opaque DNA solutions (high and low salt) were measured as a function of the distance across the gap of a parallel plate rheometer, and their evolution over time was measured. At lower DNA concentrations and low shear rates, the velocity fluctuations were well described by Gaussian functions and the velocity gradient was uniform across the rheometer gap, which is expected for Newtonian flows. As the DNA concentration and shear rate were increased there was a stable wall slip regime followed by an evolving wall slip regime, which is finally followed by the onset of elastic turbulence. Strain localization (shear banding) is observed on the boundaries of the flows at intermediate shear rates, but decreases in the high shear elastic turbulence regime, where bulk strain localization occurs. A dynamic phase diagram for non-linear flow was created to describe the different behaviours.

A manifold independent approach to understanding transport in stochastic dynamical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bollt, Erik M.; Billings, Lora; Schwartz, Ira B.

2002-12-01

We develop a new collection of tools aimed at studying stochastically perturbed dynamical systems. Specifically, in the setting of bi-stability, that is a two-attractor system, it has previously been numerically observed that a small noise volume is sufficient to destroy would be zero-noise case barriers in the phase space (pseudo-barriers), thus creating a pre-heteroclinic tangency chaos-like behavior. The stochastic dynamical system has a corresponding Frobenius-Perron operator with a stochastic kernel, which describes how densities of initial conditions move under the noisy map. Thus in studying the action of the Frobenius-Perron operator, we learn about the transport of the map; we have employed a Galerkin-Ulam-like method to project the Frobenius-Perron operator onto a discrete basis set of characteristic functions to highlight this action localized in specified regions of the phase space. Graph theoretic methods allow us to re-order the resulting finite dimensional Markov operator approximation so as to highlight the regions of the original phase space which are particularly active pseudo-barriers of the stochastic dynamics. Our toolbox allows us to find: (1) regions of high activity of transport, (2) flux across pseudo-barriers, and also (3) expected time of escape from pseudo-basins. Some of these quantities are also possible via the manifold dependent stochastic Melnikov method, but Melnikov only applies to a very special class of models for which the unperturbed homoclinic orbit is available. Our methods are unique in that they can essentially be considered as a “black-box” of tools which can be applied to a wide range of stochastic dynamical systems in the absence of a priori knowledge of manifold structures. We use here a model of childhood diseases to showcase our methods. Our tools will allow us to make specific observations of: (1) loss of reducibility between basins with increasing noise, (2) identification in the phase space of active regions of stochastic transport, (3) stochastic flux which essentially completes the heteroclinic tangle.

Preliminary results of local earthquake tomography around Bali, Lombok, and Sumbawa regions

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

Nugraha, Andri Dian, E-mail: nugraha@gf.itb.ac.id; Puspito, Nanang T; Yudistira, Tedi

Bali, Sumbawa, and Lombok regions are located in active tectonic influence by Indo-Australia plate subducts beneath Sunda plate in southern part and local back-arc thrust in northern part the region. Some active volcanoes also lie from eastern part of Java, Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa regions. Previous studies have conducted subsurface seismic velocity imaging using regional and global earthquake data around the region. In this study, we used P-arrival time from local earthquake networks compiled by MCGA, Indonesia within time periods of 2009 up to 2013 to determine seismic velocity structure and simultaneously hypocenter adjustment by applying seismic tomography inversion method.more » For the tomographic inversion procedure, we started from 1-D initial velocity structure. We evaluated the resolution of tomography inversion results through checkerboard test and calculating derivative weigh sum. The preliminary results of tomography inversion show fairly clearly high seismic velocity subducting Indo-Australian and low velocity anomaly around volcano regions. The relocated hypocenters seem to cluster around the local fault system such as back-arc thrust fault in northern part of the region and around local fault in Sumbawa regions. Our local earthquake tomography results demonstrated consistent with previous studies and improved the resolution. For future works, we will determine S-wave velocity structure using S-wave arrival time to enhance our understanding of geological processes and for much better interpretation.« less

Preliminary results of local earthquake tomography around Bali, Lombok, and Sumbawa regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nugraha, Andri Dian; Kusnandar, Ridwan; Puspito, Nanang T.; Sakti, Artadi Pria; Yudistira, Tedi

2015-04-01

Bali, Sumbawa, and Lombok regions are located in active tectonic influence by Indo-Australia plate subducts beneath Sunda plate in southern part and local back-arc thrust in northern part the region. Some active volcanoes also lie from eastern part of Java, Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa regions. Previous studies have conducted subsurface seismic velocity imaging using regional and global earthquake data around the region. In this study, we used P-arrival time from local earthquake networks compiled by MCGA, Indonesia within time periods of 2009 up to 2013 to determine seismic velocity structure and simultaneously hypocenter adjustment by applying seismic tomography inversion method. For the tomographic inversion procedure, we started from 1-D initial velocity structure. We evaluated the resolution of tomography inversion results through checkerboard test and calculating derivative weigh sum. The preliminary results of tomography inversion show fairly clearly high seismic velocity subducting Indo-Australian and low velocity anomaly around volcano regions. The relocated hypocenters seem to cluster around the local fault system such as back-arc thrust fault in northern part of the region and around local fault in Sumbawa regions. Our local earthquake tomography results demonstrated consistent with previous studies and improved the resolution. For future works, we will determine S-wave velocity structure using S-wave arrival time to enhance our understanding of geological processes and for much better interpretation.

Quantitative PCR Coupled with Melt Curve Analysis for Detection of Selected Pseudo-nitzschia spp. (Bacillariophyceae) from the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea▿

PubMed Central

Andree, Karl B.; Fernández-Tejedor, Margarita; Elandaloussi, Laurence M.; Quijano-Scheggia, Sonia; Sampedro, Nagore; Garcés, Esther; Camp, Jordi; Diogène, Jorge

2011-01-01

The frequency and intensity of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. blooms along the coast of Catalonia have been increasing over the past 20 years. As species from this genus that are documented as toxigenic have been found in local waters, with both toxic and nontoxic species cooccurring in the same bloom, there is a need to develop management tools for discriminating the difference. Currently, differentiation of toxic and nontoxic species requires time-consuming electron microscopy to distinguish taxonomic features that would allow identification as to species, and cryptic species can still remain misidentified. In this study, cells of Pseudo-nitzschia from clonal cultures isolated from seawater were characterized to their species identity using scanning electron microscopy, and subsamples of each culture were used to create an internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1), 5.8S, and ITS-2 ribosomal DNA database for development of species-specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays. Once developed, these qPCR assays were applied to field samples collected over a 2-year period in Alfaques Bay in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea to evaluate the possibility of a comprehensive surveillance for all Pseudo-nitzschia spp. using molecular methods to supplement optical microscopy, which can discern taxonomy only to the genus level within this taxon. Total Pseudo-nitzschia cell density was determined by optical microscopy from water samples collected weekly and compared to results obtained from the sum of eight Pseudo-nitzschia species-specific qPCR assays using duplicate samples. Species-specific qPCR followed by melt curve analysis allowed differentiation of amplicons and identification of false positives, and results correlated well with the total Pseudo-nitzschia cell counts from optical microscopy. PMID:21193668

Adjoint tomography of Empirical Green's functions from ambient noise in Southern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, K.; Liu, Q.; Yang, Y.; Basini, P.; Tape, C.

2017-12-01

We construct a new shear-wave velocity (Vsv) model in Southern California by adjoint tomography of Rayleigh-wave Empirical Green's functions at 5-50 s period from Z-Z component ambient noise cross-correlations. The initial model of our adjoint tomography is the isotropic Vs model M16 from Tape et al. [2010], which is generated by three-component body and surface waves at 2-30 s period from local earthquake data. Synthetic Green's functions (SGFs) from M16 show a good agreement with the Empirical Green's functions (EGFs) from ambient noise at 5-50 s and 10-50 s period bands, but have an average 1.75 s advance in time at 20-50 s. By minimizing the traveltime differences between the EGFs and SGFs using gradient-based algorithm, the initial model is refined and improved and the total misfits is reduced from the initial 1.75s to its convergent point of 0.33 s after five iterations. The final Vsv model fits EGF waveforms better than the initial model at all the three frequency bands with smaller misfit distributions. Our new Vsv model reveals some new features in the mid- and lower-crust, mainly including: (1) the mean speed of lower crust is slowed down by about 5%; (2) In the Los Angeles Basin and its Northern area, the speed is higher than the initial model throughout the crust; (3) beneath the westernmost Peninsular Range Batholith (PRB) and Sierra Nevada Batholith (SNB), we observe high shear velocities in the lower crust; (4) a shallow high-velocity zone in the mid-crust are observed beneath Salton Trough Basin. Our model also shows refined lateral velocity gradient across PRB, SNB, San Andreas Fault (SAF), which helps to understand the west-east compositional boundary in PRB, SNB, and the dip angle and the depth extent of SAF. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of adjoint tomography of ambient noise data in southern California, which is an important complement to earthquake data. The numerical solver used in adjoint tomography can provide more accurate structure sensitivity kernels than analytical methods used in traditional ambient noise tomography.

A pseudo-thermodynamic description of dispersion for nanocomposites

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

Jin, Yan; Beaucage, Gregory; Vogtt, Karsten

Dispersion in polymer nanocomposites is determined by the kinetics of mixing and chemical affinity. Compounds like reinforcing filler/elastomer blends display some similarity to colloidal solutions in that the filler particles are close to randomly dispersed through processing. It is attractive to apply a pseudo-thermodynamic approach taking advantage of this analogy between the kinetics of mixing for polymer compounds and thermally driven dispersion for colloids. In order to demonstrate this pseudo-thermodynamic approach, two polybutadienes and one polyisoprene were milled with three carbon blacks and two silicas. These samples were examined using small-angle x-ray scattering as a function of filler concentration tomore » determine a pseudo-second order virial coefficient, A2, which is used as an indicator for compatibility of the filler and polymer. It is found that A2 follows the expected behavior with lower values for smaller primary particles indicating that smaller particles are less compatible and more difficult to mix. The measured values of A2 can be used to specify repulsive interaction potentials for coarse grain DPD simulations of filler/elastomer systems. In addition, new methods to quantify the filler percolation threshold and filler mesh size as a function of filler concentration are obtained. Moreover, the results represent a new approach to understanding and predicting compatibility in polymer nanocomposites based on a pseudo-thermodynamic approach.« less

A pseudo-thermodynamic description of dispersion for nanocomposites

DOE PAGES

Jin, Yan; Beaucage, Gregory; Vogtt, Karsten; ...

2017-09-18

Dispersion in polymer nanocomposites is determined by the kinetics of mixing and chemical affinity. Compounds like reinforcing filler/elastomer blends display some similarity to colloidal solutions in that the filler particles are close to randomly dispersed through processing. It is attractive to apply a pseudo-thermodynamic approach taking advantage of this analogy between the kinetics of mixing for polymer compounds and thermally driven dispersion for colloids. In order to demonstrate this pseudo-thermodynamic approach, two polybutadienes and one polyisoprene were milled with three carbon blacks and two silicas. These samples were examined using small-angle x-ray scattering as a function of filler concentration tomore » determine a pseudo-second order virial coefficient, A2, which is used as an indicator for compatibility of the filler and polymer. It is found that A2 follows the expected behavior with lower values for smaller primary particles indicating that smaller particles are less compatible and more difficult to mix. The measured values of A2 can be used to specify repulsive interaction potentials for coarse grain DPD simulations of filler/elastomer systems. In addition, new methods to quantify the filler percolation threshold and filler mesh size as a function of filler concentration are obtained. Moreover, the results represent a new approach to understanding and predicting compatibility in polymer nanocomposites based on a pseudo-thermodynamic approach.« less

A self-organizing Lagrangian particle method for adaptive-resolution advection-diffusion simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reboux, Sylvain; Schrader, Birte; Sbalzarini, Ivo F.

2012-05-01

We present a novel adaptive-resolution particle method for continuous parabolic problems. In this method, particles self-organize in order to adapt to local resolution requirements. This is achieved by pseudo forces that are designed so as to guarantee that the solution is always well sampled and that no holes or clusters develop in the particle distribution. The particle sizes are locally adapted to the length scale of the solution. Differential operators are consistently evaluated on the evolving set of irregularly distributed particles of varying sizes using discretization-corrected operators. The method does not rely on any global transforms or mapping functions. After presenting the method and its error analysis, we demonstrate its capabilities and limitations on a set of two- and three-dimensional benchmark problems. These include advection-diffusion, the Burgers equation, the Buckley-Leverett five-spot problem, and curvature-driven level-set surface refinement.

Electron Dispersion in Liquid Alkali and Their Alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vora, Aditya M.

2010-07-01

Ashcroft's local empty core (EMC) model pseudopotential in the second-order perturbation theory is used to study the electron dispersion relation, the Fermi energy, and deviation in the Fermi energy from free electron value for the liquid alkali metals and their equiatomic binary alloys for the first time. In the present computation, the use of pseudo-alloy-atom model (PAA) is proposed and found successful. The influence of the six different forms of the local field correction functions proposed by Hartree (H), Vashishta-Singwi (VS), Taylor (T), Ichimaru-Utsumi (IU), Farid et al. (F), and Sarkar et al. (S) on the aforesaid electronic properties is examined explicitly, which reflects the varying effects of screening. The depth of the negative hump in the electron dispersion of liquid alkalis decreases in the order Li → K, except for Rb and Cs, it increases. The results of alloys are in predictive nature.

Mediastinal emphysema after head-banging in a rock artist: pseudo shaken-baby syndrome in adulthood.

PubMed

Matsuzaki, Saeko; Tsunoda, Koichi; Chong, Tonghyo; Hamaguchi, Reo

2012-12-01

A 34-year-old man was seen because of severe right neck pain. He was a guitarist in a special type of heavy metal rock (so-called visual-kei, a subgenre related to glam-rock) band and habitually shook his head violently throughout concert performances. He regularly experienced neck and chest pain after a concert, which persisted for some time. Computed tomography scanning of the neck showed mediastinal emphysema. We surmise that head-banging resemble those of shaken-baby syndrome. Copyright © 2012 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantitative fluorescence tomography using a trimodality system: in vivo validation

PubMed Central

Lin, Yuting; Barber, William C.; Iwanczyk, Jan S.; Roeck, Werner W.; Nalcioglu, Orhan; Gulsen, Gultekin

2010-01-01

A fully integrated trimodality fluorescence, diffuse optical, and x-ray computed tomography (FT∕DOT∕XCT) system for small animal imaging is reported in this work. The main purpose of this system is to obtain quantitatively accurate fluorescence concentration images using a multimodality approach. XCT offers anatomical information, while DOT provides the necessary background optical property map to improve FT image accuracy. The quantitative accuracy of this trimodality system is demonstrated in vivo. In particular, we show that a 2-mm-diam fluorescence inclusion located 8 mm deep in a nude mouse can only be localized when functional a priori information from DOT is available. However, the error in the recovered fluorophore concentration is nearly 87%. On the other hand, the fluorophore concentration can be accurately recovered within 2% error when both DOT functional and XCT structural a priori information are utilized together to guide and constrain the FT reconstruction algorithm. PMID:20799770

Prediction of protein structural classes by Chou's pseudo amino acid composition: approached using continuous wavelet transform and principal component analysis.

PubMed

Li, Zhan-Chao; Zhou, Xi-Bin; Dai, Zong; Zou, Xiao-Yong

2009-07-01

A prior knowledge of protein structural classes can provide useful information about its overall structure, so it is very important for quick and accurate determination of protein structural class with computation method in protein science. One of the key for computation method is accurate protein sample representation. Here, based on the concept of Chou's pseudo-amino acid composition (AAC, Chou, Proteins: structure, function, and genetics, 43:246-255, 2001), a novel method of feature extraction that combined continuous wavelet transform (CWT) with principal component analysis (PCA) was introduced for the prediction of protein structural classes. Firstly, the digital signal was obtained by mapping each amino acid according to various physicochemical properties. Secondly, CWT was utilized to extract new feature vector based on wavelet power spectrum (WPS), which contains more abundant information of sequence order in frequency domain and time domain, and PCA was then used to reorganize the feature vector to decrease information redundancy and computational complexity. Finally, a pseudo-amino acid composition feature vector was further formed to represent primary sequence by coupling AAC vector with a set of new feature vector of WPS in an orthogonal space by PCA. As a showcase, the rigorous jackknife cross-validation test was performed on the working datasets. The results indicated that prediction quality has been improved, and the current approach of protein representation may serve as a useful complementary vehicle in classifying other attributes of proteins, such as enzyme family class, subcellular localization, membrane protein types and protein secondary structure, etc.

Improved phase arrival estimate and location for local earthquakes in South Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morton, E. A.; Rowe, C. A.; Begnaud, M. L.

2012-12-01

The Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) and the Korean Meteorological Agency (KMA) regularly report local (distance < ~1200 km) seismicity recorded with their networks; we obtain preliminary event location estimates as well as waveform data, but no phase arrivals are reported, so the data are not immediately useful for earthquake location. Our goal is to identify seismic events that are sufficiently well-located to provide accurate seismic travel-time information for events within the KIGAM and KMA networks, and also recorded by some regional stations. Toward that end, we are using a combination of manual phase identification and arrival-time picking, with waveform cross-correlation, to cluster events that have occurred in close proximity to one another, which allows for improved phase identification by comparing the highly correlating waveforms. We cross-correlate the known events with one another on 5 seismic stations and cluster events that correlate above a correlation coefficient threshold of 0.7, which reveals few clusters containing few events each. The small number of repeating events suggests that the online catalogs have had mining and quarry blasts removed before publication, as these can contribute significantly to repeating seismic sources in relatively aseismic regions such as South Korea. The dispersed source locations in our catalog, however, are ideal for seismic velocity modeling by providing superior sampling through the dense seismic station arrangement, which produces favorable event-to-station ray path coverage. Following careful manual phase picking on 104 events chosen to provide adequate ray coverage, we re-locate the events to obtain improved source coordinates. The re-located events are used with Thurber's Simul2000 pseudo-bending local tomography code to estimate the crustal structure on the Korean Peninsula, which is an important contribution to ongoing calibration for events of interest in the region.

Bayesian seismic tomography by parallel interacting Markov chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gesret, Alexandrine; Bottero, Alexis; Romary, Thomas; Noble, Mark; Desassis, Nicolas

2014-05-01

The velocity field estimated by first arrival traveltime tomography is commonly used as a starting point for further seismological, mineralogical, tectonic or similar analysis. In order to interpret quantitatively the results, the tomography uncertainty values as well as their spatial distribution are required. The estimated velocity model is obtained through inverse modeling by minimizing an objective function that compares observed and computed traveltimes. This step is often performed by gradient-based optimization algorithms. The major drawback of such local optimization schemes, beyond the possibility of being trapped in a local minimum, is that they do not account for the multiple possible solutions of the inverse problem. They are therefore unable to assess the uncertainties linked to the solution. Within a Bayesian (probabilistic) framework, solving the tomography inverse problem aims at estimating the posterior probability density function of velocity model using a global sampling algorithm. Markov chains Monte-Carlo (MCMC) methods are known to produce samples of virtually any distribution. In such a Bayesian inversion, the total number of simulations we can afford is highly related to the computational cost of the forward model. Although fast algorithms have been recently developed for computing first arrival traveltimes of seismic waves, the complete browsing of the posterior distribution of velocity model is hardly performed, especially when it is high dimensional and/or multimodal. In the latter case, the chain may even stay stuck in one of the modes. In order to improve the mixing properties of classical single MCMC, we propose to make interact several Markov chains at different temperatures. This method can make efficient use of large CPU clusters, without increasing the global computational cost with respect to classical MCMC and is therefore particularly suited for Bayesian inversion. The exchanges between the chains allow a precise sampling of the high probability zones of the model space while avoiding the chains to end stuck in a probability maximum. This approach supplies thus a robust way to analyze the tomography imaging uncertainties. The interacting MCMC approach is illustrated on two synthetic examples of tomography of calibration shots such as encountered in induced microseismic studies. On the second application, a wavelet based model parameterization is presented that allows to significantly reduce the dimension of the problem, making thus the algorithm efficient even for a complex velocity model.

Estimation and model selection of semiparametric multivariate survival functions under general censorship.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaohong; Fan, Yanqin; Pouzo, Demian; Ying, Zhiliang

2010-07-01

We study estimation and model selection of semiparametric models of multivariate survival functions for censored data, which are characterized by possibly misspecified parametric copulas and nonparametric marginal survivals. We obtain the consistency and root- n asymptotic normality of a two-step copula estimator to the pseudo-true copula parameter value according to KLIC, and provide a simple consistent estimator of its asymptotic variance, allowing for a first-step nonparametric estimation of the marginal survivals. We establish the asymptotic distribution of the penalized pseudo-likelihood ratio statistic for comparing multiple semiparametric multivariate survival functions subject to copula misspecification and general censorship. An empirical application is provided.

Estimation and model selection of semiparametric multivariate survival functions under general censorship

PubMed Central

Chen, Xiaohong; Fan, Yanqin; Pouzo, Demian; Ying, Zhiliang

2013-01-01

We study estimation and model selection of semiparametric models of multivariate survival functions for censored data, which are characterized by possibly misspecified parametric copulas and nonparametric marginal survivals. We obtain the consistency and root-n asymptotic normality of a two-step copula estimator to the pseudo-true copula parameter value according to KLIC, and provide a simple consistent estimator of its asymptotic variance, allowing for a first-step nonparametric estimation of the marginal survivals. We establish the asymptotic distribution of the penalized pseudo-likelihood ratio statistic for comparing multiple semiparametric multivariate survival functions subject to copula misspecification and general censorship. An empirical application is provided. PMID:24790286

Pseudo-fault signal assisted EMD for fault detection and isolation in rotating machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Dheeraj Sharan; Zhao, Qing

2016-12-01

This paper presents a novel data driven technique for the detection and isolation of faults, which generate impacts in a rotating equipment. The technique is built upon the principles of empirical mode decomposition (EMD), envelope analysis and pseudo-fault signal for fault separation. Firstly, the most dominant intrinsic mode function (IMF) is identified using EMD of a raw signal, which contains all the necessary information about the faults. The envelope of this IMF is often modulated with multiple vibration sources and noise. A second level decomposition is performed by applying pseudo-fault signal (PFS) assisted EMD on the envelope. A pseudo-fault signal is constructed based on the known fault characteristic frequency of the particular machine. The objective of using external (pseudo-fault) signal is to isolate different fault frequencies, present in the envelope . The pseudo-fault signal serves dual purposes: (i) it solves the mode mixing problem inherent in EMD, (ii) it isolates and quantifies a particular fault frequency component. The proposed technique is suitable for real-time implementation, which has also been validated on simulated fault and experimental data corresponding to a bearing and a gear-box set-up, respectively.

Iterative framework for the joint segmentation and CT synthesis of MR images: application to MRI-only radiotherapy treatment planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burgos, Ninon; Guerreiro, Filipa; McClelland, Jamie; Presles, Benoît; Modat, Marc; Nill, Simeon; Dearnaley, David; deSouza, Nandita; Oelfke, Uwe; Knopf, Antje-Christin; Ourselin, Sébastien; Cardoso, M. Jorge

2017-06-01

To tackle the problem of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-only radiotherapy treatment planning (RTP), we propose a multi-atlas information propagation scheme that jointly segments organs and generates pseudo x-ray computed tomography (CT) data from structural MR images (T1-weighted and T2-weighted). As the performance of the method strongly depends on the quality of the atlas database composed of multiple sets of aligned MR, CT and segmented images, we also propose a robust way of registering atlas MR and CT images, which combines structure-guided registration, and CT and MR image synthesis. We first evaluated the proposed framework in terms of segmentation and CT synthesis accuracy on 15 subjects with prostate cancer. The segmentations obtained with the proposed method were compared using the Dice score coefficient (DSC) to the manual segmentations. Mean DSCs of 0.73, 0.90, 0.77 and 0.90 were obtained for the prostate, bladder, rectum and femur heads, respectively. The mean absolute error (MAE) and the mean error (ME) were computed between the reference CTs (non-rigidly aligned to the MRs) and the pseudo CTs generated with the proposed method. The MAE was on average 45.7+/- 4.6 HU and the ME -1.6+/- 7.7 HU. We then performed a dosimetric evaluation by re-calculating plans on the pseudo CTs and comparing them to the plans optimised on the reference CTs. We compared the cumulative dose volume histograms (DVH) obtained for the pseudo CTs to the DVH obtained for the reference CTs in the planning target volume (PTV) located in the prostate, and in the organs at risk at different DVH points. We obtained average differences of -0.14 % in the PTV for {{D}98 % } , and between -0.14 % and 0.05% in the PTV, bladder, rectum and femur heads for D mean and {{D}2 % } . Overall, we demonstrate that the proposed framework is able to automatically generate accurate pseudo CT images and segmentations in the pelvic region, potentially bypassing the need for CT scan for accurate RTP.

Aromaticity Parameters in Asphalt Binders Calculated From Profile Fitting X-ray Line Spectra Using Pearson VII and Pseudo-Voigt Functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirokoff, J.; Lewis, J. Courtenay

2010-10-01

The aromaticity and crystallite parameters in asphalt binders are calculated from data obtained after profile fitting x-ray line spectra using Pearson VII and pseudo-Voigt functions. The results are presented and discussed in terms of the peak profile fit parameters used, peak deconvolution procedure, and differences in calculated values that can arise owing to peak shape and additional peaks present in the pattern. These results have implications concerning the evaluation and performance of asphalt binders used in highways and road applications.

Evidence for the contemporary magmatic system beneath Long Valley Caldera from local earthquake tomography and receiver function analysis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Seccia, D.; Chiarabba, C.; De Gori, P.; Bianchi, I.; Hill, D.P.

2011-01-01

We present a new P wave and S wave velocity model for the upper crust beneath Long Valley Caldera obtained using local earthquake tomography and receiver function analysis. We computed the tomographic model using both a graded inversion scheme and a traditional approach. We complement the tomographic I/P model with a teleseismic receiver function model based on data from broadband seismic stations (MLAC and MKV) located on the SE and SW margins of the resurgent dome inside the caldera. The inversions resolve (1) a shallow, high-velocity P wave anomaly associated with the structural uplift of a resurgent dome; (2) an elongated, WNW striking low-velocity anomaly (8%–10 % reduction in I/P) at a depth of 6 km (4 km below mean sea level) beneath the southern section of the resurgent dome; and (3) a broad, low-velocity volume (–5% reduction in I/P and as much as 40% reduction in I/S) in the depth interval 8–14 km (6–12 km below mean sea level) beneath the central section of the caldera. The two low-velocity volumes partially overlap the geodetically inferred inflation sources that drove uplift of the resurgent dome associated with caldera unrest between 1980 and 2000, and they likely reflect the ascent path for magma or magmatic fluids into the upper crust beneath the caldera.

Serial Scanning and Registration of High Resolution Quantitative Computed Tomography Volume Scans for the Determination of Local Bone Density Changes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whalen, Robert T.; Napel, Sandy; Yan, Chye H.

1996-01-01

Progress in development of the methods required to study bone remodeling as a function of time is reported. The following topics are presented: 'A New Methodology for Registration Accuracy Evaluation', 'Registration of Serial Skeletal Images for Accurately Measuring Changes in Bone Density', and 'Precise and Accurate Gold Standard for Multimodality and Serial Registration Method Evaluations.'

Earthquake effect on volcano and the geological structure in central java using tomography travel time method and relocation hypocenter by grid search method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suharsono; Nurdian, S. W.; Palupi, I. R.

2016-11-01

Relocating hypocenter is a way to improve the velocity model of the subsurface. One of the method is Grid Search. To perform the distribution of the velocity in subsurface by tomography method, it is used the result of relocating hypocenter to be a reference for subsurface analysis in volcanic and major structural patterns, such as in Central Java. The main data of this study is the earthquake data recorded from 1952 to 2012 with the P wave number is 9162, the number of events is 2426 were recorded by 30 stations located in the vicinity of Central Java. Grid search method has some advantages they are: it can relocate the hypocenter more accurate because this method is dividing space lattice model into blocks, and each grid block can only be occupied by one point hypocenter. Tomography technique is done by travel time data that has had relocated with inversion pseudo bending method. Grid search relocated method show that the hypocenter's depth is shallower than before and the direction is to the south, the hypocenter distribution is modeled into the subduction zone between the continent of Eurasia with the Indo-Australian with an average angle of 14 °. The tomography results show the low velocity value is contained under volcanoes with value of -8% to -10%, then the pattern of the main fault structure in Central Java can be description by the results of tomography at high velocity that is from 8% to 10% with the direction is northwest and northeast-southwest.

Method of preventing leakage of a fluid along and through an insulating jacket of a thermocouple

DOEpatents

Thermos, Anthony Constantine; Rahal, Fadi Elias

2002-01-01

A thermocouple assembly includes a thermocouple; a plurality of lead wires extending from the thermocouple; an insulating jacket extending along and enclosing the plurality of leads; and at least one internally sealed area within the insulating jacket to prevent fluid leakage along and within the insulating jacket. The invention also provides a method of preventing leakage of a fluid along and through an insulating jacket of a thermocouple including the steps of a) attaching a plurality of lead wires to a thermocouple; b) adding a heat sensitive pseudo-wire to extend along the plurality of lead wires; c) enclosing the lead wires and pseudo-wire inside an insulating jacket; d) locally heating axially spaced portions of the insulating jacket to a temperature which melts the pseudo-wire and fuses it with an interior surface of the jacket.

Challenges at Petascale for Pseudo-Spectral Methods on Spheres (A Last Hurrah?)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clune, Thomas

2011-01-01

Conclusions: a) Proper software abstractions should enable rapid-exploration of platform-specific optimizations/ tradeoffs. b) Pseudo-spectra! methods are marginally viable for at least some classes of petascaie problems. i.e., GPU based machine with good bisection would be best. c) Scalability at exascale is possible, but the necessary resolution will make algorithm prohibitively expensive. Efficient implementations of realistic global transposes are mtricate and tedious in MPI. PS at petascaie requires exploration of a variety of strategies for spreading local and remote communic3tions. PGAS allows far simpler implementation and thus rapid exploration of variants.

Preoperative staging of rectal cancer.

PubMed

Yeung, Justin Mc; Ferris, Nicholas J; Lynch, A Craig; Heriot, Alexander G

2009-10-01

Preoperative staging is now an essential factor in the multidisciplinary management of rectal cancer because tumor stage is the strongest predictive factor for recurrence. Preoperative staging of rectal cancer can be divided into either local or distant staging. Local staging incorporates the assessment of mural wall invasion, circumferential resection margin involvement, as well as the nodal status for metastasis. Distant staging assesses for evidence of metastatic disease. The aim of this review is to consider the indications and limitations of the current preoperative imaging modalities for rectal cancer staging including clinical examination, endorectal ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography and positron emission tomography-computed tomography, with respect to local and distant disease.

CSI-EPT in Presence of RF-Shield for MR-Coils.

PubMed

Arduino, Alessandro; Zilberti, Luca; Chiampi, Mario; Bottauscio, Oriano

2017-07-01

Contrast source inversion electric properties tomography (CSI-EPT) is a recently developed technique for the electric properties tomography that recovers the electric properties distribution starting from measurements performed by magnetic resonance imaging scanners. This method is an optimal control approach based on the contrast source inversion technique, which distinguishes itself from other electric properties tomography techniques for its capability to recover also the local specific absorption rate distribution, essential for online dosimetry. Up to now, CSI-EPT has only been described in terms of integral equations, limiting its applicability to homogeneous unbounded background. In order to extend the method to the presence of a shield in the domain-as in the recurring case of shielded radio frequency coils-a more general formulation of CSI-EPT, based on a functional viewpoint, is introduced here. Two different implementations of CSI-EPT are proposed for a 2-D transverse magnetic model problem, one dealing with an unbounded domain and one considering the presence of a perfectly conductive shield. The two implementations are applied on the same virtual measurements obtained by numerically simulating a shielded radio frequency coil. The results are compared in terms of both electric properties recovery and local specific absorption rate estimate, in order to investigate the requirement of an accurate modeling of the underlying physical problem.

Micro axial tomography: A miniaturized, versatile stage device to overcome resolution anisotropy in fluorescence light microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staier, Florian; Eipel, Heinz; Matula, Petr; Evsikov, Alexei V.; Kozubek, Michal; Cremer, Christoph; Hausmann, Michael

2011-09-01

With the development of novel fluorescence techniques, high resolution light microscopy has become a challenging technique for investigations of the three-dimensional (3D) micro-cosmos in cells and sub-cellular components. So far, all fluorescence microscopes applied for 3D imaging in biosciences show a spatially anisotropic point spread function resulting in an anisotropic optical resolution or point localization precision. To overcome this shortcoming, micro axial tomography was suggested which allows object tilting on the microscopic stage and leads to an improvement in localization precision and spatial resolution. Here, we present a miniaturized device which can be implemented in a motor driven microscope stage. The footprint of this device corresponds to a standard microscope slide. A special glass fiber can manually be adjusted in the object space of the microscope lens. A stepwise fiber rotation can be controlled by a miniaturized stepping motor incorporated into the device. By means of a special mounting device, test particles were fixed onto glass fibers, optically localized with high precision, and automatically rotated to obtain views from different perspective angles under which distances of corresponding pairs of objects were determined. From these angle dependent distance values, the real 3D distance was calculated with a precision in the ten nanometer range (corresponding here to an optical resolution of 10-30 nm) using standard microscopic equipment. As a proof of concept, the spindle apparatus of a mature mouse oocyte was imaged during metaphase II meiotic arrest under different perspectives. Only very few images registered under different rotation angles are sufficient for full 3D reconstruction. The results indicate the principal advantage of the micro axial tomography approach for many microscopic setups therein and also those of improved resolutions as obtained by high precision localization determination.

Codimension-1 Sliding Bifurcations of a Filippov Pest Growth Model with Threshold Policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Sanyi; Tang, Guangyao; Qin, Wenjie

A Filippov system is proposed to describe the stage structured nonsmooth pest growth with threshold policy control (TPC). The TPC measure is represented by the total density of both juveniles and adults being chosen as an index for decisions on when to implement chemical control strategies. The proposed Filippov system can have three pieces of sliding segments and three pseudo-equilibria, which result in rich sliding mode bifurcations and local sliding bifurcations including boundary node (boundary focus, or boundary saddle) and tangency bifurcations. As the threshold density varies the model exhibits the interesting global sliding bifurcations sequentially: touching → buckling → crossing → sliding homoclinic orbit to a pseudo-saddle → crossing → touching bifurcations. In particular, bifurcation of a homoclinic orbit to a pseudo-saddle with a figure of eight shape, to a pseudo-saddle-node or to a standard saddle-node have been observed for some parameter sets. This implies that control outcomes are sensitive to the threshold level, and hence it is crucial to choose the threshold level to initiate control strategy. One more sliding segment (or pseudo-equilibrium) is induced by the total density of a population guided switching policy, compared to only the juvenile density guided policy, implying that this control policy is more effective in terms of preventing multiple pest outbreaks or causing the density of pests to stabilize at a desired level such as an economic threshold.

Pseudo paths towards minimum energy states in network dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hedayatifar, L.; Hassanibesheli, F.; Shirazi, A. H.; Vasheghani Farahani, S.; Jafari, G. R.

2017-10-01

The dynamics of networks forming on Heider balance theory moves towards lower tension states. The condition derived from this theory enforces agents to reevaluate and modify their interactions to achieve equilibrium. These possible changes in network's topology can be considered as various paths that guide systems to minimum energy states. Based on this theory the final destination of a system could reside on a local minimum energy, ;jammed state;, or the global minimum energy, balanced states. The question we would like to address is whether jammed states just appear by chance? Or there exist some pseudo paths that bound a system towards a jammed state. We introduce an indicator to suspect the location of a jammed state based on the Inverse Participation Ratio method (IPR). We provide a margin before a local minimum where the number of possible paths dramatically drastically decreases. This is a condition that proves adequate for ending up on a jammed states.

Characterizing resonant component in speech: A different view of tracking fundamental frequency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Bin

2017-05-01

Inspired by the nonlinearity and nonstationarity and the modulations in speech, Hilbert-Huang Transform and cyclostationarity analysis are employed to investigate the speech resonance in vowel in sequence. Cyclostationarity analysis is not directly manipulated on the target vowel, but on its intrinsic mode functions one by one. Thanks to the equivalence between the fundamental frequency in speech and the cyclic frequency in cyclostationarity analysis, the modulation intensity distributions of the intrinsic mode functions provide much information for the estimation of the fundamental frequency. To highlight the relationship between frequency and time, the pseudo-Hilbert spectrum is proposed to replace the Hilbert spectrum here. After contrasting the pseudo-Hilbert spectra of and the modulation intensity distributions of the intrinsic mode functions, it finds that there is usually one intrinsic mode function which works as the fundamental component of the vowel. Furthermore, the fundamental frequency of the vowel can be determined by tracing the pseudo-Hilbert spectrum of its fundamental component along the time axis. The later method is more robust to estimate the fundamental frequency, when meeting nonlinear components. Two vowels [a] and [i], picked up from a speech database FAU Aibo Emotion Corpus, are applied to validate the above findings.

A pseudo-discrete algebraic reconstruction technique (PDART) prior image-based suppression of high density artifacts in computed tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pua, Rizza; Park, Miran; Wi, Sunhee; Cho, Seungryong

2016-12-01

We propose a hybrid metal artifact reduction (MAR) approach for computed tomography (CT) that is computationally more efficient than a fully iterative reconstruction method, but at the same time achieves superior image quality to the interpolation-based in-painting techniques. Our proposed MAR method, an image-based artifact subtraction approach, utilizes an intermediate prior image reconstructed via PDART to recover the background information underlying the high density objects. For comparison, prior images generated by total-variation minimization (TVM) algorithm, as a realization of fully iterative approach, were also utilized as intermediate images. From the simulation and real experimental results, it has been shown that PDART drastically accelerates the reconstruction to an acceptable quality of prior images. Incorporating PDART-reconstructed prior images in the proposed MAR scheme achieved higher quality images than those by a conventional in-painting method. Furthermore, the results were comparable to the fully iterative MAR that uses high-quality TVM prior images.

Reduction of Metal Artifact in Single Photon-Counting Computed Tomography by Spectral-Driven Iterative Reconstruction Technique

PubMed Central

Nasirudin, Radin A.; Mei, Kai; Panchev, Petar; Fehringer, Andreas; Pfeiffer, Franz; Rummeny, Ernst J.; Fiebich, Martin; Noël, Peter B.

2015-01-01

Purpose The exciting prospect of Spectral CT (SCT) using photon-counting detectors (PCD) will lead to new techniques in computed tomography (CT) that take advantage of the additional spectral information provided. We introduce a method to reduce metal artifact in X-ray tomography by incorporating knowledge obtained from SCT into a statistical iterative reconstruction scheme. We call our method Spectral-driven Iterative Reconstruction (SPIR). Method The proposed algorithm consists of two main components: material decomposition and penalized maximum likelihood iterative reconstruction. In this study, the spectral data acquisitions with an energy-resolving PCD were simulated using a Monte-Carlo simulator based on EGSnrc C++ class library. A jaw phantom with a dental implant made of gold was used as an object in this study. A total of three dental implant shapes were simulated separately to test the influence of prior knowledge on the overall performance of the algorithm. The generated projection data was first decomposed into three basis functions: photoelectric absorption, Compton scattering and attenuation of gold. A pseudo-monochromatic sinogram was calculated and used as input in the reconstruction, while the spatial information of the gold implant was used as a prior. The results from the algorithm were assessed and benchmarked with state-of-the-art reconstruction methods. Results Decomposition results illustrate that gold implant of any shape can be distinguished from other components of the phantom. Additionally, the result from the penalized maximum likelihood iterative reconstruction shows that artifacts are significantly reduced in SPIR reconstructed slices in comparison to other known techniques, while at the same time details around the implant are preserved. Quantitatively, the SPIR algorithm best reflects the true attenuation value in comparison to other algorithms. Conclusion It is demonstrated that the combination of the additional information from Spectral CT and statistical reconstruction can significantly improve image quality, especially streaking artifacts caused by the presence of materials with high atomic numbers. PMID:25955019

Bochdalek hernia presenting with initial local fat infiltration of the thoracic cavity in a leukemic child.

PubMed

Kang, Zhen; Min, Xiangde; Wang, Liang

2017-03-01

Local fat infiltration of the thoracic cavity is a rare initial presentation of Bochdalek hernia. We report a case of Bochdalek hernia in a child with leukemia that demonstrated initial local fat infiltration of the thoracic cavity on computed tomography scan and progressed to an obvious diaphragmatic hernia on subsequent follow-up. We suggest that initial local fat infiltration of the thoracic cavity on computed tomography scan may indicate a potential diaphragmatic hernia.

Crustal wavespeed structure of North Texas and Oklahoma based on ambient noise cross-correlation functions and adjoint tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, H.

2017-12-01

Recently, seismologists observed increasing seismicity in North Texas and Oklahoma. Based on seismic observations and other geophysical measurements, some studies suggested possible links between the increasing seismicity and wastewater injection during unconventional oil and gas exploration. To better monitor seismic events and investigate their mechanisms, we need an accurate 3D crustal wavespeed model for North Texas and Oklahoma. Considering the uneven distribution of earthquakes in this region, seismic tomography with local earthquake records have difficulties to achieve good illumination. To overcome this limitation, in this study, ambient noise cross-correlation functions are used to constrain subsurface variations in wavespeeds. I use adjoint tomography to iteratively fit frequency-dependent phase differences between observed and predicted band-limited Green's functions. The spectral-element method is used to numerically calculate the band-limited Green's functions and the adjoint method is used to calculate misfit gradients with respect to wavespeeds. 25 preconditioned conjugate gradient iterations are used to update model parameters and minimize data misfits. Features in the new crustal model M25 correlates with geological units in the study region, including the Llano uplift, the Anadarko basin and the Ouachita orogenic front. In addition, these seismic anomalies correlate with gravity and magnetic observations. This new model can be used to better constrain earthquake source parameters in North Texas and Oklahoma, such as epicenter location and moment tensor solutions, which are important for investigating potential relations between seismicity and unconventional oil and gas exploration.

Local Sampling of the Wigner Function at Telecom Wavelength with Loss-Tolerant Detection of Photon Statistics.

PubMed

Harder, G; Silberhorn, Ch; Rehacek, J; Hradil, Z; Motka, L; Stoklasa, B; Sánchez-Soto, L L

2016-04-01

We report the experimental point-by-point sampling of the Wigner function for nonclassical states created in an ultrafast pulsed type-II parametric down-conversion source. We use a loss-tolerant time-multiplexed detector based on a fiber-optical setup and a pair of photon-number-resolving avalanche photodiodes. By capitalizing on an expedient data-pattern tomography, we assess the properties of the light states with outstanding accuracy. The method allows us to reliably infer the squeezing of genuine two-mode states without any phase reference.

SU-E-T-572: Normal Lung Tissue Sparing in Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

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

Hong, C; Ju, S; Ahn, Y

2015-06-15

Purpose: To compare normal lung-sparing capabilities of three advanced radiation therapy techniques for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC). Methods: Four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) was performed in 10 patients with stage IIIb LA-NSCLC. The internal target volume (ITV); planning target volume (PTV); and organs at risks (OARs) such as spinal cord, total normal lung, heart, and esophagus were delineated for each CT data set. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), Tomohelical-IMRT (TH-IMRT), and TomoDirect-IMRT (TD-IMRT) plans were generated (total prescribed dose, 66 Gy in 33 fractions to the PTV) for each patient. To reduce the normal lung dose, complete and directionalmore » block function was applied outside the normal lung far from the target for both TH-IMRT and TD-IMRT, while pseudo- OAR was set in the same region for IMRT. Dosimetric characteristics of the three plans were compared in terms of target coverage, the sparing capability for the OAR, and the normal tissue complication probability (NTCP). Beam delivery efficiency was also compared. Results: TH-IMRT and TD-IMRT provided better target coverage than IMRT plans. Lung volume receiving ≥–30 Gy, mean dose, and NTCP were significant with TH-IMRT than with IMRT (p=0.006), and volume receiving ≥20–30 Gy was lower in TD-IMRT than in IMRT (p<0.05). Compared with IMRT, TH-IMRT had better sparing effect on the spinal cord (Dmax, NTCP) and heart (V45) (p<0.05). NTCP for the spinal cord, V45 and V60 for the heart, and Dmax for the esophagus were significantly lower in TD-IMRT than in IMRT. The monitor units per fraction were clearly smaller for IMRT than for TH-IMRT and TD-IMRT (p=0.006). Conclusion: In LA-NSCLC, TH-IMRT gave superior PTV coverage and OAR sparing compared to IMRT. TH-IMRT provided better control of the lung volume receiving ≥5–30 Gy. The delivery time and monitor units were lower in TD-IMRT than in TH-IMRT.« less

Investigating the performance of wavelet neural networks in ionospheric tomography using IGS data over Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghaffari Razin, Mir Reza; Voosoghi, Behzad

2017-04-01

Ionospheric tomography is a very cost-effective method which is used frequently to modeling of electron density distributions. In this paper, residual minimization training neural network (RMTNN) is used in voxel based ionospheric tomography. Due to the use of wavelet neural network (WNN) with back-propagation (BP) algorithm in RMTNN method, the new method is named modified RMTNN (MRMTNN). To train the WNN with BP algorithm, two cost functions is defined: total and vertical cost functions. Using minimization of cost functions, temporal and spatial ionospheric variations is studied. The GPS measurements of the international GNSS service (IGS) in the central Europe have been used for constructing a 3-D image of the electron density. Three days (2009.04.15, 2011.07.20 and 2013.06.01) with different solar activity index is used for the processing. To validate and better assess reliability of the proposed method, 4 ionosonde and 3 testing stations have been used. Also the results of MRMTNN has been compared to that of the RMTNN method, international reference ionosphere model 2012 (IRI-2012) and spherical cap harmonic (SCH) method as a local ionospheric model. The comparison of MRMTNN results with RMTNN, IRI-2012 and SCH models shows that the root mean square error (RMSE) and standard deviation of the proposed approach are superior to those of the traditional method.

Tetrahedral cluster and pseudo molecule: New approaches to Calculate Absolute Surface Energy of Zinc Blende (111)/(-1-1-1) Surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yiou; Zhang, Jingzhao; Tse, Kinfai; Wong, Lun; Chan, Chunkai; Deng, Bei; Zhu, Junyi

Determining accurate absolute surface energies for polar surfaces of semiconductors has been a great challenge in decades. Here, we propose pseudo-hydrogen passivation to calculate them, using density functional theory approaches. By calculating the energy contribution from pseudo-hydrogen using either a pseudo molecule method or a tetrahedral cluster method, we obtained (111)/(-1-1-1) surfaces energies of Si, GaP, GaAs, and ZnS with high self-consistency. Our findings may greatly enhance the basic understandings of different surfaces and lead to novel strategies in the crystal growth. We would like to thank Su-huai Wei for helpful discussions. Computing resources were provided by the High Performance Cluster Computing Centre, Hong Kong Baptist University. This work was supported by the start-up funding and direct Grant with the Project.

Measurement of cerebral blood flow rate and its relationship with brain function using optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jian; Wang, Yi; Zhao, Yuqian; Dou, Shidan; Ma, Yushu; Ma, Zhenhe

2016-03-01

Activity of brain neurons will lead to changes in local blood flow rate (BFR). Thus, it is important to measure the local BFR of cerebral cortex on research of neuron activity in vivo, such as rehabilitation evaluation after stroke, etc. Currently, laser Doppler flowmetry is commonly used for blood flow measurement, however, relatively low resolution limits its application. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a powerful noninvasive 3D imaging modality with high temporal and spatial resolutions. Furthermore, OCT can provide flow distribution image by calculating Doppler frequency shift which makes it possible for blood flow rate measurement. In this paper, we applied OCT to measure the blood flow rate of the primary motor cortex in rats. The animal was immobilized and anesthetized with isoflurane, an incision was made along the sagittal suture, and bone was exposed. A skull window was opened on the primary motor cortex. Then, blood flow rate changes in the primary motor cortex were monitored by our homemade spectral domain OCT with a stimulation of the passive movement of the front legs. Finally, we established the relationship between blood flow rate and the test design. The aim is to demonstrate the potential of OCT in the evaluation of cerebral cortex function.

A multi-agent quantum Monte Carlo model for charge transport: Application to organic field-effect transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Thilo; Jäger, Christof M.; Jordan, Meredith J. T.; Clark, Timothy

2015-07-01

We have developed a multi-agent quantum Monte Carlo model to describe the spatial dynamics of multiple majority charge carriers during conduction of electric current in the channel of organic field-effect transistors. The charge carriers are treated by a neglect of diatomic differential overlap Hamiltonian using a lattice of hydrogen-like basis functions. The local ionization energy and local electron affinity defined previously map the bulk structure of the transistor channel to external potentials for the simulations of electron- and hole-conduction, respectively. The model is designed without a specific charge-transport mechanism like hopping- or band-transport in mind and does not arbitrarily localize charge. An electrode model allows dynamic injection and depletion of charge carriers according to source-drain voltage. The field-effect is modeled by using the source-gate voltage in a Metropolis-like acceptance criterion. Although the current cannot be calculated because the simulations have no time axis, using the number of Monte Carlo moves as pseudo-time gives results that resemble experimental I/V curves.

Inter- and intraobserver reliability of the vertebral, local and segmental kyphosis in 120 traumatic lumbar and thoracic burst fractures: evaluation in lateral X-rays and sagittal computed tomographies

PubMed Central

Brunner, Alexander; Gühring, Markus; Schmälzle, Traude; Weise, Kuno; Badke, Andreas

2009-01-01

Evaluation of the kyphosis angle in thoracic and lumbar burst fractures is often used to indicate surgical procedures. The kyphosis angle could be measured as vertebral, segmental and local kyphosis according to the method of Cobb. The vertebral, segmental and local kyphosis according to the method of Cobb were measured at 120 lateral X-rays and sagittal computed tomographies of 60 thoracic and 60 lumbar burst fractures by 3 independent observers on 2 separate occasions. Osteoporotic fractures were excluded. The intra- and interobserver reliability of these angles in X-ray and computed tomogram, using the intra class correlation coefficient (ICC) were evaluated. Highest reproducibility showed the segmental kyphosis followed by the vertebral kyphosis. For thoracic fractures segmental kyphosis shows in X-ray “excellent” inter- and intraobserver reliabilities (ICC 0.826, 0.802) and for lumbar fractures “good” to “excellent” inter- and intraobserver reliabilities (ICC = 0.790, 0.803). In computed tomography, the segmental kyphosis showed “excellent” inter- and intraobserver reliabilities (ICC = 0.824, 0.801) for thoracic and “excellent” inter- and intraobserver reliabilities (ICC = 0.874, 0.835) for the lumbar fractures. Regarding both diagnostic work ups (X-ray and computed tomography), significant differences were evaluated in interobserver reliabilities for vertebral kyphosis measured in lumbar fracture X-rays (p = 0.035) and interobserver reliabilities for local kyphosis, measured in thoracic fracture X-rays (p = 0.010). Regarding both fracture localizations (thoracic and lumbar fractures), significant differences could only be evaluated in interobserver reliabilities for the local kyphosis measured in computed tomographies (p = 0.045) and in intraobserver reliabilities for the vertebral kyphosis measured in X-rays (p = 0.024). “Good” to “excellent” inter- and intraobserver reliabilities for vertebral, segmental and local kyphosis in X-ray make these angles to a helpful tool, indicating surgical procedures. For the practical use in lateral X-ray, we emphasize the determination of the segmental kyphosis, because of the highest reproducibility of this angle. “Good” to “excellent” inter- and intraobserver reliabilities for these three angles could also be evaluated in computed tomographies. Therefore, also in computed tomography, the use of these three angles seems to be generally possible. For a direct correlation of the results in lateral X-ray and in computed tomography, further studies should be needed. PMID:19953277

Magnetic nanoparticles as contrast agents for molecular imaging in medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Donnell, Matthew

2018-05-01

For over twenty years, superparamagnetic nanoparticles have been developed for a number of medical applications ranging from bioseparations, magnetic drug targeting, hyperthermia and imaging. Recent studies have shown that they can be functionalized for in vivo biological targeting, potentially enabling nanoagents for molecular imaging and site-localized drug delivery. Here we review several imaging technologies developed using functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as targeted molecular agents. Several imaging modalities have exploited the large induced magnetic moment of SPIONs to create local mechanical force. Magnetic force microscopy can probe nanoparticle uptake in single cells. For in vivo applications, magnetomotive modulation of primary images in ultrasound (US), photoacoustics (PA), and optical coherence tomography (OCT) can help identify very small concentrations of nanoagents while simultaneously suppressing intrinsic background signals from tissue.

[Pigmented villonodular synovitis of the temporo mandibular joint. Differential diagnosis and therapy].

PubMed

Kunz, C; Leiggener, C S; Fridrich, K; Schmuziger, N; Hammer, B

2003-07-01

For the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), functional disorders are common but tumors and tumor like lesions are rare, although these are often mistaken for functional ailments. Early examination by computed tomography or, as a method of choice, magnetic resonance imaging is recommended in case of persisting TMJ problems. Pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) is a rare benign but locally destructive fibrohistiocytic lesion originating in synovial tissue. Involvement of the temporomandibular joint is extremely rare, with the average age of patients being 44.6 years. This paper reports on a 13-year-old patient with diffuse PVNS involving the middle ear and middle cranial fossa. The treatment of choice involves wide local excision and reconstruction of the temporomandibular joint with long-term follow-up. Pathogenesis and differential diagnosis are discussed.

The Role of Functional Neuroimaging in Pre-Surgical Epilepsy Evaluation

PubMed Central

Pittau, Francesca; Grouiller, Frédéric; Spinelli, Laurent; Seeck, Margitta; Michel, Christoph M.; Vulliemoz, Serge

2014-01-01

The prevalence of epilepsy is about 1% and one-third of cases do not respond to medical treatment. In an eligible subset of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, surgical resection of the epileptogenic zone is the only treatment that can possibly cure the disease. Non-invasive techniques provide information for the localization of the epileptic focus in the majority of cases, whereas in others invasive procedures are required. In the last years, non-invasive neuroimaging techniques, such as simultaneous recording of functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalogram (EEG-fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), electric and magnetic source imaging (MSI, ESI), spectroscopy (MRS), have proved their usefulness in defining the epileptic focus. The combination of these functional techniques can yield complementary information and their concordance is crucial for guiding clinical decision, namely the planning of invasive EEG recordings or respective surgery. The aim of this review is to present these non-invasive neuroimaging techniques, their potential combination, and their role in the pre-surgical evaluation of patients with pharmaco-resistant epilepsy. PMID:24715886

Real-Time Ligand Binding Pocket Database Search Using Local Surface Descriptors

PubMed Central

Chikhi, Rayan; Sael, Lee; Kihara, Daisuke

2010-01-01

Due to the increasing number of structures of unknown function accumulated by ongoing structural genomics projects, there is an urgent need for computational methods for characterizing protein tertiary structures. As functions of many of these proteins are not easily predicted by conventional sequence database searches, a legitimate strategy is to utilize structure information in function characterization. Of a particular interest is prediction of ligand binding to a protein, as ligand molecule recognition is a major part of molecular function of proteins. Predicting whether a ligand molecule binds a protein is a complex problem due to the physical nature of protein-ligand interactions and the flexibility of both binding sites and ligand molecules. However, geometric and physicochemical complementarity is observed between the ligand and its binding site in many cases. Therefore, ligand molecules which bind to a local surface site in a protein can be predicted by finding similar local pockets of known binding ligands in the structure database. Here, we present two representations of ligand binding pockets and utilize them for ligand binding prediction by pocket shape comparison. These representations are based on mapping of surface properties of binding pockets, which are compactly described either by the two dimensional pseudo-Zernike moments or the 3D Zernike descriptors. These compact representations allow a fast real-time pocket searching against a database. Thorough benchmark study employing two different datasets show that our representations are competitive with the other existing methods. Limitations and potentials of the shape-based methods as well as possible improvements are discussed. PMID:20455259

Real-time ligand binding pocket database search using local surface descriptors.

PubMed

Chikhi, Rayan; Sael, Lee; Kihara, Daisuke

2010-07-01

Because of the increasing number of structures of unknown function accumulated by ongoing structural genomics projects, there is an urgent need for computational methods for characterizing protein tertiary structures. As functions of many of these proteins are not easily predicted by conventional sequence database searches, a legitimate strategy is to utilize structure information in function characterization. Of particular interest is prediction of ligand binding to a protein, as ligand molecule recognition is a major part of molecular function of proteins. Predicting whether a ligand molecule binds a protein is a complex problem due to the physical nature of protein-ligand interactions and the flexibility of both binding sites and ligand molecules. However, geometric and physicochemical complementarity is observed between the ligand and its binding site in many cases. Therefore, ligand molecules which bind to a local surface site in a protein can be predicted by finding similar local pockets of known binding ligands in the structure database. Here, we present two representations of ligand binding pockets and utilize them for ligand binding prediction by pocket shape comparison. These representations are based on mapping of surface properties of binding pockets, which are compactly described either by the two-dimensional pseudo-Zernike moments or the three-dimensional Zernike descriptors. These compact representations allow a fast real-time pocket searching against a database. Thorough benchmark studies employing two different datasets show that our representations are competitive with the other existing methods. Limitations and potentials of the shape-based methods as well as possible improvements are discussed.

Fully distributed absolute blood flow velocity measurement for middle cerebral arteries using Doppler optical coherence tomography

PubMed Central

Qi, Li; Zhu, Jiang; Hancock, Aneeka M.; Dai, Cuixia; Zhang, Xuping; Frostig, Ron D.; Chen, Zhongping

2016-01-01

Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) is considered one of the most promising functional imaging modalities for neuro biology research and has demonstrated the ability to quantify cerebral blood flow velocity at a high accuracy. However, the measurement of total absolute blood flow velocity (BFV) of major cerebral arteries is still a difficult problem since it is related to vessel geometry. In this paper, we present a volumetric vessel reconstruction approach that is capable of measuring the absolute BFV distributed along the entire middle cerebral artery (MCA) within a large field-of-view. The Doppler angle at each point of the MCA, representing the vessel geometry, is derived analytically by localizing the artery from pure DOCT images through vessel segmentation and skeletonization. Our approach could achieve automatic quantification of the fully distributed absolute BFV across different vessel branches. Experiments on rodents using swept-source optical coherence tomography showed that our approach was able to reveal the consequences of permanent MCA occlusion with absolute BFV measurement. PMID:26977365

Fully distributed absolute blood flow velocity measurement for middle cerebral arteries using Doppler optical coherence tomography.

PubMed

Qi, Li; Zhu, Jiang; Hancock, Aneeka M; Dai, Cuixia; Zhang, Xuping; Frostig, Ron D; Chen, Zhongping

2016-02-01

Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT) is considered one of the most promising functional imaging modalities for neuro biology research and has demonstrated the ability to quantify cerebral blood flow velocity at a high accuracy. However, the measurement of total absolute blood flow velocity (BFV) of major cerebral arteries is still a difficult problem since it is related to vessel geometry. In this paper, we present a volumetric vessel reconstruction approach that is capable of measuring the absolute BFV distributed along the entire middle cerebral artery (MCA) within a large field-of-view. The Doppler angle at each point of the MCA, representing the vessel geometry, is derived analytically by localizing the artery from pure DOCT images through vessel segmentation and skeletonization. Our approach could achieve automatic quantification of the fully distributed absolute BFV across different vessel branches. Experiments on rodents using swept-source optical coherence tomography showed that our approach was able to reveal the consequences of permanent MCA occlusion with absolute BFV measurement.

Cerebral localization, then and now.

PubMed

Marshall, John C; Fink, Gereon R

2003-11-01

We review some of the progress made in understanding the nature of functional specialization in the human brain, beginning with the anatomical claim that all mental faculties have their own distinct material substrate in different regions of the brain and the psychological claim that each mental faculty is characterized by the content domain with which it deals. This conceptual framework led behavioral neurologists to show how discrete brain lesions provoked different types of language, praxic, gnostic, spatial, and memory disorders. The simplest way of interpreting these anatomoclinical associations was to conjecture that the normal function (now impaired by brain damage) was localized within that lesioned region. It was also realized that cognitive impairments could arise from lesions that spared the functional centers themselves but disconnected them from other centers. Nonetheless, many neuroscientists remained skeptical of the entire paradigm. Accordingly, in the late 19th century functional localization began to be studied in the intact human brain by such techniques as measuring the temperature of different brain regions when different cognitive tasks were performed. During the 20th century these crude techniques gave way to positron emission tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and magnetoencephalography. The relatively precise spatial and temporal resolution of modern methods now raises a crucial question: Do the functional localizations obtained by the anatomoclinical method converge with those implied by the functional neuroimaging of cognition in healthy volunteers? We then conclude with some recent suggestions that functional specialization is not such a fixed property of brain regions as previously supposed.

The effect of pseudo-microgravity on the symbiosis of plants and microorganisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomita-Yokotani, Kaori; Maki, Asano; Aoki, Toshio; Tamura, Kenji; Wada, Hidenori; Hashimoto, Hirofumi; Yamashita, Masamichi

The symbiosis of plants and microorganisms is important to conduct agriculture under space environment. However, we have less knowledge on whether this kind of symbiosis can be established under space condition. We examined the functional compounds responsible to symbiosis between rhizobiaum and Lotus japonicus as a model of symbiotic combination. The existence of the substances for their symbiosis, some flavonoids, have already been known from the study of gene expression, but the detail structures have not yet been elucidated. Pseudomicrogravity was generated by the 3D-clinorotation. Twenty flavonoids were found in the extracts of 16 days plants of Lotus japonicus grown under the normal gravity by HPLC. Content of two flavonoids among them was affected by the infection of Mesorhizobium loti to them. It has a possibility that the two flavonoids were key substances for their combination process. The productions of those flavonoids were confirmed also under the pseudo-microgravity. The amount of one flavonoid was increased by both infection of rhizobium and exposure to the normal and pseudo-micro gravity. Chemical species of these flavonoids were identified by LC- ESI/MS and spectroscopic analysis. To show the effects of pseudo-microgravity on the gene expression, enzymic activities related to the functional compounds are evaluated after the rhizobial infection.

Adsorptive Removal of Cadmium (II) from Aqueous Solution by Multi-Carboxylic-Functionalized Silica Gel: Equilibrium, Kinetics and Thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Min; Meng, Xiaojing; Yuan, Jinhai; Deng, Wenwen; Liang, Xiuke

2018-01-01

In the present study, the adsorption behavior of cadmium (II) ion from aqueous solution onto multi-carboxylic-functionalized silica gel (SG-MCF) has been investigated in detail by means of batch and column experiments. Batch experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of various experimental parameters such as pH value, contact time and initial concentration on adsorption capacity of cadmium (II) ion. The kinetic data were analyzed on the basis of the pseudo-first-order kinetic and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models and consequently, the pseudo-second-order kinetic can better describe the adsorption process than the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. Equilibrium isotherms for the adsorption of cadmium (II) ion were analyzed by Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models, the results indicate that Langmuir isotherm model was found to be credible to express the data for cadmium (II) ion from aqueous solution onto the SG-MCF. Various thermodynamics parameters of the adsorption process, including free energy of adsorption (ΔG0 ), the enthalpy of adsorption (ΔH0 ) and standard entropy changes (ΔS0 ), were calculated to predict the nature of adsorption. The positive value of the enthalpy change and the negative value of free energy change indicate that the process is endothermic and spontaneous process.

Adsorption kinetic and desorption studies of Cd2+ on Multi-Carboxylic-Functionalized Silica Gel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Min; Wei, Jian; Meng, Xiaojing; Wu, Zhuqiang; Liang, Xiuke

2018-01-01

In the present study, the adsorption behavior of cadmium (II) ion from aqueous solution onto multi-carboxylic-functionalized silica gel (SG-MCF) has been investigated in detail by means of batch and column experiments. Batch experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of contact time on adsorption capacity of cadmium (II) ion. The kinetic data were analyzed on the basis of the pseudo-first-order kinetic and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models and consequently, the pseudo-second-order kinetic can better describe the adsorption process than the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. And the adsorption mechanism of the process was studied by intra-particle and film diffusion, it was found out that the adsorption rate was governed primarily by film diffusion to the adsorption onto the SG-MCF. In addition, column experiments were conducted to assess the effects initial inlet concentration and the flow rate on breakthrough time and adsorption capacity ascertaining the practical applicability of the adsorbent. The results suggest that the total amount of adsorbed cadmium (II) ion increased with declined flow rate and increased the inlet concentration. The adsorption-desorption experiment confirmed that adsorption capacity of cadmium (II) ion didn’t present an obvious decrease after five cycles.

Adsorption kinetic and desorption studies of Cu2+ on Multi-Carboxylic-Functionalized Silica Gel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Min; Meng, Xiaojing; Liu, Yushuang; Hu, Xinju; Liang, Xiuke

2018-01-01

In the present study, the adsorption behavior of copper (II) ion from aqueous solution onto multi-carboxylic-functionalized silica gel (SG-MCF) has been investigated in detail by means of batch and column experiments. Batch experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of contact time on adsorption capacity of copper (II) ion. The kinetic data were analyzed on the basis of the pseudo-first-order kinetic and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models and consequently, the pseudo-second-order kinetic can better describe the adsorption process than the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. And the adsorption mechanism of the process was studied by intra-particle and film diffusion, it was found out that the adsorption rate was governed primarily by film diffusion to the adsorption onto the SG-MCF. In addition, column experiments were conducted to assess the effects initial inlet concentration and the flow rate on breakthrough time and adsorption capacity ascertaining the practical applicability of the adsorbent. The results suggest that the total amount of adsorbed copper (II) ion increased with declined flow rate and increased the inlet concentration. The adsorption-desorption experiment confirmed that adsorption capacity of copper (II) ion didn’t present an obvious decrease after five cycles.

Adhesive Ileus Complicating Recurrent Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction in a Patient with Myasthenia Gravis

PubMed Central

Seretis, Charalampos; Seretis, Fotios; Gemenetzis, George; Gourgiotis, Stavros; Lagoudianakis, Emmanuel; Pappas, Apostolos; Keramidaris, Dimitrios; Salemis, Nikolaos

2012-01-01

Intestinal pseudo-obstruction is considered to be one of the most frequent gastrointestinal manifestations of myasthenia gravis, accompanied by the presence of neoplasia of the thymus gland in the vast majority of the cases presented in the international literature. Despite the fact that myasthenia gravis has been implicated to be the cause of recurrent episodes of intestinal pseudo-obstruction, adhesive ileus has never been reported to complicate this – in any sense rare – condition. We present a unique case of a patient with myasthenia gravis, free of thymus neoplasia, who was submitted to emergency surgery due to the presence of extended adhesive ileus as a complication of chronic intestinal functional obstruction. PMID:23055952

Adhesive ileus complicating recurrent intestinal pseudo-obstruction in a patient with myasthenia gravis.

PubMed

Seretis, Charalampos; Seretis, Fotios; Gemenetzis, George; Gourgiotis, Stavros; Lagoudianakis, Emmanuel; Pappas, Apostolos; Keramidaris, Dimitrios; Salemis, Nikolaos

2012-05-01

Intestinal pseudo-obstruction is considered to be one of the most frequent gastrointestinal manifestations of myasthenia gravis, accompanied by the presence of neoplasia of the thymus gland in the vast majority of the cases presented in the international literature. Despite the fact that myasthenia gravis has been implicated to be the cause of recurrent episodes of intestinal pseudo-obstruction, adhesive ileus has never been reported to complicate this - in any sense rare - condition. We present a unique case of a patient with myasthenia gravis, free of thymus neoplasia, who was submitted to emergency surgery due to the presence of extended adhesive ileus as a complication of chronic intestinal functional obstruction.

Variable uptake feature of focal nodular hyperplasia in Tc-99m phytate hepatic scintigraphy/single-photon emission computed tomography-A parametric analysis.

PubMed

Hsu, Yu-Ling; Chen, Yu-Wen; Lin, Chia-Yang; Lai, Yun-Chang; Chen, Shinn-Cherng; Lin, Zu-Yau

2015-12-01

Tc-99m phytate hepatic scintigraphy remains the standard method for evaluating the functional features of Kupffer cells. In this study, we demonstrate the variable uptake feature of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) in Tc-99m phytate scintigraphy. We reviewed all patients who underwent Tc-99m phytate hepatic scintigraphy between 2008 and 2012 in Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Cases with FNH were diagnosed on the basis of pathology or at least one or more prior imaging with a periodic clinical follow-up. All patients received a standard protocol of dynamic flow study and planar and Tc-99m phytate single-photon emission computed tomography (E. CAM; Siemens). The correlation of variable nodular radioactivity with parameters such as tumor size and localization was analyzed. In total, 15 lesions of 14 patients in the clinic were diagnosed as FNH. The tumor size was approximately 2.9-7.4 cm (mean size 4.6 cm). Four lesions were larger than 5 cm. The major anatomic distribution was in the right hepatic lobe (10 lesions), particularly in the superior segments (7 lesions). Tc-99m phytate single-photon emission computed tomography imaging for determining the functional features of Kupffer cells included cool/cold (8 lesions), isoradioactive/warm (6 lesions), and hot (1 lesion) patterns of uptake. We did not observe any statistically significant correlation between variable nodular radioactivity and tumor size (p=0.68) or localization (p=0.04). Herein, we demonstrate the variable uptake feature of FNH in Tc-99m phytate scintigraphy. In small FNH tumors (< 5 cm), increased or equal uptake still provided specificity for the differential diagnosis of hepatic solid tumors. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Taiwan.

Comparing Ecological and Genetic Diversity Within the Marine Diatom Genus Pseudo-nitzschia: A Multiregional Synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hubbard, K.; Bruzek, S.

2016-02-01

The globally distributed marine diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia consists of approximately 40 species, more than half of which occur in US coastal waters. Here, sensitive genetic tools targeting a variable portion of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region of the rRNA gene were used to assess Pseudo-nitzschia spp. diversity in more than 600 environmental DNA samples collected from US Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico waters. Community-based approaches employed genus-specific primers for environmental DNA fingerprinting and targeted sequencing. For the Gulf of Mexico samples especially, a nested PCR approach (with or without degenerate primers) improved resolution of species diversity. To date, more than 40 unique ITS1 amplicon sizes have been repeatedly observed in ITS1 fingerprints. Targeted sequencing of environmental DNA as well as single chains isolated from live samples indicate that many of these represent novel and known inter- and intra-specific Pseudo-nitzschia diversity. A few species (e.g., P. pungens, P. cuspidata) occur across all three regions, whereas other species and intraspecific variants occurred at local to regional spatial scales only. Generally, species frequently co-occur in complex assemblages, and transitions in Pseudo-nitzschia community composition occur seasonally, prior to bloom initiation, and across (cross-shelf, latitudinal, and vertical) environmental gradients. These observations highlight the dynamic nature of diatom community composition in the marine environment and the importance of classifying diversity at relevant ecological and/or taxonomic scales.

Three-dimensional analysis of the microstructure and bio-corrosion of Mg–Zn and Mg–Zn–Ca alloys

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

Lu, Y.; Chiu, Y.L.; Jones, I.P.

2016-02-15

The effects of the morphology and the distribution of secondary phases on the bio-corrosion properties of magnesium (Mg) alloys are significant. Focused Ion Beam (FIB) tomography and Micro X-Ray computed tomography (Micro-CT) have been used to characterise the morphology and distribution of (α-Mg + MgZn) and (α-Mg + Ca{sub 2} + Mg{sub 6} + Zn{sub 3}) eutectic phase mixtures in as-cast Mg–3Zn and Mg–3Zn–0.3Ca alloys, respectively. There were two different 3D distributions: (i) an interconnected network and (ii) individual spheres. The tomography informed our understanding of the relationship between the distribution of secondary phases and the development of localized corrosionmore » in magnesium alloys. - Highlights: • Multi-scale tomography was used to characterise the morphology and distribution of secondary phases in Mg alloys. • The development of localized corrosion was investigated using tomography. • An improved understanding of the microstructure and corrosion was achieved using Micro-CT tomography.« less

Quasi- and pseudo-maximum likelihood estimators for discretely observed continuous-time Markov branching processes

PubMed Central

Chen, Rui; Hyrien, Ollivier

2011-01-01

This article deals with quasi- and pseudo-likelihood estimation in a class of continuous-time multi-type Markov branching processes observed at discrete points in time. “Conventional” and conditional estimation are discussed for both approaches. We compare their properties and identify situations where they lead to asymptotically equivalent estimators. Both approaches possess robustness properties, and coincide with maximum likelihood estimation in some cases. Quasi-likelihood functions involving only linear combinations of the data may be unable to estimate all model parameters. Remedial measures exist, including the resort either to non-linear functions of the data or to conditioning the moments on appropriate sigma-algebras. The method of pseudo-likelihood may also resolve this issue. We investigate the properties of these approaches in three examples: the pure birth process, the linear birth-and-death process, and a two-type process that generalizes the previous two examples. Simulations studies are conducted to evaluate performance in finite samples. PMID:21552356

Effect of X-ray Line Spectra Profile Fitting with Pearson VII, Pseudo-Voigt and Generalized Fermi Functions on Asphalt Binder Aromaticity and Crystallite Parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gebresellasie, K.; Shirokoff, J.; Lewis, J. C.

2012-12-01

X-ray line spectra profile fitting using Pearson VII, pseudo-Voigt and generalized Fermi functions was performed on asphalt binders prior to the calculation of aromaticity and crystallite size parameters. The effects of these functions on the results are presented and discussed in terms of the peak profile fit parameters, the uncertainties in calculated values that can arise owing to peak shape, peak features in the pattern and crystallite size according to the asphalt models (Yen, modified Yen or Yen-Mullins) and theories. Interpretation of these results is important in terms of evaluating the performance of asphalt binders widely used in the application of transportation systems (roads, highways, airports).

Field evaporation of ZnO: A first-principles study

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

Xia, Yu, E-mail: yuxia@dal.ca; Karahka, Markus; Kreuzer, H. J.

2015-07-14

With recent advances in atom probe tomography of insulators and semiconductors, there is a need to understand high electrostatic field effects in these materials as well as the details of field evaporation. We use density functional theory to study field effects in ZnO clusters calculating the potential energy curves, the local field distribution, the polarizability, and the dielectric constant as a function of field strength. We confirm that, as in MgO, the HOMO-LUMO gap of a ZnO cluster closes at the evaporation field strength signaling field-induced metallization of the insulator. Following the structural changes in the cluster at the evaporationmore » field strength, we can identify the field evaporated species, in particular, we show that the most abundant ion, Zn{sup 2+}, is NOT post-ionized but leaves the surface as 2+ largely confirming the experimental observations. Our results also help to explain problems related to stoichiometry in the mass spectra measured in atom probe tomography.« less

Novel medical imaging technologies for disease diagnosis and treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olego, Diego

2009-03-01

New clinical approaches for disease diagnosis, treatment and monitoring will rely on the ability of simultaneously obtaining anatomical, functional and biological information. Medical imaging technologies in combination with targeted contrast agents play a key role in delivering with ever increasing temporal and spatial resolution structural and functional information about conditions and pathologies in cardiology, oncology and neurology fields among others. This presentation will review the clinical motivations and physics challenges in on-going developments of new medical imaging techniques and the associated contrast agents. Examples to be discussed are: *The enrichment of computer tomography with spectral sensitivity for the diagnosis of vulnerable sclerotic plaque. *Time of flight positron emission tomography for improved resolution in metabolic characterization of pathologies. *Magnetic particle imaging -a novel imaging modality based on in-vivo measurement of the local concentration of iron oxide nano-particles - for blood perfusion measurement with better sensitivity, spatial resolution and 3D real time acquisition. *Focused ultrasound for therapy delivery.

Characterization of local fluid flow in 3D porous construct characterized by Fourier domain Doppler optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagnaninchi, P. O.; Yang, Y.; El Haj, A.; Hinds, M. T.; Wang, R. K.

2007-02-01

In order to achieve functional tissue with the correct biomechanical properties it is critical to stimulate mechanically the cells. Perfusion bioreactor induces fluid shear stress that has been well characterized for two-dimensional culture where both simulation and experimental data are available. However these results can't be directly translated to tissue engineering that makes use of complex three-dimensional porous scaffold. Moreover, stimulated cells produce extensive extra-cellular matrix (ECM) that alter dramatically the micro-architecture of the constructs, changing the local flow dynamic. In this study a Fourier domain Doppler optical coherent tomography (FD-DOCT) system working at 1300nm with a bandwidth of 50nm has been used to determine the local flow rate inside different types of porous scaffolds used in tissue engineering. Local flow rates can then be linearly related, for Newtonian fluid, to the fluid shear stress occurring on the pores wall. Porous chitosan scaffolds (\\fgr 1.5mm x 3mm) with and without a central 250 μm microchannel have been produced by a freeze-drying technique. This techniques allow us to determine the actual shear stress applied to the cells and to optimise the input flow rate consequently, but also to relate the change of the flow distribution to the amount of ECM production allowing the monitoring of tissue formation.

Fusion Imaging: A Novel Staging Modality in Testis Cancer

PubMed Central

Sterbis, Joseph R.; Rice, Kevin R.; Javitt, Marcia C.; Schenkman, Noah S.; Brassell, Stephen A.

2010-01-01

Objective: Computed tomography and chest radiographs provide the standard imaging for staging, treatment, and surveillance of testicular germ cell neoplasms. Positron emission tomography has recently been utilized for staging, but is somewhat limited in its ability to provide anatomic localization. Fusion imaging combines the metabolic information provided by positron emission tomography with the anatomic precision of computed tomography. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first study of the effectiveness using fusion imaging in evaluation of patients with testis cancer. Methods: A prospective study of 49 patients presenting to Walter Reed Army Medical Center with testicular cancer from 2003 to 2009 was performed. Fusion imaging was compared with conventional imaging, tumor markers, pathologic results, and clinical follow-up. Results: There were 14 true positives, 33 true negatives, 1 false positive, and 1 false negative. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 93.3, 97.0, 93.3, and 97.0% respectively. In 11 patient scenarios, fusion imaging differed from conventional imaging. Utility was found in superior lesion detection compared to helical computed tomography due to anatomical/functional image co-registration, detection of micrometastasis in lymph nodes (pathologic nodes < 1cm), surveillance for recurrence post-chemotherapy, differentiating fibrosis from active disease in nodes < 2.5cm, and acting as a quality assurance measure to computed tomography alone. Conclusions: In addition to demonstrating a sensitivity and specificity comparable or superior to conventional imaging, fusion imaging shows promise in providing additive data that may assist in clinical decision-making. PMID:21103077

Fusion imaging: a novel staging modality in testis cancer.

PubMed

Sterbis, Joseph R; Rice, Kevin R; Javitt, Marcia C; Schenkman, Noah S; Brassell, Stephen A

2010-11-05

Computed tomography and chest radiographs provide the standard imaging for staging, treatment, and surveillance of testicular germ cell neoplasms. Positron emission tomography has recently been utilized for staging, but is somewhat limited in its ability to provide anatomic localization. Fusion imaging combines the metabolic information provided by positron emission tomography with the anatomic precision of computed tomography. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first study of the effectiveness using fusion imaging in evaluation of patients with testis cancer. A prospective study of 49 patients presenting to Walter Reed Army Medical Center with testicular cancer from 2003 to 2009 was performed. Fusion imaging was compared with conventional imaging, tumor markers, pathologic results, and clinical follow-up. There were 14 true positives, 33 true negatives, 1 false positive, and 1 false negative. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 93.3, 97.0, 93.3, and 97.0% respectively. In 11 patient scenarios, fusion imaging differed from conventional imaging. Utility was found in superior lesion detection compared to helical computed tomography due to anatomical/functional image co-registration, detection of micrometastasis in lymph nodes (pathologic nodes < 1cm), surveillance for recurrence post-chemotherapy, differentiating fibrosis from active disease in nodes < 2.5cm, and acting as a quality assurance measure to computed tomography alone. In addition to demonstrating a sensitivity and specificity comparable or superior to conventional imaging, fusion imaging shows promise in providing additive data that may assist in clinical decision-making.

Convergence dynamics and pseudo almost periodicity of a class of nonautonomous RFDEs with applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Meng; Ye, Dan

2005-09-01

This paper studies the dynamics of a system of retarded functional differential equations (i.e., RF=Es), which generalize the Hopfield neural network models, the bidirectional associative memory neural networks, the hybrid network models of the cellular neural network type, and some population growth model. Sufficient criteria are established for the globally exponential stability and the existence and uniqueness of pseudo almost periodic solution. The approaches are based on constructing suitable Lyapunov functionals and the well-known Banach contraction mapping principle. The paper ends with some applications of the main results to some neural network models and population growth models and numerical simulations.

Continuous energy adjoint transport for photons in PHITS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malins, Alex; Machida, Masahiko; Niita, Koji

2017-09-01

Adjoint Monte Carlo can be an effcient algorithm for solving photon transport problems where the size of the tally is relatively small compared to the source. Such problems are typical in environmental radioactivity calculations, where natural or fallout radionuclides spread over a large area contribute to the air dose rate at a particular location. Moreover photon transport with continuous energy representation is vital for accurately calculating radiation protection quantities. Here we describe the incorporation of an adjoint Monte Carlo capability for continuous energy photon transport into the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS). An adjoint cross section library for photon interactions was developed based on the JENDL- 4.0 library, by adding cross sections for adjoint incoherent scattering and pair production. PHITS reads in the library and implements the adjoint transport algorithm by Hoogenboom. Adjoint pseudo-photons are spawned within the forward tally volume and transported through space. Currently pseudo-photons can undergo coherent and incoherent scattering within the PHITS adjoint function. Photoelectric absorption is treated implicitly. The calculation result is recovered from the pseudo-photon flux calculated over the true source volume. A new adjoint tally function facilitates this conversion. This paper gives an overview of the new function and discusses potential future developments.

Methodology for Image-Based Reconstruction of Ventricular Geometry for Patient-Specific Modeling of Cardiac Electrophysiology

PubMed Central

Prakosa, A.; Malamas, P.; Zhang, S.; Pashakhanloo, F.; Arevalo, H.; Herzka, D. A.; Lardo, A.; Halperin, H.; McVeigh, E.; Trayanova, N.; Vadakkumpadan, F.

2014-01-01

Patient-specific modeling of ventricular electrophysiology requires an interpolated reconstruction of the 3-dimensional (3D) geometry of the patient ventricles from the low-resolution (Lo-res) clinical images. The goal of this study was to implement a processing pipeline for obtaining the interpolated reconstruction, and thoroughly evaluate the efficacy of this pipeline in comparison with alternative methods. The pipeline implemented here involves contouring the epi- and endocardial boundaries in Lo-res images, interpolating the contours using the variational implicit functions method, and merging the interpolation results to obtain the ventricular reconstruction. Five alternative interpolation methods, namely linear, cubic spline, spherical harmonics, cylindrical harmonics, and shape-based interpolation were implemented for comparison. In the thorough evaluation of the processing pipeline, Hi-res magnetic resonance (MR), computed tomography (CT), and diffusion tensor (DT) MR images from numerous hearts were used. Reconstructions obtained from the Hi-res images were compared with the reconstructions computed by each of the interpolation methods from a sparse sample of the Hi-res contours, which mimicked Lo-res clinical images. Qualitative and quantitative comparison of these ventricular geometry reconstructions showed that the variational implicit functions approach performed better than others. Additionally, the outcomes of electrophysiological simulations (sinus rhythm activation maps and pseudo-ECGs) conducted using models based on the various reconstructions were compared. These electrophysiological simulations demonstrated that our implementation of the variational implicit functions-based method had the best accuracy. PMID:25148771

Visual Assessment of Brain Perfusion MRI Scans in Dementia: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Fällmar, David; Lilja, Johan; Velickaite, Vilma; Danfors, Torsten; Lubberink, Mark; Ahlgren, André; van Osch, Matthias J P; Kilander, Lena; Larsson, Elna-Marie

2016-05-01

Functional imaging is becoming increasingly important for the detection of neurodegenerative disorders. Perfusion MRI with arterial spin labeling (ASL) has been reported to provide promising diagnostic possibilities but is not yet widely used in routine clinical work. The aim of this study was to compare, in a clinical setting, the visual assessment of subtracted ASL CBF maps with and without additional smoothing, to FDG-PET data. Ten patients with a clinical diagnosis of dementia and 11 age-matched cognitively healthy controls were examined with pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) and 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Three diagnostic physicians visually assessed the pCASL maps after subtraction only, and after postprocessing using Gaussian smoothing and GLM-based beta estimate functions. The assessment scores were compared to FDG PET values. Furthermore, the ability to discriminate patients from healthy elderly controls was assessed. Smoothing improved the correlation between visually assessed regional ASL perfusion scores and the FDG PET SUV-r values from the corresponding regions. However, subtracted pCASL maps discriminated patients from healthy controls better than smoothed maps. Smoothing increased the number of false-positive patient identifications. Application of beta estimate functions had only a marginal effect. Spatial smoothing of ASL images increased false positive results in the discrimination of hypoperfusion conditions from healthy elderly. It also decreased interreader agreement. However, regional characterization and subjective perception of image quality was improved. Copyright © 2015 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

Crustal wavespeed structure of North Texas and Oklahoma based on ambient noise cross-correlation functions and adjoint tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Hejun

2018-04-01

Recently, seismologists observed increasing seismicity in North Texas and Oklahoma. Based on seismic observations and other geophysical measurements, numerous studies suggested links between the increasing seismicity and wastewater injection during unconventional oil and gas exploration. To better monitor seismic events and investigate their triggering mechanisms, we need an accurate 3D crustal wavespeed model for the study region. Considering the uneven distribution of earthquakes in this area, seismic tomography with local earthquake records have difficulties achieving even illumination. To overcome this limitation, in this study, ambient noise cross-correlation functions are used to constrain subsurface variations in wavespeeds. I use adjoint tomography to iteratively fit frequency-dependent phase differences between observed and predicted band-limited Green's functions. The spectral-element method is used to numerically calculate the band-limited Green's functions and the adjoint method is used to calculate misfit gradients with respect to wavespeeds. Twenty five preconditioned conjugate gradient iterations are used to update model parameters and minimize data misfits. Features in the new crustal model TO25 correlates well with geological provinces in the study region, including the Llano uplift, the Anadarko basin and the Ouachita orogenic front, etc. In addition, there are relatively good correlations between seismic results with gravity and magnetic observations. This new crustal model can be used to better constrain earthquake source parameters in North Texas and Oklahoma, such as epicenter location as well as moment tensor solutions, which are important for investigating triggering mechanisms between these induced earthquakes and unconventional oil and gas exploration activities.

Positron emitter labeled enzyme inhibitors

DOEpatents

Fowler, Joanna S.; MacGregor, Robert R.; Wolf, Alfred P.; Langstrom, Bengt

1990-01-01

This invention involves a new strategy for imaging and mapping enzyme activity in the living human and animal body using positron emitter-labeled suicide enzyme inactivators or inhibitors which become covalently bound to the enzyme as a result of enzymatic catalysis. Two such suicide inactivators for monoamine oxidase have been labeled with carbon-11 and used to map the enzyme subtypes in the living human and animal body using PET. By using positron emission tomography to image the distribution of radioactivity produced by the body penetrating radiation emitted by carbon-11, a map of functionally active monoamine oxidase activity is obtained. Clorgyline and L-deprenyl are suicide enzyme inhibitors and irreversibly inhibit monoamine oxidase. When these inhibitors are labeled with carbon-11 they provide selective probes for monoamine oxidase localization and reactivity in vivo using positron emission tomography.

A radiologic correlation with the basic functional neuroanatomy of the brain.

PubMed

Bilicka, Z; Liska, M; Bluska, P; Bilicky, J

2014-01-01

Primary cortical areas for motor, sensory and sensitive functions are localized in certain areas of the brain cortex. In clinical practice, cross sectional imaging (computer tomography and magnetic resonance) is wildy used for diagnostics purpose, treatment planning and follow up of the patients. Accurate orientation in brain structures is necessary for the evaluation of radiological images. There are numerable landmark signs, which can be used for precise identification of important brain structures. In this review article, the mostly used anatomical landmarks are described and shown on the cross sectional images (magnetic resonance imaging) (Fig. 14, Ref. 25).

Pseudo-radar algorithms with two extremely wet months of disdrometer data in the Paris area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gires, A.; Tchiguirinskaia, I.; Schertzer, D.

2018-05-01

Disdrometer data collected during the two extremely wet months of May and June 2016 at the Ecole des Ponts ParisTech are used to get insights on radar algorithms. The rain rate and pseudo-radar quantities (horizontal and vertical reflectivity, specific differential phase shift) are all estimated over several durations with the help of drop size distributions (DSD) collected at 30 s time steps. The pseudo-radar quantities are defined with simplifying hypotheses, in particular on the DSD homogeneity. First it appears that the parameters of the standard radar relations Zh - R, R - Kdp and R - Zh - Zdr for these pseudo-radar quantities exhibit strong variability between events and even within an event. Second an innovative methodology that relies on checking the ability of a given algorithm to reproduce the good scale invariant multifractal behaviour (on scales 30 s - few h) observed on rainfall time series is implemented. In this framework, the classical hybrid model (Zh - R for low rain rates and R - Kdp for great ones) performs best, as well as the local estimates of the radar relations' parameters. However, we emphasise that due to the hypotheses on which they rely these observations cannot be straightforwardly extended to real radar quantities.

Kinetic and isotherm modeling of Cd (II) adsorption by L-cysteine functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes as adsorbent.

PubMed

Taghavi, Mahmoud; Zazouli, Mohammad Ali; Yousefi, Zabihollah; Akbari-adergani, Behrouz

2015-11-01

In this study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes were functionalized by L-cysteine to show the kinetic and isotherm modeling of Cd (II) ions onto L-cysteine functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The adsorption behavior of Cd (II) ion was studied by varying parameters including dose of L-MWCNTs, contact time, and cadmium concentration. Equilibrium adsorption isotherms and kinetics were also investigated based on Cd (II) adsorption tests. The results showed that an increase in contact time and adsorbent dosage resulted in increase of the adsorption rate. The optimum condition of the Cd (II) removal process was found at pH=7.0, 15 mg/L L-MWCNTs dosage, 6 mg/L cadmium concentration, and contact time of 60 min. The removal percent was equal to 89.56 at optimum condition. Langmuir and Freundlich models were employed to analyze the experimental data. The data showed well fitting with the Langmuir model (R2=0.994) with q max of 43.47 mg/g. Analyzing the kinetic data by the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order equations revealed that the adsorption of cadmium using L-MWSNTs following the pseudo-second-order kinetic model with correlation coefficients (R2) equals to 0.998, 0.992, and 0.998 for 3, 6, and 9 mg/L Cd (II) concentrations, respectively. The experimental data fitted very well with the pseudo-second-order. Overall, treatment of polluted solution to Cd (II) by adsorption process using L-MWCNT can be considered as an effective technology.

Cardiorespiratory Kinetics Determined by Pseudo-Random Binary Sequences - Comparisons between Walking and Cycling.

PubMed

Koschate, J; Drescher, U; Thieschäfer, L; Heine, O; Baum, K; Hoffmann, U

2016-12-01

This study aims to compare cardiorespiratory kinetics as a response to a standardised work rate protocol with pseudo-random binary sequences between cycling and walking in young healthy subjects. Muscular and pulmonary oxygen uptake (V̇O 2 ) kinetics as well as heart rate kinetics were expected to be similar for walking and cycling. Cardiac data and V̇O 2 of 23 healthy young subjects were measured in response to pseudo-random binary sequences. Kinetics were assessed applying time series analysis. Higher maxima of cross-correlation functions between work rate and the respective parameter indicate faster kinetics responses. Muscular V̇O 2 kinetics were estimated from heart rate and pulmonary V̇O 2 using a circulatory model. Muscular (walking vs. cycling [mean±SD in arbitrary units]: 0.40±0.08 vs. 0.41±0.08) and pulmonary V̇O 2 kinetics (0.35±0.06 vs. 0.35±0.06) were not different, although the time courses of the cross-correlation functions of pulmonary V̇O 2 showed unexpected biphasic responses. Heart rate kinetics (0.50±0.14 vs. 0.40±0.14; P=0.017) was faster for walking. Regarding the biphasic cross-correlation functions of pulmonary V̇O 2 during walking, the assessment of muscular V̇O 2 kinetics via pseudo-random binary sequences requires a circulatory model to account for cardio-dynamic distortions. Faster heart rate kinetics for walking should be considered by comparing results from cycle and treadmill ergometry. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

pLoc-mHum: predict subcellular localization of multi-location human proteins via general PseAAC to winnow out the crucial GO information.

PubMed

Cheng, Xiang; Xiao, Xuan; Chou, Kuo-Chen

2018-05-01

For in-depth understanding the functions of proteins in a cell, the knowledge of their subcellular localization is indispensable. The current study is focused on human protein subcellular location prediction based on the sequence information alone. Although considerable efforts have been made in this regard, the problem is far from being solved yet. Most existing methods can be used to deal with single-location proteins only. Actually, proteins with multi-locations may have some special biological functions that are particularly important for both basic research and drug design. Using the multi-label theory, we present a new predictor called 'pLoc-mHum' by extracting the crucial GO (Gene Ontology) information into the general PseAAC (Pseudo Amino Acid Composition). Rigorous cross-validations on a same stringent benchmark dataset have indicated that the proposed pLoc-mHum predictor is remarkably superior to iLoc-Hum, the state-of-the-art method in predicting the human protein subcellular localization. To maximize the convenience of most experimental scientists, a user-friendly web-server for the new predictor has been established at http://www.jci-bioinfo.cn/pLoc-mHum/, by which users can easily get their desired results without the need to go through the complicated mathematics involved. xcheng@gordonlifescience.org. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Seismic structure of the upper crust in the Albertine Rift from travel-time and ambient-noise tomography - a comparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jakovlev, Andrey; Kaviani, Ayoub; Ruempker, Georg

2017-04-01

Here we present results of the investigation of the upper crust in the Albertine rift around the Rwenzori Mountains. We use a data set collected from a temporary network of 33 broadband stations operated by the RiftLink research group between September 2009 and August 2011. During this period, 82639 P-wave and 73408 S-wave travel times from 12419 local and regional earthquakes were registered. This presents a very rare opportunity to apply both local travel-time and ambient-noise tomography to analyze data from the same network. For the local travel-time tomographic inversion the LOTOS algorithm (Koulakov, 2009) was used. The algorithm performs iterative simultaneous inversions for 3D models of P- and S-velocity anomalies in combination with earthquake locations and origin times. 28955 P- and S-wave picks from 2769 local earthquakes were used. To estimate the resolution and stability of the results a number of the synthetic and real data tests were performed. To perform the ambient noise tomography we use the following procedure. First, we follow the standard procedure described by Bensen et al. (2007) as modified by Boué et al. (2014) to compute the vertical component cross-correlation functions between all pairs of stations. We also adapted the algorithm introduced by Boué et al. (2014) and use the WHISPER software package (Briand et al., 2013) to preprocess individual daily vertical-component waveforms. On the next step, for each period, we use the method of Barmin et al. (2001) to invert the dispersion measurements along each path for group velocity tomographic maps. Finally, we adapt a modified version of the algorithm suggested by Macquet et al. (2014) to invert the group velocity maps for shear velocity structure. We apply several tests, which show that the best resolution is obtained at a period of 8 seconds, which correspond to a depth of approximately 6 km. Models of the seismic structure obtained by the two methods agree well at shallow depth of about 5 km Low velocities surround the mountain range from western and southern sides and coincide with the location of the rift valley. The Rwenzori Mountains itself and the eastern rift shoulder are represented by increased velocities. At greater depths of 10 - 15 km some differences in the models care observed. Thus, beneath the Rwenzories the travel time tomography shows low S-velocities, whereas the ambient noise tomography exhibits high S-velocities. This can be possibly explained by the fact that the ambient noise tomography is characterized by higher vertical resolution. Also, the number of the rays used for tomographic inversion in the ambient noise tomography is significantly smaller. This study was partly supported by the grant of Russian Foundation of Science #14-17-00430. References: Barmin, M.P., Ritzwoller, M.H. & Levshin, A.L., 2001. A fast and reliable method for surface wave tomography, Pure appl. Geophys., 158, 1351-1375. Bensen G.D., Ritzwoller M.H., Barmin M.P., Levshin A.L., Lin F., Moschetti M.P., Shapiro N.M., Yang Y., 2001, A fast and reliable method for surface wave tomography. Geophys. J. Int. 169, 1239-1260, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03374.x. Boué P., Poli P., Campillo M., Roux P., 2014, Reverberations, coda waves and ambient-noise: correlations at the global scale and retrieval of the deep phases. Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 391, 137-145. Briand X., Campillo M., Brenguier F., Boué P., Poli P., Roux P., Takeda T. AGU Fall Meeting. San Francisco, CA; 2013. Processing of terabytes of data for seismic noise analysis with the Python codes of the Whisper Suite. 9-13 December, in Proceedings of the , Abstract n°IN51B-1544. Koulakov, I. (2009), LOTOS code for local earthquake tomographic inversion. Benchmarks for testing tomographic algorithms, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 99, 194-214, doi:10.1785/0120080013.

Pseudo-constitutivity of nitrate-responsive genes in nitrate reductase mutants

PubMed Central

Schinko, Thorsten; Gallmetzer, Andreas; Amillis, Sotiris; Strauss, Joseph

2013-01-01

In fungi, transcriptional activation of genes involved in NO3- assimilation requires the presence of an inducer (nitrate or nitrite) and low intracellular concentrations of the pathway products ammonium or glutamine. In Aspergillus nidulans, the two transcription factors NirA and AreA act synergistically to mediate nitrate/nitrite induction and nitrogen metabolite derepression, respectively. In all studied fungi and in plants, mutants lacking nitrate reductase (NR) activity express nitrate-metabolizing enzymes constitutively without the addition of inducer molecules. Based on their work in A. nidulans, Cove and Pateman proposed an “autoregulation control” model for the synthesis of nitrate metabolizing enzymes in which the functional nitrate reductase molecule would act as co-repressor in the absence and as co-inducer in the presence of nitrate. However, NR mutants could simply show “pseudo-constitutivity” due to induction by nitrate which accumulates over time in NR-deficient strains. Here we examined this possibility using strains which lack flavohemoglobins (fhbs), and are thus unable to generate nitrate internally, in combination with nitrate transporter mutations (nrtA, nrtB) and a GFP-labeled NirA protein. Using different combinations of genotypes we demonstrate that nitrate transporters are functional also in NR null mutants and show that the constitutive phenotype of NR mutants is not due to nitrate accumulation from intracellular sources but depends on the activity of nitrate transporters. However, these transporters are not required for nitrate signaling because addition of external nitrate (10 mM) leads to standard induction of nitrate assimilatory genes in the nitrate transporter double mutants. We finally show that NR does not regulate NirA localization and activity, and thus the autoregulation model, in which NR would act as a co-repressor of NirA in the absence of nitrate, is unlikely to be correct. Results from this study instead suggest that transporter-mediated NO3- accumulation in NR deficient mutants, originating from traces of nitrate in the media, is responsible for the constitutive expression of NirA-regulated genes, and the associated phenotype is thus termed “pseudo-constitutive”. PMID:23454548

Pseudo Random Stimulus Response of Combustion Systems.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-01-01

is also 7 applicable to the coalescence/dispersion (C/D) micromixing model In the C/D model, micromixing is simulated by considering the reacting...the turbulent fluctuations on the local heat release rate. Thus the micromixing ’noise’ measurements will not be valid, however, deductions

Positron emission tomography in neurological diseases.

PubMed

Kumar, Sudhir; Rajshekher, G; Prabhakar, Subhashini

2005-06-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) is the study of human physiology by electronic detection of positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals. It is one of the noninvasive technologies that can measure the metabolic and functional activity of living tissue. Positron emission tomography finds its clinical applications in broadly three specialties--oncology, cardiology, and neurology. The current review focuses on its indications in neurological diseases. Recently published literature on the use of PET in neurology has been thoroughly analyzed. Several reports regarding the usage of PET in epilepsy, stroke, dementia, and movement disorders are available. Positron emission tomography does not appear to be useful as a primary or sole imaging technique in these conditions. On the other hand, it is useful in very specific situations, which have been elaborated in the review. It is also noteworthy that PET is complementary to the computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging findings and data obtained from combining these modalities can be valuable in situations such as localization of the epileptogenic focus in cases of refractory epilepsy or for prediction of the outcome after thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke. The major handicaps in widespread use of PET appear to be its lack of availability and its relatively high cost. Nevertheless, a review such as this would be helpful in judiciously selecting those patients who would benefit from undergoing a PET scan, at a time when PET imaging facility is likely to be available soon in the Indian private sector.

Preoperative (3-dimensional) computed tomography lung reconstruction before anatomic segmentectomy or lobectomy for stage I non-small cell lung cancer.

PubMed

Chan, Ernest G; Landreneau, James R; Schuchert, Matthew J; Odell, David D; Gu, Suicheng; Pu, Jiantao; Luketich, James D; Landreneau, Rodney J

2015-09-01

Accurate cancer localization and negative resection margins are necessary for successful segmentectomy. In this study, we evaluate a newly developed software package that permits automated segmentation of the pulmonary parenchyma, allowing 3-dimensional assessment of tumor size, location, and estimates of surgical margins. A pilot study using a newly developed 3-dimensional computed tomography analytic software package was performed to retrospectively evaluate preoperative computed tomography images of patients who underwent segmentectomy (n = 36) or lobectomy (n = 15) for stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer. The software accomplishes an automated reconstruction of anatomic pulmonary segments of the lung based on bronchial arborization. Estimates of anticipated surgical margins and pulmonary segmental volume were made on the basis of 3-dimensional reconstruction. Autosegmentation was achieved in 72.7% (32/44) of preoperative computed tomography images with slice thicknesses of 3 mm or less. Reasons for segmentation failure included local severe emphysema or pneumonitis, and lower computed tomography resolution. Tumor segmental localization was achieved in all autosegmented studies. The 3-dimensional computed tomography analysis provided a positive predictive value of 87% in predicting a marginal clearance greater than 1 cm and a 75% positive predictive value in predicting a margin to tumor diameter ratio greater than 1 in relation to the surgical pathology assessment. This preoperative 3-dimensional computed tomography analysis of segmental anatomy can confirm the tumor location within an anatomic segment and aid in predicting surgical margins. This 3-dimensional computed tomography information may assist in the preoperative assessment regarding the suitability of segmentectomy for peripheral lung cancers. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Photonic Breast Tomography and Tumor Aggressiveness Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

important issue appears in one of our earlier publications [33]. The background image was also cropped and binned cor- responding to the ROI for each...r Gm rd r ω T T Gx r rs ω λx rs r Gm rd r ω λm r rd ω fj j th mj j j jf c V ir r γ cm τ K λx λm i.e. ω 5.2.4.1. Fluorescence TROT TSDDS K T K...plane, and how it is cropped and binned for analysis. 5.2. (a) and (c) are TROT-generated pseudo images at the z = 20.5 mm and 18.5 mm for the left and

Local Earthquake P-wave Tomography at Mount St. Helens with the iMUSH Broadband Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulberg, C. W.; Creager, K. C.; Moran, S. C.; Abers, G. A.; Crosbie, K.; Crosson, R. S.; Denlinger, R. P.; Thelen, W. A.; Hansen, S. M.; Schmandt, B.; Kiser, E.; Levander, A.; Bachmann, O.

2016-12-01

We deployed 70 broadband seismometers in the summer of 2014 to image the seismic velocity structure beneath Mount St. Helens (MSH), Washington, as part of the collaborative imaging Magma Under St. Helens (iMUSH) project. Our goal is to illuminate the MSH magmatic system by integrating all portions of the iMUSH experiment, including active- and passive-source tomography, ambient-noise tomography, seismicity, receiver functions, magnetotellurics, and petrology. The broadband array has a diameter of 100 km centered on MSH with an average station spacing of 10 km, and was deployed through summer 2016. It is augmented by dozens of permanent stations in the area. We determine P-wave arrival times and also incorporate picks from the permanent network. There were more than 250 local events during the first year of iMUSH broadband recording, which have provided over 11,000 high-quality arrival times. The iMUSH experiment included 23 active shots in 2014 that were recorded with good signal-to-noise ratios across the entire array. Direct raypaths from local earthquakes and active shots reach 15-20 km depth beneath MSH. We use the program struct3DP to iteratively invert travel times to obtain a 3-D seismic velocity model and relocate hypocenters. Travel times are computed using a 3-D eikonal-equation solver. We are expanding our analysis to include S-wave arrivals from local events. The preliminary 3-D model shows low P-wave speeds along the St. Helens seismic zone, striking NNW-SSE of MSH from near the surface to where we lose resolution at 15-20km depth. This seismic zone coincides with a sharp boundary in Moho reflectivity that has been interpreted as the eastern boundary of a serpentinized mantle wedge (Hansen et al, 2016, submitted). We speculate that the seismic zone and low wave speeds are related to fluids rising from the eastern boundary of the wedge.

[EEG source localization using LORETA (low resolution electromagnetic tomography)].

PubMed

Puskás, Szilvia

2011-03-30

Eledctroencephalography (EEG) has excellent temporal resolution, but the spatial resolution is poor. Different source localization methods exist to solve the so-called inverse problem, thus increasing the accuracy of spatial localization. This paper provides an overview of the history of source localization and the main categories of techniques are discussed. LORETA (low resolution electromagnetic tomography) is introduced in details: technical informations are discussed and localization properties of LORETA method are compared to other inverse solutions. Validation of the method with different imaging techniques is also discussed. This paper reviews several publications using LORETA both in healthy persons and persons with different neurological and psychiatric diseases. Finally future possible applications are discussed.

The Impact of Language Opacity and Proficiency on Reading Strategies in Bilinguals: An Eye Movement Study.

PubMed

de León Rodríguez, Diego; Buetler, Karin A; Eggenberger, Noëmi; Laganaro, Marina; Nyffeler, Thomas; Annoni, Jean-Marie; Müri, René M

2016-01-01

Reading strategies vary across languages according to orthographic depth - the complexity of the grapheme in relation to phoneme conversion rules - notably at the level of eye movement patterns. We recently demonstrated that a group of early bilinguals, who learned both languages equally under the age of seven, presented a first fixation location (FFL) closer to the beginning of words when reading in German as compared with French. Since German is known to be orthographically more transparent than French, this suggested that different strategies were being engaged depending on the orthographic depth of the used language. Opaque languages induce a global reading strategy, and transparent languages force a local/serial strategy. Thus, pseudo-words were processed using a local strategy in both languages, suggesting that the link between word forms and their lexical representation may also play a role in selecting a specific strategy. In order to test whether corresponding effects appear in late bilinguals with low proficiency in their second language (L2), we present a new study in which we recorded eye movements while two groups of late German-French and French-German bilinguals read aloud isolated French and German words and pseudo-words. Since, a transparent reading strategy is local and serial, with a high number of fixations per stimuli, and the level of the bilingual participants' L2 is low, the impact of language opacity should be observed in L1. We therefore predicted a global reading strategy if the bilinguals' L1 was French (FFL close to the middle of the stimuli with fewer fixations per stimuli) and a local and serial reading strategy if it was German. Thus, the L2 of each group, as well as pseudo-words, should also require a local and serial reading strategy. Our results confirmed these hypotheses, suggesting that global word processing is only achieved by bilinguals with an opaque L1 when reading in an opaque language; the low level in the L2 gives way to a local and serial reading strategy. These findings stress the fact that reading behavior is influenced not only by the linguistic mode but also by top-down factors, such as readers' proficiency.

Adaptive strain prompting a pseudo-morphotropic phase boundary in ferroelectric (1-x ) Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-x BaTiO3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Datta, K.; Neder, R. B.; Richter, A.; Göbbels, M.; Neuefeind, J. C.; Mihailova, B.

2018-05-01

The understanding of the atomistic origin of the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) occurring in composition-temperature phase diagrams of ferroelectric solid solutions is a key topic in material science because materials often exhibit anomalous properties at the MPB. Here we reveal mesoscopic-scale structural correlations for a leading Pb-free ferroelectric system, (1 -x ) Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-x BaTiO3 (NBT-x BT ), by examining atomic pair distribution functions and Raman scattering data at ambient conditions. We demonstrate that the amplification of the piezoelectric properties of NBT-x BT at the MPB are predominantly driven by an easy switchability resulting from a progressive decoupling between strain and polarization as the Ba content increases from zero to the critical MPB composition. It was observed that as Ba content increases towards MPB, competing local correlations, such as A-site chemical order, antiferrodistortive correlations of correlated BO6 tilts, and antipolar Bi shifts, are reduced, which in turn renders favorable conditions for easy switching of local dipoles under external fields. In addition, the evolving characteristics of the atomic dynamics as a function of composition suggest that the local potential functions of the cations are not completely flat at the MPB. Altogether, our results reveal atomistic mechanisms responsible for the observed elevated MPB properties in the case of NBT-x BT which imply that the so-called MPB of NBT-x BT should not be categorized as originally introduced for Pb-containing solid solutions.

A pseudo-elastic effective material property representation of the costal cartilage for use in finite element models of the whole human body.

PubMed

Forman, Jason L; de Dios, Eduardo del Pozo; Kent, Richard W

2010-12-01

Injury-predictive finite element (FE) models of the chest must reproduce the structural coupling behavior of the costal cartilage accurately. Gross heterogeneities (the perichondrium and calcifications) may cause models developed based on local material properties to erroneously predict the structural behavior of cartilage segments. This study sought to determine the pseudo-elastic effective material properties required to reproduce the structural behavior of the costal cartilage under loading similar to what might occur in a frontal automobile collision. Twenty-eight segments of cadaveric costal cartilage were subjected to cantilever-like, dynamic loading. Three limited-mesh FE models were then developed for each specimen, having element sizes of 10 mm (typical of current whole-body FE models), 3 mm, and 2 mm. The cartilage was represented as a homogeneous, isotropic, linear elastic material. The elastic moduli of the cartilage models were optimized to fit the anterior-posterior (x-axis) force versus displacement responses observed in the experiments. For a subset of specimens, additional model validation tests were performed under a second boundary condition. The pseudo-elastic effective moduli ranged from 4.8 to 49 MPa, with an average and standard deviation of 22 ± 13.6 MPa. The models were limited in their ability to reproduce the lateral (y-axis) force responses observed in the experiments. The prediction of the x-axis and y-axis forces in the second boundary condition varied. Neither the effective moduli nor the model fit were significantly affected (Student's t-test, p < 0.05) by the model mesh density. The average pseudo-elastic effective moduli were significantly (p < 0.05) greater than local costal cartilage modulus values reported in the literature. These results are consistent with the presence of stiffening heterogeneities within the costal cartilage structure. These effective modulus values may provide guidance for the representation of the costal cartilage in whole-body FE models where these heterogeneities cannot be modeled distinctly.

Shear-wave velocities beneath the Harrat Rahat volcanic field, Saudi Arabia, using ambient seismic noise analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Civilini, F.; Mooney, W.; Savage, M. K.; Townend, J.; Zahran, H. M.

2017-12-01

We present seismic shear-velocities for Harrat Rahat, a Cenozoic bimodal alkaline volcanic field in west-central Saudi Arabia, using seismic tomography from natural ambient noise. This project is part of an overall effort by the Saudi Geological Survey and the United States Geological Survey to describe the subsurface structure and assess hazards within the Saudi Arabian shield. Volcanism at Harrat Rahat began approximately 10 Ma, with at least three pulses around 10, 5, and 2 Ma, and at least several pulses in the Quaternary from 1.9 Ma to the present. This area is instrumented by 14 broadband Nanometrics Trillium T120 instruments across an array aperture of approximately 130 kilometers. We used a year of recorded natural ambient noise to determine group and phase velocity surface wave dispersion maps with a 0.1 decimal degree resolution for radial-radial, transverse-transverse, and vertical-vertical components of the empirical Green's function. A grid-search method was used to carry out 1D shear-velocity inversions at each latitude-longitude point and the results were interpolated to produce pseudo-3D shear velocity models. The dispersion maps resolved a zone of slow surface wave velocity south-east of the city of Medina spatially correlated with the 1256 CE eruption. A crustal layer interface at approximately 20 km depth was determined by the inversions for all components, matching the results of prior seismic-refraction studies. Cross-sections of the 3D shear velocity models were compared to gravity measurements obtained in the south-east edge of the field. We found that measurements of low gravity qualitatively correlate with low values of shear-velocity below 20 km along the cross-section profile. We apply these methods to obtain preliminary tomography results on the entire Arabian Shield.

Future aspects of cellular and molecular research in clinical voice treatment aspects of optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedersen, Mette; Mahmood, Sanila

2015-02-01

Focus is upon our clinical experience in a prospective cohort study on cure of dystonia where the mode of treatment was fexofenadine tablets and local budesonide inhaler in the larynx, and in a randomized controlled trial of lifestyle change related to acid provocation of food and habits in laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). The advanced high-speed films is one new tool, another being optical coherence tomography (OCT), which should be used in the future in randomized controlled trials. We are focusing on OCT of the swallowing process in the oesophagaus and larynx as well as the vocal fold function. It can be shown on OCT how the layer of the vocal folds develop, possibly corresponding to hormonal and paediatric development. The arytenoid area in the larynx should also be focused upon with OCT in pathology. The thyroid function is related to voice and the swallowing function, both hormonally and pathoanatomically. We know too little about voice and thyroid hormones in an updated way as well as the outer anatomic supporting muscular structure of the larynx, related to thyroid immune degeneration and cysts. Also, here OCT analyses might be of value.

Dual Double-Wedge Pseudo-Depolarizer with Anamorphic PSF

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hill, Peter; Thompson, Patrick

2012-01-01

A polarized scene, which may occur at oblique illumination angles, creates a radiometric signal that varies as a function of viewing angle. One common optical component that is used to minimize such an effect is a polarization scrambler or depolarizer. As part of the CLARREO mission, the SOLARIS instrument project at Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a new class of polarization scramblers using a dual double-wedge pseudo-depolarizer that produces an anamorphic point spread function (PSF). The SOLARIS instrument uses two Wollaston type scramblers in series, each with a distinct wedge angle, to image a pseudo-depolarized scene that is free of eigenstates. Since each wedge is distinct, the scrambler is able to produce an anamorphic PSF that maintains high spatial resolution in one dimension by sacrificing the spatial resolution in the other dimension. This scrambler geometry is ideal for 1-D imagers, such as pushbroom slit spectrometers, which require high spectral resolution, high spatial resolution, and low sensitivity to polarized light. Moreover, the geometry is applicable to a wide range of scientific instruments that require both high SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) and low sensitivity to polarized scenes

[Sciatic nerve intraneural perineurioma].

PubMed

Bonhomme, Benjamin; Poussange, Nicolas; Le Collen, Philippe; Fabre, Thierry; Vital, Anne; Lepreux, Sébastien

2015-12-01

Intraneural perineurioma is a benign tumor developed from the perineurium and responsible for localized nerve hypertrophy. This uncommon tumor is characterized by a proliferation of perineural cells with a "pseudo-onion bulb" pattern. We report a sciatic nerve intraneural perineurioma in a 39-year-old patient. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Atomically resolved structure of ligand-protected Au{sub 9} clusters on TiO{sub 2} nanosheets using aberration-corrected STEM

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

Al Qahtani, Hassan S.; Andersson, Gunther G., E-mail: gunther.andersson@flinders.edu.au, E-mail: nakayama.tomonobu@nims.go.jp; Kimoto, Koji

2016-03-21

Triphenylphosphine ligand-protected Au{sub 9} clusters deposited onto titania nanosheets show three different atomic configurations as observed by scanning transmission electron microscopy. The configurations observed are a 3-dimensional structure, corresponding to the previously proposed Au{sub 9} core of the clusters, and two pseudo-2-dimensional (pseudo-2D) structures, newly found by this work. With the help of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the observed pseudo-2D structures are attributed to the low energy, de-ligated structures formed through interaction with the substrate. The combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy with DFT calculations thus allows identifying whether or not the deposited Au{sub 9} clusters have been de-ligatedmore » in the deposition process.« less

Exact solution to the Schrödinger’s equation with pseudo-Gaussian potential

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

Iacob, Felix, E-mail: felix@physics.uvt.ro; Lute, Marina, E-mail: marina.lute@upt.ro

2015-12-15

We consider the radial Schrödinger equation with the pseudo-Gaussian potential. By making an ansatz to the solution of the eigenvalue equation for the associate Hamiltonian, we arrive at the general exact eigenfunction. The values of energy levels for the bound states are calculated along with their corresponding normalized wave-functions. The case of positive energy levels, known as meta-stable states, is also discussed and the magnitude of transmission coefficient through the potential barrier is evaluated.

Real time en face Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography with direct hardware frequency demodulation

PubMed Central

Biedermann, Benjamin R.; Wieser, Wolfgang; Eigenwillig, Christoph M.; Palte, Gesa; Adler, Desmond C.; Srinivasan, Vivek J.; Fujimoto, James G.; Huber, Robert

2009-01-01

We demonstrate en face swept source optical coherence tomography (ss-OCT) without requiring a Fourier transformation step. The electronic optical coherence tomography (OCT) interference signal from a k-space linear Fourier domain mode-locked laser is mixed with an adjustable local oscillator, yielding the analytic reflectance signal from one image depth for each frequency sweep of the laser. Furthermore, a method for arbitrarily shaping the spectral intensity profile of the laser is presented, without requiring the step of numerical apodization. In combination, these two techniques enable sampling of the in-phase and quadrature signal with a slow analog-to-digital converter and allow for real-time display of en face projections even for highest axial scan rates. Image data generated with this technique is compared to en face images extracted from a three-dimensional OCT data set. This technique can allow for real-time visualization of arbitrarily oriented en face planes for the purpose of alignment, registration, or operator-guided survey scans while simultaneously maintaining the full capability of high-speed volumetric ss-OCT functionality. PMID:18978919

Quantum tomography enhanced through parametric amplification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knyazev, E.; Spasibko, K. Yu; Chekhova, M. V.; Khalili, F. Ya

2018-01-01

Quantum tomography is the standard method of reconstructing the Wigner function of quantum states of light by means of balanced homodyne detection. The reconstruction quality strongly depends on the photodetectors quantum efficiency and other losses in the measurement setup. In this article we analyze in detail a protocol of enhanced quantum tomography, proposed by Leonhardt and Paul [1] which allows one to reduce the degrading effect of detection losses. It is based on phase-sensitive parametric amplification, with the phase of the amplified quadrature being scanned synchronously with the local oscillator phase. Although with sufficiently strong amplification the protocol enables overcoming any detection inefficiency, it was so far not implemented in the experiment, probably due to the losses in the amplifier. Here we discuss a possible proof-of-principle experiment with a traveling-wave parametric amplifier. We show that with the state-of-the-art optical elements, the protocol enables high fidelity tomographic reconstruction of bright non-classical states of light. We consider two examples: bright squeezed vacuum and squeezed single-photon state, with the latter being a non-Gaussian state and both strongly affected by the losses.

A knowledge-based potential with an accurate description of local interactions improves discrimination between native and near-native protein conformations.

PubMed

Ferrada, Evandro; Vergara, Ismael A; Melo, Francisco

2007-01-01

The correct discrimination between native and near-native protein conformations is essential for achieving accurate computer-based protein structure prediction. However, this has proven to be a difficult task, since currently available physical energy functions, empirical potentials and statistical scoring functions are still limited in achieving this goal consistently. In this work, we assess and compare the ability of different full atom knowledge-based potentials to discriminate between native protein structures and near-native protein conformations generated by comparative modeling. Using a benchmark of 152 near-native protein models and their corresponding native structures that encompass several different folds, we demonstrate that the incorporation of close non-bonded pairwise atom terms improves the discriminating power of the empirical potentials. Since the direct and unbiased derivation of close non-bonded terms from current experimental data is not possible, we obtained and used those terms from the corresponding pseudo-energy functions of a non-local knowledge-based potential. It is shown that this methodology significantly improves the discrimination between native and near-native protein conformations, suggesting that a proper description of close non-bonded terms is important to achieve a more complete and accurate description of native protein conformations. Some external knowledge-based energy functions that are widely used in model assessment performed poorly, indicating that the benchmark of models and the specific discrimination task tested in this work constitutes a difficult challenge.

[Computed tomography semiotics of osteonecrosis and sequestration in chronic hematogenic osteomyelitis].

PubMed

D'iachkova, G V; Mitina, Iu L

2007-01-01

Based on the data of computed tomography, radiography and densitometry in 39 patients the authors describe in detail the signs of osteonecrosis and sequestration of different localization and extension.

Positron emitter labeled enzyme inhibitors

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

Fowler, J.S.; MacGregor, R.R.; Wolf, A.P.

This invention involves a new strategy for imaging and mapping enzyme activity in the living human and animal body using positron emitter-labeled suicide enzyme inactivators or inhibitors which become covalently bound to the enzyme as a result of enzymatic catalysis. Two such suicide inactivators for monoamine oxidase have been labeled with carbon-11 and used to map the enzyme subtypes in the living human and animal body using PET. By using positron emission tomography to image the distribution of radioactivity produced by the body penetrating radiation emitted by carbon-11, a map of functionally active monoamine oxidase activity is obtained. Clorgyline andmore » L-deprenyl are suicide enzyme inhibitors and irreversibly inhibit monoamine oxidase. When these inhibitors are labeled with carbon-11 they provide selective probes for monoamine oxidase localization and reactivity in vivo using positron emission tomography.« less

Positron emitter labeled enzyme inhibitors

DOEpatents

Fowler, J.S.; MacGregor, R.R.; Wolf, A.P.

1987-05-22

This invention involved a new strategy for imaging and mapping enzyme activity in the living human and animal body using positron emitter-labeled suicide enzyme inactivators or inhibitors which become covalently bound to the enzyme as a result of enzymatic catalysis. Two such suicide in activators for monoamine oxidase have been labeled with carbon-11 and used to map the enzyme subtypes in the living human and animal body using PET. By using positron emission tomography to image the distribution of radioactivity produced by the body penetrating radiation emitted by carbon-11, a map of functionally active monoamine oxidase activity is obtained. Clorgyline and L-deprenyl are suicide enzyme inhibitors and irreversibly inhibit monoamine oxidase. When these inhibitors are labeled with carbon-11 they provide selective probes for monoamine oxidase localization and reactivity in vivo using positron emission tomography. 2 figs.

Positron emitter labeled enzyme inhibitors

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

Fowler, J.S.; MacGregor, R.R.; Wolf, A.P.

This invention involved a new strategy for imaging and mapping enzyme activity in the living human and animal body using positron emitter-labeled suicide enzyme inactivators or inhibitors which become covalently bound to the enzyme as a result of enzymatic catalysis. Two such suicide in activators for monoamine oxidase have been labeled with carbon-11 and used to map the enzyme subtypes in the living human and animal body using PET. By using positron emission tomography to image the distribution of radioactivity produced by the body penetrating radiation emitted by carbon-11, a map of functionally active monoamine oxidase activity is obtained. Clorgylinemore » and L-deprenyl are suicide enzyme inhibitors and irreversibly inhibit monoamine oxidase. When these inhibitors are labeled with carbon-11 they provide selective probes for monoamine oxidase localization and reactivity in vivo using positron emission tomography. 2 figs.« less

Regional regularization method for ECT based on spectral transformation of Laplacian

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Z. H.; Kan, Z.; Lv, D. C.; Shao, F. Q.

2016-10-01

Image reconstruction in electrical capacitance tomography is an ill-posed inverse problem, and regularization techniques are usually used to solve the problem for suppressing noise. An anisotropic regional regularization algorithm for electrical capacitance tomography is constructed using a novel approach called spectral transformation. Its function is derived and applied to the weighted gradient magnitude of the sensitivity of Laplacian as a regularization term. With the optimum regional regularizer, the a priori knowledge on the local nonlinearity degree of the forward map is incorporated into the proposed online reconstruction algorithm. Simulation experimentations were performed to verify the capability of the new regularization algorithm to reconstruct a superior quality image over two conventional Tikhonov regularization approaches. The advantage of the new algorithm for improving performance and reducing shape distortion is demonstrated with the experimental data.

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

Moignier, Alexandra, E-mail: alexandra.moignier@irsn.fr; Derreumaux, Sylvie; Broggio, David

Purpose: Current retrospective cardiovascular dosimetry studies are based on a representative patient or simple mathematic phantoms. Here, a process of patient modeling was developed to personalize the anatomy of the thorax and to include a heart model with coronary arteries. Methods and Materials: The patient models were hybrid computational phantoms (HCPs) with an inserted detailed heart model. A computed tomography (CT) acquisition (pseudo-CT) was derived from HCP and imported into a treatment planning system where treatment conditions were reproduced. Six current patients were selected: 3 were modeled from their CT images (A patients) and the others were modelled from 2more » orthogonal radiographs (B patients). The method performance and limitation were investigated by quantitative comparison between the initial CT and the pseudo-CT, namely, the morphology and the dose calculation were compared. For the B patients, a comparison with 2 kinds of representative patients was also conducted. Finally, dose assessment was focused on the whole coronary artery tree and the left anterior descending coronary. Results: When 3-dimensional anatomic information was available, the dose calculations performed on the initial CT and the pseudo-CT were in good agreement. For the B patients, comparison of doses derived from HCP and representative patients showed that the HCP doses were either better or equivalent. In the left breast radiation therapy context and for the studied cases, coronary mean doses were at least 5-fold higher than heart mean doses. Conclusions: For retrospective dose studies, it is suggested that HCP offers a better surrogate, in terms of dose accuracy, than representative patients. The use of a detailed heart model eliminates the problem of identifying the coronaries on the patient's CT.« less

Percutaneous trans-hepatic gelfoam-cyanoacrylate glue embolization for ruptured post-traumatic hepatic artery pseudo-aneurysm in a limited-resource scenario.

PubMed

Kumar, Manoj; Goel, Prabudh; Rawat, J D; Kumari, Shweta; Shankhwar, S N; Kureel, S N

2013-05-01

We present our experience with an indigenously designed percutaneous trans-hepatic ultrasound-guided Gelfoam sponge cum cyanoacrylate glue-based embolization technique for the treatment of a ruptured post-traumatic aneurysm of a branch of the right hepatic artery (RHA) as a 'life-saving emergent' procedure in a patient unfit for surgery or endovascular intervention and in a 'limited-resource' scenario (non-availability of Digital Subtraction Angiography Suite). An 8-year-old boy sustained crush-injury to the right lobe of the liver in a road-traffic accident and presented in shock. After resuscitation, a laparotomy and repair of the right lobe of liver were undertaken. Bleeding restarted 1 week after the surgery; the patient bled from drain site and went into shock. Exploration was not advisable in view of poor general condition, and sepsis, deranged coagulation and parental reluctance in view of guarded prognosis. Multi-detector Computed Tomography Angiography was performed after resuscitation which revealed active bleed from a ruptured pseudo-aneurysm of a branch of RHA. The bleeding artery was identified with duplex sonography and was embolized by the percutaneous trans-hepatic route proximal to the site of pseudo-aneurysm and rupture by a two-step process. Initially, a thin paste/'slurry' made of powdered gelfoam dissolved in sterile saline was injected into the bleeding vessel. Subsequently, the area was sealed by injecting 1.0 ml of N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate glue. Hemostasis was confirmed by Color and Power Doppler Ultrasonography both post-procedure and after 48 h. With supportive management, the patient showed a rapid recovery and was discharged after 2 weeks. He continues to be well at 3-month follow-up. The technique was effective in controlling hemostasis and life-saving in our set-up.

Pseudo almost periodic solutions to some systems of nonlinear hyperbolic second-order partial differential equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Islam, Najja Shakir

In this Dissertation, the existence of pseudo almost periodic solutions to some systems of nonlinear hyperbolic second-order partial differential equations is established. For that, (Al-Islam [4]) is first studied and then obtained under some suitable assumptions. That is, the existence of pseudo almost periodic solutions to a hyperbolic second-order partial differential equation with delay. The second-order partial differential equation (1) represents a mathematical model for the dynamics of gas absorption, given by uxt+a x,tux=Cx,t,u x,t , u0,t=4 t, 1 where a : [0, L] x RR , C : [0, L] x R x RR , and ϕ : RR are (jointly) continuous functions ( t being the greatest integer function) and L > 0. The results in this Dissertation generalize those of Poorkarimi and Wiener [22]. Secondly, a generalization of the above-mentioned system consisting of the non-linear hyperbolic second-order partial differential equation uxt+a x,tux+bx,t ut+cx,tu=f x,t,u, x∈ 0,L,t∈ R, 2 equipped with the boundary conditions ux,0 =40x, u0,t=u 0t, uxx,0=y 0x, x∈0,L, t∈R, 3 where a, b, c : [0, L ] x RR and f : [0, L] x R x RR are (jointly) continuous functions is studied. Under some suitable assumptions, the existence and uniqueness of pseudo almost periodic solutions to particular cases, as well as the general case of the second-order hyperbolic partial differential equation (2) are studied. The results of all studies contained within this text extend those obtained by Aziz and Meyers [6] in the periodic setting.

Amino-functionalized mesoporous MCM-41 silica as an efficient adsorbent for water treatment: batch and fixed-bed column adsorption of the nitrate anion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebrahimi-Gatkash, Mehdi; Younesi, Habibollah; Shahbazi, Afsaneh; Heidari, Ava

2017-07-01

In the present study, amino-functionalized Mobil Composite Material No. 41 (MCM-41) was used as an adsorbent to remove nitrate anions from aqueous solutions. Mono-, di- and tri-amino functioned silicas (N-MCM-41, NN-MCM-41 and NNN-MCM-41) were prepared by post-synthesis grafting method. The samples were characterized by means of X-ray powder diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. The effects of pH, initial concentration of anions, and adsorbent loading were examined in batch adsorption system. Results of adsorption experiments showed that the adsorption capacity increased with increasing adsorbent loading and initial anion concentration. It was found that the Langmuir mathematical model indicated better fit to the experimental data than the Freundlich. According to the constants of the Langmuir equation, the maximum adsorption capacity for nitrate anion by N-MCM-41, NN-MCM-41 and NNN-MCM-41 was found to be 31.68, 38.58 and 36.81 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption kinetics were investigated with pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order model. Adsorption followed the pseudo-second-order rate kinetics. The coefficients of determination for pseudo-second-order kinetic model are >0.99. For continuous adsorption experiments, NNN-MCM-41 adsorbent was used for the removal of nitrate anion from solutions. Breakthrough curves were investigated at different bed heights, flow rates and initial nitrate anion concentrations. The Thomas and Yan models were utilized to calculate the kinetic parameters and to predict the breakthrough curves of different bed height. Results from this study illustrated the potential utility of these adsorbents for nitrate removal from water solution.

Protein Sub-Nuclear Localization Prediction Using SVM and Pfam Domain Information

PubMed Central

Kumar, Ravindra; Jain, Sohni; Kumari, Bandana; Kumar, Manish

2014-01-01

The nucleus is the largest and the highly organized organelle of eukaryotic cells. Within nucleus exist a number of pseudo-compartments, which are not separated by any membrane, yet each of them contains only a specific set of proteins. Understanding protein sub-nuclear localization can hence be an important step towards understanding biological functions of the nucleus. Here we have described a method, SubNucPred developed by us for predicting the sub-nuclear localization of proteins. This method predicts protein localization for 10 different sub-nuclear locations sequentially by combining presence or absence of unique Pfam domain and amino acid composition based SVM model. The prediction accuracy during leave-one-out cross-validation for centromeric proteins was 85.05%, for chromosomal proteins 76.85%, for nuclear speckle proteins 81.27%, for nucleolar proteins 81.79%, for nuclear envelope proteins 79.37%, for nuclear matrix proteins 77.78%, for nucleoplasm proteins 76.98%, for nuclear pore complex proteins 88.89%, for PML body proteins 75.40% and for telomeric proteins it was 83.33%. Comparison with other reported methods showed that SubNucPred performs better than existing methods. A web-server for predicting protein sub-nuclear localization named SubNucPred has been established at http://14.139.227.92/mkumar/subnucpred/. Standalone version of SubNucPred can also be downloaded from the web-server. PMID:24897370

Majorana states in prismatic core-shell nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manolescu, Andrei; Sitek, Anna; Osca, Javier; Serra, Llorenç; Gudmundsson, Vidar; Stanescu, Tudor Dan

2017-09-01

We consider core-shell nanowires with conductive shell and insulating core and with polygonal cross section. We investigate the implications of this geometry on Majorana states expected in the presence of proximity-induced superconductivity and an external magnetic field. A typical prismatic nanowire has a hexagonal profile, but square and triangular shapes can also be obtained. The low-energy states are localized at the corners of the cross section, i.e., along the prism edges, and are separated by a gap from higher energy states localized on the sides. The corner localization depends on the details of the shell geometry, i.e., thickness, diameter, and sharpness of the corners. We study systematically the low-energy spectrum of prismatic shells using numerical methods and derive the topological phase diagram as a function of magnetic field and chemical potential for triangular, square, and hexagonal geometries. A strong corner localization enhances the stability of Majorana modes to various perturbations, including the orbital effect of the magnetic field, whereas a weaker localization favorizes orbital effects and reduces the critical magnetic field. The prismatic geometry allows the Majorana zero-energy modes to be accompanied by low-energy states, which we call pseudo Majorana, and which converge to real Majoranas in the limit of small shell thickness. We include the Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a phenomenological manner, assuming a radial electric field across the shell.

Comparison of x ray computed tomography number to proton relative linear stopping power conversion functions using a standard phantom.

PubMed

Moyers, M F

2014-06-01

Adequate evaluation of the results from multi-institutional trials involving light ion beam treatments requires consideration of the planning margins applied to both targets and organs at risk. A major uncertainty that affects the size of these margins is the conversion of x ray computed tomography numbers (XCTNs) to relative linear stopping powers (RLSPs). Various facilities engaged in multi-institutional clinical trials involving proton beams have been applying significantly different margins in their patient planning. This study was performed to determine the variance in the conversion functions used at proton facilities in the U.S.A. wishing to participate in National Cancer Institute sponsored clinical trials. A simplified method of determining the conversion function was developed using a standard phantom containing only water and aluminum. The new method was based on the premise that all scanners have their XCTNs for air and water calibrated daily to constant values but that the XCTNs for high density/high atomic number materials are variable with different scanning conditions. The standard phantom was taken to 10 different proton facilities and scanned with the local protocols resulting in 14 derived conversion functions which were compared to the conversion functions used at the local facilities. For tissues within ±300 XCTN of water, all facility functions produced converted RLSP values within ±6% of the values produced by the standard function and within 8% of the values from any other facility's function. For XCTNs corresponding to lung tissue, converted RLSP values differed by as great as ±8% from the standard and up to 16% from the values of other facilities. For XCTNs corresponding to low-density immobilization foam, the maximum to minimum values differed by as much as 40%. The new method greatly simplifies determination of the conversion function, reduces ambiguity, and in the future could promote standardization between facilities. Although it was not possible from these experiments to determine which conversion function is most appropriate, the variation between facilities suggests that the margins used in some facilities to account for the uncertainty in converting XCTNs to RLSPs may be too small.

A patch-based pseudo-CT approach for MRI-only radiotherapy in the pelvis

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

Andreasen, Daniel, E-mail: dana@dtu.dk

Purpose: In radiotherapy based only on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), knowledge about tissue electron densities must be derived from the MRI. This can be achieved by converting the MRI scan to the so-called pseudo-computed tomography (pCT). An obstacle is that the voxel intensities in conventional MRI scans are not uniquely related to electron density. The authors previously demonstrated that a patch-based method could produce accurate pCTs of the brain using conventional T{sub 1}-weighted MRI scans. The method was driven mainly by local patch similarities and relied on simple affine registrations between an atlas database of the co-registered MRI/CT scan pairsmore » and the MRI scan to be converted. In this study, the authors investigate the applicability of the patch-based approach in the pelvis. This region is challenging for a method based on local similarities due to the greater inter-patient variation. The authors benchmark the method against a baseline pCT strategy where all voxels inside the body contour are assigned a water-equivalent bulk density. Furthermore, the authors implement a parallelized approximate patch search strategy to speed up the pCT generation time to a more clinically relevant level. Methods: The data consisted of CT and T{sub 1}-weighted MRI scans of 10 prostate patients. pCTs were generated using an approximate patch search algorithm in a leave-one-out fashion and compared with the CT using frequently described metrics such as the voxel-wise mean absolute error (MAE{sub vox}) and the deviation in water-equivalent path lengths. Furthermore, the dosimetric accuracy was tested for a volumetric modulated arc therapy plan using dose–volume histogram (DVH) point deviations and γ-index analysis. Results: The patch-based approach had an average MAE{sub vox} of 54 HU; median deviations of less than 0.4% in relevant DVH points and a γ-index pass rate of 0.97 using a 1%/1 mm criterion. The patch-based approach showed a significantly better performance than the baseline water pCT in almost all metrics. The approximate patch search strategy was 70x faster than a brute-force search, with an average prediction time of 20.8 min. Conclusions: The authors showed that a patch-based method based on affine registrations and T{sub 1}-weighted MRI could generate accurate pCTs of the pelvis. The main source of differences between pCT and CT was positional changes of air pockets and body outline.« less

Functional aerophagia in children: a frequent, atypical disorder.

PubMed

Morabito, Giuliana; Romeo, Claudia; Romano, Claudio

2014-01-01

Aerophagia is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by repetitive air swallowing, abdominal distension, belching and flatulence. Pathologic aerophagia is a condition caused by the swallowing of excessive volumes of air with associated various gastrointestinal symptoms, such as burping, abdominal cramps, flatulence and a reduced appetite. It is a clinical entity that can simulate pediatric gastrointestinal motility disorders, such as gastroparesis, megacolon and intestinal pseudo-obstruction, and presents more frequently in children with mental retardation. Early recognition and diagnosis of functional aerophagia or pathologic aerophagia is required to avoid unnecessary, expensive diagnostic investigations or serious clinical complications. Functional aerophagia is frequent in the adult population, but rarely discussed in the pediatric literature. We present two pediatric clinical cases with a history of functional constipation in whom gaseous abdominal distension was the most important symptom. Mechanical intestinal obstruction, chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, malabsorption and congenital aganglionic megacolon were ruled out. Extensive gaseous abdominal distension was due to aerophagia, and treatment consisted of parents' reassurance and psychological counseling.

Functional Aerophagia in Children: A Frequent, Atypical Disorder

PubMed Central

Morabito, Giuliana; Romeo, Claudia; Romano, Claudio

2014-01-01

Aerophagia is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by repetitive air swallowing, abdominal distension, belching and flatulence. Pathologic aerophagia is a condition caused by the swallowing of excessive volumes of air with associated various gastrointestinal symptoms, such as burping, abdominal cramps, flatulence and a reduced appetite. It is a clinical entity that can simulate pediatric gastrointestinal motility disorders, such as gastroparesis, megacolon and intestinal pseudo-obstruction, and presents more frequently in children with mental retardation. Early recognition and diagnosis of functional aerophagia or pathologic aerophagia is required to avoid unnecessary, expensive diagnostic investigations or serious clinical complications. Functional aerophagia is frequent in the adult population, but rarely discussed in the pediatric literature. We present two pediatric clinical cases with a history of functional constipation in whom gaseous abdominal distension was the most important symptom. Mechanical intestinal obstruction, chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, malabsorption and congenital aganglionic megacolon were ruled out. Extensive gaseous abdominal distension was due to aerophagia, and treatment consisted of parents’ reassurance and psychological counseling. PMID:24847194

Relating retinal nerve fiber thickness to behavioral sensitivity in patients with glaucoma: application of a linear model.

PubMed

Hood, Donald C

2007-05-01

Glaucoma causes damage to the retinal ganglion cells and their axons, and this damage can be detected with both structural and functional tests. The purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between a structural measure of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and the most common functional test, behavioral sensitivity with static automated perimetry (SAP). First, a linear model, previously shown to describe the relationship between local visual evoked potentials and SAP sensitivity, was modified to predict the change in RNFL as measured by optical coherence tomography. Second, previous work by others was shown to be consistent with this model.

One-loop pseudo-Goldstone masses in the minimal S O (10 ) Higgs model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gráf, Lukáš; Malinský, Michal; Mede, Timon; Susič, Vasja

2017-04-01

We calculate the prominent perturbative contributions shaping the one-loop scalar spectrum of the minimal renormalizable nonsupersymmetric S O (10 ) Higgs model whose unified gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken by an adjoint scalar. Focusing on its potentially realistic 45 ⊕126 variant in which the rank is reduced by a vacuum expectation value of the 5-index antisymmetric self-dual tensor, we provide a thorough analysis of the corresponding Coleman-Weinberg one-loop effective potential, paying particular attention to the masses of the potentially tachyonic pseudo-Goldstone bosons transforming as (1, 3, 0) and (8, 1, 0) under the standard model (SM) gauge group. The results confirm the assumed existence of extended regions in the parameter space supporting a locally stable SM-like quantum vacuum inaccessible at the tree level. The effective potential tedium is compared to that encountered in the previously studied 45 ⊕16 S O (10 ) Higgs model where the polynomial corrections to the relevant pseudo-Goldstone masses turn out to be easily calculable within a very simplified purely diagrammatic approach.

Wideband propagation measurements at 30.3 GHz through a pecan orchard in Texas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papazian, Peter B.; Jones, David L.; Espeland, Richard H.

1992-09-01

Wideband propagation measurements were made in a pecan orchard in Texas during April and August of 1990 to examine the propagation characteristics of millimeter-wave signals through vegetation. Measurements were made on tree obstructed paths with and without leaves. The study presents narrowband attenuation data at 9.6 and 28.8 GHz as well as wideband impulse response measurements at 30.3 GHz. The wideband probe (Violette et al., 1983), provides amplitude and delay of reflected and scattered signals and bit-error rate. This is accomplished using a 500 MBit/sec pseudo-random code to BPSK modulate a 28.8 GHz carrier. The channel impulse response is then extracted by cross correlating the received pseudo-random sequence with a locally generated replica.

Deep Learning MR Imaging-based Attenuation Correction for PET/MR Imaging.

PubMed

Liu, Fang; Jang, Hyungseok; Kijowski, Richard; Bradshaw, Tyler; McMillan, Alan B

2018-02-01

Purpose To develop and evaluate the feasibility of deep learning approaches for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-based attenuation correction (AC) (termed deep MRAC) in brain positron emission tomography (PET)/MR imaging. Materials and Methods A PET/MR imaging AC pipeline was built by using a deep learning approach to generate pseudo computed tomographic (CT) scans from MR images. A deep convolutional auto-encoder network was trained to identify air, bone, and soft tissue in volumetric head MR images coregistered to CT data for training. A set of 30 retrospective three-dimensional T1-weighted head images was used to train the model, which was then evaluated in 10 patients by comparing the generated pseudo CT scan to an acquired CT scan. A prospective study was carried out for utilizing simultaneous PET/MR imaging for five subjects by using the proposed approach. Analysis of covariance and paired-sample t tests were used for statistical analysis to compare PET reconstruction error with deep MRAC and two existing MR imaging-based AC approaches with CT-based AC. Results Deep MRAC provides an accurate pseudo CT scan with a mean Dice coefficient of 0.971 ± 0.005 for air, 0.936 ± 0.011 for soft tissue, and 0.803 ± 0.021 for bone. Furthermore, deep MRAC provides good PET results, with average errors of less than 1% in most brain regions. Significantly lower PET reconstruction errors were realized with deep MRAC (-0.7% ± 1.1) compared with Dixon-based soft-tissue and air segmentation (-5.8% ± 3.1) and anatomic CT-based template registration (-4.8% ± 2.2). Conclusion The authors developed an automated approach that allows generation of discrete-valued pseudo CT scans (soft tissue, bone, and air) from a single high-spatial-resolution diagnostic-quality three-dimensional MR image and evaluated it in brain PET/MR imaging. This deep learning approach for MR imaging-based AC provided reduced PET reconstruction error relative to a CT-based standard within the brain compared with current MR imaging-based AC approaches. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Elastic constants and pressure derivative of elastic constants of Si1-xGex solid solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jivani, A. R.; Baria, J. K.; Vyas, P. S.; Jani, A. R.

2013-02-01

Elastic properties of Si1-xGex solid solution with arbitrary (atomic) concentration (x) are studied using the pseudo-alloy atom model based on the pseudopotential theory and on the higher-order perturbation scheme with the application of our own proposed model potential. We have used local-field correction function proposed by Sarkar et al to study Si-Ge system. The Elastic constants and pressure derivatives of elastic constants of the solid solution is investigated with different concentration x of Ge. It is found in the present study that the calculated numerical values of the aforesaid physical properties of Si-Ge system are function of x. The elastic constants (C11, C12 and C44) decrease linearly with increase in concentration x and pressure derivative of elastic constants (C11, C12 and C44) increase with the concentration x of Ge. This study provides better set of theoretical results for such solid solution for further comparison either with theoretical or experimental results.

Hydrogen adsorption site on the Ni?110?-p(1 × 2)-H surface from time-of-flight scattering and recoiling spectrometry (TOF-SARS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bu, H.; Roux, C. D.; Rabalais, J. W.

The adsorption site of hydrogen on the Ni{110}-p(1 × 2)-H surface resulting from saturation exposure to H 2 at ˜ 310-350 K has been investigated by time-of-flight scattering and recoiling spectrometry (TOF-SARS). The recoiled neutral plus ion hydrogen atom flux resulting from 2-5 keV Ar + or Ne + pulsed ion beams incident on the surface was monitored as a function of crystal azimuthal angle and beam incidence angle. From classical trajectory calculations and shadowing and blocking analyses, it is concluded that hydrogen atoms are localized at the pseudo-three-fold sites on the (1 × 2) missing-row (MR) reconstructed Ni{110} surface; the (1 × 2) MR reconstruction is induced by hydrogen adsorption shown elsewhere [Surf. Sci. 259 (1991) 253]. Only the pseudo-three-fold site is consistent with all of the experimental data. The coordinates of the hydrogen adsorption site with respect to the nickel lattice were determined. The lateral distance of hydrogen from the 1st-layer Ni <1 overline10> rows is 1.56 ± 0.12 Å and the vertical distance above the substrate is 0.21 ± 0.12 Å, providing NiH bond lengths of 2.0 Å to the two-layer Ni atoms and 1.5 Å to the 2nd-layer Ni atom.

Seismic structure beneath Mt Vesuvius from receiver function analysis and local earthquakes tomography: evidences for location and geometry of the magma chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agostinetti, N. Piana; Chiarabba, C.

2008-12-01

The recognition and localization of magmatic fluids are pre-requisites for evaluating the volcano hazard of the highly urbanized area of Mt Vesuvius. Here we show evidence and constraints for the volumetric estimation of magmatic fluids underneath this sleeping volcano. We use Receiver Functions for teleseismic data recorded at a temporary broad-band station installed on the volcano to constrain the S-wave velocity structure in the crust. Receiver Functions are analysed and inverted using the Neighbourhood Algorithm approach. The 1-D S-velocity profile is jointly interpreted and discussed with a new Vp and Vp/Vs image obtained by applying double difference tomographic techniques to local earthquakes. Seismologic data define the geometry of an axial, cylindrical high Vp, high Vs body consisting of a shallow solidified materials, probably the remnants of the caldera, and ultramafic rocks paving the crustal magma chamber. Between these two anomalies, we find a small region where the shear wave velocity drops, revealing the presence of magma at relatively shallow depths. The volume of fluids (30 km3) is sufficient to contribute future explosive eruptions.

Direct localization of poles of a meromorphic function from measurements on an incomplete boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nara, Takaaki; Ando, Shigeru

2010-01-01

This paper proposes an algebraic method to reconstruct the positions of multiple poles in a meromorphic function field from measurements on an arbitrary simple arc in it. A novel issue is the exactness of the algorithm depending on whether the arc is open or closed, and whether it encloses or does not enclose the poles. We first obtain a differential equation that can equivalently determine the meromorphic function field. From it, we derive linear equations that relate the elementary symmetric polynomials of the pole positions to weighted integrals of the field along the simple arc and end-point terms of the arc when it is an open one. Eliminating the end-point terms based on an appropriate choice of weighting functions and a combination of the linear equations, we obtain a simple system of linear equations for solving the elementary symmetric polynomials. We also show that our algorithm can be applied to a 2D electric impedance tomography problem. The effects of the proximity of the poles, the number of measurements and noise on the localization accuracy are numerically examined.

Radiofrequency ablation of stage IA non-small cell lung cancer in medically inoperable patients: Results from the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z4033 (Alliance) trial.

PubMed

Dupuy, Damian E; Fernando, Hiran C; Hillman, Shauna; Ng, Thomas; Tan, Angelina D; Sharma, Amita; Rilling, William S; Hong, Kelvin; Putnam, Joe B

2015-10-01

This study evaluated the 2-year overall survival rate, adverse event rate, local control rate, and impact on pulmonary function tests for medically inoperable patients with stage IA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing computed tomography (CT)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in a prospective, multicenter trial. Fifty-four patients (25 men and 29 women) with a median age of 76 years (range, 60-89 years) were enrolled from 16 US centers; 51 patients were eligible for evaluation (they had biopsy-proven stage IA NSCLC and were deemed medically inoperable by a board-certified thoracic surgeon). Pulmonary function tests were performed within the 60 days before RFA and 3 and 24 months after RFA. Adverse events were recorded and categorized. Patients were followed with CT and fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography. Local control rate and recurrence patterns were analyzed. The overall survival rate was 86.3% at 1 year and 69.8% at 2 years. The local tumor recurrence-free rate was 68.9% at 1 year and 59.8% at 2 years and was worse for tumors > 2 cm. In the 19 patients with local recurrence, 11 were re-treated with RFA, 9 underwent radiation, and 3 underwent chemotherapy. There were 21 grade 3 adverse events, 2 grade 4 adverse events, and 1 grade 5 adverse event in 12 patients within the first 90 days after RFA. None of the grade 4 or 5 adverse events were attributable to RFA. There was no significant change in the forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration or the diffusing capacity of lung for carbon monoxide after RFA. A tumor size less than 2.0 cm and a performance status of 0 or 1 were associated with statistically significant improved survival of 83% and 78%, respectively, at 2 years. RFA is a single, minimally invasive procedure that is well tolerated in medically inoperable patients, does not adversely affect pulmonary function tests, and provides a 2-year overall survival rate that is comparable to the rate reported after stereotactic body radiotherapy in similar patients. © 2015 American Cancer Society.

Computation of nonlinear least squares estimator and maximum likelihood using principles in matrix calculus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahaboob, B.; Venkateswarlu, B.; Sankar, J. Ravi; Balasiddamuni, P.

2017-11-01

This paper uses matrix calculus techniques to obtain Nonlinear Least Squares Estimator (NLSE), Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) and Linear Pseudo model for nonlinear regression model. David Pollard and Peter Radchenko [1] explained analytic techniques to compute the NLSE. However the present research paper introduces an innovative method to compute the NLSE using principles in multivariate calculus. This study is concerned with very new optimization techniques used to compute MLE and NLSE. Anh [2] derived NLSE and MLE of a heteroscedatistic regression model. Lemcoff [3] discussed a procedure to get linear pseudo model for nonlinear regression model. In this research article a new technique is developed to get the linear pseudo model for nonlinear regression model using multivariate calculus. The linear pseudo model of Edmond Malinvaud [4] has been explained in a very different way in this paper. David Pollard et.al used empirical process techniques to study the asymptotic of the LSE (Least-squares estimation) for the fitting of nonlinear regression function in 2006. In Jae Myung [13] provided a go conceptual for Maximum likelihood estimation in his work “Tutorial on maximum likelihood estimation

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

Truong, Minh Tam, E-mail: mitruong@bu.edu; Kachnic, Lisa A.; Grillone, Gregory A.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of conformal external beam radiotherapy (RT) for local control of progressive airway amyloidosis. Methods and Materials: We conducted a retrospective review of patients with biopsy-proven progressive airway amyloidosis treated with conformal RT between 2000 and 2006 at Boston Medical Center. The patients were evaluated for performance status and pulmonary function, with computed tomography and endoscopy after RT compared with the pretreatment studies. Local control was defined as the lack of progression of airway wall thickening on computed tomography imaging and stable endobronchial deposits by endoscopy. Results: A total of 10 symptomatic airway amyloidosis patients (3more » laryngeal and 7 tracheobronchial) received RT to a median total dose of 20 Gy in 10 fractions within 2 weeks. At a median follow-up of 6.7 years (range, 1.5-10.3), 8 of the 10 patients had local control. The remaining 2 patients underwent repeat RT 6 and 8.4 months after initial RT, 1 for persistent bronchial obstruction and 1 for progression of subglottic amyloid disease with subsequent disease control. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status improved at a median of 18 months after RT compared with the baseline values, from a median score of 2 to a median of 1 (p = .035). Airflow (forced expiratory volume in 1 second) measurements increased compared with the baseline values at each follow-up evaluation, reaching a 10.7% increase (p = .087) at the last testing (median duration, 64.8 months). Acute toxicity was limited to Grade 1-2 esophagitis, occurring in 40% of patients. No late toxicity was observed. Conclusions: RT prevented progressive amyloid deposition in 8 of 10 patients, resulting in a marginally increased forced expiratory volume in 1 second, and improved functional capacity, without late morbidity.« less

Localized compliance of small airways in excised rat lungs using microfocal X-ray computed tomography.

PubMed

Sera, Toshihiro; Fujioka, Hideki; Yokota, Hideo; Makinouchi, Akitake; Himeno, Ryutaro; Schroter, Robert C; Tanishita, Kazuo

2004-05-01

Airway compliance is a key factor in understanding lung mechanics and is used as a clinical diagnostic index. Understanding such mechanics in small airways physiologically and clinically is critical. We have determined the "morphometric change" and "localized compliance" of small airways under "near"-physiological conditions; namely, the airways were embedded in parenchyma without dehydration and fixation. Previously, we developed a two-step method to visualize small airways in detail by staining the lung tissue with a radiopaque solution and then visualizing the tissue with a cone-beam microfocal X-ray computed tomography system (Sera et al. J Biomech 36: 1587-1594, 2003). In this study, we used this technique to analyze changes in diameter and length of the same small airways ( approximately 150 microm ID) and then evaluated the localized compliance as a function of airway generation (Z). For smaller (<300-microm-diameter) airways, diameter was 36% larger at end-tidal inspiration and 89% larger at total lung capacity; length was 18% larger at end-tidal inspiration and 43% larger at total lung capacity than at functional residual capacity. Diameter, especially at smaller airways, did not behave linearly with V(1/3) (where V is volume). With increasing lung pressure, diameter changed dramatically at a particular pressure and length changed approximately linearly during inflation and deflation. Percentage of airway volume for smaller airways did not behave linearly with that of lung volume. Smaller airways were generally more compliant than larger airways with increasing Z and exhibited hysteresis in their diameter behavior. Airways at higher Z deformed at a lower pressure than those at lower Z. These results indicated that smaller airways did not behave homogeneously.

Lattice QCD exploration of parton pseudo-distribution functions

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

Orginos, Kostas; Radyushkin, Anatoly; Karpie, Joseph

Here, we demonstrate a new method of extracting parton distributions from lattice calculations. The starting idea is to treat the generic equal-time matrix elementmore » $${\\cal M} (Pz_3, z_3^2)$$ as a function of the Ioffe time $$\

Lattice QCD exploration of parton pseudo-distribution functions

DOE PAGES

Orginos, Kostas; Radyushkin, Anatoly; Karpie, Joseph; ...

2017-11-08

Here, we demonstrate a new method of extracting parton distributions from lattice calculations. The starting idea is to treat the generic equal-time matrix elementmore » $${\\cal M} (Pz_3, z_3^2)$$ as a function of the Ioffe time $$\

SU-G-JeP1-01: A Combination of Real Time Electromagnetic Localization and Tracking with Cone Beam Computed Tomography in Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Brain Tumors

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

Muralidhar, K Raja; Pangam, Suresh; Ponaganti, Srinivas

2016-06-15

Purpose: 1. online verification of patient position during treatment using calypso electromagnetic localization and tracking system. 2. Verification and comparison of positional accuracy between cone beam computed tomography and calypso system. 3. Presenting the advantage of continuation localization in Stereotactic radiosurgery treatments. Methods: Ten brain tumor cases were taken for this study. Patients with head mask were under gone Computed Tomography (CT). Before scanning, mask was cut on the fore head area to keep surface beacons on the skin. Slice thickness of 0.65 mm were taken for this study. x, y, z coordinates of these beacons in TPS were enteredmore » into tracking station. Varian True Beam accelerator, equipped with On Board Imager was used to take Cone beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) to localize the patient. Simultaneously Surface beacons were used to localize and track the patient throughout the treatment. The localization values were compared in both systems. For localization CBCT considered as reference. Tracking was done throughout the treatment using Calypso tracking system using electromagnetic array. This array was in tracking position during imaging and treatment. Flattening Filter free beams of 6MV photons along with Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy was used for the treatment. The patient movement was observed throughout the treatment ranging from 2 min to 4 min. Results: The average variation observed between calypso system and CBCT localization was less than 0.5 mm. These variations were due to manual errors while keeping beacon on the patient. Less than 0.05 cm intra-fraction motion was observed throughout the treatment with the help of continuous tracking. Conclusion: Calypso target localization system is one of the finest tools to perform radiosurgery in combination with CBCT. This non radiographic method of tracking is a real beneficial method to treat patients confidently while observing real-time motion information of the patient.« less

Singular value decomposition: a diagnostic tool for ill-posed inverse problems in optical computed tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanen, Theo A.; Watt, David W.

1995-10-01

Singular value decomposition has served as a diagnostic tool in optical computed tomography by using its capability to provide insight into the condition of ill-posed inverse problems. Various tomographic geometries are compared to one another through the singular value spectrum of their weight matrices. The number of significant singular values in the singular value spectrum of a weight matrix is a quantitative measure of the condition of the system of linear equations defined by a tomographic geometery. The analysis involves variation of the following five parameters, characterizing a tomographic geometry: 1) the spatial resolution of the reconstruction domain, 2) the number of views, 3) the number of projection rays per view, 4) the total observation angle spanned by the views, and 5) the selected basis function. Five local basis functions are considered: the square pulse, the triangle, the cubic B-spline, the Hanning window, and the Gaussian distribution. Also items like the presence of noise in the views, the coding accuracy of the weight matrix, as well as the accuracy of the accuracy of the singular value decomposition procedure itself are assessed.

Localization of self-potential sources in volcano-electric effect with complex continuous wavelet transform and electrical tomography methods for an active volcano

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saracco, Ginette; Labazuy, Philippe; Moreau, Frédérique

2004-06-01

This study concerns the fluid flow circulation associated with magmatic intrusion during volcanic eruptions from electrical tomography studies. The objective is to localize and characterize the sources responsible for electrical disturbances during a time evolution survey between 1993 and 1999 of an active volcano, the Piton de la Fournaise. We have applied a dipolar probability tomography and a multi-scale analysis on synthetic and experimental SP data. We show the advantage of the complex continuous wavelet transform which allows to obtain directional information from the phase without a priori information on sources. In both cases, we point out a translation of potential sources through the upper depths during periods preceding a volcanic eruption around specific faults or structural features. The set of parameters obtained (vertical and horizontal localization, multipolar degree and inclination) could be taken into account as criteria to define volcanic precursors.

Pseudo-shading technique in the two-dimensional domain: a post-processing algorithm for enhancing the Z-buffer of a three-dimensional binary image.

PubMed

Tan, A C; Richards, R

1989-01-01

Three-dimensional (3D) medical graphics is becoming popular in clinical use on tomographic scanners. Research work in 3D reconstructive display of computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans on conventional computers has produced many so-called pseudo-3D images. The quality of these images depends on the rendering algorithm, the coarseness of the digitized object, the number of grey levels and the image screen resolution. CT and MRI data are fundamentally voxel based and they produce images that are coarse because of the resolution of the data acquisition system. 3D images produced by the Z-buffer depth shading technique suffer loss of detail when complex objects with fine textural detail need to be displayed. Attempts have been made to improve the display of voxel objects, and existing techniques have shown the improvement possible using these post-processing algorithms. The improved rendering technique works on the Z-buffer image to generate a shaded image using a single light source in any direction. The effectiveness of the technique in generating a shaded image has been shown to be a useful means of presenting 3D information for clinical use.

Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen Positron Emission Tomography May Improve the Diagnostic Accuracy of Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Localized Prostate Cancer.

PubMed

Rhee, H; Thomas, P; Shepherd, B; Gustafson, S; Vela, I; Russell, P J; Nelson, C; Chung, E; Wood, G; Malone, G; Wood, S; Heathcote, P

2016-10-01

Positron emission tomography using ligands targeting prostate specific membrane antigen has recently been introduced. Positron emission tomography imaging with (68)Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC has been shown to detect metastatic prostate cancer lesions at a high rate. In this study we compare multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging and prostate specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography of the prostate with whole mount ex vivo prostate histopathology to determine the true sensitivity and specificity of these imaging modalities for detecting and locating tumor foci within the prostate. In a prospective clinical trial setting 20 patients with localized prostate cancer and a planned radical prostatectomy were recruited. All patients underwent multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography before surgery, and whole mount histopathology slides were directly compared to the images. European Society of Urogenital Radiology guidelines for reporting magnetic resonance imaging were used as a template for regional units of analysis. The uropathologist and radiologists were blinded to individual components of the study, and the final correlation was performed by visual and deformable registration analysis. A total of 50 clinically significant lesions were identified from the whole mount histopathological analysis. Based on regional analysis the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging were 44%, 94%, 81% and 76%, respectively. With prostate specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 49%, 95%, 85% and 88%, respectively. Prostate specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography yielded a higher specificity and positive predictive value. A significant proportion of cancers are potentially missed and underestimated by both imaging modalities. Prostate specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography may be used in addition to multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging to help improve local staging in those patients undergoing retropubic radical prostatectomy. Copyright © 2016 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

iSS-PseDNC: identifying splicing sites using pseudo dinucleotide composition.

PubMed

Chen, Wei; Feng, Peng-Mian; Lin, Hao; Chou, Kuo-Chen

2014-01-01

In eukaryotic genes, exons are generally interrupted by introns. Accurately removing introns and joining exons together are essential processes in eukaryotic gene expression. With the avalanche of genome sequences generated in the postgenomic age, it is highly desired to develop automated methods for rapid and effective detection of splice sites that play important roles in gene structure annotation and even in RNA splicing. Although a series of computational methods were proposed for splice site identification, most of them neglected the intrinsic local structural properties. In the present study, a predictor called "iSS-PseDNC" was developed for identifying splice sites. In the new predictor, the sequences were formulated by a novel feature-vector called "pseudo dinucleotide composition" (PseDNC) into which six DNA local structural properties were incorporated. It was observed by the rigorous cross-validation tests on two benchmark datasets that the overall success rates achieved by iSS-PseDNC in identifying splice donor site and splice acceptor site were 85.45% and 87.73%, respectively. It is anticipated that iSS-PseDNC may become a useful tool for identifying splice sites and that the six DNA local structural properties described in this paper may provide novel insights for in-depth investigations into the mechanism of RNA splicing.

The efficacy of treatment of patients with severe constipation or recurrent pseudo-obstruction with pyridostigmine.

PubMed

O'Dea, C J; Brookes, J H; Wattchow, D A

2010-06-01

Disorders of colonic motility, such as severe constipation and pseudo-obstruction, remain difficult to treat. The pathophysiology of these conditions is not completely understood, but previous studies suggest a deficiency of cholinergic innervation and an imbalance in autonomic regulation of colonic motor function as contributing factors. Therefore, increasing the availability of acetylcholine in the bowel wall with a cholinesterase inhibitor, such as pyridostigmine, may improve symptoms. We studied thirteen patients with severe constipation (slow transit type) or recurrent pseudo-obstruction. The six patients with slow transit constipation had mechanical obstruction and pelvic floor dysfunction excluded, and normal calibre colon and slow transit confirmed. These patients were offered pyridostigmine in an attempt to avoid surgery. The seven patients with pseudo-obstruction had dilated bowel on imaging, and mechanical obstruction was excluded. These patients received pyridostigmine when symptoms recurred, despite previous treatments. Pyridostigmine was initiated at 10 mg b.i.d. and increased if required. One of the six patients with slow transit constipation reported improvement of symptoms and had concurrently weaned anti-psychotic medications. Pyridostigmine was ceased in the remaining five patients due to lack of efficacy and/or side effects. Four patients proceeded to surgery for refractory symptoms. All seven patients with pseudo-obstruction had some improvement of symptoms with few side effects. Of these, two later had surgery for recurrent symptoms. In patients with slow transit constipation, treatment with pyridostigmine does not improve symptoms. However, it does improve symptoms in patients with recurrent pseudo-obstruction with few side effects, offering an extra treatment option for these patients.

Congruence Between Pulmonary Function and Computed Tomography Imaging Assessment of Cystic Fibrosis Severity.

PubMed

Rybacka, Anna; Goździk-Spychalska, Joanna; Rybacki, Adam; Piorunek, Tomasz; Batura-Gabryel, Halina; Karmelita-Katulska, Katarzyna

2018-05-04

In cystic fibrosis, pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and computed tomography are used to assess lung function and structure, respectively. Although both techniques of assessment are congruent there are lingering doubts about which PFTs variables show the best congruence with computed tomography scoring. In this study we addressed the issue by reinvestigating the association between PFTs variables and the score of changes seen in computed tomography scans in patients with cystic fibrosis with and without pulmonary exacerbation. This retrospective study comprised 40 patients in whom PFTs and computed tomography were performed no longer than 3 weeks apart. Images (inspiratory: 0.625 mm slice thickness, 0.625 mm interval; expiratory: 1.250 mm slice thickness, 10 mm interval) were evaluated with the Bhalla scoring system. The most frequent structural abnormality found in scans were bronchiectases and peribronchial thickening. The strongest relationship was found between the Bhalla sore and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1). The Bhalla sore also was related to forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC ratio, residual volume (RV), and RV/total lung capacity (TLC) ratio. We conclude that lung structural data obtained from the computed tomography examination are highly congruent to lung function data. Thus, computed tomography imaging may supersede functional assessment in cases of poor compliance with spirometry procedures in the lederly or children. Computed tomography also seems more sensitive than PFTs in the assessment of cystic fibrosis progression. Moreover, in early phases of cystic fibrosis, computed tomography, due to its excellent resolution, may be irreplaceable in monitoring pulmonary damage.

Predicting protein subnuclear location with optimized evidence-theoretic K-nearest classifier and pseudo amino acid composition.

PubMed

Shen, Hong-Bin; Chou, Kuo-Chen

2005-11-25

The nucleus is the brain of eukaryotic cells that guides the life processes of the cell by issuing key instructions. For in-depth understanding of the biochemical process of the nucleus, the knowledge of localization of nuclear proteins is very important. With the avalanche of protein sequences generated in the post-genomic era, it is highly desired to develop an automated method for fast annotating the subnuclear locations for numerous newly found nuclear protein sequences so as to be able to timely utilize them for basic research and drug discovery. In view of this, a novel approach is developed for predicting the protein subnuclear location. It is featured by introducing a powerful classifier, the optimized evidence-theoretic K-nearest classifier, and using the pseudo amino acid composition [K.C. Chou, PROTEINS: Structure, Function, and Genetics, 43 (2001) 246], which can incorporate a considerable amount of sequence-order effects, to represent protein samples. As a demonstration, identifications were performed for 370 nuclear proteins among the following 9 subnuclear locations: (1) Cajal body, (2) chromatin, (3) heterochromatin, (4) nuclear diffuse, (5) nuclear pore, (6) nuclear speckle, (7) nucleolus, (8) PcG body, and (9) PML body. The overall success rates thus obtained by both the re-substitution test and jackknife cross-validation test are significantly higher than those by existing classifiers on the same working dataset. It is anticipated that the powerful approach may also become a useful high throughput vehicle to bridge the huge gap occurring in the post-genomic era between the number of gene sequences in databases and the number of gene products that have been functionally characterized. The OET-KNN classifier will be available at www.pami.sjtu.edu.cn/people/hbshen.

A WENO-solver combined with adaptive momentum discretization for the Wigner transport equation and its application to resonant tunneling diodes

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

Dorda, Antonius, E-mail: dorda@tugraz.at; Schürrer, Ferdinand, E-mail: ferdinand.schuerrer@tugraz.at

2015-03-01

We present a novel numerical scheme for the deterministic solution of the Wigner transport equation, especially suited to deal with situations in which strong quantum effects are present. The unique feature of the algorithm is the expansion of the Wigner function in local basis functions, similar to finite element or finite volume methods. This procedure yields a discretization of the pseudo-differential operator that conserves the particle density on arbitrarily chosen grids. The high flexibility in refining the grid spacing together with the weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the advection term allows for an accurate and well-resolved simulation of themore » phase space dynamics. A resonant tunneling diode is considered as test case and a detailed convergence study is given by comparing the results to a non-equilibrium Green's functions calculation. The impact of the considered domain size and of the grid spacing is analyzed. The obtained convergence of the results towards a quasi-exact agreement of the steady state Wigner and Green's functions computations demonstrates the accuracy of the scheme, as well as the high flexibility to adjust to different physical situations.« less

A WENO-solver combined with adaptive momentum discretization for the Wigner transport equation and its application to resonant tunneling diodes

PubMed Central

Dorda, Antonius; Schürrer, Ferdinand

2015-01-01

We present a novel numerical scheme for the deterministic solution of the Wigner transport equation, especially suited to deal with situations in which strong quantum effects are present. The unique feature of the algorithm is the expansion of the Wigner function in local basis functions, similar to finite element or finite volume methods. This procedure yields a discretization of the pseudo-differential operator that conserves the particle density on arbitrarily chosen grids. The high flexibility in refining the grid spacing together with the weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the advection term allows for an accurate and well-resolved simulation of the phase space dynamics. A resonant tunneling diode is considered as test case and a detailed convergence study is given by comparing the results to a non-equilibrium Green's functions calculation. The impact of the considered domain size and of the grid spacing is analyzed. The obtained convergence of the results towards a quasi-exact agreement of the steady state Wigner and Green's functions computations demonstrates the accuracy of the scheme, as well as the high flexibility to adjust to different physical situations. PMID:25892748

A WENO-solver combined with adaptive momentum discretization for the Wigner transport equation and its application to resonant tunneling diodes.

PubMed

Dorda, Antonius; Schürrer, Ferdinand

2015-03-01

We present a novel numerical scheme for the deterministic solution of the Wigner transport equation, especially suited to deal with situations in which strong quantum effects are present. The unique feature of the algorithm is the expansion of the Wigner function in local basis functions, similar to finite element or finite volume methods. This procedure yields a discretization of the pseudo-differential operator that conserves the particle density on arbitrarily chosen grids. The high flexibility in refining the grid spacing together with the weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the advection term allows for an accurate and well-resolved simulation of the phase space dynamics. A resonant tunneling diode is considered as test case and a detailed convergence study is given by comparing the results to a non-equilibrium Green's functions calculation. The impact of the considered domain size and of the grid spacing is analyzed. The obtained convergence of the results towards a quasi-exact agreement of the steady state Wigner and Green's functions computations demonstrates the accuracy of the scheme, as well as the high flexibility to adjust to different physical situations.

Toward regional-scale adjoint tomography in the deep earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masson, Y.; Romanowicz, B. A.

2013-12-01

Thanks to the development of efficient numerical computation methods, such as the Spectral Element Method (SEM) and to the increasing power of computer clusters, it is now possible to obtain regional-scale images of the Earth's interior using adjoint-tomography (e.g. Tape, C., et al., 2009). As for now, these tomographic models are limited to the upper layers of the earth, i.e., they provide us with high-resolution images of the crust and the upper part of the mantle. Given the gigantic amount of calculation it represents, obtaing similar models at the global scale (i.e. images of the entire Earth) seems out of reach at the moment. Furthermore, it's likely that the first generation of such global adjoint tomographic models will have a resolution significantly smaller than the current regional models. In order to image regions of interests in the deep Earth, such as plumes, slabs or large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs), while keeping the computation tractable, we are developing new tools that will allow us to perform regional-scale adjoint-tomography at arbitrary depths. In a recent study (Masson et al., 2013), we showed that a numerical equivalent of the time reversal mirrors used in experimental acoustics permits to confine the wave propagation computations (i.e. using SEM simulations) inside the region to be imaged. With this ability to limit wave propagation modeling inside a region of interest, obtaining the adjoint sensitivity kernels needed for tomographic imaging is only two steps further. First, the local wavefield modeling needs to be coupled with field extrapolation techniques in order to obtain synthetic seismograms at the surface of the earth. These seismograms will account for the 3D structure inside the region of interest in a quasi-exact manner. We will present preliminary results where the field-extrapolation is performed using Green's function computed in a 1D Earth model thanks to the Direct Solution Method (DSM). Once synthetic seismograms can be obtained, it is possible to evaluate the misfit between observed and computed seismograms. The second step will then be to extrapolate the misfit function back into the SEM region in order to compute local adjoint sensitivity kernels. When available, these kernels will allow us to perform regional-scale adjoint tomography at arbitrary locations inside the earth. Masson Y., Cupillard P., Capdeville Y., & Romanowicz B., 2013. On the numerical implementation of time-reversal mirrors for tomographic imaging, Journal of Geophysical Research (under review). Tape, C., et al. (2009). "Adjoint tomography of the southern California crust." Science 325(5943): 988-992.

A feature refinement approach for statistical interior CT reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Zhanli; Zhang, Yunwan; Liu, Jianbo; Ma, Jianhua; Zheng, Hairong; Liang, Dong

2016-07-01

Interior tomography is clinically desired to reduce the radiation dose rendered to patients. In this work, a new statistical interior tomography approach for computed tomography is proposed. The developed design focuses on taking into account the statistical nature of local projection data and recovering fine structures which are lost in the conventional total-variation (TV)—minimization reconstruction. The proposed method falls within the compressed sensing framework of TV minimization, which only assumes that the interior ROI is piecewise constant or polynomial and does not need any additional prior knowledge. To integrate the statistical distribution property of projection data, the objective function is built under the criteria of penalized weighed least-square (PWLS-TV). In the implementation of the proposed method, the interior projection extrapolation based FBP reconstruction is first used as the initial guess to mitigate truncation artifacts and also provide an extended field-of-view. Moreover, an interior feature refinement step, as an important processing operation is performed after each iteration of PWLS-TV to recover the desired structure information which is lost during the TV minimization. Here, a feature descriptor is specifically designed and employed to distinguish structure from noise and noise-like artifacts. A modified steepest descent algorithm is adopted to minimize the associated objective function. The proposed method is applied to both digital phantom and in vivo Micro-CT datasets, and compared to FBP, ART-TV and PWLS-TV. The reconstruction results demonstrate that the proposed method performs better than other conventional methods in suppressing noise, reducing truncated and streak artifacts, and preserving features. The proposed approach demonstrates its potential usefulness for feature preservation of interior tomography under truncated projection measurements.

A feature refinement approach for statistical interior CT reconstruction.

PubMed

Hu, Zhanli; Zhang, Yunwan; Liu, Jianbo; Ma, Jianhua; Zheng, Hairong; Liang, Dong

2016-07-21

Interior tomography is clinically desired to reduce the radiation dose rendered to patients. In this work, a new statistical interior tomography approach for computed tomography is proposed. The developed design focuses on taking into account the statistical nature of local projection data and recovering fine structures which are lost in the conventional total-variation (TV)-minimization reconstruction. The proposed method falls within the compressed sensing framework of TV minimization, which only assumes that the interior ROI is piecewise constant or polynomial and does not need any additional prior knowledge. To integrate the statistical distribution property of projection data, the objective function is built under the criteria of penalized weighed least-square (PWLS-TV). In the implementation of the proposed method, the interior projection extrapolation based FBP reconstruction is first used as the initial guess to mitigate truncation artifacts and also provide an extended field-of-view. Moreover, an interior feature refinement step, as an important processing operation is performed after each iteration of PWLS-TV to recover the desired structure information which is lost during the TV minimization. Here, a feature descriptor is specifically designed and employed to distinguish structure from noise and noise-like artifacts. A modified steepest descent algorithm is adopted to minimize the associated objective function. The proposed method is applied to both digital phantom and in vivo Micro-CT datasets, and compared to FBP, ART-TV and PWLS-TV. The reconstruction results demonstrate that the proposed method performs better than other conventional methods in suppressing noise, reducing truncated and streak artifacts, and preserving features. The proposed approach demonstrates its potential usefulness for feature preservation of interior tomography under truncated projection measurements.

Mechanisms of hemispheric specialization: Insights from analyses of connectivity

PubMed Central

Stephan, Klaas Enno; Fink, Gereon R.; Marshall, John C.

2007-01-01

Traditionally, anatomical and physiological descriptions of hemispheric specialization have focused on hemispheric asymmetries of local brain structure or local functional properties, respectively. This article reviews the current state of an alternative approach that aims at unraveling the causes and functional principles of hemispheric specialization in terms of asymmetries in connectivity. Starting with an overview of the historical origins of the concept of lateralization, we briefly review recent evidence from anatomical and developmental studies that asymmetries in structural connectivity may be a critical factor shaping hemispheric specialization. These differences in anatomical connectivity, which are found both at the intra- and inter-regional level, are likely to form the structural substrate of different functional principles of information processing in the two hemispheres. The main goal of this article is to describe how these functional principles can be characterized using functional neuroimaging in combination with models of functional and effective connectivity. We discuss the methodology of established models of connectivity which are applicable to data from positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging and review published studies that have applied these approaches to characterize asymmetries of connectivity during lateralized tasks. Adopting a model-based approach enables functional imaging to proceed from mere descriptions of asymmetric activation patterns to mechanistic accounts of how these asymmetries are caused. PMID:16949111

Bilinear Time-frequency Analysis for Lamb Wave Signal Detected by Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Wenxiu; Liu, Guoqiang; Xia, Hui; Xia, Zhengwu

2018-03-01

Accurate acquisition of the detection signal travel time plays a very important role in cross-hole tomography. The experimental platform of aluminum plate under the perpendicular magnetic field is established and the bilinear time-frequency analysis methods, Wigner-Ville Distribution (WVD) and the pseudo-Wigner-Ville distribution (PWVD), are applied to analyse the Lamb wave signals detected by electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT). By extracting the same frequency component of the time-frequency spectrum as the excitation frequency, the travel time information can be obtained. In comparison with traditional linear time-frequency analysis method such as short-time Fourier transform (STFT), the bilinear time-frequency analysis method PWVD is more appropriate in extracting travel time and recognizing patterns of Lamb wave.

Frostbite: Spectrum of Imaging Findings and Guidelines for Management

PubMed Central

Brown, Richard K. J.; Levi, Benjamin; Kraft, Casey T.; Jacobson, Jon A.; Gross, Milton D.; Wong, Ka Kit

2016-01-01

Frostbite is a localized cold thermal injury that results from tissue freezing. Frostbite injuries can have a substantial effect on long-term limb function and mobility if not promptly evaluated and treated. Imaging plays a critical role in initial evaluation of frostbite injuries and in monitoring response to treatment. A multimodality approach involving radiography, digital subtraction angiography (DSA), and/or multiphase bone scintigraphy with hybrid single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) is often necessary for optimal guidance of frostbite care. Radiographs serve as an initial survey of the affected limb and may demonstrate characteristic findings, depending on the time course and severity of injury. DSA is used to evaluate perfusion of affected soft tissues and identify potential targets for therapeutic intervention. Angiography-directed thrombolysis plays an essential role in tissue preservation and salvage in deep frostbite injuries. Multiphase bone scintigraphy with technetium 99m–labeled diphosphonate provides valuable information regarding the status of tissue viability after initial treatment. The addition of SPECT/CT to multiphase bone scintigraphy enables precise anatomic localization of the level and depth of tissue necrosis before its appearance at physical examination and can help uncover subtle findings that may remain occult at scintigraphy alone. Multiphase bone scintigraphy with SPECT/CT is the modality of choice for prognostication and planning of definitive surgical care of affected limbs. Appropriate use of imaging to direct frostbite care can help limit the effects that these injuries have on limb function and mobility. ©RSNA, 2016 PMID:27494386

Multi-contrast imaging of human posterior eye by Jones matrix optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasuno, Yoshiaki

2017-04-01

A multi-contrast imaging of pathologic posterior eyes is demonstrated by Jones matrix optical coherence tomography (Jones matrix OCT). The Jones matrix OCT provides five tomographies, which includes scattering, local attenuation, birefringence, polarization uniformity, and optical coherence angiography, by a single scan. The hardware configuration, algorithms of the Jones matrix OCT as well as its application to ophthalmology is discussed.

A NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF COSMIC RAY MODULATION NEAR THE HELIOPAUSE. II. SOME PHYSICAL INSIGHTS

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

Luo, Xi; Feng, Xueshang; Potgieter, Marius S.

Cosmic ray (CR) transport near the heliopause (HP) is studied using a hybrid transport model, with the parameters constrained by observations from the Voyager 1 spacecraft. We simulate the CR radial flux along different directions in the heliosphere. There is no well-defined thin layer between the solar wind region and the interstellar region along the tail and polar directions of the heliosphere. By analyzing the radial flux curve along the direction of Voyager 2 , together with its trajectory information, the crossing time of the HP by Voyager 2 is predicted to be in 2017.14. We simulate the CR radialmore » flux for different energy values along the direction of Voyager 1 . We find that there is only a modest modulation region of about 10 au wide beyond the HP, so that Voyager 1 observing the Local Interstellar Spectra is justified in numerical modeling. We analyze the heliospheric exit information of pseudo-particles in our stochastic numerical (time-backward) method, conjecturing that they represent the behavior of CR particles, and we find that pseudo-particles that have been traced from the nose region exit in the tail region. This implies that many CR particles diffuse directly from the heliospheric tail region to the nose region near the HP. In addition, when pseudo-particles were traced from the Local Interstellar Medium (LISM), it is found that their exit location (entrance for real particles) from the simulation domain is along the prescribed Interstellar Magnetic Field direction. This indicates that parallel diffusion dominates CR particle transport in the LISM.« less

Bright Compact Bulges (BCBs) at intermediate redshifts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sachdeva, Sonali; Saha, Kanak

2018-04-01

Studying bright (MB < -20), intermediate-redshift (0.4 < z < 1.0), disc dominated (nB < 2.5) galaxies from HST/ACS and WFC3 in Chandra Deep Field South, in rest-frame B and I-band, we found a new class of bulges which is brighter and more compact than ellipticals. We refer to them as "Bright, Compact Bulges" (BCBs) - they resemble neither classical nor pseudo-bulges and constitute ˜12% of the total bulge population at these redshifts. Examining free-bulge + disc decomposition sample and elliptical galaxy sample from Simard et al. (2011), we find that only ˜0.2% of the bulges can be classified as BCBs in the local Universe. Bulge to total ratio (B/T) of disc galaxies with BCBs is (at ˜0.4) a factor of ˜2 and ˜4 larger than for those with classical and pseudo bulges. BCBs are ˜2.5 and ˜6 times more massive than classical and pseudo bulges. Although disc galaxies with BCBs host the most massive and dominant bulge type, their specific star formation rate is 1.5-2 times higher than other disc galaxies. This is contrary to the expectations that a massive compact bulge would lead to lower star formation rates. We speculate that our BCB host disc galaxies are descendant of massive, compact and passive elliptical galaxies observed at higher redshifts. Those high redshift ellipticals lack local counterparts and possibly evolved by acquiring a compact disc around them. The overall properties of BCBs supports a picture of galaxy assembly in which younger discs are being accreted around massive pre-existing spheroids.

Pseudospin symmetry for modified Rosen-Morse potential including a Pekeris-type approximation to the pseudo-centrifugal term

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Gao-Feng; Dong, Shi-Hai

2010-11-01

By applying a Pekeris-type approximation to the pseudo-centrifugal term, we study the pseudospin symmetry of a Dirac nucleon subjected to scalar and vector modified Rosen-Morse (MRM) potentials. A complicated quartic energy equation and spinor wave functions with arbitrary spin-orbit coupling quantum number k are presented. The pseudospin degeneracy is checked numerically. Pseudospin symmetry is discussed theoretically and numerically in the limit case α rightarrow 0 . It is found that the relativistic MRM potential cannot trap a Dirac nucleon in this limit.

Euler-Lagrange formulas for pseudo-Kähler manifolds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, JeongHyeong

2016-01-01

Let c be a characteristic form of degree k which is defined on a Kähler manifold of real dimension m > 2 k. Taking the inner product with the Kähler form Ωk gives a scalar invariant which can be considered as a generalized Lovelock functional. The associated Euler-Lagrange equations are a generalized Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity theory; this theory restricts to the canonical formalism if c =c2 is the second Chern form. We extend previous work studying these equations from the Kähler to the pseudo-Kähler setting.

Binaural Simulation Experiments in the NASA Langley Structural Acoustics Loads and Transmission Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grosveld, Ferdinand W.; Silcox, Richard (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

A location and positioning system was developed and implemented in the anechoic chamber of the Structural Acoustics Loads and Transmission (SALT) facility to accurately determine the coordinates of points in three-dimensional space. Transfer functions were measured between a shaker source at two different panel locations and the vibrational response distributed over the panel surface using a scanning laser vibrometer. The binaural simulation test matrix included test runs for several locations of the measuring microphones, various attitudes of the mannequin, two locations of the shaker excitation and three different shaker inputs including pulse, broadband random, and pseudo-random. Transfer functions, auto spectra, and coherence functions were acquired for the pseudo-random excitation. Time histories were acquired for the pulse and broadband random input to the shaker. The tests were repeated with a reflective surface installed. Binary data files were converted to universal format and archived on compact disk.

Effect of electron Monte Carlo collisions on a hybrid simulation of a low-pressure capacitively coupled plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Seok Won; Lee, Ho-Jun; Lee, Hae June

2014-12-01

Fluid models have been widely used and conducted successfully in high pressure plasma simulations where the drift-diffusion and the local-field approximation are valid. However, fluid models are not able to demonstrate non-local effects related to large electron energy relaxation mean free path in low pressure plasmas. To overcome this weakness, a hybrid model coupling electron Monte Carlo collision (EMCC) method with the fluid model is introduced to obtain precise electron energy distribution functions using pseudo-particles. Steady state simulation results by a one-dimensional hybrid model which includes EMCC method for the collisional reactions but uses drift-diffusion approximation for electron transport in a fluid model are compared with those of a conventional particle-in-cell (PIC) and a fluid model for low pressure capacitively coupled plasmas. At a wide range of pressure, the hybrid model agrees well with the PIC simulation with a reduced calculation time while the fluid model shows discrepancy in the results of the plasma density and the electron temperature.

Structural simplicity as a restraint on the structure of amorphous silicon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cliffe, Matthew J.; Bartók, Albert P.; Kerber, Rachel N.; Grey, Clare P.; Csányi, Gábor; Goodwin, Andrew L.

2017-06-01

Understanding the structural origins of the properties of amorphous materials remains one of the most important challenges in structural science. In this study, we demonstrate that local "structural simplicity", embodied by the degree to which atomic environments within a material are similar to each other, is a powerful concept for rationalizing the structure of amorphous silicon (a -Si) a canonical amorphous material. We show, by restraining a reverse Monte Carlo refinement against pair distribution function (PDF) data to be simpler, that the simplest model consistent with the PDF is a continuous random network (CRN). A further effect of producing a simple model of a -Si is the generation of a (pseudo)gap in the electronic density of states, suggesting that structural homogeneity drives electronic homogeneity. That this method produces models of a -Si that approach the state-of-the-art without the need for chemically specific restraints (beyond the assumption of homogeneity) suggests that simplicity-based refinement approaches may allow experiment-driven structural modeling techniques to be developed for the wide variety of amorphous semiconductors with strong local order.

A multi-agent quantum Monte Carlo model for charge transport: Application to organic field-effect transistors

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

Bauer, Thilo; Jäger, Christof M.; Jordan, Meredith J. T.

2015-07-28

We have developed a multi-agent quantum Monte Carlo model to describe the spatial dynamics of multiple majority charge carriers during conduction of electric current in the channel of organic field-effect transistors. The charge carriers are treated by a neglect of diatomic differential overlap Hamiltonian using a lattice of hydrogen-like basis functions. The local ionization energy and local electron affinity defined previously map the bulk structure of the transistor channel to external potentials for the simulations of electron- and hole-conduction, respectively. The model is designed without a specific charge-transport mechanism like hopping- or band-transport in mind and does not arbitrarily localizemore » charge. An electrode model allows dynamic injection and depletion of charge carriers according to source-drain voltage. The field-effect is modeled by using the source-gate voltage in a Metropolis-like acceptance criterion. Although the current cannot be calculated because the simulations have no time axis, using the number of Monte Carlo moves as pseudo-time gives results that resemble experimental I/V curves.« less

Multiscale tomography of buried magnetic structures: its use in the localization and characterization of archaeological structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saracco, Ginette; Moreau, Frédérique; Mathé, Pierre-Etienne; Hermitte, Daniel; Michel, Jean-Marie

2007-10-01

We have previously developed a method for characterizing and localizing `homogeneous' buried sources, from the measure of potential anomalies at a fixed height above ground (magnetic, electric and gravity). This method is based on potential theory and uses the properties of the Poisson kernel (real by definition) and the continuous wavelet theory. Here, we relax the assumption on sources and introduce a method that we call the `multiscale tomography'. Our approach is based on the harmonic extension of the observed magnetic field to produce a complex source by use of a complex Poisson kernel solution of the Laplace equation for complex potential field. A phase and modulus are defined. We show that the phase provides additional information on the total magnetic inclination and the structure of sources, while the modulus allows us to characterize its spatial location, depth and `effective degree'. This method is compared to the `complex dipolar tomography', extension of the Patella method that we previously developed. We applied both methods and a classical electrical resistivity tomography to detect and localize buried archaeological structures like antique ovens from magnetic measurements on the Fox-Amphoux site (France). The estimates are then compared with the results of excavations.

A Review on Segmentation of Positron Emission Tomography Images

PubMed Central

Foster, Brent; Bagci, Ulas; Mansoor, Awais; Xu, Ziyue; Mollura, Daniel J.

2014-01-01

Positron Emission Tomography (PET), a non-invasive functional imaging method at the molecular level, images the distribution of biologically targeted radiotracers with high sensitivity. PET imaging provides detailed quantitative information about many diseases and is often used to evaluate inflammation, infection, and cancer by detecting emitted photons from a radiotracer localized to abnormal cells. In order to differentiate abnormal tissue from surrounding areas in PET images, image segmentation methods play a vital role; therefore, accurate image segmentation is often necessary for proper disease detection, diagnosis, treatment planning, and follow-ups. In this review paper, we present state-of-the-art PET image segmentation methods, as well as the recent advances in image segmentation techniques. In order to make this manuscript self-contained, we also briefly explain the fundamentals of PET imaging, the challenges of diagnostic PET image analysis, and the effects of these challenges on the segmentation results. PMID:24845019

Three-dimensional localization of nanoscale battery reactions using soft X-ray tomography.

PubMed

Yu, Young-Sang; Farmand, Maryam; Kim, Chunjoong; Liu, Yijin; Grey, Clare P; Strobridge, Fiona C; Tyliszczak, Tolek; Celestre, Rich; Denes, Peter; Joseph, John; Krishnan, Harinarayan; Maia, Filipe R N C; Kilcoyne, A L David; Marchesini, Stefano; Leite, Talita Perciano Costa; Warwick, Tony; Padmore, Howard; Cabana, Jordi; Shapiro, David A

2018-03-02

Battery function is determined by the efficiency and reversibility of the electrochemical phase transformations at solid electrodes. The microscopic tools available to study the chemical states of matter with the required spatial resolution and chemical specificity are intrinsically limited when studying complex architectures by their reliance on two-dimensional projections of thick material. Here, we report the development of soft X-ray ptychographic tomography, which resolves chemical states in three dimensions at 11 nm spatial resolution. We study an ensemble of nano-plates of lithium iron phosphate extracted from a battery electrode at 50% state of charge. Using a set of nanoscale tomograms, we quantify the electrochemical state and resolve phase boundaries throughout the volume of individual nanoparticles. These observations reveal multiple reaction points, intra-particle heterogeneity, and size effects that highlight the importance of multi-dimensional analytical tools in providing novel insight to the design of the next generation of high-performance devices.

Local activity determines functional connectivity in the resting human brain: a simultaneous FDG-PET/fMRI study.

PubMed

Riedl, Valentin; Bienkowska, Katarzyna; Strobel, Carola; Tahmasian, Masoud; Grimmer, Timo; Förster, Stefan; Friston, Karl J; Sorg, Christian; Drzezga, Alexander

2014-04-30

Over the last decade, synchronized resting-state fluctuations of blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signals between remote brain areas [so-called BOLD resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC)] have gained enormous relevance in systems and clinical neuroscience. However, the neural underpinnings of rs-FC are still incompletely understood. Using simultaneous positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging we here directly investigated the relationship between rs-FC and local neuronal activity in humans. Computational models suggest a mechanistic link between the dynamics of local neuronal activity and the functional coupling among distributed brain regions. Therefore, we hypothesized that the local activity (LA) of a region at rest determines its rs-FC. To test this hypothesis, we simultaneously measured both LA (glucose metabolism) and rs-FC (via synchronized BOLD fluctuations) during conditions of eyes closed or eyes open. During eyes open, LA increased in the visual system, and the salience network (i.e., cingulate and insular cortices) and the pattern of elevated LA coincided almost exactly with the spatial pattern of increased rs-FC. Specifically, the voxelwise regional profile of LA in these areas strongly correlated with the regional pattern of rs-FC among the same regions (e.g., LA in primary visual cortex accounts for ∼ 50%, and LA in anterior cingulate accounts for ∼ 20% of rs-FC with the visual system). These data provide the first direct evidence in humans that local neuronal activity determines BOLD FC at rest. Beyond its relevance for the neuronal basis of coherent BOLD signal fluctuations, our procedure may translate into clinical research particularly to investigate potentially aberrant links between local dynamics and remote functional coupling in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders.

Experimental and theoretical study using DFT method for the competitive adsorption of two cationic dyes from wastewaters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Regti, Abdelmajid; Ayouchia, Hicham Ben El; Laamari, My Rachid; Stiriba, Salah Eddine; Anane, Hafid; Haddad, Mohammadine El

2016-12-01

The adsorption of cationic dyes, Basic Yellow (BY28) and Methylene Blue (MB) on a new activated carbon from medlar species were studied in both single and binary system. Some experimental parameters, namely, pH, amount of adsorbent and contact time are studied. Quantum chemical results indicate that the adsorption efficiency was directly related to the dye electrophilicity power. Some theorical parameters were calculated and proved that MB is more electrophilic than BY28, than greatest interaction with surface sites. Kinetic study showed that the adsorption follows the pseudo-second-order model and Freundlich was the best model to describe the phenomenon in the single and binary system. According to the local reactivity results using Parr functions, the sulphur and nitrogen atoms will be the main adsorption sites.

Intelligent Robotic Systems Study (IRSS), phase 4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

Under the Intelligent Robotics Systems Study (IRSS), a generalized robotic control architecture was developed for use with the ProtoFlight Manipulator Arm (PFMA). Based upon the NASREM system design concept, the controller built for the PFMA provides localized position based force control, teleoperation, and advanced path recording and playback capabilities. The PFMA has six computer controllable degrees of freedom (DOF) plus a 7th manually indexable DOF, making the manipulator a pseudo 7 DOF mechanism. Joints on the PFMA are driven via 7 pulse width modulated amplifiers. Digital control of the PFMA is implemented using a variety of single board computers. There were two major activities under the IRSS phase 4 study: (1) enhancement of the PFMA control system software functionality; and (2) evaluation of operating modes via a teleoperation performance study. These activities are described and results are given.

Conditional sampling technique to test the applicability of the Taylor hypothesis for the large-scale coherent structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hussain, A. K. M. F.

1980-01-01

Comparisons of the distributions of large scale structures in turbulent flow with distributions based on time dependent signals from stationary probes and the Taylor hypothesis are presented. The study investigated an area in the near field of a 7.62 cm circular air jet at a Re of 32,000, specifically having coherent structures through small-amplitude controlled excitation and stable vortex pairing in the jet column mode. Hot-wire and X-wire anemometry were employed to establish phase averaged spatial distributions of longitudinal and lateral velocities, coherent Reynolds stress and vorticity, background turbulent intensities, streamlines and pseudo-stream functions. The Taylor hypothesis was used to calculate spatial distributions of the phase-averaged properties, with results indicating that the usage of the local time-average velocity or streamwise velocity produces large distortions.

Abdomen/pelvis computed tomography in staging of pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma: is it always necessary?

PubMed

Farruggia, Piero; Puccio, Giuseppe; Sala, Alessandra; Todesco, Alessandra; Terenziani, Monica; Mura, Rosamaria; D'Amico, Salvatore; Casini, Tommaso; Mosa, Clara; Pillon, Marta; Boaro, Maria Paola; Bottigliero, Gaetano; Burnelli, Roberta; Consarino, Caterina; Fedeli, Fausto; Mascarin, Maurizio; Perruccio, Katia; Schiavello, Elisabetta; Trizzino, Angela; Ficola, Umberto; Garaventa, Alberto; Rossello, Mario

2016-09-01

The purpose of the study was to determine if abdomen/pelvis computed tomography (CT) can be safety omitted in the initial staging of a subgroup of children affected by Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL). Every participating center of A.I.E.O.P (Associazione Italiana di Ematologia ed Oncologia Pediatrica) sent local staging reports of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) and abdominal ultrasound (US) along with digital images of staging abdomen/pelvis CT to the investigation center where the CT scans were evaluated by an experienced pediatric radiologist. The local radiologist who performed the US was unaware of local CT and PET reports (both carried out after US), and the reviewer radiologist examining the CT images was unaware of local US, PET and CT reports. A new abdominal staging of 123 patients performed on the basis of local US report, local PET report, and centralized CT report was then compared to a simpler staging based on local US and PET. No additional lesion was discovered by CT in patients with abdomen/pelvis negativity in both US and PET or isolated spleen positivity in US (or US and PET), and so it seems that in the initial staging, abdomen/pelvis CT can be safety omitted in about 1/2 to 2/3 of children diagnosed with HL. © 2016 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

New Interpretation of the Wigner Function

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daboul, Jamil

1996-01-01

I define a two-sided or forward-backward propagator for the pseudo-diffusion equation of the 'squeezed' Q function. This propagator leads to squeezing in one of the phase-space variables and anti-squeezing in the other. By noting that the Q function is related to the Wigner function by a special case of the above propagator, I am led to a new interpretation of the Wigner function.

A hybrid method for the computation of quasi-3D seismograms.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masson, Yder; Romanowicz, Barbara

2013-04-01

The development of powerful computer clusters and efficient numerical computation methods, such as the Spectral Element Method (SEM) made possible the computation of seismic wave propagation in a heterogeneous 3D earth. However, the cost of theses computations is still problematic for global scale tomography that requires hundreds of such simulations. Part of the ongoing research effort is dedicated to the development of faster modeling methods based on the spectral element method. Capdeville et al. (2002) proposed to couple SEM simulations with normal modes calculation (C-SEM). Nissen-Meyer et al. (2007) used 2D SEM simulations to compute 3D seismograms in a 1D earth model. Thanks to these developments, and for the first time, Lekic et al. (2011) developed a 3D global model of the upper mantle using SEM simulations. At the local and continental scale, adjoint tomography that is using a lot of SEM simulation can be implemented on current computers (Tape, Liu et al. 2009). Due to their smaller size, these models offer higher resolution. They provide us with images of the crust and the upper part of the mantle. In an attempt to teleport such local adjoint tomographic inversions into the deep earth, we are developing a hybrid method where SEM computation are limited to a region of interest within the earth. That region can have an arbitrary shape and size. Outside this region, the seismic wavefield is extrapolated to obtain synthetic data at the Earth's surface. A key feature of the method is the use of a time reversal mirror to inject the wavefield induced by distant seismic source into the region of interest (Robertsson and Chapman 2000). We compute synthetic seismograms as follow: Inside the region of interest, we are using regional spectral element software RegSEM to compute wave propagation in 3D. Outside this region, the wavefield is extrapolated to the surface by convolution with the Green's functions from the mirror to the seismic stations. For now, these Green's functions are computed using 2D SEM simulation in a 1D Earth model. Such seismograms account for the 3D structure inside the region of interest in a quasi-exact manner. Later we plan to extrapolate the misfit function computed from such seismograms at the stations back into the SEM region in order to compute local adjoint kernels. This opens a new path toward regional adjoint tomography into the deep Earth. Capdeville, Y., et al. (2002). "Coupling the spectral element method with a modal solution for elastic wave propagation in global Earth models." Geophysical Journal International 152(1): 34-67. Lekic, V. and B. Romanowicz (2011). "Inferring upper-mantle structure by full waveform tomography with the spectral element method." Geophysical Journal International 185(2): 799-831. Nissen-Meyer, T., et al. (2007). "A two-dimensional spectral-element method for computing spherical-earth seismograms-I. Moment-tensor source." Geophysical Journal International 168(3): 1067-1092. Robertsson, J. O. A. and C. H. Chapman (2000). "An efficient method for calculating finite-difference seismograms after model alterations." Geophysics 65(3): 907-918. Tape, C., et al. (2009). "Adjoint tomography of the southern California crust." Science 325(5943): 988-992.

Balancing the Power-to-Load Ratio for a Novel Variable Geometry Wave Energy Converter with Nonideal Power Take-Off in Regular Waves: Preprint

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

Tom, Nathan M; Yu, Yi-Hsiang; Wright, Alan D

This work attempts to balance power absorption against structural loading for a novel variable geometry wave energy converter. The variable geometry consists of four identical flaps that will be opened in ascending order starting with the flap closest to the seafloor and moving to the free surface. The influence of a pitch motion constraint on power absorption when utilizing a nonideal power take-off (PTO) is examined and found to reduce the losses associated with bidirectional energy flow. The power-to-load ratio is evaluated using pseudo-spectral control to determine the optimum PTO torque based on a multiterm objective function. The pseudo-spectral optimalmore » control problem is extended to include load metrics in the objective function, which may now consist of competing terms. Separate penalty weights are attached to the surge-foundation force and PTO control torque to tune the optimizer performance to emphasize either power absorption or load shedding. PTO efficiency is not included in the objective function, but the penalty weights are utilized to limit the force and torque amplitudes, thereby reducing losses associated with bidirectional energy flow. Results from pseudo-spectral control demonstrate that shedding a portion of the available wave energy can provide greater reductions in structural loads and reactive power.« less

Travel time tomography with local image regularization by sparsity constrained dictionary learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bianco, M.; Gerstoft, P.

2017-12-01

We propose a regularization approach for 2D seismic travel time tomography which models small rectangular groups of slowness pixels, within an overall or `global' slowness image, as sparse linear combinations of atoms from a dictionary. The groups of slowness pixels are referred to as patches and a dictionary corresponds to a collection of functions or `atoms' describing the slowness in each patch. These functions could for example be wavelets.The patch regularization is incorporated into the global slowness image. The global image models the broad features, while the local patch images incorporate prior information from the dictionary. Further, high resolution slowness within patches is permitted if the travel times from the global estimates support it. The proposed approach is formulated as an algorithm, which is repeated until convergence is achieved: 1) From travel times, find the global slowness image with a minimum energy constraint on the pixel variance relative to a reference. 2) Find the patch level solutions to fit the global estimate as a sparse linear combination of dictionary atoms.3) Update the reference as the weighted average of the patch level solutions.This approach relies on the redundancy of the patches in the seismic image. Redundancy means that the patches are repetitions of a finite number of patterns, which are described by the dictionary atoms. Redundancy in the earth's structure was demonstrated in previous works in seismics where dictionaries of wavelet functions regularized inversion. We further exploit redundancy of the patches by using dictionary learning algorithms, a form of unsupervised machine learning, to estimate optimal dictionaries from the data in parallel with the inversion. We demonstrate our approach on densely, but irregularly sampled synthetic seismic images.

Diagnostic performance of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging fusion images of gynecological malignant tumors: comparison with positron emission tomography/computed tomography.

PubMed

Nakajo, Kazuya; Tatsumi, Mitsuaki; Inoue, Atsuo; Isohashi, Kayako; Higuchi, Ichiro; Kato, Hiroki; Imaizumi, Masao; Enomoto, Takayuki; Shimosegawa, Eku; Kimura, Tadashi; Hatazawa, Jun

2010-02-01

We compared the diagnostic accuracy of fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) and PET/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fusion images for gynecological malignancies. A total of 31 patients with gynecological malignancies were enrolled. FDG-PET images were fused to CT, T1- and T2-weighted images (T1WI, T2WI). PET-MRI fusion was performed semiautomatically. We performed three types of evaluation to demonstrate the usefulness of PET/MRI fusion images in comparison with that of inline PET/CT as follows: depiction of the uterus and the ovarian lesions on CT or MRI mapping images (first evaluation); additional information for lesion localization with PET and mapping images (second evaluation); and the image quality of fusion on interpretation (third evaluation). For the first evaluation, the score for T2WI (4.68 +/- 0.65) was significantly higher than that for CT (3.54 +/- 1.02) or T1WI (3.71 +/- 0.97) (P < 0.01). For the second evaluation, the scores for the localization of FDG accumulation showing that T2WI (2.74 +/- 0.57) provided significantly more additional information for the identification of anatomical sites of FDG accumulation than did CT (2.06 +/- 0.68) or T1WI (2.23 +/- 0.61) (P < 0.01). For the third evaluation, the three-point rating scale for the patient group as a whole demonstrated that PET/T2WI (2.72 +/- 0.54) localized the lesion significantly more convincingly than PET/CT (2.23 +/- 0.50) or PET/T1WI (2.29 +/- 0.53) (P < 0.01). PET/T2WI fusion images are superior for the detection and localization of gynecological malignancies.

[Pseudo-radicular referred leg pain].

PubMed

von Heymann, W

2015-12-01

Pseudo-radicular leg pain as initially described by Bruegger more than 55 years ago was at that time a genius explanation for so many non-radicular pain syndromes that needed not any kind of surgical intervention but in first line a manual treatment or a treatment by therapeutic local anesthetics. Today we describe this pain as a "referred pain" originating from other anatomic structures that may occur during the development of chronic pain. Nevertheless this pain is found in many patients and it still seems to be a big problem for many physicians and surgeons. Imaging does not help either. The history and the clinical symptoms, the examinations, the chain reactions in the motor system as well as the treatment options from the point of view of manual medicine are described.

Propagation-based phase-contrast tomography for high-resolution lung imaging with laboratory sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krenkel, Martin; Töpperwien, Mareike; Dullin, Christian; Alves, Frauke; Salditt, Tim

2016-03-01

We have performed high-resolution phase-contrast tomography on whole mice with a laboratory setup. Enabled by a high-brilliance liquid-metal-jet source, we show the feasibility of propagation-based phase contrast in local tomography even in the presence of strongly absorbing surrounding tissue as it is the case in small animal imaging of the lung. We demonstrate the technique by reconstructions of the mouse lung for two different fields of view, covering the whole organ, and a zoom to the local finer structure of terminal airways and alveoli. With a resolution of a few micrometers and the wide availability of the technique, studies of larger biological samples at the cellular level become possible.

Diagnostic performance of multidetector computed tomography in distinguishing unilateral from bilateral abnormalities in primary hyperaldosteronism: comparison of multidetector computed tomography with adrenal vein sampling.

PubMed

Raman, Siva P; Lessne, Mark; Kawamoto, Satomi; Chen, Yifei; Salvatori, Roberto; Prescott, Jason D; Fishman, Elliot K

2015-01-01

The management of patients with primary hyperaldosteronism (PH) varies depending on whether the unregulated aldosterone secretion localizes to a single unilateral adrenal gland, traditionally determined using adrenal vein sampling (AVS). This study seeks to determine if the performance of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) examinations performed using the latest scanner technology can reasonably match the results of AVS, and potentially avoid AVS in some patients. Computed tomographic scans in 56 patients with PH were independently reviewed by 2 radiologists for the presence of adrenal nodules and qualitative adrenal thickening. Results were correlated with AVS results. Of 35 patients with MDCT evidence of unilateral nodules, the imaging findings correctly predicted AVS localization in only 23 (65.7%) cases. When stratified by size, MDCT was accurate in only 71.4% of cases for nodules measuring 10 mm or less, and only 55.0% of cases for nodules measuring 11 to 20 mm. Of the 12 cases where MDCT did not correctly localize, AVS localized to the contralateral adrenal gland in 4 cases, whereas AVS suggested no lateralization in 8 cases. In patients with normal bilateral adrenal glands on MDCT, 2/7 (28.6%) of cases demonstrated unilateral localization on AVS, and in patients with bilateral adrenal nodules, only 3/14 (21.4%) did not demonstrate lateralization on AVS. Multidetector computed tomography, even when performed with the latest generation of MDCT scanners, does not offer sufficient diagnostic accuracy to replace AVS in patients with PH.

Three-dimensional multifunctional optical coherence tomography for skin imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, En; Makita, Shuichi; Hong, Young-Joo; Kasaragod, Deepa; Sasaoka, Tomoko; Yamanari, Masahiro; Sugiyama, Satoshi; Yasuno, Yoshiaki

2016-02-01

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) visualizes cross-sectional microstructures of biological tissues. Recent developments of multifunctional OCT (MF-OCT) provides multiple optical contrasts which can reveal currently unknown tissue properties. In this contribution we demonstrate multifunctional OCT specially designed for dermatological investigation. And by utilizing it to measure four different body parts of in vivo human skin, three-dimensional scattering OCT, OCT angiography, polarization uniformity tomography, and local birefringence tomography images were obtained by a single scan. They respectively contrast the structure and morphology, vasculature, melanin content and collagen traits of the tissue.

[Q:] When would you prefer a SOSSAGE to a SAUSAGE? [A:] At about 100 msec. ERP correlates of orthographic typicality and lexicality in written word recognition.

PubMed

Hauk, O; Patterson, K; Woollams, A; Watling, L; Pulvermüller, F; Rogers, T T

2006-05-01

Using a speeded lexical decision task, event-related potentials (ERPs), and minimum norm current source estimates, we investigated early spatiotemporal aspects of cortical activation elicited by words and pseudo-words that varied in their orthographic typicality, that is, in the frequency of their component letter pairs (bi-grams) and triplets (tri-grams). At around 100 msec after stimulus onset, the ERP pattern revealed a significant typicality effect, where words and pseudo-words with atypical orthography (e.g., yacht, cacht) elicited stronger brain activation than items characterized by typical spelling patterns (cart, yart). At approximately 200 msec, the ERP pattern revealed a significant lexicality effect, with pseudo-words eliciting stronger brain activity than words. The two main factors interacted significantly at around 160 msec, where words showed a typicality effect but pseudo-words did not. The principal cortical sources of the effects of both typicality and lexicality were localized in the inferior temporal cortex. Around 160 msec, atypical words elicited the stronger source currents in the left anterior inferior temporal cortex, whereas the left perisylvian cortex was the site of greater activation to typical words. Our data support distinct but interactive processing stages in word recognition, with surface features of the stimulus being processed before the word as a meaningful lexical entry. The interaction of typicality and lexicality can be explained by integration of information from the early form-based system and lexicosemantic processes.

Symmetric quadratic Hamiltonians with pseudo-Hermitian matrix representation

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

Fernández, Francisco M., E-mail: fernande@quimica.unlp.edu.ar

2016-06-15

We prove that any symmetric Hamiltonian that is a quadratic function of the coordinates and momenta has a pseudo-Hermitian adjoint or regular matrix representation. The eigenvalues of the latter matrix are the natural frequencies of the Hamiltonian operator. When all the eigenvalues of the matrix are real, then the spectrum of the symmetric Hamiltonian is real and the operator is Hermitian. As illustrative examples we choose the quadratic Hamiltonians that model a pair of coupled resonators with balanced gain and loss, the electromagnetic self-force on an oscillating charged particle and an active LRC circuit. -- Highlights: •Symmetric quadratic operators aremore » useful models for many physical applications. •Any such operator exhibits a pseudo-Hermitian matrix representation. •Its eigenvalues are the natural frequencies of the Hamiltonian operator. •The eigenvalues may be real or complex and describe a phase transition.« less

A Distributed Simulation Facility to Support Human Factors Research in Advanced Air Transportation Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amonlirdviman, Keith; Farley, Todd C.; Hansman, R. John, Jr.; Ladik, John F.; Sherer, Dana Z.

1998-01-01

A distributed real-time simulation of the civil air traffic environment developed to support human factors research in advanced air transportation technology is presented. The distributed environment is based on a custom simulation architecture designed for simplicity and flexibility in human experiments. Standard Internet protocols are used to create the distributed environment, linking all advanced cockpit simulator, all Air Traffic Control simulator, and a pseudo-aircraft control and simulation management station. The pseudo-aircraft control station also functions as a scenario design tool for coordinating human factors experiments. This station incorporates a pseudo-pilot interface designed to reduce workload for human operators piloting multiple aircraft simultaneously in real time. The application of this distributed simulation facility to support a study of the effect of shared information (via air-ground datalink) on pilot/controller shared situation awareness and re-route negotiation is also presented.

Adsorption of phenolic compound by aged-refuse.

PubMed

Xiaoli, Chai; Youcai, Zhao

2006-09-01

The adsorption of phenol, 2-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol by aged-refuse has been studied. Adsorption isotherms have been determined for phenol, 2-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol and the data fits well to the Freundlich equation. The chlorinated phenols are absorbed more strongly than the phenol and the adsorption capacity has an oblivious relationship with the numbers and the position of chlorine subsistent. The experiment data suggests that both the partition function and the chemical adsorption involve in the adsorption process. Pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order model were applied to investigate the kinetics of the adsorption and the results show that it fit the pseudo-second-order model. More than one step involves in the adsorption process and the overall rate of the adsorption process appears to be controlled by the chemical reaction. The thermodynamic analysis indicates that the adsorption is spontaneous and endothermic.

H2(15)O or 13NH3 PET and electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) during partial status epilepticus.

PubMed

Zumsteg, D; Wennberg, R A; Treyer, V; Buck, A; Wieser, H G

2005-11-22

The authors evaluated the feasibility and source localization utility of H2(15)O or 13NH3 PET and low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) in three patients with partial status epilepticus (SE). Results were correlated with findings from intraoperative electrocorticographic recordings and surgical outcomes. PET studies of cerebral blood flow and noninvasive source modeling with LORETA using statistical nonparametric mapping provided useful information for localizing the ictal activity in patients with partial SE.

Pseudo-Fovea Formation After Gene Therapy for RPE65-LCA

PubMed Central

Cideciyan, Artur V.; Aguirre, Geoffrey K.; Jacobson, Samuel G.; Butt, Omar H.; Schwartz, Sharon B.; Swider, Malgorzata; Roman, Alejandro J.; Sadigh, Sam; Hauswirth, William W.

2015-01-01

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate fixation location and oculomotor characteristics of 15 patients with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) caused by RPE65 mutations (RPE65-LCA) who underwent retinal gene therapy. Methods. Eye movements were quantified under infrared imaging of the retina while the subject fixated on a stationary target. In a subset of patients, letter recognition under retinal imaging was performed. Cortical responses to visual stimulation were measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in two patients before and after therapy. Results. All patients were able to fixate on a 1° diameter visible target in the dark. The preferred retinal locus of fixation was either at the anatomical fovea or at an extrafoveal locus. There were a wide range of oculomotor abnormalities. Natural history showed little change in oculomotor abnormalities if target illuminance was increased to maintain target visibility as the disease progressed. Eleven of 15 study eyes treated with gene therapy showed no differences from baseline fixation locations or instability over an average of follow-up of 3.5 years. Four of 15 eyes developed new pseudo-foveas in the treated retinal regions 9 to 12 months after therapy that persisted for up to 6 years; patients used their pseudo-foveas for letter identification. fMRI studies demonstrated that preservation of light sensitivity was restricted to the cortical projection zone of the pseudo-foveas. Conclusions. The slow emergence of pseudo-foveas many months after the initial increases in light sensitivity points to a substantial plasticity of the adult visual system and a complex interaction between it and the progression of underlying retinal disease. The visual significance of pseudo-foveas suggests careful consideration of treatment zones for future gene therapy trials. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00481546.) PMID:25537204

Hybrid optimization and Bayesian inference techniques for a non-smooth radiation detection problem

DOE PAGES

Stefanescu, Razvan; Schmidt, Kathleen; Hite, Jason; ...

2016-12-12

In this paper, we propose several algorithms to recover the location and intensity of a radiation source located in a simulated 250 × 180 m block of an urban center based on synthetic measurements. Radioactive decay and detection are Poisson random processes, so we employ likelihood functions based on this distribution. Owing to the domain geometry and the proposed response model, the negative logarithm of the likelihood is only piecewise continuous differentiable, and it has multiple local minima. To address these difficulties, we investigate three hybrid algorithms composed of mixed optimization techniques. For global optimization, we consider simulated annealing, particlemore » swarm, and genetic algorithm, which rely solely on objective function evaluations; that is, they do not evaluate the gradient in the objective function. By employing early stopping criteria for the global optimization methods, a pseudo-optimum point is obtained. This is subsequently utilized as the initial value by the deterministic implicit filtering method, which is able to find local extrema in non-smooth functions, to finish the search in a narrow domain. These new hybrid techniques, combining global optimization and implicit filtering address, difficulties associated with the non-smooth response, and their performances, are shown to significantly decrease the computational time over the global optimization methods. To quantify uncertainties associated with the source location and intensity, we employ the delayed rejection adaptive Metropolis and DiffeRential Evolution Adaptive Metropolis algorithms. Finally, marginal densities of the source properties are obtained, and the means of the chains compare accurately with the estimates produced by the hybrid algorithms.« less

Semiannual status report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

The work performed in the previous six months can be divided into three main cases: (1) transmission of images over local area networks (LAN's); (2) coding of color mapped (pseudo-color) images; and (3) low rate video coding. A brief overview of the work done in the first two areas is presented. The third item is reported in somewhat more detail.

Ambient Noise Tomography and Microseism Directionalities across the Juan de Fuca Plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Ye

Ambient noise tomography has been well developed over the past decade and proven to be effective in studying the crust and upper mantle structure beneath the Earth’s continents. With new seismic array deployments beginning in the oceans, the application of the tomographic methods based on ambient noise observed at ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) has become an important topic for research. In this thesis, I investigate the application of ambient noise tomography to oceanic bottom seismic data recorded by the Cascadia Initiative experiment across the Juan de Fuca plate. With higher local noise levels recorded by OBSs, I find that traditional data processing procedures used in ambient noise tomography produce measurable Rayleigh wave Green’s functions between deep ocean stations, whereas the shallow water stations are severely contaminated by both tilt noise and compliance noise and require new methods of processing. Because the local noise level varies across the study region, four semi-independent studies are conducted to both utilize the quieter deep-water stations and to address the problem posed by noisy shallow water stations. First, I construct an age-dependent shear wave speed model of the crust and uppermost mantle with 18 deep-water stations near the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The model possess a shallow low shear velocity zone near the ridge and has its sedimentary thickness, lithospheric thickness, and mantle shear wave speeds increase systematically with age Second, I investigate the locations and mechanisms of microseism generation using ambient noise cross-correlations constructed between 61 OBSs and 42 continental stations near the western US coast and find that the primary and secondary microseisms are generated at different locations and possibly have different physical mechanisms. Third, I show that tilt and compliance noise on the vertical components of the OBSs can be reduced substantially using the horizontal components and the differential pressure gauge records. Removal of these types of noise improves the signal-to-noise ratio of ambient noise cross-correlations significantly at beyond 10 sec period. Lastly, I present a new single-station method to estimate the microseism Rayleigh wave strength and directionality based on the horizontal-to-vertical transfer function. The high spatial and temporal resolution of this method may open up the microseism Rayleigh waves for a wider range of studies.

In vivo imaging of pulmonary nodule and vasculature using endoscopic co-registered optical coherence tomography and autofluorescence imaging (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pahlevaninezhad, Hamid; Lee, Anthony; Hohert, Geoffrey; Schwartz, Carely; Shaipanich, Tawimas; Ritchie, Alexander J.; Zhang, Wei; MacAulay, Calum E.; Lam, Stephen; Lane, Pierre M.

2016-03-01

Peripheral lung nodules found by CT-scans are difficult to localize and biopsy bronchoscopically particularly for those ≤ 2 cm in diameter. In this work, we present the results of endoscopic co-registered optical coherence tomography and autofluorescence imaging (OCT-AFI) of normal and abnormal peripheral airways from 40 patients using 0.9 mm diameter fiber optic rotary pullback catheter. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can visualize detailed airway morphology endoscopically in the lung periphery. Autofluorescence imaging (AFI) can visualize fluorescing tissue components such as collagen and elastin, enabling the detection of airway lesions with high sensitivity. Results indicate that AFI of abnormal airways is different from that of normal airways, suggesting that AFI can provide a sensitive visual presentation for rapidly identifying possible sites of pulmonary nodules. AFI can also rapidly visualize in vivo vascular networks using fast scanning parameters resulting in vascular-sensitive imaging with less breathing/cardiac motion artifacts compared to Doppler OCT imaging. It is known that tumor vasculature is structurally and functionally different from normal vessels. Thus, AFI can be potentially used for differentiating normal and abnormal lung vasculature for studying vascular remodeling.

Optical coherence tomography of dental structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumgartner, Angela; Hitzenberger, Christoph K.; Dichtl, Sabine; Sattmann, Harald; Moritz, Andreas; Sperr, Wolfgang; Fercher, Adolf F.

1998-04-01

In the past ten years Partial Coherence Interferometry (PCI) and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) have been successfully developed for high precision biometry and tomography of biological tissues. OCT employs the partial coherence properties of a superluminescent diode and the Doppler principle yielding resolution and precision figures of the order of a few microns. Presently, the main application fields of this technique are biometry and imaging of ocular structures in vivo, as well as its clinical use in dermatology and endoscopic applications. This well established length measuring and imaging technique has now been applied to dentistry. First in vitro OCT images of the cemento (dentine) enamel junction of extracted sound and decayed human teeth have been recorded. These images distinguish dentine and enamel structures that are important for assessing enamel thickness and diagnosing caries. Individual optical A-Scans show that the penetration depth into enamel is considerably larger than into dentine. First polarization sensitive OCT recordings show localized changes of the polarization state of the light backscattered by dental material. Two-dimensional maps of the magnitude of the interference intensity and of the total phase difference between two orthogonal polarization states as a function of depth can reveal important structural information.

Assessment of the pseudo-tracking approach for the calculation of material acceleration and pressure fields from time-resolved PIV: part I. Error propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Gent, P. L.; Schrijer, F. F. J.; van Oudheusden, B. W.

2018-04-01

Pseudo-tracking refers to the construction of imaginary particle paths from PIV velocity fields and the subsequent estimation of the particle (material) acceleration. In view of the variety of existing and possible alternative ways to perform the pseudo-tracking method, it is not straightforward to select a suitable combination of numerical procedures for its implementation. To address this situation, this paper extends the theoretical framework for the approach. The developed theory is verified by applying various implementations of pseudo-tracking to a simulated PIV experiment. The findings of the investigations allow us to formulate the following insights and practical recommendations: (1) the velocity errors along the imaginary particle track are primarily a function of velocity measurement errors and spatial velocity gradients; (2) the particle path may best be calculated with second-order accurate numerical procedures while ensuring that the CFL condition is met; (3) least-square fitting of a first-order polynomial is a suitable method to estimate the material acceleration from the track; and (4) a suitable track length may be selected on the basis of the variation in material acceleration with track length.

Short-term prediction of chaotic time series by using RBF network with regression weights.

PubMed

Rojas, I; Gonzalez, J; Cañas, A; Diaz, A F; Rojas, F J; Rodriguez, M

2000-10-01

We propose a framework for constructing and training a radial basis function (RBF) neural network. The structure of the gaussian functions is modified using a pseudo-gaussian function (PG) in which two scaling parameters sigma are introduced, which eliminates the symmetry restriction and provides the neurons in the hidden layer with greater flexibility with respect to function approximation. We propose a modified PG-BF (pseudo-gaussian basis function) network in which the regression weights are used to replace the constant weights in the output layer. For this purpose, a sequential learning algorithm is presented to adapt the structure of the network, in which it is possible to create a new hidden unit and also to detect and remove inactive units. A salient feature of the network systems is that the method used for calculating the overall output is the weighted average of the output associated with each receptive field. The superior performance of the proposed PG-BF system over the standard RBF are illustrated using the problem of short-term prediction of chaotic time series.

Synchrotron x-ray high energy PDF and tomography studies for gallium melts under high-pressure conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, H.; Liu, L. L.; Li, R.; Li, L.

2015-12-01

Liquid gallium exhibits unusual and unique physical properties. A rich polymorphism and metastable modifications of solid Ga have been discovered and a number of studies of liquid gallium under high pressure conditions were reported. However, some fundamental properties, such as the equation of state (EoS) of Ga melt under extreme conditions remain unclear. To compare to the previous reports, we performed the pair distribution function (PDF) study using diamond anvil cell, in which synchrotron high-energy x-ray total scattering data, combined with reverse Monte Carlo simulation, was used to study the microstructure and EoS of liquid gallium under high pressure at room temperature conditions. The EoS of Ga melt, which was measured from synchrotron x-ray tomography method at room temperature, was used to avoid the potential relatively big errors for the density estimation from the reverse Monte Carlo simulation with the mathematical fit to the measured structure factor data. The volume change of liquid gallium have been studied as a function of pressure and temperature up to 5 GPa at 370 K using synchrotron x-ray microtomography combined with energy dispersive x-ray diffraction (EDXRD) techniques using Drickamer press. The directly measured P-V-T curves were obtained from 3D tomography reconstruction data. The existence of possible liquid-liquid phase transition regions is proposed based on the abnormal compressibility and local structure change in Ga melts.

Stereo-tomography in triangulated models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Kai; Shao, Wei-Dong; Xing, Feng-yuan; Xiong, Kai

2018-04-01

Stereo-tomography is a distinctive tomographic method. It is capable of estimating the scatterer position, the local dip of scatterer and the background velocity simultaneously. Building a geologically consistent velocity model is always appealing for applied and earthquake seismologists. Differing from the previous work to incorporate various regularization techniques into the cost function of stereo-tomography, we think extending stereo-tomography to the triangulated model will be the most straightforward way to achieve this goal. In this paper, we provided all the Fréchet derivatives of stereo-tomographic data components with respect to model components for slowness-squared triangulated model (or sloth model) in 2D Cartesian coordinate based on the ray perturbation theory for interfaces. A sloth model representation means a sparser model representation when compared with conventional B-spline model representation. A sparser model representation leads to a smaller scale of stereo-tomographic (Fréchet) matrix, a higher-accuracy solution when solving linear equations, a faster convergence rate and a lower requirement for quantity of data space. Moreover, a quantitative representation of interface strengthens the relationships among different model components, which makes the cross regularizations among these model components, such as node coordinates, scatterer coordinates and scattering angles, etc., more straightforward and easier to be implemented. The sensitivity analysis, the model resolution matrix analysis and a series of synthetic data examples demonstrate the correctness of the Fréchet derivatives, the applicability of the regularization terms and the robustness of the stereo-tomography in triangulated model. It provides a solid theoretical foundation for the real applications in the future.

Can computerized tomography accurately stage childhood renal tumors?

PubMed

Abdelhalim, Ahmed; Helmy, Tamer E; Harraz, Ahmed M; Abou-El-Ghar, Mohamed E; Dawaba, Mohamed E; Hafez, Ashraf T

2014-07-01

Staging of childhood renal tumors is crucial for treatment planning and outcome prediction. We sought to identify whether computerized tomography could accurately predict the local stage of childhood renal tumors. We retrospectively reviewed our database for patients diagnosed with childhood renal tumors and treated surgically between 1990 and 2013. Inability to retrieve preoperative computerized tomography, intraoperative tumor spillage and nonWilms childhood renal tumors were exclusion criteria. Local computerized tomography stage was assigned by a single experienced pediatric radiologist blinded to the pathological stage, using a consensus similar to the Children's Oncology Group Wilms tumor staging system. Tumors were stratified into up-front surgery and preoperative chemotherapy groups. The radiological stage of each tumor was compared to the pathological stage. A total of 189 tumors in 179 patients met inclusion criteria. Computerized tomography staging matched pathological staging in 68% of up-front surgery (70 of 103), 31.8% of pre-chemotherapy (21 of 66) and 48.8% of post-chemotherapy scans (42 of 86). Computerized tomography over staged 21.4%, 65.2% and 46.5% of tumors in the up-front surgery, pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy scans, respectively, and under staged 10.7%, 3% and 4.7%. Computerized tomography staging was more accurate in tumors managed by up-front surgery (p <0.001) and those without extracapsular extension (p <0.001). The validity of computerized tomography staging of childhood renal tumors remains doubtful. This staging is more accurate for tumors treated with up-front surgery and those without extracapsular extension. Preoperative computerized tomography can help to exclude capsular breach. Treatment strategy should be based on surgical and pathological staging to avoid the hazards of inaccurate staging. Copyright © 2014 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Operational quantification of continuous-variable correlations.

PubMed

Rodó, Carles; Adesso, Gerardo; Sanpera, Anna

2008-03-21

We quantify correlations (quantum and/or classical) between two continuous-variable modes as the maximal number of correlated bits extracted via local quadrature measurements. On Gaussian states, such "bit quadrature correlations" majorize entanglement, reducing to an entanglement monotone for pure states. For non-Gaussian states, such as photonic Bell states, photon-subtracted states, and mixtures of Gaussian states, the bit correlations are shown to be a monotonic function of the negativity. This quantification yields a feasible, operational way to measure non-Gaussian entanglement in current experiments by means of direct homodyne detection, without a complete state tomography.

The Crust and Upper Mantle Structure of the Iranian Plateau from Joint Waveform Tomography Imaging of Body and Surface Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roecker, S. W.; Priestley, K. F.; Tatar, M.

2014-12-01

The Iranian Plateau forms a broad zone of deformation between the colliding Arabian and Eurasian plates. The convergence is accommodated in the Zagros Mountains of SW Iran, the Alborz Mountains of northern Iran, and the Kopeh Dagh Mountains of NE Iran. These deforming belts are separated by relatively aseismic depressions such as the Lut Block. It has been suggested that the Arabia-Eurasia collision is similar to the Indo-Eurasia collision but at a early point of development and therefore, it may provide clues to our understanding of the earlier stages of the continent-continent collision process. We present results of the analysis of seismic data collected along two NE-SW trending transects across the Iranian Plateau. The first profile extends from near Bushere on the Persian Gulf coast to near to the Iran-Turkmenistan border north of Mashad, and consists of seismic recordings along the SW portion of the line in 2000-2001 and recording along the NE portion of the line in 2003 and 2006-2008. The second profile extends from near the Iran-Iraq border near the Dezfel embayment to the south Caspian Sea coast north of Tehran. We apply the combined 2.5D finite element waveform tomography algorithm of Baker and Roecker [2014] to jointly invert teleseismic body and surface waves to determine the elastic wavespeed structures of these areas. The joint inversion of these different types of waves affords similar types of advantages that are common to combined surface wave dispersion/receiver function inversions in compensating for intrinsic weaknesses in horizontal and vertical resolution capabilities. We compare results recovered from a finite difference approach to document the effects of various assumptions related to their application, such as the inclusion of topography, on the models recovered. We also apply several different inverse methods, starting with simple gradient techniques to the more sophisticated pseudo-Hessian or L-BFGS approach, and find that the latter are generally more robust. Modeling of receiver functions and surface wave dispersion prior to the analysis is shown to be an efficacious way to generate starting models for this analysis.

Quantification of numerical aperture-dependence of the OCT attenuation coefficient (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peinado, Liliana M.; Bloemen, Paul R.; Almasian, Mitra; van Leeuwen, Ton G.; Faber, Dirk J.

2016-03-01

Despite the improvements in early cancer diagnosis, adequate diagnostic tools for early staging of bladder cancer tumors are lacking [1]. MEMS-probes based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) provide cross-sectional imaging with a high-spatial resolution at a high-imaging speed, improving visualization of cancerous tissue [2-3]. Additionally, studies show that the measurement of localized attenuation coefficient allows discrimination between healthy and cancerous tissue [4]. We have designed a new miniaturized MEMS-probe based on OCT that will optimize early diagnosis by improving functional visualization of suspicious lesions in bladder. During the optical design phase of the probe, we have studied the effect of the numerical aperture (NA) on the OCT signal attenuation. For this study, we have employed an InnerVision Santec OCT system with several numerical apertures (25mm, 40mm, 60mm, 100mm, 150mm and 200mm using achromatic lenses). The change in attenuation coefficient was studied using 15 dilutions of intralipid ranging between 6*10-5 volume% and 20 volume%. We obtained the attenuation coefficient from the OCT images at several fixed positions of the focuses using established OCT models (e.g. single scattering with known confocal point spread function (PSF) [5] and multiple scattering using the Extended Huygens Fresnel model [6]). As a result, a non-linear increase of the scattering coefficient as a function of intralipid concentration (due to dependent scattering) was obtained for all numerical apertures. For all intralipid samples, the measured attenuation coefficient decreased with a decrease in NA. Our results suggest a non-negligible influence of the NA on the measured attenuation coefficient. [1] Khochikar MV. Rationale for an early detection program for bladder cancer. Indian J Urol 2011 Apr-Jun; 27(2): 218-225. [2] Sun J and Xie H. Review Article MEMS-Based Endoscopic Optical Coherence Tomography. IJO 2011, Article ID 825629, 12 pages. doi:10.1155/2011/825629. [3] Jung W and Boppart S. Optical coherence tomography for rapid tissue screening and directed histological sectioning. Anal Cell Pathol (Amst). 2012; 35(3): 129-143. [4] R. Wessels et al. Optical coherence tomography in vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia. J Biomed Opt 2012 Nov; 17(11): 116022. [5] Faber D, van der Meer F, Aalders M, van Leeuwen T. Quantitative measurement of attenuation coefficients of weakly scattering media using optical coherence tomography. OPT EXPRESS 2004; 12 (19): 4353-43. [6] Thrane L, Yura HT, and Andersen PE. Analysis of optical coherence tomography systems based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel principle. JOSA 2000; 17(3): 484-490.

Crustal velocity structure of the Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, from ambient seismic noise tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoo, H. J.; Park, Y.; Lee, W. S.; Graw, J. H.; Hansen, S. E.; Kang, T. S.

2017-12-01

A shear wave velocity model of the Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, was derived using Rayleigh-wave group velocity dispersions estimated from the cross correlation of ambient seismic noise. The continuous data, from January to November 2015, recorded on 29 broadband stations operated by Korea Polar Research Institute and Alabama University were used for retrieving the fundamental mode Rayleigh-wave Green's functions of each station pair. Rayleigh-wave group dispersions at period ranging from 3 to 23 s were determined by applying the multi-filter analysis technique. The measured group velocities were inverted to obtain 2-D group velocity maps using a fast marching method. We constructed a pseudo-3-D shear velocity model of the study region using 1-D shear velocity inversions at each node followed by a linear interpolation. The resulting shear velocity maps and cross-sections showed the significant velocity differences in the crust across the East Antarctica, Transantarctic Mountains, and the coastal region. The velocity changes are well correlated with the aeromagnetic lineaments, especially in shallow depth. The velocities in the Transantarctic Mountains are relatively high at shallow depth and lower at deeper depth, while those of the coastal region are relatively low in shallow depth and higher at deeper depth, implying thin crust over this area.

SiSSR: Simultaneous subdivision surface registration for the quantification of cardiac function from computed tomography in canines.

PubMed

Vigneault, Davis M; Pourmorteza, Amir; Thomas, Marvin L; Bluemke, David A; Noble, J Alison

2018-05-01

Recent improvements in cardiac computed tomography (CCT) allow for whole-heart functional studies to be acquired at low radiation dose (<2mSv) and high-temporal resolution (<100ms) in a single heart beat. Although the extraction of regional functional information from these images is of great clinical interest, there is a paucity of research into the quantification of regional function from CCT, contrasting with the large body of work in echocardiography and cardiac MR. Here we present the Simultaneous Subdivision Surface Registration (SiSSR) method: a fast, semi-automated image analysis pipeline for quantifying regional function from contrast-enhanced CCT. For each of thirteen adult male canines, we construct an anatomical reference mesh representing the left ventricular (LV) endocardium, obviating the need for a template mesh to be manually sculpted and initialized. We treat this generated mesh as a Loop subdivision surface, and adapt a technique previously described in the context of 3-D echocardiography to register these surfaces to the endocardium efficiently across all cardiac frames simultaneously. Although previous work performs the registration at a single resolution, we observe that subdivision surfaces naturally suggest a multiresolution approach, leading to faster convergence and avoiding local minima. We additionally make two notable changes to the cost function of the optimization, explicitly encouraging plausible biological motion and high mesh quality. Finally, we calculate an accepted functional metric for CCT from the registered surfaces, and compare our results to an alternate state-of-the-art CCT method. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Recent trends in soft-tissue infection imaging.

PubMed

Petruzzi, Nicholas; Shanthly, Nylla; Thakur, Mathew

2009-03-01

This article discusses the current techniques and future directions of infection imaging with particular attention to respiratory, central nervous system, abdominal, and postoperative infections. The agents currently in use localize to areas of infection and inflammation. An infection-specific imaging agent would greatly improve the utility of scintigraphy in imaging occult infections. The superior spatial resolution of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG-PET) and its lack of reliance on a functional immune system, gives this agent certain advantages over the other radiopharmaceuticals. In respiratory tract infection imaging, an important advancement would be the ability to quantitatively delineate lung inflammation, allowing one to monitor the therapeutic response in a variety of conditions. Current studies suggest PET should be considered the most accurate quantitative method. Scintigraphy has much to offer in localizing abdominal infection as well as inflammation. We may begin to see a gradual increase in the usage of (18)F-FDG-PET in detecting occult abdominal infections. Commonly used modalities for imaging inflammatory bowel disease are scintigraphy with (111)In-oxine/(99m)Tc-HMPAO labeled autologous white blood cells. The literature on central nervous system infection imaging is relatively scarce. Few clinical studies have been performed and numerous new agents have been developed for this use with varying results. Further studies are needed to more clearly delineate the future direction of this field. In evaluating the postoperative spine, (99m)Tc-ciprofloxacin single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was reported to be >80% sensitive in patients more than 6 months after surgery. FDG-PET has also been suggested for this purpose and may play a larger role than originally thought. It appears PET/computed tomography (CT) is gaining support, especially in imaging those with fever of unknown origin or nonfunctional immune systems. Although an infection-specific agent is lacking, the development of one would greatly advance our ability to detect, localize, and quantify infections. Overall, imaging such an agent via SPECT/CT or PET/CT will pave the way for greater clinical reliability in the localization of infection.

A level set method for cupping artifact correction in cone-beam CT

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

Xie, Shipeng; Li, Haibo; Ge, Qi

2015-08-15

Purpose: To reduce cupping artifacts and improve the contrast-to-noise ratio in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods: A level set method is proposed to reduce cupping artifacts in the reconstructed image of CBCT. The authors derive a local intensity clustering property of the CBCT image and define a local clustering criterion function of the image intensities in a neighborhood of each point. This criterion function defines an energy in terms of the level set functions, which represent a segmentation result and the cupping artifacts. The cupping artifacts are estimated as a result of minimizing this energy. Results: The cupping artifacts inmore » CBCT are reduced by an average of 90%. The results indicate that the level set-based algorithm is practical and effective for reducing the cupping artifacts and preserving the quality of the reconstructed image. Conclusions: The proposed method focuses on the reconstructed image without requiring any additional physical equipment, is easily implemented, and provides cupping correction through a single-scan acquisition. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method successfully reduces the cupping artifacts.« less

Seismic tomography of northeastern Tibetan Plateau from body wave arrival times and surface wave dispersion data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, H.; Yao, H.; Zhang, H.

2017-12-01

Reliable crustal and upper mantle structure is important to understand expansion of material from the Tibetan plateau to its northeastern margin. Previous studies have used either ambient noise tomography or body wave traveltime tomography to obtain the crustal velocity models in northeastern Tibetan Plateau. However, clear differences appear in these models obtained using different datasets. Here we propose to jointly invert local and teleseismic body wave arrival times and surface wave dispersion data from ambient noise cross correlation to obtain a unified P and S wavespeed model of the crust and upper mantle in NE Tibetan Plateau. Following Fang et al. (2016), we adopt the direct inversion strategy for surface wave data (Fang et al., 2015), which eliminates the need to construct the phase/group velocity maps and allows the straightforward incorporation of surface wave dispersion data into the body wave inversion framework. For body wave data including both local and teleseismic arrival times, we use the fast marching method (Rawlinson et al., 2004) in order to trace multiple seismic phases simultaneously. The joint inversion method takes advantage of the complementary strengths of different data types, with local body wave data constraining more on the P than S wavespeed in the crust, surface wave data most sensitive to S wavespeed in the crust and upper mantle, teleseismic body wave data resolving the upper mantle structure. A series of synthetic tests will be used to show the robustness and superiority of the joint inversion method. Besides, the inverted model will be validated by waveform simulation and comparison with other studies, like receiver function imaging. The resultant P and S wavespeed models, as well as the derived Vp/Vs model, will be essential to understand the regional tectonics of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, and to address the related geodynamic questions of the Tibetan Plateau formation and expansion.

Reversibility of trapped air on chest computed tomography in cystic fibrosis patients.

PubMed

Loeve, Martine; Rosenow, Tim; Gorbunova, Vladlena; Hop, Wim C J; Tiddens, Harm A W M; de Bruijne, Marleen

2015-06-01

To investigate changes in trapped air volume and distribution over time and compare computed tomography (CT) with pulmonary function tests for determining trapped air. Thirty children contributed two CTs and pulmonary function tests over 2 years. Localized changes in trapped air on CT were assessed using image analysis software, by deforming the CT at timepoint 2 to match timepoint 1, and measuring the volume of stable (TAstable), disappeared (TAdisappeared) and new (TAnew) trapped air as a proportion of total lung volume. We used the difference between total lung capacity measured by plethysmography and helium dilution, residual volume to total lung capacity ratio, forced expiratory flow at 75% of vital capacity, and maximum mid-expiratory flow as pulmonary function test markers of trapped air. Statistical analysis included Wilcoxon's signed rank test and Spearman correlation coefficients. Median (range) age at baseline was 11.9 (5-17) years. Median (range) of trapped air was 9.5 (2-33)% at timepoint 1 and 9.0 (0-25)% at timepoint 2 (p=0.49). Median (range) TAstable, TAdisappeared and TAnew were respectively 3.0 (0-12)%, 5.0 (1-22)% and 7.0 (0-20)%. Trapped air on CT correlated statistically significantly with all pulmonary function measures (p<0.01), other than residual volume to total lung capacity ratio (p=0.37). Trapped air on CT did not significantly progress over 2 years, may have a substantial stable component, and is significantly correlated with pulmonary function markers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Testing of motor unit synchronization model for localized muscle fatigue.

PubMed

Naik, Ganesh R; Kumar, Dinesh K; Yadav, Vivek; Wheeler, Katherine; Arjunan, Sridhar

2009-01-01

Spectral compression of surface electromyogram (sEMG) is associated with onset of localized muscle fatigue. The spectral compression has been explained based on motor unit synchronization theory. According to this theory, motor units are pseudo randomly excited during muscle contraction, and with the onset of muscle fatigue the recruitment pattern changes such that motor unit firings become more synchronized. While this is widely accepted, there is little experimental proof of this phenomenon. This paper has used source dependence measures developed in research related to independent component analysis (ICA) to test this theory.

Generation of brain pseudo-CTs using an undersampled, single-acquisition UTE-mDixon pulse sequence and unsupervised clustering

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

Su, Kuan-Hao; Hu, Lingzhi; Traughber, Melanie

Purpose: MR-based pseudo-CT has an important role in MR-based radiation therapy planning and PET attenuation correction. The purpose of this study is to establish a clinically feasible approach, including image acquisition, correction, and CT formation, for pseudo-CT generation of the brain using a single-acquisition, undersampled ultrashort echo time (UTE)-mDixon pulse sequence. Methods: Nine patients were recruited for this study. For each patient, a 190-s, undersampled, single acquisition UTE-mDixon sequence of the brain was acquired (TE = 0.1, 1.5, and 2.8 ms). A novel method of retrospective trajectory correction of the free induction decay (FID) signal was performed based on point-spreadmore » functions of three external MR markers. Two-point Dixon images were reconstructed using the first and second echo data (TE = 1.5 and 2.8 ms). R2{sup ∗} images (1/T2{sup ∗}) were then estimated and were used to provide bone information. Three image features, i.e., Dixon-fat, Dixon-water, and R2{sup ∗}, were used for unsupervised clustering. Five tissue clusters, i.e., air, brain, fat, fluid, and bone, were estimated using the fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm. A two-step, automatic tissue-assignment approach was proposed and designed according to the prior information of the given feature space. Pseudo-CTs were generated by a voxelwise linear combination of the membership functions of the FCM. A low-dose CT was acquired for each patient and was used as the gold standard for comparison. Results: The contrast and sharpness of the FID images were improved after trajectory correction was applied. The mean of the estimated trajectory delay was 0.774 μs (max: 1.350 μs; min: 0.180 μs). The FCM-estimated centroids of different tissue types showed a distinguishable pattern for different tissues, and significant differences were found between the centroid locations of different tissue types. Pseudo-CT can provide additional skull detail and has low bias and absolute error of estimated CT numbers of voxels (−22 ± 29 HU and 130 ± 16 HU) when compared to low-dose CT. Conclusions: The MR features generated by the proposed acquisition, correction, and processing methods may provide representative clustering information and could thus be used for clinical pseudo-CT generation.« less

Correlative cellular ptychography with functionalized nanoparticles at the Fe L-edge

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

Gallagher-Jones, Marcus; Dias, Carlos Sato Baraldi; Pryor, Alan

Precise localization of nanoparticles within a cell is crucial to the understanding of cell-particle interactions and has broad applications in nanomedicine. Here in this paper, we report a proof-of-principle experiment for imaging individual functionalized nanoparticles within a mammalian cell by correlative microscopy. Using a chemically-fixed HeLa cell labeled with fluorescent core-shell nanoparticles as a model system, we implemented a graphene-oxide layer as a substrate to significantly reduce background scattering. We identified cellular features of interest by fluorescence microscopy, followed by scanning transmission X-ray tomography to localize the particles in 3D, and ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging of the fine features inmore » the region at high resolution. By tuning the X-ray energy to the Fe L-edge, we demonstrated sensitive detection of nanoparticles composed of a 22 nm magnetic Fe 3O 4 core encased by a 25-nm-thick fluorescent silica (SiO 2) shell. These fluorescent core-shell nanoparticles act as landmarks and offer clarity in a cellular context. Our correlative microscopy results confirmed a subset of particles to be fully internalized, and high-contrast ptychographic images showed two oxidation states of individual nanoparticles with a resolution of ~16.5 nm. The ability to precisely localize individual fluorescent nanoparticles within mammalian cells will expand our understanding of the structure/function relationships for functionalized nanoparticles.« less

Correlative cellular ptychography with functionalized nanoparticles at the Fe L-edge

DOE PAGES

Gallagher-Jones, Marcus; Dias, Carlos Sato Baraldi; Pryor, Alan; ...

2017-07-06

Precise localization of nanoparticles within a cell is crucial to the understanding of cell-particle interactions and has broad applications in nanomedicine. Here in this paper, we report a proof-of-principle experiment for imaging individual functionalized nanoparticles within a mammalian cell by correlative microscopy. Using a chemically-fixed HeLa cell labeled with fluorescent core-shell nanoparticles as a model system, we implemented a graphene-oxide layer as a substrate to significantly reduce background scattering. We identified cellular features of interest by fluorescence microscopy, followed by scanning transmission X-ray tomography to localize the particles in 3D, and ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging of the fine features inmore » the region at high resolution. By tuning the X-ray energy to the Fe L-edge, we demonstrated sensitive detection of nanoparticles composed of a 22 nm magnetic Fe 3O 4 core encased by a 25-nm-thick fluorescent silica (SiO 2) shell. These fluorescent core-shell nanoparticles act as landmarks and offer clarity in a cellular context. Our correlative microscopy results confirmed a subset of particles to be fully internalized, and high-contrast ptychographic images showed two oxidation states of individual nanoparticles with a resolution of ~16.5 nm. The ability to precisely localize individual fluorescent nanoparticles within mammalian cells will expand our understanding of the structure/function relationships for functionalized nanoparticles.« less

Characterization of dynamic physiology of the bladder by optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Zhijia; Keng, Kerri; Pan, Rubin; Ren, Hugang; Du, Congwu; Kim, Jason; Pan, Yingtian

2012-03-01

Because of its high spatial resolution and noninvasive imaging capabilities, optical coherence tomography has been used to characterize the morphological details of various biological tissues including urinary bladder and to diagnose their alternations (e.g., cancers). In addition to static morphology, the dynamic features of tissue morphology can provide important information that can be used to diagnose the physiological and functional characteristics of biological tissues. Here, we present the imaging studies based on optical coherence tomography to characterize motion related physiology and functions of rat bladder detrusor muscles and compared the results with traditional biomechanical measurements. Our results suggest that optical coherence tomography is capable of providing quantitative evaluation of contractile functions of intact bladder (without removing bladder epithelium and connective tissue), which is potentially of more clinical relevance for future clinical diagnosis - if incorporated with cystoscopic optical coherence tomography.

A Method for Determining Pseudo-measurement State Values for Topology Observability of State Estimation in Power Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urano, Shoichi; Mori, Hiroyuki

This paper proposes a new technique for determining of state values in power systems. Recently, it is useful for carrying out state estimation with data of PMU (Phasor Measurement Unit). The authors have developed a method for determining state values with artificial neural network (ANN) considering topology observability in power systems. ANN has advantage to approximate nonlinear functions with high precision. The method evaluates pseudo-measurement state values of the data which are lost in power systems. The method is successfully applied to the IEEE 14-bus system.

A high-speed on-chip pseudo-random binary sequence generator for multi-tone phase calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gommé, Liesbeth; Vandersteen, Gerd; Rolain, Yves

2011-07-01

An on-chip reference generator is conceived by adopting the technique of decimating a pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) signal in parallel sequences. This is of great benefit when high-speed generation of PRBS and PRBS-derived signals is the objective. The design implemented standard CMOS logic is available in commercial libraries to provide the logic functions for the generator. The design allows the user to select the periodicity of the PRBS and the PRBS-derived signals. The characterization of the on-chip generator marks its performance and reveals promising specifications.

CoCrMo cellular structures made by Electron Beam Melting studied by local tomography and finite element modelling

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

Petit, Clémence; Maire, Eric, E-mail: eric.maire@insa-lyon.fr; Meille, Sylvain

The work focuses on the structural and mechanical characterization of Co-Cr-Mo cellular samples with cubic pore structure made by Electron Beam Melting (EBM). X-ray tomography was used to characterize the architecture of the sample. High resolution images were also obtained thanks to local tomography in which the specimen is placed close to the X-ray source. These images enabled to observe some defects due to the fabrication process: small pores in the solid phase, partially melted particles attached to the surface. Then, in situ compression tests were performed in the tomograph. The images of the deformed sample show a progressive bucklingmore » of the vertical struts leading to final fracture. The deformation initiated where the defects were present in the strut i.e. in regions with reduced local thickness. The finite element modelling confirmed the high stress concentrations of these weak points leading to the fracture of the sample. - Highlights: • CoCrMo samples fabricated by Electron Beam Melting (EBM) process are considered. • X-ray Computed Tomography is used to observe the structure of the sample. • The mechanical properties are tested thanks to an in situ test in the tomograph. • A finite element model is developed to model the mechanical behaviour.« less

Robust membrane detection based on tensor voting for electron tomography.

PubMed

Martinez-Sanchez, Antonio; Garcia, Inmaculada; Asano, Shoh; Lucic, Vladan; Fernandez, Jose-Jesus

2014-04-01

Electron tomography enables three-dimensional (3D) visualization and analysis of the subcellular architecture at a resolution of a few nanometers. Segmentation of structural components present in 3D images (tomograms) is often necessary for their interpretation. However, it is severely hampered by a number of factors that are inherent to electron tomography (e.g. noise, low contrast, distortion). Thus, there is a need for new and improved computational methods to facilitate this challenging task. In this work, we present a new method for membrane segmentation that is based on anisotropic propagation of the local structural information using the tensor voting algorithm. The local structure at each voxel is then refined according to the information received from other voxels. Because voxels belonging to the same membrane have coherent structural information, the underlying global structure is strengthened. In this way, local information is easily integrated at a global scale to yield segmented structures. This method performs well under low signal-to-noise ratio typically found in tomograms of vitrified samples under cryo-tomography conditions and can bridge gaps present on membranes. The performance of the method is demonstrated by applications to tomograms of different biological samples and by quantitative comparison with standard template matching procedure. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

64Cu-Labeled Phosphonium Cations as PET Radiotracers for Tumor Imaging

PubMed Central

Zhou, Yang; Liu, Shuang

2011-01-01

Alteration in mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨm) is an important characteristic of cancer. The observation that the enhanced negative mitochondrial potential is prevalent in tumor cell phenotype provides a conceptual basis for development of mitochondrion-targeting therapeutic drugs and molecular imaging probes. Since plasma and mitochondrial potentials are negative, many delocalized organic cations, such as rhodamine-123 and 3H-tetraphenylphosphonium, are electrophoretically driven through these membranes, and able to localize in the energized mitochondria of tumor cells. Cationic radiotracers, such as 99mTc-Sestamibi and 99mTc-Tetrofosmin, have been clinically used for diagnosis of cancer by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and noninvasive monitoring of the multidrug resistance (MDR) transport function in tumors of different origin. However, their diagnostic and prognostic values are often limited due to their insufficient tumor localization (low radiotracer tumor uptake) and high radioactivity accumulation in the chest and abdominal regions (low tumor selectivity). In contrast, the 64Cu-labeled phosphonium cations represent a new class of PET (positron emission tomography) radiotracers with good tumor uptake and high tumor selectivity. This review article will focus on our recent experiences in evaluation of 64Cu-labeled phosphonium cations as potential PET radiotracers. The main objective is to illustrate the impact of radiometal chelate on physical, chemical and biological properties of 64Cu radiotracers. It will also discuss some important issues related to their tumor selectivity and possible tumor localization mechanism. PMID:21696200

Diagnostic dilemma of degenerative joint disease, chronic avascular necrosis or metastasis in planar Tc-99m-methylene diphosphonate planar skeletal scintigraphy excluded by single positron emission computed tomography/computed tomography.

PubMed

Jain, Tarun Kumar; Phulsunga, Rohit Kumar; Basher, Rajender Kumar; Kumar, Narendra; Bhattacharya, Anish; Mittal, Bhagwant Rai

2015-01-01

We present a 71-year-old male patient subjected to skeletal scintigraphy for metastasis work up of prostate cancer. Whole body planar images revealed a solitary focal tracer uptake in left femoral head mimicking as solitary metastatic focus. Single positron emission computed tomography/computed tomography images localized this increased tracer uptake to the subchondral cysts with minimal sclerosis in left femur head with no decrease in size of femur head and was reported as (degenerative joint disease).

Diagnostic dilemma of degenerative joint disease, chronic avascular necrosis or metastasis in planar Tc-99m-methylene diphosphonate planar skeletal scintigraphy excluded by single positron emission computed tomography/computed tomography

PubMed Central

Jain, Tarun Kumar; Phulsunga, Rohit Kumar; Basher, Rajender Kumar; Kumar, Narendra; Bhattacharya, Anish; Mittal, Bhagwant Rai

2015-01-01

We present a 71-year-old male patient subjected to skeletal scintigraphy for metastasis work up of prostate cancer. Whole body planar images revealed a solitary focal tracer uptake in left femoral head mimicking as solitary metastatic focus. Single positron emission computed tomography/computed tomography images localized this increased tracer uptake to the subchondral cysts with minimal sclerosis in left femur head with no decrease in size of femur head and was reported as (degenerative joint disease). PMID:26170582

Bright compact bulges at intermediate redshifts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sachdeva, Sonali; Saha, Kanak

2018-07-01

Studying bright (MB < -20), intermediate-redshift (0.4 < z< 1.0), disc-dominated (nB < 2.5) galaxies from Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 in Chandra Deep Field-South, in rest-frame B and I band, we found a new class of bulges that is brighter and more compact than ellipticals. We refer to them as `bright, compact bulges' (BCBs) - they resemble neither classical nor pseudo-bulges and constitute ˜12 per cent of the total bulge population at these redshifts. Examining free-bulge + disc decomposition sample and elliptical galaxy sample from Simard et al., we find that only ˜0.2 per cent of the bulges can be classified as BCBs in the local Universe. Bulge to total light ratio of disc galaxies with BCBs is (at ˜0.4) a factor of ˜2 and ˜4 larger than for those with classical and pseudo-bulges. BCBs are ˜2.5 and ˜6 times more massive than classical and pseudo-bulges. Although disc galaxies with BCBs host the most massive and dominant bulge type, their specific star formation rate is 1.5-2 times higher than other disc galaxies. This is contrary to the expectations that a massive compact bulge would lead to lower star formation rates. We speculate that our BCB host disc galaxies are descendant of massive, compact, and passive elliptical galaxies observed at higher redshifts. Those high-redshift ellipticals lack local counterparts and possibly evolved by acquiring a compact disc around them. The overall properties of BCBs support a picture of galaxy assembly in which younger discs are being accreted around massive pre-existing spheroids.

Minimal invasive localization of the germinal disc in ovo for subsequent chicken sexing using optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burkhardt, Anke; Geissler, Stefan; Cimalla, Peter; Walther, Julia; Koch, Edmund

2010-02-01

Reason for using optical coherence tomography (OCT) to locate the germinal disc is the questionable and ethically alarming killing of male layer chickens because for the layer line only the females are necessary. To avoid this and to protect the animal rights, the sex of the fertilized chicken egg has to be determined as early as possible in the unincubated state. Because the information whether the chick becomes male or female can be found in the germinal disc an accurate localization for sexing is essential. The germinal disc is located somewhere on top of the yolk and has a diameter of approximately 4 - 5 mm. Different imaging methods like ultrasonography, 3D-X-ray micro computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were used for localization until now, but found to be impractical. The goal of this study is to prove if OCT can be a moderate approach for the precise in ovo localization. Because the eggshell is an impenetrable barrier for OCT and to minimize the penetration of germs a very small hole is placed in the eggshell and a fan-shaped optical scanning pattern is used.

Nanoscale Stoichiometric Analysis of a High-Temperature Superconductor by Atom Probe Tomography.

PubMed

Pedrazzini, Stella; London, Andrew J; Gault, Baptiste; Saxey, David; Speller, Susannah; Grovenor, Chris R M; Danaie, Mohsen; Moody, Michael P; Edmondson, Philip D; Bagot, Paul A J

2017-04-01

The functional properties of the high-temperature superconductor Y1Ba2Cu3O7-δ (Y-123) are closely correlated to the exact stoichiometry and oxygen content. Exceeding the critical value of 1 oxygen vacancy for every five unit cells (δ>0.2, which translates to a 1.5 at% deviation from the nominal oxygen stoichiometry of Y7.7Ba15.3Cu23O54-δ ) is sufficient to alter the superconducting properties. Stoichiometry at the nanometer scale, particularly of oxygen and other lighter elements, is extremely difficult to quantify in complex functional ceramics by most currently available analytical techniques. The present study is an analysis and optimization of the experimental conditions required to quantify the local nanoscale stoichiometry of single crystal yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) samples in three dimensions by atom probe tomography (APT). APT analysis required systematic exploration of a wide range of data acquisition and processing conditions to calibrate the measurements. Laser pulse energy, ion identification, and the choice of range widths were all found to influence composition measurements. The final composition obtained from melt-grown crystals with optimized superconducting properties was Y7.9Ba10.4Cu24.4O57.2.

Synthetic techniques of radiopharmaceuticals production labeled with C-11 for PET in cardiology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dyubkov, V. S.; Ekaeva, I. V.; Katunina, T. A.; Rumyantsev, A. S.; Silchenkov, A. V.; Tuflina, T. V.

2017-01-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) and PET-Computerised Tomography (CT) are unique, non-invasive diagnostic techniques, in which the local, temporal and quantitative distributions of radioactive labelled substances are measured to investigate physiological processes. It is well known that PET centre of Bakulev Scientific Centre for Cardiovascular Surgery is the oldest one in Moscow. During more than fifteen years a large number of patients have received PET scans. Due to main stream of Scientific Centre, emphasis is placed on examining the heart functioning. For the diagnosis innervation of the heart muscle a number of radiopharmaceuticals are used, including PET radiopharmaceuticals such as 11C-CGP 12177, 11C-meta-hydroxyephedrine as well as its synthetic analogues labelled with other PET radionuclides (18F, 68Ga). 11C-meta-hydroxyephedrine is one of the most perspective radiopharmaceutical for an investigation of cardiac receptors function due to required materials availability for a radio synthesis in Russia. The main advantage of proposed 11C-meta-hydroxyephedrine synthesis technique is the use of a catalyst which allows one decrease reaction time from 5 minutes to 30 seconds. Obtained results allow one decrease reaction time of methylation and increase radiochemical and technological yields.

Artefacts of PET/CT images

PubMed Central

Pettinato, C; Nanni, C; Farsad, M; Castellucci, P; Sarnelli, A; Civollani, S; Franchi, R; Fanti, S; Marengo, M; Bergamini, C

2006-01-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a non-invasive imaging modality, which is clinically widely used both for diagnosis and accessing therapy response in oncology, cardiology and neurology. Fusing PET and CT images in a single dataset would be useful for physicians who could read the functional and the anatomical aspects of a disease in a single shot. The use of fusion software has been replaced in the last few years by integrated PET/CT systems, which combine a PET and a CT scanner in the same gantry. CT images have the double function to correct PET images for attenuation and can fuse with PET for a better visualization and localization of lesions. The use of CT for attenuation correction yields several advantages in terms of accuracy and patient comfort, but can also introduce several artefacts on PET-corrected images. PET/CT image artefacts are due primarily to metallic implants, respiratory motion, use of contrast media and image truncation. This paper reviews different types artefacts and their correction methods. PET/CT improves image quality and image accuracy. However, to avoid possible pitfalls the simultaneous display of both Computed Tomography Attenuation Corrected (CTAC) and non corrected PET images, side by side with CT images is strongly recommended. PMID:21614340

Anti-Ma2-associated encephalitis with normal FDG-PET: a case of pseudo-Whipple's disease.

PubMed

Castle, James; Sakonju, Ai; Dalmau, Josep; Newman-Toker, David E

2006-10-01

A 39-year-old man presented with a history of several months of progressive personality changes, social withdrawal, bradykinesia, mutism, dysphagia, worsening gait, and difficulty with daily living activities. Examination revealed an atypical parkinsonian appearance with incomplete supranuclear ophthalmoplegia and an unusual oculomotor disorder characterized by both low-amplitude, intermittent opsoclonus, and slow, nystagmoid intrusions. Routine laboratory testing, autoimmune and infectious serologies, brain MRI, lumbar puncture, electroencephalogram, whole-body CT scan, paraneoplastic serologies, small bowel biopsy, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography CT scan, brain biopsy, and testicular ultrasound. Anti-Ma2 paraneoplastic encephalitis in association with metastatic testicular cancer; initially misdiagnosed as CNS Whipple's disease. Corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulins, orchiectomy, muscle relaxants, mycophenolate mofetil, plasmapheresis, and bleomycin, etoposide and platinum chemotherapy.

Ectopic Thyroid Tissue in Submandibular and Infrahyoid Region

PubMed Central

Mutlu, Vahit

2014-01-01

The thyroid is the first endocrine gland to form during embryogenesis. At this stage, incomplete or anomalous migration of thyroid tissue causes ectopic localization of the gland. Submandibular ectopic thyroid tissue with a coexisting normally located thyroid gland is extremely rare. In this case aimed to present the findings of the 65-years-old female patient who is bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy operation performed for multinodular goiter of 12 years ago. Case, painless mass in the right submandibular and infrahyoid region for 6 months was admitted to our clinic with complaints. Result of contrast-enhanced neck computed tomography, ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy and thyroid scintigraphy were found of functional residual thyroid tissue in the normal localization as well as 2×3 cm mass in the submandibular area and 1×2 cm mass lesion in the infrahyoid region. The patient referred to excisional biopsy. Normal thyroid follicules and no evidence of malignancy were found in specimen pathologically. Postoperative follow-up of thyroid function tests were normal. PMID:25610328

Popular Theatre and Non-Formal Education in Botswana: A Critique of Pseudo-Participatory Popular Education. Working Paper No. 5 (Revised).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kidd, Ross; Byram, Martin

Designed to show that highly participatory, engaging, entertaining, and locally understandable communication forms can be used not only to liberate but also to domesticate, this paper presents case studies of several nonformal education projects in Botswana that attempted to follow the approach of Paulo Freire by using popular theatre to encourage…

Finsler-Geometric Continuum Mechanics

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-01

gravitation and astrophysical applications. Physical Review D. 1977;16:1643–1663. 50. Ozakin A, Yavari A. A geometric theory of thermal stresses...to physical problems of tensile fracture, shear localization, and cavitation in solid bodies. The pseudo-Finsler approach is demonstrated to be more...Weyl-type transformation of the fundamental tensor, analytical and numerical solutions of representative example problems offer new physical insight

Multivariate outcome prediction in traumatic brain injury with focus on laboratory values.

PubMed

Nelson, David W; Rudehill, Anders; MacCallum, Robert M; Holst, Anders; Wanecek, Michael; Weitzberg, Eddie; Bellander, Bo-Michael

2012-11-20

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Identifying factors relevant to outcome can provide a better understanding of TBI pathophysiology, in addition to aiding prognostication. Many common laboratory variables have been related to outcome but may not be independent predictors in a multivariate setting. In this study, 757 patients were identified in the Karolinska TBI database who had retrievable early laboratory variables. These were analyzed towards a dichotomized Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) with logistic regression and relevance vector machines, a non-linear machine learning method, univariately and controlled for the known important predictors in TBI outcome: age, Glasgow Coma Score (GCS), pupil response, and computed tomography (CT) score. Accuracy was assessed with Nagelkerke's pseudo R². Of the 18 investigated laboratory variables, 15 were found significant (p<0.05) towards outcome in univariate analyses. In contrast, when adjusting for other predictors, few remained significant. Creatinine was found an independent predictor of TBI outcome. Glucose, albumin, and osmolarity levels were also identified as predictors, depending on analysis method. A worse outcome related to increasing osmolarity may warrant further study. Importantly, hemoglobin was not found significant when adjusted for post-resuscitation GCS as opposed to an admission GCS, and timing of GCS can thus have a major impact on conclusions. In total, laboratory variables added an additional 1.3-4.4% to pseudo R².

Graphene on a curved substrate with a controllable curvature: Device fabrication and transport measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yixuan; Mills, Shaun; Liu, Ying

In monolayer graphene, the local deviation of carbon positions from the perfect lattice has been predicted to lead to a pseudo magnetic field with measurable effects. A striking confirmation of this effect is the observation of Landau levels that are attributed to a pseudo magnetic field in excess of 300 T in graphene nanobubbles. However, typical experimental methods of generating such local deviations in graphene rely on strain accompanied by a surface curvature. Whether a surface curvature alone can produce measurable effects in graphene has not been explored experimentally. It is therefore of interest to study graphene in a system that decouples strain from surface curvature. Of particular interest is its response to an external magnetic field. We developed a grayscale electron beam lithography technique for preparing PMMA substructures with a continuously variable radius of curvature from ~100 nm to ~1 μm. Magnetoelectrical transport measurements on exfoliated graphene supported by these substructures are being carried out. The flexibility of this process may be further exploited in the study of the bilayer and trilayer graphene systems. We will also study hybrid structures of 2D superconductors and graphene.

Vaccine allergy and pseudo-allergy.

PubMed

Ponvert, Claude; Scheinmann, Pierre

2003-01-01

Allergic and pseudo-allergic reactions to vaccines frequently involve the skin, and can be generalized systemic symptoms (urticaria/angioedema, serum sickness, flares of eczema) or localized at the sites of vaccination (persistent nodules, abcesses, granulomas). Diagnosis of Arthus-type reactions is based on clinical history and specific IgM/IgG anti-toxoid determination. For other local reactions, diagnostic value of non-immediate responses in skin tests varies with clinical symptoms and substances involved. Immediate responses in skin tests and specific IgE determination have good diagnostic and/or predictive value in anaphylaxis and immediate/accelerated urticaria/angioedema to toxoid-, pneumococcus-, and egg- and gelatin-containing vaccines. Diagnosis of reactions to dextran in BCG is based on specific IgM/IgG determination. Most non-immediate generalized reactions result from non-specific inflammation, except for gelatin-containing vaccines, but the diagnostic value of immuno-allergological tests with the vaccines and gelatin are controversial. Withholding booster injections is advised if specific IgM/IgG levels are high. If the levels are low, sequential injections of vaccines containing a single vaccinating agent are usually tolerated. However, injections of the vaccine should be performed using a " desensitization " procedure in patients reporting anaphylaxis and immediate/accelerated urticaria/angioedema.

Three-dimensional hierarchical structures for fog harvesting.

PubMed

Andrews, H G; Eccles, E A; Schofield, W C E; Badyal, J P S

2011-04-05

Conventional fog-harvesting mechanisms are effectively pseudo-2D surface phenomena in terms of water droplet-plant interactions. In the case of the Cotula fallax plant, a unique hierarchical 3D arrangement formed by its leaves and the fine hairs covering them has been found to underpin the collection and retention of water droplets on the foliage for extended periods of time. The mechanisms of water capture and release as a function of the surface 3D structure and chemistry have been identified. Of particular note is that water is retained throughout the entirety of the plant and held within the foliage itself (rather than in localized regions). Individual plant hairs form matlike structures capable of supporting water droplets; these hairs wrap around water droplets in a 3D fashion to secure them via a fine nanoscale groove structure that prevents them from easily falling to the ground.

Efficient G0W0 using localized basis sets: a benchmark for molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koval, Petr; Per Ljungberg, Mathias; Sanchez-Portal, Daniel

Electronic structure calculations within Hedin's GW approximation are becoming increasingly accessible to the community. In particular, as it has been shown earlier and we confirm by calculations using our MBPT_LCAO package, the computational cost of the so-called G0W0 can be made comparable to the cost of a regular Hartree-Fock calculation. In this work, we study the performance of our new implementation of G0W0 to reproduce the ionization potentials of all 117 closed-shell molecules belonging to the G2/97 test set, using a pseudo-potential starting point provided by the popular density-functional package SIESTA. Moreover, the ionization potentials and electron affinities of a set of 24 acceptor molecules are compared to experiment and to reference all-electron calculations. PK: Guipuzcoa Fellow; PK,ML,DSP: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB1083); PK,DSP: MINECO MAT2013-46593-C6-2-P.

Olfactory learning prevents MK-801-induced psychosis-like behaviour in an animal model of schizophrenia.

PubMed

Naimark, Ari; Barkai, Edi; Michael, Matar A; Kozlovsky, Nitzan; Kaplan, Zeev; Cohen, Hagit

2008-01-01

There is mounting evidence to support the concept that education is associated with the formation of a functional reserve in the brain, a process that appears to provide some protection against certain aspects of severe central nervous system disorders. The goal of this study was to examine whether learning prevents psychosis-like behaviour in an animal model of schizophrenia. A series of behavioural tasks were used to assess olfactory learning-induced protection against the effects of NMDA channel blocker, MK801. This blocker caused sensory-motor disturbances, spatial learning acquisition deficit, and swimming strategy alterations in pseudo-trained and naive rats, but had a considerably lesser effect on trained rats. In sharp contrast, olfactory learning provided no protection against d-amphetamine application. Our data support the notion that learning-induced protection against schizophrenic behaviour is maintained by non-NMDA-mediated enhanced activation of local connections in the relevant cortical networks.

Dynamic physiological modeling for functional diffuse optical tomography

PubMed Central

Diamond, Solomon Gilbert; Huppert, Theodore J.; Kolehmainen, Ville; Franceschini, Maria Angela; Kaipio, Jari P.; Arridge, Simon R.; Boas, David A.

2009-01-01

Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a noninvasive imaging technology that is sensitive to local concentration changes in oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin. When applied to functional neuroimaging, DOT measures hemodynamics in the scalp and brain that reflect competing metabolic demands and cardiovascular dynamics. The diffuse nature of near-infrared photon migration in tissue and the multitude of physiological systems that affect hemodynamics motivate the use of anatomical and physiological models to improve estimates of the functional hemodynamic response. In this paper, we present a linear state-space model for DOT analysis that models the physiological fluctuations present in the data with either static or dynamic estimation. We demonstrate the approach by using auxiliary measurements of blood pressure variability and heart rate variability as inputs to model the background physiology in DOT data. We evaluate the improvements accorded by modeling this physiology on ten human subjects with simulated functional hemodynamic responses added to the baseline physiology. Adding physiological modeling with a static estimator significantly improved estimates of the simulated functional response, and further significant improvements were achieved with a dynamic Kalman filter estimator (paired t tests, n = 10, P < 0.05). These results suggest that physiological modeling can improve DOT analysis. The further improvement with the Kalman filter encourages continued research into dynamic linear modeling of the physiology present in DOT. Cardiovascular dynamics also affect the blood-oxygen-dependent (BOLD) signal in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This state-space approach to DOT analysis could be extended to BOLD fMRI analysis, multimodal studies and real-time analysis. PMID:16242967

Differentiating functional brain regions using optical coherence tomography (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gil, Daniel A.; Bow, Hansen C.; Shen, Jin-H.; Joos, Karen M.; Skala, Melissa C.

2017-02-01

The human brain is made up of functional regions governing movement, sensation, language, and cognition. Unintentional injury during neurosurgery can result in significant neurological deficits and morbidity. The current standard for localizing function to brain tissue during surgery, intraoperative electrical stimulation or recording, significantly increases the risk, time, and cost of the procedure. There is a need for a fast, cost-effective, and high-resolution intraoperative technique that can avoid damage to functional brain regions. We propose that optical coherence tomography (OCT) can fill this niche by imaging differences in the cellular composition and organization of functional brain areas. We hypothesized this would manifest as differences in the attenuation coefficient measured using OCT. Five functional regions (prefrontal, somatosensory, auditory, visual, and cerebellum) were imaged in ex vivo porcine brains (n=3), a model chosen due to a similar white/gray matter ratio as human brains. The attenuation coefficient was calculated using a depth-resolved model and quantitatively validated with Intralipid phantoms across a physiological range of attenuation coefficients (absolute difference < 0.1cm-1). Image analysis was performed on the attenuation coefficient images to derive quantitative endpoints. We observed a statistically significant difference among the median attenuation coefficients of these five regions (one-way ANOVA, p<0.05). Nissl-stained histology will be used to validate our results and correlate OCT-measured attenuation coefficients to neuronal density. Additional development and validation of OCT algorithms to discriminate brain regions are planned to improve the safety and efficacy of neurosurgical procedures such as biopsy, electrode placement, and tissue resection.

Long-Term Effects of Concussion on Electrophysiological Indices of Attention in Varsity College Athletes: An Event-Related Potential and Standardized Low-Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography Approach.

PubMed

Ledwidge, Patrick S; Molfese, Dennis L

2016-12-01

This study investigated the effects of a past concussion on electrophysiological indices of attention in college athletes. Forty-four varsity football athletes (22 with at least one past concussion) participated in three neuropsychological tests and a two-tone auditory oddball task while undergoing high-density event-related potential (ERP) recording. Athletes previously diagnosed with a concussion experienced their most recent injury approximately 4 years before testing. Previously concussed and control athletes performed equivalently on three neuropsychological tests. Behavioral accuracy and reaction times on the oddball task were also equivalent across groups. However, athletes with a concussion history exhibited significantly larger N2 and P3b amplitudes and longer P3b latencies. Source localization using standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography indicated that athletes with a history of concussion generated larger electrical current density in the left inferior parietal gyrus compared to control athletes. These findings support the hypothesis that individuals with a past concussion recruit compensatory neural resources in order to meet executive functioning demands. High-density ERP measures combined with source localization provide an important method to detect long-term neural consequences of concussion in the absence of impaired neuropsychological performance.

Long-Term Effects of Concussion on Electrophysiological Indices of Attention in Varsity College Athletes: An Event-Related Potential and Standardized Low-Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography Approach

PubMed Central

Molfese, Dennis L.

2016-01-01

Abstract This study investigated the effects of a past concussion on electrophysiological indices of attention in college athletes. Forty-four varsity football athletes (22 with at least one past concussion) participated in three neuropsychological tests and a two-tone auditory oddball task while undergoing high-density event-related potential (ERP) recording. Athletes previously diagnosed with a concussion experienced their most recent injury approximately 4 years before testing. Previously concussed and control athletes performed equivalently on three neuropsychological tests. Behavioral accuracy and reaction times on the oddball task were also equivalent across groups. However, athletes with a concussion history exhibited significantly larger N2 and P3b amplitudes and longer P3b latencies. Source localization using standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography indicated that athletes with a history of concussion generated larger electrical current density in the left inferior parietal gyrus compared to control athletes. These findings support the hypothesis that individuals with a past concussion recruit compensatory neural resources in order to meet executive functioning demands. High-density ERP measures combined with source localization provide an important method to detect long-term neural consequences of concussion in the absence of impaired neuropsychological performance. PMID:27025905

Detection of early seizures by diffuse optical tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Tao; Hajihashemi, M. Reza; Zhou, Junli; Carney, Paul R.; Jiang, Huabei

2015-03-01

In epilepsy it has been challenging to detect early changes in brain activity that occurs prior to seizure onset and to map their origin and evolution for possible intervention. Besides, preclinical seizure experiments need to be conducted in awake animals with images reconstructed and displayed in real-time. We demonstrate using a rat model of generalized epilepsy that diffuse optical tomography (DOT) provides a unique functional neuroimaging modality for noninvasively and continuously tracking brain activities with high spatiotemporal resolution. We developed methods to conduct seizure experiments in fully awake rats using a subject-specific helmet and a restraining mechanism. For the first time, we detected early hemodynamic responses with heterogeneous patterns several minutes preceding the electroencephalographic seizure onset, supporting the presence of a "pre-seizure" state both in anesthetized and awake rats. Using a novel time-series analysis of scattering images, we show that the analysis of scattered diffuse light is a sensitive and reliable modality for detecting changes in neural activity associated with generalized seizure. We found widespread hemodynamic changes evolving from local regions of the bilateral cortex and thalamus to the entire brain, indicating that the onset of generalized seizures may originate locally rather than diffusely. Together, these findings suggest DOT represents a powerful tool for mapping early seizure onset and propagation pathways.

Computed tomography of the azygo-oesophageal recess. Normal appearances.

PubMed

Lund, G; Lien, H H

1982-01-01

Computed tomography of the azygo--oesophageal recess was performed in 85 normal subjects. The recess was convex towards the left or had an approximately straight left wall. Convexity towards the right did not occur. Localized bulges caused by the azygos vein, oesophagus and aorta were frequent. The recess became gradually deeper caudally in patients below 50 years of age. Above that age a marked posterior extension of the heart and a prevertebral position of the aorta often caused a localized shallowing at the level of the inferior pulmonary veins or the ventricles.

An algorithm for localization of optical disturbances in turbid media using time-resolved diffuse optical tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potlov, A. Yu.; Frolov, S. V.; Proskurin, S. G.

2018-04-01

Optical structure disturbances localization algorithm for time-resolved diffuse optical tomography of biological objects is described. The key features of the presented algorithm are: the initial approximation for the spatial distribution of the optical characteristics based on the Homogeneity Index and the assumption that all the absorbing and scattering inhomogeneities in an investigated object are spherical and have the same absorption and scattering coefficients. The described algorithm can be used in the brain structures diagnosis, in traumatology and optical mammography.

Functional integration changes in regional brain glucose metabolism from childhood to adulthood.

PubMed

Trotta, Nicola; Archambaud, Frédérique; Goldman, Serge; Baete, Kristof; Van Laere, Koen; Wens, Vincent; Van Bogaert, Patrick; Chiron, Catherine; De Tiège, Xavier

2016-08-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the age-related changes in resting-state neurometabolic connectivity from childhood to adulthood (6-50 years old). Fifty-four healthy adult subjects and twenty-three pseudo-healthy children underwent [(18) F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography at rest. Using statistical parametric mapping (SPM8), age and age squared were first used as covariate of interest to identify linear and non-linear age effects on the regional distribution of glucose metabolism throughout the brain. Then, by selecting voxels of interest (VOI) within the regions showing significant age-related metabolic changes, a psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis was used to search for age-induced changes in the contribution of VOIs to the metabolic activity in other brain areas. Significant linear or non-linear age-related changes in regional glucose metabolism were found in prefrontal cortices (DMPFC/ACC), cerebellar lobules, and thalamo-hippocampal areas bilaterally. Decreases were found in the contribution of thalamic, hippocampal, and cerebellar regions to DMPFC/ACC metabolic activity as well as in the contribution of hippocampi to preSMA and right IFG metabolic activities. Increases were found in the contribution of the right hippocampus to insular cortex and of the cerebellar lobule IX to superior parietal cortex metabolic activities. This study evidences significant linear or non-linear age-related changes in regional glucose metabolism of mesial prefrontal, thalamic, mesiotemporal, and cerebellar areas, associated with significant modifications in neurometabolic connectivity involving fronto-thalamic, fronto-hippocampal, and fronto-cerebellar networks. These changes in functional brain integration likely represent a metabolic correlate of age-dependent effects on sensory, motor, and high-level cognitive functional networks. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3017-3030, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Abnormal gut microbiota composition contributes to cognitive dysfunction in SAMP8 mice.

PubMed

Zhan, Gaofeng; Yang, Ning; Li, Shan; Huang, Niannian; Fang, Xi; Zhang, Jie; Zhu, Bin; Yang, Ling; Yang, Chun; Luo, Ailin

2018-06-10

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by cognitive dysfunction and aging is an important predisposing factor; however, the pathological and therapeutic mechanisms are not fully understood. Recently, the role of gut microbiota in Alzheimer's disease has received increasing attention. The cognitive function in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice was significantly decreased and the Chao 1 and Shannon indices, principal coordinates analysis, and principal component analysis results were notably abnormal compared with that of those in senescence-accelerated mouse resistant 1 (SAMR1) mice. Moreover, 27 gut bacteria at six phylogenetic levels differed between SAMP8 and SAMR1 mice. In a separate study, we transplanted fecal bacteria from SAMP8 or SAMR1 mice into pseudo germ-free mice. Interestingly, the pseudo germ-free mice had significantly lower cognitive function prior to transplant. Pseudo germ-free mice that received fecal bacteria transplants from SAMR1 mice but not from SAMP8 mice showed improvements in behavior and in α-diversity and β-diversity indices. In total, 14 bacteria at six phylogenetic levels were significantly altered by the gut microbiota transplant. These results suggest that cognitive dysfunction in SAMP8 mice is associated with abnormal composition of the gut microbiota. Thus, improving abnormal gut microbiota may provide an alternative treatment for cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer's disease.

A comparative gene expression analysis of iron-limited cultures of Chaetoceros socialis and Pseudo-nitzschia arenysensis using newly developed iron assays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdala, Z. M.; Powell, K.; Cronin, D.; Chappell, D.

2016-02-01

A comparative gene expression analysis of iron-limited cultures of Chaetoceros socialis and Pseudo-nitzschia arenysensisusing newly developed iron assays Zuzanna M. Abdala, Kimberly Powell, Dylan P. Cronin, P. Dreux Chappell Diatoms, accounting for about 40% of the primary production in marine ecosystems, play a vital role in the dynamics of marine systems. Iron availability is understood to be a driving factor controlling productivity of many marine phytoplankton, including diatoms, as it functions as a cofactor for many proteins including several involved with photosynthetic processes. Previous work examining transcriptomes of diatoms of the Thalassiosira genus grown in controlled laboratory settings has identified genes whose expression can be used as sensitive markers of iron status. Data mining publically available diatom transcriptome data for these genes enables development of additional iron status assays for environmentally-relevant diatoms. For the present study, gene expression analysis of iron-limited laboratory cultures of Chaetoceros socialis and Pseudo-nitzschia arenysensis grown in continuous light was done using quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). C. socialis and P. arenysensis serve as comparative models for analyzing gene expression in iron limitation in different ecological community assemblages. These data may ultimately assist to illuminate the function of iron in photosynthetic activity in diatoms.

Functional brain measurements within the prefrontal area on pseudo-"blindsight" induced by extremely low frequency electromagnetic stimulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakagawa, Hidenori; Ueno, Shoogo

2015-05-01

For evaluating the effects of phosphene as pseudo-blindsight closely, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to investigate whether or not the phosphene appearance itself substantially affects the hemodynamic responses of the prefrontal area. Seven healthy volunteers ranging in age from 22 to 72 participated in the visual stimulation experiments. First, we examined the influences of electromagnetic stimulations at around the threshold (10 mT) for a blindsight-like phosphene on the responses. According to the results of the aged volunteers, we found the possibility that the delay in the phosphene perception might be caused by aging beyond a certain age. In the results of our measurements using the stimulation of 50 mT, no significant difference in the perception delay for all the volunteers could be detected. When the field strength was decreased from 50 mT to the threshold in steps of 10 mT, the results obtained at the threshold are equivalent to that obtained at 50 mT. Our data strongly support the hypothesis that pseudo-blindsight induced by electromagnetic stimulation of above 50 mT is able to excite all the volunteers' retinal photoreceptor cells provisionally. Hence the continuous stimulations for a long period of time might gradually activate synaptic plasticity on the neural network of the retina.

Local Random Quantum Circuits are Approximate Polynomial-Designs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandão, Fernando G. S. L.; Harrow, Aram W.; Horodecki, Michał

2016-09-01

We prove that local random quantum circuits acting on n qubits composed of O( t 10 n 2) many nearest neighbor two-qubit gates form an approximate unitary t-design. Previously it was unknown whether random quantum circuits were a t-design for any t > 3. The proof is based on an interplay of techniques from quantum many-body theory, representation theory, and the theory of Markov chains. In particular we employ a result of Nachtergaele for lower bounding the spectral gap of frustration-free quantum local Hamiltonians; a quasi-orthogonality property of permutation matrices; a result of Oliveira which extends to the unitary group the path-coupling method for bounding the mixing time of random walks; and a result of Bourgain and Gamburd showing that dense subgroups of the special unitary group, composed of elements with algebraic entries, are ∞-copy tensor-product expanders. We also consider pseudo-randomness properties of local random quantum circuits of small depth and prove that circuits of depth O( t 10 n) constitute a quantum t-copy tensor-product expander. The proof also rests on techniques from quantum many-body theory, in particular on the detectability lemma of Aharonov, Arad, Landau, and Vazirani. We give applications of the results to cryptography, equilibration of closed quantum dynamics, and the generation of topological order. In particular we show the following pseudo-randomness property of generic quantum circuits: Almost every circuit U of size O( n k ) on n qubits cannot be distinguished from a Haar uniform unitary by circuits of size O( n ( k-9)/11) that are given oracle access to U.

Structure-Function Modeling of Optical Coherence Tomography and Standard Automated Perimetry in the Retina of Patients with Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa

PubMed Central

Smith, Travis B.; Parker, Maria; Steinkamp, Peter N.; Weleber, Richard G.; Smith, Ning; Wilson, David J.

2016-01-01

Purpose To assess relationships between structural and functional biomarkers, including new topographic measures of visual field sensitivity, in patients with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. Methods Spectral domain optical coherence tomography line scans and hill of vision (HOV) sensitivity surfaces from full-field standard automated perimetry were semi-automatically aligned for 60 eyes of 35 patients. Structural biomarkers were extracted from outer retina b-scans along horizontal and vertical midlines. Functional biomarkers were extracted from local sensitivity profiles along the b-scans and from the full visual field. These included topographic measures of functional transition such as the contour of most rapid sensitivity decline around the HOV, herein called HOV slope for convenience. Biomarker relationships were assessed pairwise by coefficients of determination (R2) from mixed-effects analysis with automatic model selection. Results Structure-function relationships were accurately modeled (conditional R2>0.8 in most cases). The best-fit relationship models and correlation patterns for horizontally oriented biomarkers were different than vertically oriented ones. The structural biomarker with the largest number of significant functional correlates was the ellipsoid zone (EZ) width, followed by the total photoreceptor layer thickness. The strongest correlation observed was between EZ width and HOV slope distance (marginal R2 = 0.85, p<10−10). The mean sensitivity defect at the EZ edge was 7.6 dB. Among all functional biomarkers, the HOV slope mean value, HOV slope mean distance, and maximum sensitivity along the b-scan had the largest number of significant structural correlates. Conclusions Topographic slope metrics show promise as functional biomarkers relevant to the transition zone. EZ width is strongly associated with the location of most rapid HOV decline. PMID:26845445

Structure-Function Modeling of Optical Coherence Tomography and Standard Automated Perimetry in the Retina of Patients with Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa.

PubMed

Smith, Travis B; Parker, Maria; Steinkamp, Peter N; Weleber, Richard G; Smith, Ning; Wilson, David J

2016-01-01

To assess relationships between structural and functional biomarkers, including new topographic measures of visual field sensitivity, in patients with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography line scans and hill of vision (HOV) sensitivity surfaces from full-field standard automated perimetry were semi-automatically aligned for 60 eyes of 35 patients. Structural biomarkers were extracted from outer retina b-scans along horizontal and vertical midlines. Functional biomarkers were extracted from local sensitivity profiles along the b-scans and from the full visual field. These included topographic measures of functional transition such as the contour of most rapid sensitivity decline around the HOV, herein called HOV slope for convenience. Biomarker relationships were assessed pairwise by coefficients of determination (R2) from mixed-effects analysis with automatic model selection. Structure-function relationships were accurately modeled (conditional R(2)>0.8 in most cases). The best-fit relationship models and correlation patterns for horizontally oriented biomarkers were different than vertically oriented ones. The structural biomarker with the largest number of significant functional correlates was the ellipsoid zone (EZ) width, followed by the total photoreceptor layer thickness. The strongest correlation observed was between EZ width and HOV slope distance (marginal R(2) = 0.85, p<10(-10)). The mean sensitivity defect at the EZ edge was 7.6 dB. Among all functional biomarkers, the HOV slope mean value, HOV slope mean distance, and maximum sensitivity along the b-scan had the largest number of significant structural correlates. Topographic slope metrics show promise as functional biomarkers relevant to the transition zone. EZ width is strongly associated with the location of most rapid HOV decline.

Shearing of the CENP-A dimerization interface mediates plasticity in the octameric centromeric nucleosome

PubMed Central

Winogradoff, David; Zhao, Haiqing; Dalal, Yamini; Papoian, Garegin A.

2015-01-01

The centromeric nucleosome is a key epigenetic determinant of centromere identity and function. Consequently, deciphering how CENP-A containing nucleosomes contribute structurally to centromere function is a fundamental question in chromosome biology. Here, we performed microsecond timescale all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of CENP-A and H3 nucleosomes, and report that the octameric CENP-A core particles and nucleosomes display different dynamics from their canonical H3-containing counterparts. The most significant motion observed is within key interactions at the heart of the CENP-A octameric core, wherein shearing of contacts within the CENP-A:CENP-A’ dimerization interface results in a weaker four helix bundle, and an extrusion of 10–30 bp of DNA near the pseudo-dyad. Coupled to other local and global fluctuations, the CENP-A nucleosome occupies a more rugged free energy landscape than the canonical H3 nucleosome. Taken together, our data suggest that CENP-A encodes enhanced distortability to the octameric nucleosome, which may allow for enhanced flexing of the histone core in vivo. PMID:26602160

Prediction of protein subcellular locations by GO-FunD-PseAA predictor.

PubMed

Chou, Kuo-Chen; Cai, Yu-Dong

2004-08-06

The localization of a protein in a cell is closely correlated with its biological function. With the explosion of protein sequences entering into DataBanks, it is highly desired to develop an automated method that can fast identify their subcellular location. This will expedite the annotation process, providing timely useful information for both basic research and industrial application. In view of this, a powerful predictor has been developed by hybridizing the gene ontology approach [Nat. Genet. 25 (2000) 25], functional domain composition approach [J. Biol. Chem. 277 (2002) 45765], and the pseudo-amino acid composition approach [Proteins Struct. Funct. Genet. 43 (2001) 246; Erratum: ibid. 44 (2001) 60]. As a showcase, the recently constructed dataset [Bioinformatics 19 (2003) 1656] was used for demonstration. The dataset contains 7589 proteins classified into 12 subcellular locations: chloroplast, cytoplasmic, cytoskeleton, endoplasmic reticulum, extracellular, Golgi apparatus, lysosomal, mitochondrial, nuclear, peroxisomal, plasma membrane, and vacuolar. The overall success rate of prediction obtained by the jackknife cross-validation was 92%. This is so far the highest success rate performed on this dataset by following an objective and rigorous cross-validation procedure.

The pseudo-symmetric optimization of the National Compact Stellarator Experiment

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

Isaev, M.Y.; Mikhailov, M.I.; Monticello, D.A.

1999-08-01

A new experiment, the National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) [Monticello {ital et al.} {open_quotes}Physics Consideration for the Design of NCSX,{close_quotes} {ital Proceedings of 25th EPS Conference on Controlled Fusion and Plasma Physics, Prague, 1998} (European Physical Society, Petit-Lancy), paper 1.187], hopes to overcome the deleterious ripple transport usually associated with stellarators by creating a quasi-axisymmetric configuration. A quasi-axisymmetric configuration is one in which the Fourier spectrum of the magnetic field strength in so-called Boozer coordinates is dominated by the toroidal angle averaged (n=0) components. In this article the concept of pseudosymmetry is used to improve ripple transport in a four-periodmore » variant of NCSX. By definition, pseudosymmetric magnetic configurations have no locally trapped particles. To obtain a pseudosymmetric configuration, different target functions are considered. It is found that a target function equal to the area of ripple of the magnetic field magnitude along the field line is very effective in reducing the neoclassical transport coefficient. {copyright} {ital 1999 American Institute of Physics.}« less

Quasi-parton distribution functions, momentum distributions, and pseudo-parton distribution functions

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

Radyushkin, Anatoly V.

Here, we show that quasi-PDFs may be treated as hybrids of PDFs and primordial rest-frame momentum distributions of partons. This results in a complicated convolution nature of quasi-PDFs that necessitates using large p 3≳ 3 GeV momenta to get reasonably close to the PDF limit. Furthemore, as an alternative approach, we propose to use pseudo-PDFs P(x, zmore » $$2\\atop{3}$$) that generalize the light-front PDFs onto spacelike intervals and are related to Ioffe-time distributions M (v, z$$2\\atop{3}$$), the functions of the Ioffe time v = p 3 z 3 and the distance parameter z$$2\\atop{3}$$ with respect to which it displays perturbative evolution for small z 3. In this form, one may divide out the z$$2\\atop{3}$$ dependence coming from the primordial rest-frame distribution and from the problematic factor due to lattice renormalization of the gauge link. The v-dependence remains intact and determines the shape of PDFs.« less

Evaluation of a voice recognition system for the MOTAS pseudo pilot station function

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houck, J. A.

1982-01-01

The Langley Research Center has undertaken a technology development activity to provide a capability, the mission oriented terminal area simulation (MOTAS), wherein terminal area and aircraft systems studies can be performed. An experiment was conducted to evaluate state-of-the-art voice recognition technology and specifically, the Threshold 600 voice recognition system to serve as an aircraft control input device for the MOTAS pseudo pilot station function. The results of the experiment using ten subjects showed a recognition error of 3.67 percent for a 48-word vocabulary tested against a programmed vocabulary of 103 words. After the ten subjects retrained the Threshold 600 system for the words which were misrecognized or rejected, the recognition error decreased to 1.96 percent. The rejection rates for both cases were less than 0.70 percent. Based on the results of the experiment, voice recognition technology and specifically the Threshold 600 voice recognition system were chosen to fulfill this MOTAS function.

A thermodynamic approach to nonlinear ultrasonics for material state awareness and prognosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chillara, Vamshi Krishna

2017-11-01

We develop a thermodynamic framework for modeling nonlinear ultrasonic damage sensing and prognosis in materials undergoing progressive damage. The framework is based on the internal variable approach and relies on the construction of a pseudo-elastic strain energy function that captures the energetics associated with the damage progression. The pseudo-elastic strain energy function is composed of two energy functions—one that describes how a material stores energy in an elastic fashion and the other describes how material dissipates energy or stores it in an inelastic fashion. Experimental motivation for the choice of the above two functionals is discussed and some specific choices pertaining to damage progression during fatigue and creep are presented. The thermodynamic framework is employed to model the nonlinear response of material undergoing stress relaxation and creep-like degradation. For each of the above cases, evolution of the nonlinearity parameter with damage as well as with macroscopic measurables like accumulated plastic strain is obtained.

The hip strength:ankle proprioceptive threshold ratio predicts falls and injury in diabetic neuropathy

PubMed Central

Richardson, James K.; DeMott, Trina; Allet, Lara; Kim; Ashton-Miller, James A.

2014-01-01

Introduction We determined lower limb neuromuscular capacities associated with falls and fall-related injuries in older people with declining peripheral nerve function. Methods Thirty-two subjects (67.4 ± 13.4 years; 19 with type 2 diabetes), representing a spectrum of peripheral neurologic function, were evaluated with frontal plane proprioceptive thresholds at the ankle, frontal plane motor function at the ankle and hip, and prospective follow-up for 1 year. Results Falls and fall-related injuries were reported by 20 (62.5%) and 14 (43.8%) subjects, respectively. The ratio of hip adductor rate of torque development to ankle proprioceptive threshold (HipSTR/AnkPRO) predicted falls (pseudo-R2 = .726) and injury (pseudo-R2 = .382). No other variable maintained significance in the presence of HipSTR/AnkPRO. Discussion Fall and injury risk in the population studied is related inversely to HipSTR/AnkPRO. Increasing rapidly available hip strength in patients with neuropathic ankle sensory impairment may decrease risk of falls and related injuries. PMID:24282041

Quasi-parton distribution functions, momentum distributions, and pseudo-parton distribution functions

DOE PAGES

Radyushkin, Anatoly V.

2017-08-28

Here, we show that quasi-PDFs may be treated as hybrids of PDFs and primordial rest-frame momentum distributions of partons. This results in a complicated convolution nature of quasi-PDFs that necessitates using large p 3≳ 3 GeV momenta to get reasonably close to the PDF limit. Furthemore, as an alternative approach, we propose to use pseudo-PDFs P(x, zmore » $$2\\atop{3}$$) that generalize the light-front PDFs onto spacelike intervals and are related to Ioffe-time distributions M (v, z$$2\\atop{3}$$), the functions of the Ioffe time v = p 3 z 3 and the distance parameter z$$2\\atop{3}$$ with respect to which it displays perturbative evolution for small z 3. In this form, one may divide out the z$$2\\atop{3}$$ dependence coming from the primordial rest-frame distribution and from the problematic factor due to lattice renormalization of the gauge link. The v-dependence remains intact and determines the shape of PDFs.« less

SU-E-P-10: Establishment of Local Diagnostic Reference Levels of Routine Exam in Computed Tomography

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

Yeh, M; Wang, Y; Weng, H

Introduction National diagnostic reference levels (NDRLs) can be used as a reference dose of radiological examination can provide radiation dose as the basis of patient dose optimization. Local diagnostic reference levels (LDRLs) by periodically view and check doses, more efficiency to improve the way of examination. Therefore, the important first step is establishing a diagnostic reference level. Computed Tomography in Taiwan had been built up the radiation dose limit value,in addition, many studies report shows that CT scan contributed most of the radiation dose in different medical. Therefore, this study was mainly to let everyone understand DRL’s international status. Formore » computed tomography in our hospital to establish diagnostic reference levels. Methods and Materials: There are two clinical CT scanners (a Toshiba Aquilion and a Siemens Sensation) were performed in this study. For CT examinations the basic recommended dosimetric quantity is the Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDI). Each exam each different body part, we collect 10 patients at least. Carried out the routine examinations, and all exposure parameters have been collected and the corresponding CTDIv and DLP values have been determined. Results: The majority of patients (75%) were between 60–70 Kg of body weight. There are 25 examinations in this study. Table 1 shows the LDRL of each CT routine examination. Conclusions: Therefore, this study would like to let everyone know DRL’s international status, but also establishment of computed tomography of the local reference levels for our hospital, and providing radiation reference, as a basis for optimizing patient dose.« less

A theoretical model for optical oximetry at the capillary-level by optical coherence tomography (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Rongrong; Spicer, Graham; Chen, Siyu; Zhang, Hao F.; Yi, Ji; Backman, Vadim

2017-02-01

Oxygen saturation (sO2) of RBCs in capillaries can indirectly assess local tissue oxygenation and metabolic function. For example, the altered retinal oxygenation in diabetic retinopathy and local hypoxia during tumor development in cancer are reflected by abnormal sO2 of local capillary networks. However, it is far from clear whether accurate label-free optical oximetry (i.e. measuring hemoglobin sO2) is feasible from dispersed red blood cells (RBCs) at the single-capillary level. The sO2-dependent hemoglobin absorption contrast present in optical scattering signal is complicated by geometry-dependent scattering from RBCs. Here we provide a theoretical model to calculate the backscattering spectra of single RBCs based on the first-order Born approximation, considering the orientation, size variation, and deformation of RBCs. We show that the oscillatory spectral behavior of RBC geometries is smoothed by variations in cell size and orientation, resulting in clear sO2-dependent spectral contrast. In addition, this spectral contrast persists with different deformations of RBCs, allowing the sO2 of individual RBCs in capillaries to be characterized. The theoretical model is verified by Mie theory and experiments using visible light optical coherence tomography (vis-OCT). Thus, this study shows for the first time the feasibility of, and provides a theoretical model for, label-free optical oximetry at the single-capillary level by backscattering-based imaging modalities, challenging the popular view that such measurements are impossible at the single-capillary level. This is promising for in vivo backscattering-based optical oximetry at the single-capillary level, to measure local capillary sO2 for early diagnosis, progression monitoring, and treatment evaluation of diabetic retinopathy and cancer.

Brain PET scan

MedlinePlus

... tissues are working. Other imaging tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI ) and computed tomography ( CT ) scans only reveal ... M, Hellwig S, Kloppel S, Weiller C. Functional neuroimaging: functional magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and single-photon emission computed ...

Applications of Doppler optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Zhiqiang

A major development in biomedical imaging in the last decade has been optical coherence tomography (OCT). This technique enables microscale resolution, depth resolved imaging of the detailed morphology of transparent and nontransparent biological tissue in a noncontact and quasi-noninvasive way. In the first part of this dissertation, we will describe the development and the performance of our home-made OCT systems working with different wavelength regions based on free-space and optical fiber Michelson interferometers. The second part will focus on Doppler OCT (DOCT), an important extension of OCT, which enables the simultaneous evaluation of the structural information and of the fluid flow distribution at a localized position beneath the sample surface. Much effort has been spent during the past few years in our laboratory aimed at providing more accurate velocity measurements with an extended dynamic range. We also applied our technique in different research areas such as microfluidics and hemodynamics. Investigations on the optical properties of the biological tissues (such as absorption and scattering) corresponding to different center wavelengths, have been performed in our laboratory. We used a 10 femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser centered at about 810 nm associated with a free-space Michelson interferometer. The infrared sources were centered at about 1310 and 1560 nm with all-fiber interferometers. Comparative studies using three different sources for several in vitro biological tissues based on a graphical method illustrated how the optical properties affect the quality of the OCT images in terms of the penetration depth and backscattering intensity. We have shown the advantage of working with 810-nm emission wavelength for good backscattering amplitude and contrast, while sources emitting at 1570 nm give good penetration depth. The 1330-nm sources provide a good compromise between the two. Therefore, the choice of the source will ultimately determine the longitudinal resolution and the imaging depth for OCT imaging. Doppler OCT is becoming an increasingly popular field of investigation within optical coherence tomography with potentially important applications in cardiovascular and microfluidic research. We have spent some of the effort on searching for accurate and efficient methods for processing the experimental data. We applied the pseudo Wigner time-frequency distribution method to the data processing of Doppler OCT and compared its performance to that of the short-time Fourier transform method, the Hilbert-based phase-resolved method and the autocorrelation method. We concluded that the pseudo Wigner-distribution signal processing method is overall more precise than other often-used methods in Doppler OCT for the analysis of cross-sectional velocity distributions, especially in the high velocity regime. We also discovered the advantage of using the time-domain instead of the frequency domain for Doppler OCT for some applications where precise Doppler-speed metrology is essential. Based on the fact that the obtained local OCT interference signal is almost a single periodic waveform, we have developed a novel, simple and less time-consuming processing method based on the zero-crossing points in an OCT signal for the measurement of the Doppler frequency in a laminar flow. This method was compared to other processing approaches currently used in Doppler OCT. The results show that in the case of laminar flow, the zero-crossing method gives the more precise results, especially in the higher velocity regime with a substantial economy in processing time and an increase in dynamic range which can reach 70 dB. This feature becomes a major advantage in metrology if one wants to measure velocities over several orders of magnitude. We have applied this technique to some real flow models and the preliminary results on flow velocity distributions obtained in the case of a microfluidic circuit and in that of a phantom of a blood vessel stenosis and bifurcation will be described in this thesis. We also proposed the method to successfully obtain the 2D velocity vector map in the phantom models by overlapping the Doppler OCT scalar velocity distributions of different incident angles. This quantitative knowledge of blood velocity profiles in the vessels can provide very important information in studying some cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Evaluation of pulmonary function using breathing chest radiography with a dynamic flat panel detector: primary results in pulmonary diseases.

PubMed

Tanaka, Rie; Sanada, Shigeru; Okazaki, Nobuo; Kobayashi, Takeshi; Fujimura, Masaki; Yasui, Masahide; Matsui, Takeshi; Nakayama, Kazuya; Nanbu, Yuko; Matsui, Osamu

2006-10-01

Dynamic flat panel detectors (FPD) permit acquisition of distortion-free radiographs with a large field of view and high image quality. The present study was performed to evaluate pulmonary function using breathing chest radiography with a dynamic FPD. We report primary results of a clinical study and computer algorithm for quantifying and visualizing relative local pulmonary airflow. Dynamic chest radiographs of 18 subjects (1 emphysema, 2 asthma, 4 interstitial pneumonia, 1 pulmonary nodule, and 10 normal controls) were obtained during respiration using an FPD system. We measured respiratory changes in distance from the lung apex to the diaphragm (DLD) and pixel values in each lung area. Subsequently, the interframe differences (D-frame) and difference values between maximum inspiratory and expiratory phases (D-max) were calculated. D-max in each lung represents relative vital capacity (VC) and regional D-frames represent pulmonary airflow in each local area. D-frames were superimposed on dynamic chest radiographs in the form of color display (fusion images). The results obtained using our methods were compared with findings on computed tomography (CT) images and pulmonary functional test (PFT), which were examined before inclusion in the study. In normal subjects, the D-frames were distributed symmetrically in both lungs throughout all respiratory phases. However, subjects with pulmonary diseases showed D-frame distribution patterns that differed from the normal pattern. In subjects with air trapping, there were some areas with D-frames near zero indicated as colorless areas on fusion images. These areas also corresponded to the areas showing air trapping on computed tomography images. In asthma, obstructive abnormality was indicated by areas continuously showing D-frame near zero in the upper lung. Patients with interstitial pneumonia commonly showed fusion images with an uneven color distribution accompanied by increased D-frames in the area identified as normal on computed tomography images. Furthermore, measurement of DLD was very effective for evaluating diaphragmatic kinetics. This is a rapid and simple method for evaluation of respiratory kinetics for pulmonary diseases, which can reveal abnormalities in diaphragmatic kinetics and regional lung ventilation. Furthermore, quantification and visualization of respiratory kinetics is useful as an aid in interpreting dynamic chest radiographs.

Energy conversion in magneto-rheological elastomers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sebald, Gael; Nakano, Masami; Lallart, Mickaël; Tian, Tongfei; Diguet, Gildas; Cavaille, Jean-Yves

2017-12-01

Magneto-rheological (MR) elastomers contain micro-/nano-sized ferromagnetic particles dispersed in a soft elastomer matrix, and their rheological properties (storage and loss moduli) exhibit a significant dependence on the application of a magnetic field (namely MR effect). Conversely, it is reported in this work that this multiphysics coupling is associated with an inverse effect (i.e. the dependence of the magnetic properties on mechanical strain), denoted as the pseudo-Villari effect. MR elastomers based on soft and hard silicone rubber matrices and carbonyl iron particles were fabricated and characterized. The pseudo-Villari effect was experimentally quantified: a shear strain of 50 % induces magnetic induction field variations up to 10 mT on anisotropic MR elastomer samples, when placed in a 0.2 T applied field, which might theoretically lead to potential energy conversion density in the mJ cm-3 order of magnitude. In case of anisotropic MR elastomers, the absolute variation of stiffness as a function of applied magnetic field is rather independent of matrix properties. Similarly, the pseudo-Villari effect is found to be independent to the stiffness, thus broadening the adaptability of the materials to sensing and energy harvesting target applications. The potential of the pseudo-Villari effect for energy harvesting applications is finally briefly discussed.

Virtual milk for modelling and simulation of dairy processes.

PubMed

Munir, M T; Zhang, Y; Yu, W; Wilson, D I; Young, B R

2016-05-01

The modeling of dairy processing using a generic process simulator suffers from shortcomings, given that many simulators do not contain milk components in their component libraries. Recently, pseudo-milk components for a commercial process simulator were proposed for simulation and the current work extends this pseudo-milk concept by studying the effect of both total milk solids and temperature on key physical properties such as thermal conductivity, density, viscosity, and heat capacity. This paper also uses expanded fluid and power law models to predict milk viscosity over the temperature range from 4 to 75°C and develops a succinct regressed model for heat capacity as a function of temperature and fat composition. The pseudo-milk was validated by comparing the simulated and actual values of the physical properties of milk. The milk thermal conductivity, density, viscosity, and heat capacity showed differences of less than 2, 4, 3, and 1.5%, respectively, between the simulated results and actual values. This work extends the capabilities of the previously proposed pseudo-milk and of a process simulator to model dairy processes, processing different types of milk (e.g., whole milk, skim milk, and concentrated milk) with different intrinsic compositions, and to predict correct material and energy balances for dairy processes. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Energy conversion in magneto-rheological elastomers

PubMed Central

Sebald, Gael; Nakano, Masami; Lallart, Mickaël; Tian, Tongfei; Diguet, Gildas; Cavaille, Jean-Yves

2017-01-01

Abstract Magneto-rheological (MR) elastomers contain micro-/nano-sized ferromagnetic particles dispersed in a soft elastomer matrix, and their rheological properties (storage and loss moduli) exhibit a significant dependence on the application of a magnetic field (namely MR effect). Conversely, it is reported in this work that this multiphysics coupling is associated with an inverse effect (i.e. the dependence of the magnetic properties on mechanical strain), denoted as the pseudo-Villari effect. MR elastomers based on soft and hard silicone rubber matrices and carbonyl iron particles were fabricated and characterized. The pseudo-Villari effect was experimentally quantified: a shear strain of 50 % induces magnetic induction field variations up to 10 mT on anisotropic MR elastomer samples, when placed in a 0.2 T applied field, which might theoretically lead to potential energy conversion density in the mJ cm-3 order of magnitude. In case of anisotropic MR elastomers, the absolute variation of stiffness as a function of applied magnetic field is rather independent of matrix properties. Similarly, the pseudo-Villari effect is found to be independent to the stiffness, thus broadening the adaptability of the materials to sensing and energy harvesting target applications. The potential of the pseudo-Villari effect for energy harvesting applications is finally briefly discussed. PMID:29152013

Pseudo-circulator implemented as a multimode fiber coupler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulota, F.; Bélanger, P.; Leduc, M.; Boudoux, C.; Godbout, N.

2016-03-01

We present a linear all-fiber device exhibiting the functionality of a circulator, albeit for multimode fibers. We define a pseudo-circulator as a linear three-port component that transfers most of a multimode light signal from Port 1 to Port 2, and from Port 2 to Port 3. Unlike a traditional circulator which depends on a nonlinear phenomenon to achieve a non-reciprocal behavior, our device is a linear component that seemingly breaks the principle of reciprocity by exploiting the variations of etendue of the multimode fibers in the coupler. The pseudo-circulator is implemented as a 2x2 asymmetric multimode fiber coupler, fabricated using the fusion-tapering technique. The coupler is asymmetric in its transverse fused section. The two multimode fibers differ in area, thus favoring the transfer of light from the smaller to the bigger fiber. The desired difference of area is obtained by tapering one of the fiber before the fusion process. Using this technique, we have successfully fabricated a pseudo-circulator surpassing in efficiency a 50/50 beam-splitter. In all the visible and near-IR spectrum, the transmission ratio exceeds 77% from Port 1 to Port 2, and 80% from Port 2 to Port 3. The excess loss is less than 0.5 dB, regardless of the entry port.

Coregistration of Magnetic Resonance and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography Images for Noninvasive Localization of Stem Cells Grafted in the Infarcted Rat Myocardium

PubMed Central

Shen, Dinggang; Liu, Dengfeng; Cao, Zixiong; Acton, Paul D.; Zhou, Rong

2008-01-01

This paper demonstrates the application of mutual information based coregistration of radionuclide and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in an effort to use multimodality imaging for noninvasive localization of stem cells grafted in the infarcted myocardium in rats. Radionuclide imaging such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET) inherently has high sensitivity and is suitable for tracking of labeled stem cells, while high-resolution MRI is able to provide detailed anatomical and functional information of myocardium. Thus, coregistration of PET or SPECT images with MRI will map the location and distribution of stem cells on detailed myocardium structures. To validate this coregistration method, SPECT data were simulated by using a Monte Carlo-based projector that modeled the pinhole-imaging physics assuming nonzero diameter and photon penetration at the edge. Translational and rotational errors of the coregistration were examined with respect to various SPECT activities, and they are on average about 0.50 mm and 0.82°, respectively. Only the rotational error is dependent on activity of SPECT data. Stem cells were labeled with 111 Indium oxyquinoline and grafted in the ischemic myocardium of a rat model. Dual-tracer small-animal SPECT images were acquired, which allowed simultaneous detection of 111In-labeled stem cells and of [99mTc]sestamibi to assess myocardial perfusion deficit. The same animals were subjected to cardiac MRI. A mutual-information-based coregistration method was then applied to the SPECT and MRIs. By coregistration, the 111 In signal from labeled cells was mapped into the akinetic region identified on cine MRIs; the regional perfusion deficit on the SPECT images also coincided with the akinetic region on the MR image. PMID:17053860

Mantle wedge exhumation beneath the Dora-Maira (U)HP dome unravelled by local earthquake tomography (Western Alps)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solarino, Stefano; Malusà, Marco G.; Eva, Elena; Guillot, Stéphane; Paul, Anne; Schwartz, Stéphane; Zhao, Liang; Aubert, Coralie; Dumont, Thierry; Pondrelli, Silvia; Salimbeni, Simone; Wang, Qingchen; Xu, Xiaobing; Zheng, Tianyu; Zhu, Rixiang

2018-01-01

In continental subduction zones, the behaviour of the mantle wedge during exhumation of (ultra)high-pressure [(U)HP] rocks provides a key to distinguish among competing exhumation mechanisms. However, in spite of the relevant implications for understanding orogenic evolution, a high-resolution image of the mantle wedge beneath the Western Alps is still lacking. In order to fill this gap, we perform a detailed analysis of the velocity structure of the Alpine belt beneath the Dora-Maira (U)HP dome, based on local earthquake tomography independently validated by receiver function analysis. Our results point to a composite structure of the mantle wedge above the subducted European lithosphere. We found that the Dora-Maira (U)HP dome lays directly above partly serpentinized peridotites (Vp 7.5 km/s; Vp/Vs = 1.70-1.72), documented from 10 km depth down to the top of the eclogitized lower crust of the European plate. These serpentinized peridotites, possibly formed by fluid release from the subducting European slab to the Alpine mantle wedge, are juxtaposed against dry mantle peridotites of the Adriatic upper plate along an active fault rooted in the lithospheric mantle. We propose that serpentinized mantle-wedge peridotites were exhumed at shallow crustal levels during late Eocene transtensional tectonics, also triggering the rapid exhumation of (U)HP rocks, and were subsequently indented under the Alpine metamorphic wedge in the early Oligocene. Our findings suggest that mantle-wedge exhumation may represent a major feature of the deep structure of exhumed continental subduction zones. The deep orogenic levels here imaged by seismic tomography may be exposed today in older (U)HP belts, where mantle-wedge serpentinites are commonly associated with coesite-bearing continental metamorphic rocks.

Detection of lymph node metastases in pediatric and adolescent/young adult sarcoma: Sentinel lymph node biopsy versus fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging-A prospective trial.

PubMed

Wagner, Lars M; Kremer, Nathalie; Gelfand, Michael J; Sharp, Susan E; Turpin, Brian K; Nagarajan, Rajaram; Tiao, Gregory M; Pressey, Joseph G; Yin, Julie; Dasgupta, Roshni

2017-01-01

Lymph node metastases are an important cause of treatment failure for pediatric and adolescent/young adult (AYA) sarcoma patients. Nodal sampling is recommended for certain sarcoma subtypes that have a predilection for lymphatic spread. Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) may improve the diagnostic yield of nodal sampling, particularly when single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT-CT) is used to facilitate anatomic localization. Functional imaging with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT) is increasingly used for sarcoma staging and is a less invasive alternative to SLNB. To assess the utility of these 2 staging methods, this study prospectively compared SLNB plus SPECT-CT with PET-CT for the identification of nodal metastases in pediatric and AYA patients. Twenty-eight pediatric and AYA sarcoma patients underwent SLNB with SPECT-CT. The histological findings of the excised lymph nodes were then correlated with preoperative PET-CT imaging. A median of 2.4 sentinel nodes were sampled per patient. No wound infections or chronic lymphedema occurred. SLNB identified tumors in 7 of the 28 patients (25%), including 3 patients who had normal PET-CT imaging of the nodal basin. In contrast, PET-CT demonstrated hypermetabolic regional nodes in 14 patients, and this resulted in a positive predictive value of only 29%. The sensitivity and specificity of PET-CT for detecting histologically confirmed nodal metastases were only 57% and 52%, respectively. SLNB can safely guide the rational selection of nodes for biopsy in pediatric and AYA sarcoma patients and can identify therapy-changing nodal disease not appreciated with PET-CT. Cancer 2017;155-160. © 2016 American Cancer Society. © 2016 American Cancer Society.

Structure-Function Correlations using Scanning Laser Polarimetry in Primary Angle-Closure Glaucoma and Primary Open Angle Glaucoma

PubMed Central

Lee, Pei-Jung; Liu, Catherine Jui-Ling.; Wojciechowski, Robert; Bailey-Wilson, Joan E.; Cheng, Ching-Yu

2010-01-01

Purpose To assess the correlations between retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness measured with scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) and visual field (VF) sensitivity in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG). Design Prospective, comparative, observational cases series Methods Fifty patients with POAG and 56 with PACG were examined using SLP with variable corneal compensation (GDx VCC) and Humphrey VF analyzer between August 2005 and July 2006 at Taipei Veterans General Hospital. Correlations between RNFL thickness and VF sensitivity, expressed as mean sensitivity (MS) in both decibel (dB) and 1/Lambert (L) scales, were estimated by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rs) and multivariate median regression models (pseudo R2). The correlations were determined globally and for six RNFL sectors and their corresponding VF regions. Results The correlation between RNFL thickness and MS (in dB) was weaker in the PACG group (rs = 0.38, P = 0.004, pseudo R2 = 0.17) than in the POAG group (rs = 0.51, P <0.001, pseudo R2 = 0.31), but the difference in the magnitude of correlation was not significant (P = 0.42).With Bonferroni correction, the structure-function correlation was significant in the superotemporal (rs = 0.62), superonasal (rs = 0.56), inferonasal (rs = 0.53), and inferotemporal (rs = 0.50) sectors in the POAG group (all P <0.001), while it was significant only in the superotemporal (rs = 0.53) and inferotemporal (rs = 0.48) sectors in the PACG group (both P <0.001). The results were similar when MS was expressed as 1/L scale. Conclusions Both POAG and PACG eyes had moderate structure-function correlations using SLP. Compared to eyes with POAG, fewer RNFL sectors have significant structure-function correlations in eyes with PACG. PMID:20202618

A Secure, Intelligent, and Smart-Sensing Approach for Industrial System Automation and Transmission over Unsecured Wireless Networks

PubMed Central

Shahzad, Aamir; Lee, Malrey; Xiong, Neal Naixue; Jeong, Gisung; Lee, Young-Keun; Choi, Jae-Young; Mahesar, Abdul Wheed; Ahmad, Iftikhar

2016-01-01

In Industrial systems, Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, the pseudo-transport layer of the distributed network protocol (DNP3) performs the functions of the transport layer and network layer of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model. This study used a simulation design of water pumping system, in-which the network nodes are directly and wirelessly connected with sensors, and are monitored by the main controller, as part of the wireless SCADA system. This study also intends to focus on the security issues inherent in the pseudo-transport layer of the DNP3 protocol. During disassembly and reassembling processes, the pseudo-transport layer keeps track of the bytes sequence. However, no mechanism is available that can verify the message or maintain the integrity of the bytes in the bytes received/transmitted from/to the data link layer or in the send/respond from the main controller/sensors. To properly and sequentially keep track of the bytes, a mechanism is required that can perform verification while bytes are received/transmitted from/to the lower layer of the DNP3 protocol or the send/respond to/from field sensors. For security and byte verification purposes, a mechanism needs to be proposed for the pseudo-transport layer, by employing cryptography algorithm. A dynamic choice security buffer (SB) is designed and employed during the security development. To achieve the desired goals of the proposed study, a pseudo-transport layer stack model is designed using the DNP3 protocol open library and the security is deployed and tested, without changing the original design. PMID:26950129

A Secure, Intelligent, and Smart-Sensing Approach for Industrial System Automation and Transmission over Unsecured Wireless Networks.

PubMed

Shahzad, Aamir; Lee, Malrey; Xiong, Neal Naixue; Jeong, Gisung; Lee, Young-Keun; Choi, Jae-Young; Mahesar, Abdul Wheed; Ahmad, Iftikhar

2016-03-03

In Industrial systems, Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, the pseudo-transport layer of the distributed network protocol (DNP3) performs the functions of the transport layer and network layer of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model. This study used a simulation design of water pumping system, in-which the network nodes are directly and wirelessly connected with sensors, and are monitored by the main controller, as part of the wireless SCADA system. This study also intends to focus on the security issues inherent in the pseudo-transport layer of the DNP3 protocol. During disassembly and reassembling processes, the pseudo-transport layer keeps track of the bytes sequence. However, no mechanism is available that can verify the message or maintain the integrity of the bytes in the bytes received/transmitted from/to the data link layer or in the send/respond from the main controller/sensors. To properly and sequentially keep track of the bytes, a mechanism is required that can perform verification while bytes are received/transmitted from/to the lower layer of the DNP3 protocol or the send/respond to/from field sensors. For security and byte verification purposes, a mechanism needs to be proposed for the pseudo-transport layer, by employing cryptography algorithm. A dynamic choice security buffer (SB) is designed and employed during the security development. To achieve the desired goals of the proposed study, a pseudo-transport layer stack model is designed using the DNP3 protocol open library and the security is deployed and tested, without changing the original design.

Damage Based Analysis (DBA) - Theory, Derivation and Practical Application Using Both an Acceleration and Pseudo Velocity Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grillo, Vince

2017-01-01

The objective of this presentation is to give a brief overview of the theory behind the (DBA) method, an overview of the derivation and a practical application of the theory using the Python computer language. The Theory and Derivation will use both Acceleration and Pseudo Velocity methods to derive a series of equations for processing by Python. We will take the results and compare both Acceleration and Pseudo Velocity methods and discuss implementation of the Python functions. Also, we will discuss the efficiency of the methods and the amount of computer time required for the solution. In conclusion, (DBA) offers a powerful method to evaluate the amount of energy imparted into a system in the form of both Amplitude and Duration during qualification testing and flight environments. Many forms of steady state and transient vibratory motion can be characterized using this technique. (DBA) provides a more robust alternative to traditional methods such Power Spectral Density (PSD) using a maximax approach.

Damage Based Analysis (DBA): Theory, Derivation and Practical Application - Using Both an Acceleration and Pseudo-Velocity Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grillo, Vince

2016-01-01

The objective of this presentation is to give a brief overview of the theory behind the (DBA) method, an overview of the derivation and a practical application of the theory using the Python computer language. The Theory and Derivation will use both Acceleration and Pseudo Velocity methods to derive a series of equations for processing by Python. We will take the results and compare both Acceleration and Pseudo Velocity methods and discuss implementation of the Python functions. Also, we will discuss the efficiency of the methods and the amount of computer time required for the solution. In conclusion, (DBA) offers a powerful method to evaluate the amount of energy imparted into a system in the form of both Amplitude and Duration during qualification testing and flight environments. Many forms of steady state and transient vibratory motion can be characterized using this technique. (DBA) provides a more robust alternative to traditional methods such Power Spectral Density (PSD) using a Maximax approach.

Building a pseudo-atomic model of the anaphase-promoting complex.

PubMed

Kulkarni, Kiran; Zhang, Ziguo; Chang, Leifu; Yang, Jing; da Fonseca, Paula C A; Barford, David

2013-11-01

The anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C) is a large E3 ubiquitin ligase that regulates progression through specific stages of the cell cycle by coordinating the ubiquitin-dependent degradation of cell-cycle regulatory proteins. Depending on the species, the active form of the APC/C consists of 14-15 different proteins that assemble into a 20-subunit complex with a mass of approximately 1.3 MDa. A hybrid approach of single-particle electron microscopy and protein crystallography of individual APC/C subunits has been applied to generate pseudo-atomic models of various functional states of the complex. Three approaches for assigning regions of the EM-derived APC/C density map to specific APC/C subunits are described. This information was used to dock atomic models of APC/C subunits, determined either by protein crystallography or homology modelling, to specific regions of the APC/C EM map, allowing the generation of a pseudo-atomic model corresponding to 80% of the entire complex.

Study on kinetics of adsorption of humic acid modified by ferric chloride on U(VI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y. Y.; Lv, J. W.; Song, Y.; Dong, X. J.; Fang, Q.

2017-11-01

In order to reveal the adsorption mechanism of the ferric chloride modified humic acid on uranium, the influence of pH value and contact time of adsorption on uranium was studied through a series of batch experiments. Meanwhile, the adsorption kinetics was analyzed with pseudo-first order kinetic model and pseudo-second order kinetic model. The results show that adsorption is affected by the pH value of the solution and by contract time, and the best condition for adsorption on uranium is at pH=5 and the adsorption equilibrium time is about 80 min. Kinetics of HA-Fe adsorption on uranium accords with pseudo-second order kinetic model. The adsorption is mainly chemical adsorption, and complexes were produced by the reaction between uranium ions and the functional groups on the surface of HA-Fe, which can provide reference for further study of humic acid effecting on the migration of U(VI) in soil.

PseudoBase: a database with RNA pseudoknots.

PubMed

van Batenburg, F H; Gultyaev, A P; Pleij, C W; Ng, J; Oliehoek, J

2000-01-01

PseudoBase is a database containing structural, functional and sequence data related to RNA pseudo-knots. It can be reached at http://wwwbio. Leiden Univ.nl/ approximately Batenburg/PKB.html. This page will direct the user to a retrieval page from where a particular pseudoknot can be chosen, or to a submission page which enables the user to add pseudoknot information to the database or to an informative page that elaborates on the various aspects of the database. For each pseudoknot, 12 items are stored, e.g. the nucleotides of the region that contains the pseudoknot, the stem positions of the pseudoknot, the EMBL accession number of the sequence that contains this pseudoknot and the support that can be given regarding the reliability of the pseudoknot. Access is via a small number of steps, using 16 different categories. The development process was done by applying the evolutionary methodology for software development rather than by applying the methodology of the classical waterfall model or the more modern spiral model.

Unsupervised Deep Hashing With Pseudo Labels for Scalable Image Retrieval.

PubMed

Zhang, Haofeng; Liu, Li; Long, Yang; Shao, Ling

2018-04-01

In order to achieve efficient similarity searching, hash functions are designed to encode images into low-dimensional binary codes with the constraint that similar features will have a short distance in the projected Hamming space. Recently, deep learning-based methods have become more popular, and outperform traditional non-deep methods. However, without label information, most state-of-the-art unsupervised deep hashing (DH) algorithms suffer from severe performance degradation for unsupervised scenarios. One of the main reasons is that the ad-hoc encoding process cannot properly capture the visual feature distribution. In this paper, we propose a novel unsupervised framework that has two main contributions: 1) we convert the unsupervised DH model into supervised by discovering pseudo labels; 2) the framework unifies likelihood maximization, mutual information maximization, and quantization error minimization so that the pseudo labels can maximumly preserve the distribution of visual features. Extensive experiments on three popular data sets demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method, which leads to significant performance improvement over the state-of-the-art unsupervised hashing algorithms.

Vaccination with dendritic cells pulsed with hepatitis C pseudo particles induces specific immune responses in mice

PubMed Central

Weigand, Kilian; Voigt, Franziska; Encke, Jens; Hoyler, Birgit; Stremmel, Wolfgang; Eisenbach, Christoph

2012-01-01

AIM: To explore dendritic cells (DCs) multiple functions in immune modulation. METHODS: We used bone-marrow derived dendritic cells from BALB/c mice pulsed with pseudo particles from the hepatitis C virus to vaccinate naive BALB/c mice. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) pseudo particles consist of the genotype 1b derived envelope proteins E1 and E2, covering a non-HCV core structure. Thus, not a single epitope, but the whole “viral surface” induces immunogenicity. For vaccination, mature and activated DC were injected subcutaneously twice. RESULTS: Humoral and cellular immune responses measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and interferon-gamma enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot test showed antibody production as well as T-cells directed against HCV. Furthermore, T-cell responses confirmed two highly immunogenic regions in E1 and E2 outside the hypervariable region 1. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate dendritic cells as a promising vaccination model for HCV infection that should be evaluated further. PMID:22371638

Robustness study of the pseudo open-loop controller for multiconjugate adaptive optics.

PubMed

Piatrou, Piotr; Gilles, Luc

2005-02-20

Robustness of the recently proposed "pseudo open-loop control" algorithm against various system errors has been investigated for the representative example of the Gemini-South 8-m telescope multiconjugate adaptive-optics system. The existing model to represent the adaptive-optics system with pseudo open-loop control has been modified to account for misalignments, noise and calibration errors in deformable mirrors, and wave-front sensors. Comparison with the conventional least-squares control model has been done. We show with the aid of both transfer-function pole-placement analysis and Monte Carlo simulations that POLC remains remarkably stable and robust against very large levels of system errors and outperforms in this respect least-squares control. Approximate stability margins as well as performance metrics such as Strehl ratios and rms wave-front residuals averaged over a 1-arc min field of view have been computed for different types and levels of system errors to quantify the expected performance degradation.

Biosorption kinetics of heavy metals by leaf biomass of Jatropha curcas in single and multi-metal system.

PubMed

Rawat, Anand Prabha; Giri, Krishna; Rai, J P N

2014-03-01

Biosorption of Cu(2+), Zn(2+), and Cr(6+) from aqueous solutions by leaf biomass of Jatropha curcas was investigated as a function of biomass concentration, initial metal ion concentration, contact time, and pH of the solution systematically. The aim of this study was to optimize biosorption process and find out a suitable kinetic model for the metal removal in single and multi-metal system. The experimental data were analyzed using two sorption kinetic models, viz., pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order equations, to determine the best fit equation for the biosorption of metal ions Cu(2+), Zn(2+), and Cr(6+) onto the leaf biomass of J. curcas in different metal systems. The experimental data fitted well the pseudo-second-order equation and provided the best correlation for the biosorption process. The findings of the present investigation revealed that J. curcas leaf biomass was an eco-friendly and cost-effective biosorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater.

Dynamic studies of small animals with a four-color diffuse optical tomography imager

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmitz, Christoph H.; Graber, Harry L.; Pei, Yaling; Farber, Mark; Stewart, Mark; Levina, Rita D.; Levin, Mikhail B.; Xu, Yong; Barbour, Randall L.

2005-09-01

We present newly developed instrumentation for full-tomographic four-wavelength, continuous wave, diffuse optical tomography (DOT) imaging on small animals. A small-animal imaging stage was constructed, from materials compatible with in-magnet studies, which offers stereotaxic fixation of the animal and precise, stable probe positioning. Instrument performance, based on calibration and phantom studies, demonstrates excellent long-term signal stability. DOT measurements of the functional rat brain response to electric paw stimulation are presented, and these demonstrate high data quality and excellent sensitivity to hemodynamic changes. A general linear model analysis on individual trials is used to localize and quantify the occurrence of functional behavior associated with the different hemoglobin state responses. Statistical evaluation of outcomes of individual trials is employed to identify significant regional response variations for different stimulation sites. Image results reveal a diffuse cortical response and a strong reaction of the thalamus, both indicative of activation of pain pathways by the stimulation. In addition, a weaker lateralized functional component is observed in the brain response, suggesting presence of motor activation. An important outcome of the experiment is that it shows that reactions to individual provocations can be monitored, without having to resort to signal averaging. Thus the described technology may be useful for studies of long-term trends in hemodynamic response, as would occur, for example, in behavioral studies involving freely moving animals.

Three-dimensional localization of nanoscale battery reactions using soft X-ray tomography

DOE PAGES

Yu, Young-Sang; Farmand, Maryam; Kim, Chunjoong; ...

2018-03-02

Battery function is determined by the efficiency and reversibility of the electrochemical phase transformations at solid electrodes. The microscopic tools available to study the chemical states of matter with the required spatial resolution and chemical specificity are intrinsically limited when studying complex architectures by their reliance on two-dimensional projections of thick material. Here in this paper, we report the development of soft X-ray ptychographic tomography, which resolves chemical states in three dimensions at 11 nm spatial resolution. We study an ensemble of nano-plates of lithium iron phosphate extracted from a battery electrode at 50% state of charge. Using a setmore » of nanoscale tomograms, we quantify the electrochemical state and resolve phase boundaries throughout the volume of individual nanoparticles. These observations reveal multiple reaction points, intra-particle heterogeneity, and size effects that highlight the importance of multi-dimensional analytical tools in providing novel insight to the design of the next generation of high-performance devices.« less

Imaging fast electrical activity in the brain with electrical impedance tomography

PubMed Central

Aristovich, Kirill Y.; Packham, Brett C.; Koo, Hwan; Santos, Gustavo Sato dos; McEvoy, Andy; Holder, David S.

2016-01-01

Imaging of neuronal depolarization in the brain is a major goal in neuroscience, but no technique currently exists that could image neural activity over milliseconds throughout the whole brain. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is an emerging medical imaging technique which can produce tomographic images of impedance changes with non-invasive surface electrodes. We report EIT imaging of impedance changes in rat somatosensory cerebral cortex with a resolution of 2 ms and < 200 μm during evoked potentials using epicortical arrays with 30 electrodes. Images were validated with local field potential recordings and current source-sink density analysis. Our results demonstrate that EIT can image neural activity in a volume 7 × 5 × 2 mm in somatosensory cerebral cortex with reduced invasiveness, greater resolution and imaging volume than other methods. Modeling indicates similar resolutions are feasible throughout the entire brain so this technique, uniquely, has the potential to image functional connectivity of cortical and subcortical structures. PMID:26348559

Three-dimensional coordinates of individual atoms in materials revealed by electron tomography

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

Xu, Rui; Chen, Chien-Chun; Wu, Li

Crystallography, the primary method for determining the 3D atomic positions in crystals, has been fundamental to the development of many fields of science. However, the atomic positions obtained from crystallography represent a global average of many unit cells in a crystal. In this paper, we report, for the first time, the determination of the 3D coordinates of thousands of individual atoms and a point defect in a material by electron tomography with a precision of ~19 pm, where the crystallinity of the material is not assumed. From the coordinates of these individual atoms, we measure the atomic displacement field andmore » the full strain tensor with a 3D resolution of ~1 nm 3 and a precision of ~10 -3, which are further verified by density functional theory calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. Finally, the ability to precisely localize the 3D coordinates of individual atoms in materials without assuming crystallinity is expected to find important applications in materials science, nanoscience, physics, chemistry and biology.« less

Three-dimensional localization of nanoscale battery reactions using soft X-ray tomography

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

Yu, Young-Sang; Farmand, Maryam; Kim, Chunjoong

Battery function is determined by the efficiency and reversibility of the electrochemical phase transformations at solid electrodes. The microscopic tools available to study the chemical states of matter with the required spatial resolution and chemical specificity are intrinsically limited when studying complex architectures by their reliance on two-dimensional projections of thick material. Here in this paper, we report the development of soft X-ray ptychographic tomography, which resolves chemical states in three dimensions at 11 nm spatial resolution. We study an ensemble of nano-plates of lithium iron phosphate extracted from a battery electrode at 50% state of charge. Using a setmore » of nanoscale tomograms, we quantify the electrochemical state and resolve phase boundaries throughout the volume of individual nanoparticles. These observations reveal multiple reaction points, intra-particle heterogeneity, and size effects that highlight the importance of multi-dimensional analytical tools in providing novel insight to the design of the next generation of high-performance devices.« less

Radiology of colorectal cancer.

PubMed

Pijl, M E J; Chaoui, A S; Wahl, R L; van Oostayen, J A

2002-05-01

In the past 20 years, the radiology of colorectal cancer has evolved from the barium enema to advanced imaging modalities like phased array magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), virtual colonoscopy and positron emission tomography (PET). Nowadays, primary rectal cancers are preferably imaged with transrectal ultrasound or MRI, while barium enema is still the most often used technique for imaging of colonic cancers. Virtual colonoscopy is rapidly evolving and might considerably change the imaging of colorectal cancer in the near future. The use of virtual colonoscopy for screening purposes and imaging of the colon in occlusive cancer or incomplete colonoscopies is currently under evaluation. The main role of PET is in detecting tumour recurrences, both locally and distantly. Techniques to fuse cross-sectional anatomical (computer tomography (CT) and MRI) and functional (PET) images are being developed. Apart from diagnostic imaging, the radiologists has added image-guided minimally invasive treatments of colorectal liver metastases to their arsenal. The radio-frequency ablation technique is now widely available, and can be used during laparotomy or percutaneously in selected cases.

Three-dimensional coordinates of individual atoms in materials revealed by electron tomography

DOE PAGES

Xu, Rui; Chen, Chien-Chun; Wu, Li; ...

2015-09-21

Crystallography, the primary method for determining the 3D atomic positions in crystals, has been fundamental to the development of many fields of science. However, the atomic positions obtained from crystallography represent a global average of many unit cells in a crystal. In this paper, we report, for the first time, the determination of the 3D coordinates of thousands of individual atoms and a point defect in a material by electron tomography with a precision of ~19 pm, where the crystallinity of the material is not assumed. From the coordinates of these individual atoms, we measure the atomic displacement field andmore » the full strain tensor with a 3D resolution of ~1 nm 3 and a precision of ~10 -3, which are further verified by density functional theory calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. Finally, the ability to precisely localize the 3D coordinates of individual atoms in materials without assuming crystallinity is expected to find important applications in materials science, nanoscience, physics, chemistry and biology.« less

Segmentation methodology for automated classification and differentiation of soft tissues in multiband images of high-resolution ultrasonic transmission tomography.

PubMed

Jeong, Jeong-Won; Shin, Dae C; Do, Synho; Marmarelis, Vasilis Z

2006-08-01

This paper presents a novel segmentation methodology for automated classification and differentiation of soft tissues using multiband data obtained with the newly developed system of high-resolution ultrasonic transmission tomography (HUTT) for imaging biological organs. This methodology extends and combines two existing approaches: the L-level set active contour (AC) segmentation approach and the agglomerative hierarchical kappa-means approach for unsupervised clustering (UC). To prevent the trapping of the current iterative minimization AC algorithm in a local minimum, we introduce a multiresolution approach that applies the level set functions at successively increasing resolutions of the image data. The resulting AC clusters are subsequently rearranged by the UC algorithm that seeks the optimal set of clusters yielding the minimum within-cluster distances in the feature space. The presented results from Monte Carlo simulations and experimental animal-tissue data demonstrate that the proposed methodology outperforms other existing methods without depending on heuristic parameters and provides a reliable means for soft tissue differentiation in HUTT images.

Comparison between diffraction contrast tomography and high-energy diffraction microscopy on a slightly deformed aluminium alloy.

PubMed

Renversade, Loïc; Quey, Romain; Ludwig, Wolfgang; Menasche, David; Maddali, Siddharth; Suter, Robert M; Borbély, András

2016-01-01

The grain structure of an Al-0.3 wt%Mn alloy deformed to 1% strain was reconstructed using diffraction contrast tomography (DCT) and high-energy diffraction microscopy (HEDM). 14 equally spaced HEDM layers were acquired and their exact location within the DCT volume was determined using a generic algorithm minimizing a function of the local disorientations between the two data sets. The microstructures were then compared in terms of the mean crystal orientations and shapes of the grains. The comparison shows that DCT can detect subgrain boundaries with disorientations as low as 1° and that HEDM and DCT grain boundaries are on average 4 µm apart from each other. The results are important for studies targeting the determination of grain volume. For the case of a polycrystal with an average grain size of about 100 µm, a relative deviation of about ≤10% was found between the two techniques.

Analysis of PETT images in psychiatric disorders

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

Brodie, J.D.; Gomez-Mont, F.; Volkow, N.D.

1983-01-01

A quantitative method is presented for studying the pattern of metabolic activity in a set of Positron Emission Transaxial Tomography (PETT) images. Using complex Fourier coefficients as a feature vector for each image, cluster, principal components, and discriminant function analyses are used to empirically describe metabolic differences between control subjects and patients with DSM III diagnosis for schizophrenia or endogenous depression. We also present data on the effects of neuroleptic treatment on the local cerebral metabolic rate of glucose utilization (LCMRGI) in a group of chronic schizophrenics using the region of interest approach. 15 references, 4 figures, 3 tables.

Assessment of the pseudo-tracking approach for the calculation of material acceleration and pressure fields from time-resolved PIV: part II. Spatio-temporal filtering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Gent, P. L.; Schrijer, F. F. J.; van Oudheusden, B. W.

2018-04-01

The present study characterises the spatio-temporal filtering associated with pseudo-tracking. A combined theoretical and numerical assessment is performed that uses the relatively simple flow case of a two-dimensional Taylor vortex as analytical test case. An additional experimental assessment considers the more complex flow of a low-speed axisymmetric base flow, for which time-resolved tomographic PIV measurements and microphone measurements were obtained. The results of these assessments show how filtering along Lagrangian tracks leads to amplitude modulation of flow structures. A cut-off track length and spatial resolution are specified to support future applications of the pseudo-tracking approach. The experimental results show a fair agreement between PIV and microphone pressure data in terms of fluctuation levels and pressure frequency spectra. The coherence and correlation between microphone and PIV pressure measurements were found to be substantial and almost independent of the track length, indicating that the low-frequency behaviour of the flow could be reproduced regardless of the track length. It is suggested that a spectral analysis can be used inform the selection of a suitable track length and to estimate the local error margin of reconstructed pressure values.

Potential Biosorbent Derived from Calligonum polygonoides for Removal of Methylene Blue Dye from Aqueous Solution

PubMed Central

Nasrullah, Asma; Khan, Hizbullah; Khan, Amir Sada; Man, Zakaria; Muhammad, Nawshad; Khan, Muhammad Irfan; Abd El-Salam, Naser M.

2015-01-01

The ash of C. polygonoides (locally called balanza) was collected from Lakki Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, and was utilized as biosorbent for methylene blue (MB) removal from aqueous solution. The ash was used as biosorbent without any physical or chemical treatment. The biosorbent was characterized by using various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The particle size and surface area were measured using particle size analyzer and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller equation (BET), respectively. The SEM and BET results expressed that the adsorbent has porous nature. Effects of various conditions such as initial concentration of methylene blue (MB), initial pH, contact time, dosage of biosorbent, and stirring rate were also investigated for the adsorption process. The rate of the adsorption of MB on biomass sample was fast, and equilibrium has been achieved within 1 hour. The kinetics of MB adsorption on biosorbent was studied by pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order kinetic models and the pseudo-second-order has better mathematical fit with correlation coefficient value (R 2) of 0.999. The study revealed that C. polygonoides ash proved to be an effective, alternative, inexpensive, and environmentally benign biosorbent for MB removal from aqueous solution. PMID:25705714

Kinetics and Mechanisms of Phosphorus Adsorption in Soils from Diverse Ecological Zones in the Source Area of a Drinking-Water Reservoir

PubMed Central

Zhang, Liang; Loáiciga, Hugo A.; Xu, Meng; Du, Chao; Du, Yun

2015-01-01

On-site soils are increasingly used in the treatment and restoration of ecosystems to harmonize with the local landscape and minimize costs. Eight natural soils from diverse ecological zones in the source area of a drinking-water reservoir in central China are used as adsorbents for the uptake of phosphorus from aqueous solutions. The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometric and BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) tests and the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectral analyses are carried out to investigate the soils’ chemical properties and their potential changes with adsorbed phosphorous from aqueous solutions. The intra-particle diffusion, pseudo-first-order, and pseudo-second-order kinetic models describe the adsorption kinetic processes. Our results indicate that the adsorption processes of phosphorus in soils occurred in three stages and that the rate-controlling steps are not solely dependent on intra-particle diffusion. A quantitative comparison of two kinetics models based on their linear and non-linear representations, and using the chi-square (χ2) test and the coefficient of determination (r2), indicates that the adsorptive properties of the soils are best described by the non-linear pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The adsorption characteristics of aqueous phosphorous are determined along with the essential kinetic parameters. PMID:26569278

Pseudo-Foster Kennedy Syndrome – a case report

PubMed Central

David, Cătălina; Suvac, Elena; Tăbăcaru, Bogdana; Stanca, T. Horia

2016-01-01

Objective: To report a case of Pseudo-Foster Kennedy (PFK) syndrome and describe its clinical and paraclinical particularities, as well as the diagnostic difficulties and established treatment. Methods: The case of a 60-year-old male patient with sudden, painless visual impairment in the left eye (LE), and a medical history of old optic nerve atrophy in his right eye (RE) was described. Results: The diagnosis of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) was established based on the medical history, local and general clinical and paraclinical examination, and temporal artery biopsy. Conclusions: Although there is no current generally accepted treatment for NAION, a correct diagnosis and supportive treatment may contribute to the improvement in visual acuity (VA), improvement that in this case remained stable for 6 months after the onset. The patient is still being monitored and no relapses have been noted. PMID:29450361

Development of a pseudo/anonymised primary care research database: Proof-of-concept study.

PubMed

MacRury, Sandra; Finlayson, Jim; Hussey-Wilson, Susan; Holden, Samantha

2016-06-01

General practice records present a comprehensive source of data that could form a variety of anonymised or pseudonymised research databases to aid identification of potential research participants regardless of location. A proof-of-concept study was undertaken to extract data from general practice systems in 15 practices across the region to form pseudo and anonymised research data sets. Two feasibility studies and a disease surveillance study compared numbers of potential study participants and accuracy of disease prevalence, respectively. There was a marked reduction in screening time and increase in numbers of potential study participants identified with the research repository compared with conventional methods. Accurate disease prevalence was established and enhanced with the addition of selective text mining. This study confirms the potential for development of national anonymised research database from general practice records in addition to improving data collection for local or national audits and epidemiological projects. © The Author(s) 2014.

An evaluation of the Bayesian approach to fitting the N-mixture model for use with pseudo-replicated count data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Toribo, S.G.; Gray, B.R.; Liang, S.

2011-01-01

The N-mixture model proposed by Royle in 2004 may be used to approximate the abundance and detection probability of animal species in a given region. In 2006, Royle and Dorazio discussed the advantages of using a Bayesian approach in modelling animal abundance and occurrence using a hierarchical N-mixture model. N-mixture models assume replication on sampling sites, an assumption that may be violated when the site is not closed to changes in abundance during the survey period or when nominal replicates are defined spatially. In this paper, we studied the robustness of a Bayesian approach to fitting the N-mixture model for pseudo-replicated count data. Our simulation results showed that the Bayesian estimates for abundance and detection probability are slightly biased when the actual detection probability is small and are sensitive to the presence of extra variability within local sites.

SVD-aided pseudo principal-component analysis: A new method to speed up and improve determination of the optimum kinetic model from time-resolved data

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

Oang, Key Young; Yang, Cheolhee; Muniyappan, Srinivasan

Determination of the optimum kinetic model is an essential prerequisite for characterizing dynamics and mechanism of a reaction. Here, we propose a simple method, termed as singular value decomposition-aided pseudo principal-component analysis (SAPPA), to facilitate determination of the optimum kinetic model from time-resolved data by bypassing any need to examine candidate kinetic models. We demonstrate the wide applicability of SAPPA by examining three different sets of experimental time-resolved data and show that SAPPA can efficiently determine the optimum kinetic model. In addition, the results of SAPPA for both time-resolved X-ray solution scattering (TRXSS) and transient absorption (TA) data of themore » same protein reveal that global structural changes of protein, which is probed by TRXSS, may occur more slowly than local structural changes around the chromophore, which is probed by TA spectroscopy.« less

Spectral and spatial resolving of photoelectric property of femtosecond laser drilled holes of GaSb(1-x)Bi(x).

PubMed

Pan, C B; Zha, F X; Song, Y X; Shao, J; Dai, Y; Chen, X R; Ye, J Y; Wang, S M

2015-07-15

Femtosecond laser drilled holes of GaSbBi were characterized by the joint measurements of photoconductivity (PC) spectroscopy and laser-beam-induced current (LBIC) mapping. The excitation light in PC was focused down to 60 μm presenting the spectral information of local electronic property of individual holes. A redshift of energy band edge of about 6-8 meV was observed by the PC measurement when the excitation light irradiated on the laser drilled holes. The spatial resolving of photoelectric property was achieved by the LBIC mapping which shows "pseudo-holes" with much larger dimensions than the geometric sizes of the holes. The reduced LBIC current with the pseudo-holes is associated with the redshift effect indicating that the electronic property of the rim areas of the holes is modified by the femtosecond laser drilling.

Sexually localized expression of pseudo-self compatibility (PSC) in Petunia X hybrida Hort : 2. Stylar inactivation.

PubMed

Dana, M N; Ascher, P D

1986-01-01

A previously identified S-linked stylar-inactivation PSC factor (Flaschenriem and Ascher 1979b) was studied for its location relative to S. Plants exhibiting complete stylar-inactivation PSC were those with higher multigenic PSC background level than plants with only S-linked partial stylar-inactivation PSC. A pollen-mediated pseudo-self compatibility (PMPSC) adjustment factor was offered as a device to focus on stylar-inactivation PSC by removing some male origin, multigenic PSC. The stylar inactivation factor was not tightly linked to S but affected expression of only the allele to which it was linked. A three part interacting association of genetic material governing self incompatibility (SI) is proposed. The parts of S are the SI identity gene, S-specific PSC genes and, finally, PSC genes which are not S-specific in action. The complete association is termed the SI-complex.

Long helical filaments are not seen encircling cells in electron cryotomograms of rod-shaped bacteria

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

Swulius, Matthew T.; Chen, Songye; Jane Ding, H.

2011-04-22

Highlights: {yields} No long helical filaments are seen near or along rod-shaped bacterial inner membranes by electron cryo-tomography. {yields} Electron cryo-tomography has the resolution to detect single filaments in vivo. -- Abstract: How rod-shaped bacteria form and maintain their shape is an important question in bacterial cell biology. Results from fluorescent light microscopy have led many to believe that the actin homolog MreB and a number of other proteins form long helical filaments along the inner membrane of the cell. Here we show using electron cryotomography of six different rod-shaped bacterial species, at macromolecular resolution, that no long (>80 nm)more » helical filaments exist near or along either surface of the inner membrane. We also use correlated cryo-fluorescent light microscopy (cryo-fLM) and electron cryo-tomography (ECT) to identify cytoplasmic bundles of MreB, showing that MreB filaments are detectable by ECT. In light of these results, the structure and function of MreB must be reconsidered: instead of acting as a large, rigid scaffold that localizes cell-wall synthetic machinery, moving MreB complexes may apply tension to growing peptidoglycan strands to ensure their orderly, linear insertion.« less

Three-dimensional Organization of pKi-67: A Comparative Fluorescence and Electron Tomography Study Using Fluoronanogold

PubMed Central

Cheutin, Thierry; O'Donohue, Marie-Françoise; Beorchia, Adrien; Klein, Christophe; Kaplan, Hervé; Ploton, Dominique

2003-01-01

The monoclonal antibody (MAb) Ki-67 is routinely used in clinical studies to estimate the growth fraction of tumors. However, the role of pKi-67, the protein detected by the Ki-67 MAb, remains elusive, although some biochemical data strongly suggest that it might organize chromatin. To better understand the functional organization of pKi-67, we studied its three-dimensional distribution in interphase cells by confocal microscopy and electron tomography. FluoroNanogold, a single probe combining a dense marker with a fluorescent dye, was used to investigate pKi-67 organization at the optical and ultrastructural levels. Observation by confocal microscopy followed by 3D reconstruction showed that pKi-67 forms a shell around the nucleoli. Double labeling experiments revealed that pKi-67 co-localizes with perinucleolar heterochromatin. Electron microscopy studies confirmed this close association and demonstrated that pKi-67 is located neither in the fibrillar nor in the granular components of the nucleolus. Finally, spatial analyses by electron tomography showed that pKi-67 forms cords 250–300 nm in diameter, which are themselves composed of 30–50-nm-thick fibers. These detailed comparative in situ analyses strongly suggest the involvement of pKi-67 in the higher-order organization of perinucleolar chromatin. PMID:14566014

Three-dimensional organization of pKi-67: a comparative fluorescence and electron tomography study using FluoroNanogold.

PubMed

Cheutin, Thierry; O'Donohue, Marie-Françoise; Beorchia, Adrien; Klein, Christophe; Kaplan, Hervé; Ploton, Dominique

2003-11-01

The monoclonal antibody (MAb) Ki-67 is routinely used in clinical studies to estimate the growth fraction of tumors. However, the role of pKi-67, the protein detected by the Ki-67 MAb, remains elusive, although some biochemical data strongly suggest that it might organize chromatin. To better understand the functional organization of pKi-67, we studied its three-dimensional distribution in interphase cells by confocal microscopy and electron tomography. FluoroNanogold, a single probe combining a dense marker with a fluorescent dye, was used to investigate pKi-67 organization at the optical and ultrastructural levels. Observation by confocal microscopy followed by 3D reconstruction showed that pKi-67 forms a shell around the nucleoli. Double labeling experiments revealed that pKi-67 co-localizes with perinucleolar heterochromatin. Electron microscopy studies confirmed this close association and demonstrated that pKi-67 is located neither in the fibrillar nor in the granular components of the nucleolus. Finally, spatial analyses by electron tomography showed that pKi-67 forms cords 250-300 nm in diameter, which are themselves composed of 30-50-nm-thick fibers. These detailed comparative in situ analyses strongly suggest the involvement of pKi-67 in the higher-order organization of perinucleolar chromatin.

Beam combining and SBS suppression in white noise and pseudo-random modulated amplifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Brian; Flores, Angel; Holten, Roger; Ehrenreich, Thomas; Dajani, Iyad

2015-03-01

White noise phase modulation (WNS) and pseudo-random binary sequence phase modulation (PRBS) are effective techniques for mitigation of nonlinear effects such as stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS); thereby paving the way for higher power narrow linewidth fiber amplifiers. However, detailed studies comparing both coherent beam combination and the SBS suppression of these phase modulation schemes have not been reported. In this study an active fiber cutback experiment is performed comparing the enhancement factor of a PRBS and WNS broadened seed as a function of linewidth and fiber length. Furthermore, two WNS and PRBS modulated fiber lasers are coherently combined to measure and compare the fringe visibility and coherence length as a function of optical path length difference. Notably, the discrete frequency comb of PRBS modulation provides a beam combining re-coherence effect where the lasers periodically come back into phase. Significantly, this may reduce path length matching complexity in coherently combined fiber laser systems.

Kinetic modelling for zinc (II) ions biosorption onto Luffa cylindrica

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

Oboh, I., E-mail: innocentoboh@uniuyo.edu.ng; Aluyor, E.; Audu, T.

The biosorption of Zinc (II) ions onto a biomaterial - Luffa cylindrica has been studied. This biomaterial was characterized by elemental analysis, surface area, pore size distribution, scanning electron microscopy, and the biomaterial before and after sorption, was characterized by Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectrometer. The kinetic nonlinear models fitted were Pseudo-first order, Pseudo-second order and Intra-particle diffusion. A comparison of non-linear regression method in selecting the kinetic model was made. Four error functions, namely coefficient of determination (R{sup 2}), hybrid fractional error function (HYBRID), average relative error (ARE), and sum of the errors squared (ERRSQ), were used tomore » predict the parameters of the kinetic models. The strength of this study is that a biomaterial with wide distribution particularly in the tropical world and which occurs as waste material could be put into effective utilization as a biosorbent to address a crucial environmental problem.« less

Nonlocal Coulomb correlations in pure and electron-doped Sr2IrO4 : Spectral functions, Fermi surface, and pseudo-gap-like spectral weight distributions from oriented cluster dynamical mean-field theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martins, Cyril; Lenz, Benjamin; Perfetti, Luca; Brouet, Veronique; Bertran, François; Biermann, Silke

2018-03-01

We address the role of nonlocal Coulomb correlations and short-range magnetic fluctuations in the high-temperature phase of Sr2IrO4 within state-of-the-art spectroscopic and first-principles theoretical methods. Introducing an "oriented-cluster dynamical mean-field scheme", we compute momentum-resolved spectral functions, which we find to be in excellent agreement with angle-resolved photoemission spectra. We show that while short-range antiferromagnetic fluctuations are crucial to accounting for the electronic properties of Sr2IrO4 even in the high-temperature paramagnetic phase, long-range magnetic order is not a necessary ingredient of the insulating state. Upon doping, an exotic metallic state is generated, exhibiting cuprate-like pseudo-gap spectral properties, for which we propose a surprisingly simple theoretical mechanism.

Kinetic modelling for zinc (II) ions biosorption onto Luffa cylindrica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oboh, I.; Aluyor, E.; Audu, T.

2015-03-01

The biosorption of Zinc (II) ions onto a biomaterial - Luffa cylindrica has been studied. This biomaterial was characterized by elemental analysis, surface area, pore size distribution, scanning electron microscopy, and the biomaterial before and after sorption, was characterized by Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectrometer. The kinetic nonlinear models fitted were Pseudo-first order, Pseudo-second order and Intra-particle diffusion. A comparison of non-linear regression method in selecting the kinetic model was made. Four error functions, namely coefficient of determination (R2), hybrid fractional error function (HYBRID), average relative error (ARE), and sum of the errors squared (ERRSQ), were used to predict the parameters of the kinetic models. The strength of this study is that a biomaterial with wide distribution particularly in the tropical world and which occurs as waste material could be put into effective utilization as a biosorbent to address a crucial environmental problem.

{sup 18}F-Choline Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography and Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Detection of Early Local Recurrence of Prostate Cancer Initially Treated by Radiation Therapy: Comparison With Systematic 3-Dimensional Transperineal Mapping Biopsy

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

Kanoun, Salim, E-mail: Salim.kanoun@gmail.com; LE2I UMR6306, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Arts et Métiers, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon; MRI Unit, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire, Hôpital François Mitterrand, Dijon

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic performance of {sup 18}F-fluorocholine positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FCH-PET/CT), multiparametric prostate magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI), and a combination of both techniques for the detection of local recurrence of prostate cancer initially treated by radiation therapy. Methods and Materials: This was a retrospective, single-institution study of 32 patients with suspected prostate cancer recurrence who underwent both FCH-PET/CT and 3T mpMRI within 3 months of one another for the detection of recurrence. All included patients had to be cleared for metastatic recurrence. The reference procedure was systematic 3-dimensional (3D)-transperineal prostate biopsy for the final assessment of local recurrence.more » Both imaging modalities were analyzed by 2 experienced readers blinded to clinical data. The analysis was made per-patient and per-segment using a 4-segment model. Results: The median prostate-specific antigen value at the time of imaging was 2.92 ng/mL. The mean prostate-specific antigen doubling time was 14 months. Of the 32 patients, 31 had a positive 3D-transperineal mapping biopsy for a local relapse. On a patient-based analysis, the detection rate was 71% (22 of 31) for mpMRI and 74% (23 of 31) for FCH-PET/CT. On a segment-based analysis, the sensitivity and specificity were, respectively, 32% and 87% for mpMRI, 34% and 87% for FCH-PET/CT, and 43% and 83% for the combined analysis of both techniques. Accuracy was 64%, 65%, and 66%, respectively. The interobserver agreement was κ = 0.92 for FCH-PET/CT and κ = 0.74 for mpMRI. Conclusions: Both mpMRI and FCH-PET/CT show limited sensitivity but good specificity for the detection of local cancer recurrence after radiation therapy, when compared with 3D-transperineal mapping biopsy. Prostate biopsy still seems to be mandatory to diagnose local relapse and select patients who could benefit from local salvage therapy.« less

Preoperative computed tomography-guided percutaneous hookwire localization of metallic marker clips in the breast with a radial approach: initial experience.

PubMed

Uematsu, T; Kasami, M; Uchida, Y; Sanuki, J; Kimura, K; Tanaka, K; Takahashi, K

2007-06-01

Hookwire localization is the current standard technique for radiological marking of nonpalpable breast lesions. Stereotactic directional vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (SVAB) is of sufficient sensitivity and specificity to replace surgical biopsy. Wire localization for metallic marker clips placed after SVAB is needed. To describe a method for performing computed tomography (CT)-guided hookwire localization using a radial approach for metallic marker clips placed percutaneously after SVAB. Nineteen women scheduled for SVAB with marker-clip placement, CT-guided wire localization of marker clips, and, eventually, surgical excision were prospectively entered into the study. CT-guided wire localization was performed with a radial approach, followed by placement of a localizing marker-clip surgical excision. Feasibility and reliability of the procedure and the incidence of complications were examined. CT-guided wire localization surgical excision was successfully performed in all 19 women without any complications. The mean total procedure time was 15 min. The median distance on CT image from marker clip to hookwire was 2 mm (range 0-3 mm). CT-guided preoperative hookwire localization with a radial approach for marker clips after SVAB is technically feasible.

Role of imaging techniques in the diagnosis and follow-up of muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma.

PubMed

Mesa, A; Nava, E; Fernández Del Valle, A; Argüelles, B; Menéndez-Del Llano, R; Sal de Rellán, S

2017-10-10

Muscle-invasive bladder malignancies represent 20-30% of all bladder cancers. These patients require imaging tests to determine the regional and distant staging. To describe the role of various imaging tests in the diagnosis, staging and follow-up of muscle-invasive bladder cancer. To assess recent developments in radiology aimed at improving the sensitivity and specificity of local staging and treatment response. We conducted an updated literature review. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the tests of choice for performing proper staging prior to surgery. Computed tomography urography is currently the most widely used technique, although it has limitations in local staging. Ultrasonography still has a limited role. Recent developments in MRI have improved its capacity for local staging. MRI has been suggested as the test of choice for the follow-up, with promising results in assessing treatment response. Positron emission tomography could improve the detection of adenopathies and extrapelvic metastatic disease. Imaging tests are essential for the diagnosis, staging and follow-up of muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Recent technical developments represent important improvements in local staging and have opened the possibility of assessing treatment response. Copyright © 2017 AEU. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

An Optimal Parameterization Framework for Infrasonic Tomography of the Stratospheric Winds Using Non-Local Sources

DOE PAGES

Blom, Philip Stephen; Marcillo, Omar Eduardo

2016-12-05

A method is developed to apply acoustic tomography methods to a localized network of infrasound arrays with intention of monitoring the atmosphere state in the region around the network using non-local sources without requiring knowledge of the precise source location or non-local atmosphere state. Closely spaced arrays provide a means to estimate phase velocities of signals that can provide limiting bounds on certain characteristics of the atmosphere. Larger spacing between such clusters provide a means to estimate celerity from propagation times along multiple unique stratospherically or thermospherically ducted propagation paths and compute more precise estimates of the atmosphere state. Inmore » order to avoid the commonly encountered complex, multimodal distributions for parametric atmosphere descriptions and to maximize the computational efficiency of the method, an optimal parametrization framework is constructed. This framework identifies the ideal combination of parameters for tomography studies in specific regions of the atmosphere and statistical model selection analysis shows that high quality corrections to the middle atmosphere winds can be obtained using as few as three parameters. Lastly, comparison of the resulting estimates for synthetic data sets shows qualitative agreement between the middle atmosphere winds and those estimated from infrasonic traveltime observations.« less

Localization of cortical tissue optical changes during seizure activity in vivo with optical coherence tomography

PubMed Central

Eberle, Melissa M.; Hsu, Mike S.; Rodriguez, Carissa L.; Szu, Jenny I.; Oliveira, Michael C.; Binder, Devin K.; Park, B. Hyle

2015-01-01

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a high resolution, minimally invasive imaging technique, which can produce depth-resolved cross-sectional images. In this study, OCT was used to detect changes in the optical properties of cortical tissue in vivo in mice during the induction of global (pentylenetetrazol) and focal (4-aminopyridine) seizures. Through the use of a confidence interval statistical method on depth-resolved volumes of attenuation coefficient, we demonstrated localization of regions exhibiting both significant positive and negative changes in attenuation coefficient, as well as differentiating between global and focal seizure propagation. PMID:26137382

Full 3D Microwave Tomography enhanced GPR surveys: a case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Catapano, Ilaria; Soldovieri, Francesco; Affinito, Antonio; Hugenschmidt, Johannes

2014-05-01

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) systems are well assessed non-invasive diagnostic tools capable of providing high resolution images of the inner structure of the probed spatial region. Owing to this capability, GPR systems are nowadays more and more considered in the frame of civil engineering surveys since they may give information on constructive details as well as on the aging and risk factors affecting the healthiness of an infrastructure. In this frame, accurate, reliable and easily interpretable images of the probed scenarios are mandatory in order to support the management of maintenance works and assure the safety of structures. Such a requirement motivates the use of different and sophisticated data processing approaches in order to compare more than one image of the same scene, thus improving the reliability and objectiveness of the GPR survey results. Among GPR data processing procedures, Microwave Tomography approaches based on the Born approximation face the imaging as the solution of a linear inverse problem, which is solved by using the Truncated Singular Value Decomposition as a regularized inversion scheme [1]. So far, an approach exploiting a 2D scalar model of the scattering phenomenon have been adopted to process GPR data gathered along a single scan. In this case, 3D images are obtained by interpolating 2D reconstructions (this is referred commonly as pseudo 3D imaging). Such an imaging approach have provided valuable results in several real cases dealing with not only surveys for civil engineering but also archeological prospection, subservice monitoring, security surveys and so on [1-4]. These encouraging results have motivated the development of a full 3D Microwave Tomography approach capable of accounting for the vectorial nature of the wave propagation. The reconstruction capabilities of this novel approach have been assessed mainly against experimental data collected in laboratory controlled conditions. The obtained results corroborate that, the use of a full 3D scattering model allows an improved estimation of the objects shape and size with respect to pseudo 3D imaging [5]. In this communication, the performance offered by the full 3D imaging approach is investigated by using a dataset from infrastructure inspection. Since the collapse of a car park in Switzerland killing 7 firemen, "punching", where a pile remains upright but the ceiling carried by the pile falls down, is considered a serious problem The 3D tomography approach was applied to a dataset acquired in a car park in the vicinity of piles. Such datasets can be used for an assessment of the safety of such structures and can therefore be considered as relevant test cases for innovative data processing and inversion strategies. REFERENCES [1] F. Soldovieri, J. Hugenschmidt, R. Persico and G. Leone, "A linear inverse scattering algorithm for realistic GPR applications, Near Surf. Geophys., vol. 5, pp.29-42, 2007. [2] I. Catapano, L. Crocco R. Di Napoli, F. Soldovieri, A. Brancaccio, F. Pesando, A. Aiello, "Microwave tomography enhanced GPR surveys in Centaur's Domus, Regio VI of Pompeii, Italy", J. Geophys. Eng., vol.9, S92-S99, 2012. [3] I. Catapano, R. Di Napoli, F. Soldovieri, M. Bavusi, A. Loperte, J. Dumoulin, Structural monitoring via microwave tomography-enhanced GPR: the Montagnole test site, J. Geophys. Eng., vol. 9, S100-S107, 2012 [4] J. Hugenschmidt, A. Kalogeropoulos, F. Soldovieri, G. Prisco (2010) Processing Strategies for high-resolution GPR Concrete Inspections, NDT & E International, Volume 43, Issue 4: 334-342. [5] I. Catapano, A. Affinito, G. Gennarelli, F. di Maio, A. Loperte, F. Soldovieri, Full three-dimensional imaging via ground penetrating radar: assessment in controlled conditions and on field for archaeological prospecting, Appl. Phys. A: Materials Science and Processing, pp. 1-8, Article in Press

A Study of Regional Wave Source Time Functions of Central Asian Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, J.; Perry, M. R.; Schult, F. R.; Wood, J.

2014-12-01

Despite the extensive use of seismic regional waves in seismic event identification and attenuation tomography, very little is known on how seismic sources radiate energy into these waves. For example, whether regional Lg wave has the same source spectrum as that of the local S has been questioned by Harr et al. and Frenkel et al. three decades ago; many current investigators assume source spectra in Lg, Sn, Pg, Pn and Lg coda waves have either the same or very similar corner frequencies, in contrast to local P and S spectra whose corner frequencies differ. The most complete information on how the finite source ruptures radiate energy into regional waves is contained in the time domain source time functions (STFs). To estimate the STFs of regional waves using the empirical Green's function (EGF) method, we have been substantially modifying a semi-automotive computer procedure to cope with the increasingly diverse and inconsistent naming patterns of new data files from the IRIS DMC. We are applying the modified procedure to many earthquakes in central Asia to study the STFs of various regional waves to see whether they have the same durations and pulse shapes, and how frequently source directivity occur. When applicable, we also examine the differences between STFs of local P and S waves and those of regional waves. The result of these analyses will be presented at the meeting.

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.

True 3D digital holographic tomography for virtual reality applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Downham, A.; Abeywickrema, U.; Banerjee, P. P.

2017-09-01

Previously, a single CCD camera has been used to record holograms of an object while the object is rotated about a single axis to reconstruct a pseudo-3D image, which does not show detailed depth information from all perspectives. To generate a true 3D image, the object has to be rotated through multiple angles and along multiple axes. In this work, to reconstruct a true 3D image including depth information, a die is rotated along two orthogonal axes, and holograms are recorded using a Mach-Zehnder setup, which are subsequently numerically reconstructed. This allows for the generation of multiple images containing phase (i.e., depth) information. These images, when combined, create a true 3D image with depth information which can be exported to a Microsoft® HoloLens for true 3D virtual reality.

[Clinical study on patients with renal-cell carcinoma accompanied with Von Hippel-Lindau disease treated with radiofrequency ablation].

PubMed

Nao, Tomoya; Shimamoto, Tsutomu; Karashima, Takashi; Kamei, Maiko; Fukuhara, Hideo; Fukata, Satoshi; Satake, Hirofumi; Ashida, Shingo; Yamasaki, Ichiro; Kamata, Masayuki; Inoue, Keiji; Yamanishi, Tomoaki; Ogawa, Yasuhiro; Ito, Satoshi; Shuin, Taro

2014-09-01

We report 12 renal cell carcinomas in 6 patients with Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease treated with radiofrequency ablation (RFA). The mean age of the patients was 46 (range 38-53) years (male : 4, female : 2). Computed tomography (CT)-guided transcutaneous RFA was performed under conscious sedation with local anesthetics. The mean size of the tumors was 2.4 (range 0.7-8.1) cm. Nine of the 12 tumors (75%) were locally well controlled. However, 3 tumors in 2 patients developed visceral metastases after RFA. While minimal flank pain, nausea, perinephritic hematoma and lumbago were observed, there was no major complication during or after the procedure. The therapy with CT-guided transcutaneous RFA is efficient and minimal invasive for renal cell carcinoma in patients with VHL, leading to preservation of renal function.

Time-dependent convection models of mantle thermal structure constrained by seismic tomography and geodynamics: implications for mantle plume dynamics and CMB heat flux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glišović, P.; Forte, A. M.; Moucha, R.

2012-08-01

One of the outstanding problems in modern geodynamics is the development of thermal convection models that are consistent with the present-day flow dynamics in the Earth's mantle, in accord with seismic tomographic images of 3-D Earth structure, and that are also capable of providing a time-dependent evolution of the mantle thermal structure that is as 'realistic' (Earth-like) as possible. A successful realization of this objective would provide a realistic model of 3-D mantle convection that has optimal consistency with a wide suite of seismic, geodynamic and mineral physical constraints on mantle structure and thermodynamic properties. To address this challenge, we have constructed a time-dependent, compressible convection model in 3-D spherical geometry that is consistent with tomography-based instantaneous flow dynamics, using an updated and revised pseudo-spectral numerical method. The novel feature of our numerical solutions is that the equations of conservation of mass and momentum are solved only once in terms of spectral Green's functions. We initially focus on the theory and numerical methods employed to solve the equation of thermal energy conservation using the Green's function solutions for the equation of motion, with special attention placed on the numerical accuracy and stability of the convection solutions. A particular concern is the verification of the global energy balance in the dissipative, compressible-mantle formulation we adopt. Such validation is essential because we then present geodynamically constrained convection solutions over billion-year timescales, starting from present-day seismically constrained thermal images of the mantle. The use of geodynamically constrained spectral Green's functions facilitates the modelling of the dynamic impact on the mantle evolution of: (1) depth-dependent thermal conductivity profiles, (2) extreme variations of viscosity over depth and (3) different surface boundary conditions, in this case mobile surface plates and a rigid surface. The thermal interpretation of seismic tomography models does not provide a radial profile of the horizontally averaged temperature (i.e. the geotherm) in the mantle. One important goal of this study is to obtain a steady-state geotherm with boundary layers which satisfies energy balance of the system and provides the starting point for more realistic numerical simulations of the Earth's evolution. We obtain surface heat flux in the range of Earth-like values : 37 TW for a rigid surface and 44 TW for a surface with tectonic plates coupled to the mantle flow. Also, our convection simulations deliver CMB heat flux that is on the high end of previously estimated values, namely 13 TW and 20 TW, for rigid and plate-like surface boundary conditions, respectively. We finally employ these two end-member surface boundary conditions to explore the very-long-time scale evolution of convection over billion-year time windows. These billion-year-scale simulations will allow us to determine the extent to which a 'memory' of the starting tomography-based thermal structure is preserved and hence to explore the longevity of the structures in the present-day mantle. The two surface boundary conditions, along with the geodynamically inferred radial viscosity profiles, yield steady-state convective flows that are dominated by long wavelengths throughout the lower mantle. The rigid-surface condition yields a spectrum of mantle heterogeneity dominated by spherical harmonic degree 3 and 4, and the plate-like surface condition yields a pattern dominated by degree 1. Our exploration of the time-dependence of the spatial heterogeneity shows that, for both types of surface boundary condition, deep-mantle hot upwellings resolved in the present-day tomography model are durable and stable features. These deeply rooted mantle plumes show remarkable longevity over very long geological time spans, mainly owing to the geodynamically inferred high viscosity in the lower mantle.

Improving Glaucoma Detection Using Spatially Correspondent Clusters of Damage and by Combining Standard Automated Perimetry and Optical Coherence Tomography

PubMed Central

Raza, Ali S.; Zhang, Xian; De Moraes, Carlos G. V.; Reisman, Charles A.; Liebmann, Jeffrey M.; Ritch, Robert; Hood, Donald C.

2014-01-01

Purpose. To improve the detection of glaucoma, techniques for assessing local patterns of damage and for combining structure and function were developed. Methods. Standard automated perimetry (SAP) and frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (fdOCT) data, consisting of macular retinal ganglion cell plus inner plexiform layer (mRGCPL) as well as macular and optic disc retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL and dRNFL) thicknesses, were collected from 52 eyes of 52 healthy controls and 156 eyes of 96 glaucoma suspects and patients. In addition to generating simple global metrics, SAP and fdOCT data were searched for contiguous clusters of abnormal points and converted to a continuous metric (pcc). The pcc metric, along with simpler methods, was used to combine the information from the SAP and fdOCT. The performance of different methods was assessed using the area under receiver operator characteristic curves (AROC scores). Results. The pcc metric performed better than simple global measures for both the fdOCT and SAP. The best combined structure-function metric (mRGCPL&SAP pcc, AROC = 0.868 ± 0.032) was better (statistically significant) than the best metrics for independent measures of structure and function. When SAP was used as part of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, AROC scores increased for all metrics, including the best combined structure-function metric (AROC = 0.975 ± 0.014). Conclusions. A combined structure-function metric improved the detection of glaucomatous eyes. Overall, the primary sources of value-added for glaucoma detection stem from the continuous cluster search (the pcc), the mRGCPL data, and the combination of structure and function. PMID:24408977

Individualized localization and cortical surface-based registration of intracranial electrodes

PubMed Central

Dykstra, Andrew R.; Chan, Alexander M.; Quinn, Brian T.; Zepeda, Rodrigo; Keller, Corey J.; Cormier, Justine; Madsen, Joseph R.; Eskandar, Emad N.; Cash, Sydney S.

2011-01-01

In addition to its widespread clinical use, the intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG) is increasingly being employed as a tool to map the neural correlates of normal cognitive function as well as for developing neuroprosthetics. Despite recent advances, and unlike other established brain mapping modalities (e.g. functional MRI, magneto- and electroencephalography), registering the iEEG with respect to neuroanatomy in individuals – and coregistering functional results across subjects – remains a significant challenge. Here we describe a method which coregisters high-resolution preoperative MRI with postoperative computerized tomography (CT) for the purpose of individualized functional mapping of both normal and pathological (e.g., interictal discharges and seizures) brain activity. Our method accurately (within 3mm, on average) localizes electrodes with respect to an individual’s neuroanatomy. Furthermore, we outline a principled procedure for either volumetric or surface-based group analyses. We demonstrate our method in five patients with medically-intractable epilepsy undergoing invasive monitoring of the seizure focus prior to its surgical removal. The straight-forward application of this procedure to all types of intracranial electrodes, robustness to deformations in both skull and brain, and the ability to compare electrode locations across groups of patients makes this procedure an important tool for basic scientists as well as clinicians. PMID:22155045

Individualized localization and cortical surface-based registration of intracranial electrodes.

PubMed

Dykstra, Andrew R; Chan, Alexander M; Quinn, Brian T; Zepeda, Rodrigo; Keller, Corey J; Cormier, Justine; Madsen, Joseph R; Eskandar, Emad N; Cash, Sydney S

2012-02-15

In addition to its widespread clinical use, the intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG) is increasingly being employed as a tool to map the neural correlates of normal cognitive function as well as for developing neuroprosthetics. Despite recent advances, and unlike other established brain-mapping modalities (e.g. functional MRI, magneto- and electroencephalography), registering the iEEG with respect to neuroanatomy in individuals-and coregistering functional results across subjects-remains a significant challenge. Here we describe a method which coregisters high-resolution preoperative MRI with postoperative computerized tomography (CT) for the purpose of individualized functional mapping of both normal and pathological (e.g., interictal discharges and seizures) brain activity. Our method accurately (within 3mm, on average) localizes electrodes with respect to an individual's neuroanatomy. Furthermore, we outline a principled procedure for either volumetric or surface-based group analyses. We demonstrate our method in five patients with medically-intractable epilepsy undergoing invasive monitoring of the seizure focus prior to its surgical removal. The straight-forward application of this procedure to all types of intracranial electrodes, robustness to deformations in both skull and brain, and the ability to compare electrode locations across groups of patients makes this procedure an important tool for basic scientists as well as clinicians. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evidence for excited state intramolecular charge transfer in benzazole-based pseudo-stilbenes.

PubMed

Santos, Fabiano da Silveira; Descalzo, Rodrigo Roceti; Gonçalves, Paulo Fernando Bruno; Benvenutti, Edilson Valmir; Rodembusch, Fabiano Severo

2012-08-21

Two azo compounds were obtained through the diazotization reaction of aminobenzazole derivatives and N,N-dimethylaniline using clay montmorillonite KSF as catalyst. The synthesized dyes were characterized using elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and (13)C and (1)H NMR spectroscopy in solution. Their photophysical behavior was studied using UV-vis and steady-state fluorescence in solution. These dyes present intense absorption in the blue region. The spectral features of the azo compounds can be related to the pseudo-stilbene type as well as the E isomer of the dyes. Excitation at the absorption maxima does not produce emissive species in the excited state. However, excitation around 350 nm allowed dual emission of fluorescence, from both a locally excited (LE, short wavelength) and an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT, long wavelength) state, which was corroborated by a linear relation of the fluorescence maximum (ν(max)) versus the solvent polarity function (Δf) from the Lippert-Mataga correlation. Evidence of TICT in these dyes was discussed from the viscosity dependence of the fluorescence intensity in the ICT emission band. Theoretical calculations were also performed in order to study the geometry and charge distribution of the dyes in their ground and excited electronic states. Using DFT methods at the theoretical levels BLYP/Aug-cc-pVDZ, for geometry optimizations and frequency calculations, and B3LYP/6-311+G(2d), for single-point energy evaluations, the calculations revealed that the least energetic and most intense photon absorption leads to a very polar excited state that relaxes non-radioactively, which can be associated with photochemical isomerization.

A physics based approach to the pulse wave velocity prediction in compliant arterial segments.

PubMed

Liberson, Alexander S; Lillie, Jeffrey S; Day, Steven W; Borkholder, David A

2016-10-03

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) quantification commonly serves as a highly robust prognostic parameter being used in a preventative cardiovascular therapy. Being dependent on arterial elastance, it can serve as a marker of cardiovascular risk. Since it is influenced by a blood pressure (BP), the pertaining theory can lay the foundation in developing a technique for noninvasive blood pressure measurement. Previous studies have reported application of PWV, measured noninvasively, for both the estimation of arterial compliance and blood pressure, based on simplified physical or statistical models. A new theoretical model for pulse wave propagation in a compliant arterial segment is presented within the framework of pseudo-elastic deformation of biological tissue undergoing finite deformation. An essential ingredient is the dependence of results on nonlinear aspects of the model: convective fluid phenomena, hyperelastic constitutive relation, large deformation and a longitudinal pre-stress load. An exact analytical solution for PWV is presented as a function of pressure, flow and pseudo-elastic orthotropic parameters. Results from our model are compared with published in-vivo PWV measurements under diverse physiological conditions. Contributions of each of the nonlinearities are analyzed. It was found that the totally nonlinear model achieves the best match with the experimental data. To retrieve individual vascular information of a patient, the inverse problem of hemodynamics is presented, calculating local orthotropic hyperelastic properties of the arterial wall. The proposed technique can be used for non-invasive assessment of arterial elastance, and blood pressure using direct measurement of PWV, with account of hyperelastic orthotropic properties. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Process of Separating Bovine Serum Albumin Using Hydroxyapatite and Active Babassu Coal (Orbignya martiana)

PubMed Central

Zuñiga, Abraham Damian Giraldo; Sousa, Rita de Cássia Superbi; Zacchi Scolforo, Carmelita

2016-01-01

Bovine serum albumin is one of the major serum proteins; it plays an important role as a result of its functional and nutritional properties which have bioactive peptides. Adsorption method was used to separate protein, which involves hydroxyapatite, synthetic hydroxyapatite, and active babassu coal. Initially, characterization was carried out using the zeta potential of the adsorbents. Kinetic pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order models were applied. For isotherms, equilibrium data studies were carried out using the Langmuir and Freundlich models, in addition to determining the efficiency of adsorptive process. The results of the zeta potential showed loads ranging from +6.9 to −42.8 mV. The kinetic data were better represented in the pseudo-second-order model with chemisorption characteristics. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbents decreased as pH increased, indicating that the electrostatic bonds and some functional groups of active babassu coal contributed to the reduction of adsorption, especially oxygen linked to carbon atoms. The value of pH 4.0 showed the best results of adsorption, being obtained as the maximum adsorption capacity (q m) and yield (%) (where q m = 87.95 mg g−1 and 74.2%; 68.26 mg g−1 and 68.6%; and 36.18 mg g−1, 37.4%) of hydroxyapatite, synthetic hydroxyapatite, and active babassu coal, respectively. PMID:27376149

Assessing the short-term clock drift of early broadband stations with burst events of the 26 s persistent and localized microseism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Jun; Ni, Sidao; Chu, Risheng; Xia, Yingjie

2018-01-01

Accurate seismometer clock plays an important role in seismological studies including earthquake location and tomography. However, some seismic stations may have clock drift larger than 1 s (e.g. GSC in 1992), especially in early days of global seismic networks. The 26 s Persistent Localized (PL) microseism event in the Gulf of Guinea sometime excites strong and coherent signals, and can be used as repeating source for assessing stability of seismometer clocks. Taking station GSC, PAS and PFO in the TERRAscope network as an example, the 26 s PL signal can be easily observed in the ambient noise cross-correlation function between these stations and a remote station OBN with interstation distance about 9700 km. The travel-time variation of this 26 s signal in the ambient noise cross-correlation function is used to infer clock error. A drastic clock error is detected during June 1992 for station GSC, but not found for station PAS and PFO. This short-term clock error is confirmed by both teleseismic and local earthquake records with a magnitude of 25 s. Averaged over the three stations, the accuracy of the ambient noise cross-correlation function method with the 26 s source is about 0.3-0.5 s. Using this PL source, the clock can be validated for historical records of sparsely distributed stations, where the usual ambient noise cross-correlation function of short-period (<20 s) ambient noise might be less effective due to its attenuation over long interstation distances. However, this method suffers from cycling problem, and should be verified by teleseismic/local P waves. Further studies are also needed to investigate whether the 26 s source moves spatially and its effects on clock drift detection.

Reservoir Structure and Wastewater-Induced Seismicity at the Val d'Agri Oilfield (Italy) Shown by Three-Dimensional Vp and Vp/Vs Local Earthquake Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Improta, L.; Bagh, S.; De Gori, P.; Valoroso, L.; Pastori, M.; Piccinini, D.; Chiarabba, C.; Anselmi, M.; Buttinelli, M.

2017-11-01

Wastewater injection into a high-rate well in the Val d'Agri oilfield, the largest in onshore Europe, has induced swarm microseismicity since the initiation of disposal in 2006. To investigate the reservoir structure and to track seismicity, we performed a high-spatial resolution local earthquake tomography using 1,281 natural and induced earthquakes recorded by local networks. The properties of the carbonate reservoir (rock fracturing, pore fluid pressure) and inherited faults control the occurrence and spatiotemporal distribution of seismicity. A low-Vp, high-Vp/Vs region under the well represents a fluid saturated fault zone ruptured by induced seismicity. High-Vp, high-Vp/Vs bumps match reservoir culminations indicating saturated liquid-bearing zones, whereas a very low Vp, low Vp/Vs anomaly might represent a strongly fractured and depleted zone of the hydrocarbon reservoir characterized by significant fluid withdrawal. The comprehensive picture of the injection-linked seismicity obtained by integrating reservoir-scale tomography, high-precision earthquake locations, and geophysical and injection data suggests that the driving mechanism is the channeling of pore pressure perturbations through a high permeable fault damage zone within the reservoir. The damage zone surrounds a Pliocene reverse fault optimally oriented in the current extensional stress field. The ruptured damage zone measures 2 km along strike and 3 km along dip and is confined between low permeability ductile formations. Injection pressure is the primary parameter controlling seismicity rate. Our study underlines that local earthquake tomography also using wastewater-induced seismicity can give useful insights into the physical mechanism leading to these earthquakes.

Photoacoustic tomography based on the Green's function retrieval with ultrasound interferometry for sample partially behind an acoustically scattering layer

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

Yin, Jie; Department of Automation, Nanjing Polytechnic Institute, 210048 Nanjing; Tao, Chao, E-mail: taochao@nju.edu.cn

2015-06-08

Acoustically inhomogeneous mediums with multiple scattering are often the nightmare of photoacoustic tomography. In order to break this limitation, a photoacoustic tomography scheme combining ultrasound interferometry and time reversal is proposed to achieve images in acoustically scattering medium. An ultrasound interferometry is developed to determine the unknown Green's function of strong scattering tissue. Using the determined Greens' function, a time-reversal process is carried out to restore images behind an acoustically inhomogeneous layer from the scattering photoacoustic signals. This method effectively decreases the false contrast, noise, and position deviation of images induced by the multiple scattering. Phantom experiment is carried outmore » to validate the method. Therefore, the proposed method could have potential value in extending the biomedical applications of photoacoustic tomography in acoustically inhomogeneous tissue.« less

SPECT/CT in imaging foot and ankle pathology-the demise of other coregistration techniques.

PubMed

Mohan, Hosahalli K; Gnanasegaran, Gopinath; Vijayanathan, Sanjay; Fogelman, Ignac

2010-01-01

Disorders of the ankle and foot are common and given the complex anatomy and function of the foot, they present a significant clinical challenge. Imaging plays a crucial role in the management of these patients, with multiple imaging options available to the clinician. The American College of radiology has set the appropriateness criteria for the use of the available investigating modalities in the management of foot and ankle pathologies. These are broadly classified into anatomical and functional imaging modalities. Recently, single-photon emission computed tomography and/or computed tomography scanners, which can elegantly combine functional and anatomical images have been introduced, promising an exciting and important development. This review describes our clinical experience with single-photon emission computed tomography and/or computed tomography and discusses potential applications of these techniques.

Localized N20 Component of Somatosensory Evoked Magnetic Fields in Frontoparietal Brain Tumor Patients Using Noise-Normalized Approaches.

PubMed

Elaina, Nor Safira; Malik, Aamir Saeed; Shams, Wafaa Khazaal; Badruddin, Nasreen; Abdullah, Jafri Malin; Reza, Mohammad Faruque

2018-06-01

To localize sensorimotor cortical activation in 10 patients with frontoparietal tumors using quantitative magnetoencephalography (MEG) with noise-normalized approaches. Somatosensory evoked magnetic fields (SEFs) were elicited in 10 patients with somatosensory tumors and in 10 control participants using electrical stimulation of the median nerve via the right and left wrists. We localized the N20m component of the SEFs using dynamic statistical parametric mapping (dSPM) and standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) combined with 3D magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The obtained coordinates were compared between groups. Finally, we statistically evaluated the N20m parameters across hemispheres using non-parametric statistical tests. The N20m sources were accurately localized to Brodmann area 3b in all members of the control group and in seven of the patients; however, the sources were shifted in three patients relative to locations outside the primary somatosensory cortex (SI). Compared with the affected (tumor) hemispheres in the patient group, N20m amplitudes and the strengths of the current sources were significantly lower in the unaffected hemispheres and in both hemispheres of the control group. These results were consistent for both dSPM and sLORETA approaches. Tumors in the sensorimotor cortex lead to cortical functional reorganization and an increase in N20m amplitude and current-source strengths. Noise-normalized approaches for MEG analysis that are integrated with MRI show accurate and reliable localization of sensorimotor function.

Prognostic Role of Functional Neuroimaging after Multilobar Resection in Patients with Localization-Related Epilepsy.

PubMed

Cho, Eun Bin; Joo, Eun Yeon; Seo, Dae-Won; Hong, Seung-Chyul; Hong, Seung Bong

2015-01-01

To investigate the usage of functional neuroimaging as a prognostic tool for seizure recurrence and long-term outcomes in patients with multilobar resection, we recruited 90 patients who received multilobar resections between 1995 and 2013 with at least 1-year follow-up (mean 8.0 years). All patients were monitored using intracranial electroencephalography (EEG) after pre-surgical evaluation. Clinical data (demographics, electrophysiology, and neuroimaging) were reviewed retrospectively. Surgical outcomes were evaluated at 1, 2, 5 years after surgery, and at the end of the study. After 1 year, 56 patients (62.2%) became Engel class I and at the last follow-up, 47 patients (52.2%) remained seizure-free. Furthermore, non-localized 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET), identifying hypometabolic areas not concordant with ictal onset zones, significantly correlated with seizure recurrence after 1 year. Non-lesional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and left-sided resection correlated with poor outcomes. In the last follow-up, non-localized PET and left-sided resection significantly correlated with seizure recurrence. Both localized PET and ictal-interictal SPECT subtraction co-registered to MR (SISCOM) predicted good surgical outcomes in the last follow-up (69.2%, Engel I). This study suggests that PET and SISCOM may predict postoperative outcomes for patients after multilobar epilepsy and shows comparable long-term surgical outcomes after multilobar resection.

Opto-Acoustic Telephone Study.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

teristics of tie’use:, the response of the TALK acutciertoncusbtwnthlgtadechnism cslf e flat acoss the oihe band a small quantity of suspended carbonized ... carbonized fiber in which sound is .generated by the local gas/fiber expansion and contraction. Sound is coupled from the small absorptive chamber to...matrix of carbonized cotton fibers suspended in air. This combination may be regarded as a .pseudo gas." To model the photo acoustic U effect in the

Mining and Querying Multimedia Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-29

able to capture more subtle spatial variations such as repetitiveness. Local feature descriptors such as SIFT [74] and SURF [12] have also been widely...empirically set to s = 90%, r = 50%, K = 20, where small variations lead to little perturbation of the output. The pseudo-code of the algorithm is...by constructing a three-layer graph based on clustering outputs, and executing a slight variation of random walk with restart algorithm. It provided

Bound state and localization of excitation in many-body open systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, H. T.; Shen, H. Z.; Hou, S. C.; Yi, X. X.

2018-04-01

We study the exact bound state and time evolution for single excitations in one-dimensional X X Z spin chains within a non-Markovian reservoir. For the bound state, a common feature is the localization of single excitations, which means the spontaneous emission of excitations into the reservoir is prohibited. Exceptionally, the pseudo-bound state can be found, for which the single excitation has a finite probability of emission into the reservoir. In addition, a critical energy scale for bound states is also identified, below which only one bound state exists, and it is also the pseudo-bound state. The effect of quasirandom disorder in the spin chain is also discussed; such disorder induces the single excitation to locate at some spin sites. Furthermore, to display the effect of bound state and disorder on the preservation of quantum information, the time evolution of single excitations in spin chains is studied exactly. An interesting observation is that the excitation can stay at its initial location with high probability only when the bound state and disorder coexist. In contrast, when either one of them is absent, the information of the initial state can be erased completely or becomes mixed. This finding shows that the combination of bound state and disorder can provide an ideal mechanism for quantum memory.

Pseudo-point transport technique: a new method for solving the Boltzmann transport equation in media with highly fluctuating cross sections

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

Nakhai, B.

A new method for solving radiation transport problems is presented. The heart of the technique is a new cross section processing procedure for the calculation of group-to-point and point-to-group cross sections sets. The method is ideally suited for problems which involve media with highly fluctuating cross sections, where the results of the traditional multigroup calculations are beclouded by the group averaging procedures employed. Extensive computational efforts, which would be required to evaluate double integrals in the multigroup treatment numerically, prohibit iteration to optimize the energy boundaries. On the other hand, use of point-to-point techniques (as in the stochastic technique) ismore » often prohibitively expensive due to the large computer storage requirement. The pseudo-point code is a hybrid of the two aforementioned methods (group-to-group and point-to-point) - hence the name pseudo-point - that reduces the computational efforts of the former and the large core requirements of the latter. The pseudo-point code generates the group-to-point or the point-to-group transfer matrices, and can be coupled with the existing transport codes to calculate pointwise energy-dependent fluxes. This approach yields much more detail than is available from the conventional energy-group treatments. Due to the speed of this code, several iterations could be performed (in affordable computing efforts) to optimize the energy boundaries and the weighting functions. The pseudo-point technique is demonstrated by solving six problems, each depicting a certain aspect of the technique. The results are presented as flux vs energy at various spatial intervals. The sensitivity of the technique to the energy grid and the savings in computational effort are clearly demonstrated.« less

Calculating Nozzle Side Loads using Acceleration Measurements of Test-Based Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Andrew M.; Ruf, Joe

2007-01-01

As part of a NASA/MSFC research program to evaluate the effect of different nozzle contours on the well-known but poorly characterized "side load" phenomena, we attempt to back out the net force on a sub-scale nozzle during cold-flow testing using acceleration measurements. Because modeling the test facility dynamics is problematic, new techniques for creating a "pseudo-model" of the facility and nozzle directly from modal test results are applied. Extensive verification procedures were undertaken, resulting in a loading scale factor necessary for agreement between test and model based frequency response functions. Side loads are then obtained by applying a wide-band random load onto the system model, obtaining nozzle response PSD's, and iterating both the amplitude and frequency of the input until a good comparison of the response with the measured response PSD for a specific time point is obtained. The final calculated loading can be used to compare different nozzle profiles for assessment during rocket engine nozzle development and as a basis for accurate design of the nozzle and engine structure to withstand these loads. The techniques applied within this procedure have extensive applicability to timely and accurate characterization of all test fixtures used for modal test.A viewgraph presentation on a model-test based pseudo-model used to calculate side loads on rocket engine nozzles is included. The topics include: 1) Side Loads in Rocket Nozzles; 2) Present Side Loads Research at NASA/MSFC; 3) Structural Dynamic Model Generation; 4) Pseudo-Model Generation; 5) Implementation; 6) Calibration of Pseudo-Model Response; 7) Pseudo-Model Response Verification; 8) Inverse Force Determination; 9) Results; and 10) Recent Work.

Seismic Tomography of the Sacramento -- San Joaquin River Delta: Joint P-wave/Gravity and Ambient Noise Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teel, Alexander C.

The Sacramento -- San Joaquin River Delta (SSJRD) is an area that has been identified as having high seismic hazard but has resolution gaps in the seismic velocity models of the area due to a scarcity of local seismic stations and earthquakes. I present new three-dimensional (3D) P-wave velocity (Vp) and S-wave velocity (Vs) models for the SSJRD which fill in the sampling gaps of previous studies. I have created a new 3D seismic velocity model for the SSJRD, addressing an identified need for higher resolution velocity models in the region, using a new joint gravity/body-wave tomography algorithm. I am able to fit gravity and arrival-time residuals jointly using an empirical density-velocity relationship to take advantage of existing gravity data in the region to help fill in the resolution gaps of previous velocity models in the area. I find that the method enhances the ability to resolve the relief of basin structure relative to seismic-only tomography at this location. I find the depth to the basement to be the greatest in the northwest portion of the SSJRD and that there is a plateau in the basement structure beneath the southeast portion of the SSJRD. From my findings I infer that the SSJRD may be prone to focusing effects and basin amplification of ground motion. A 3D, Vs model for the SSJRD and surrounding area was created using ambient noise tomography. The empirical Green's functions are in good agreement with published cross-correlations and match earthquake waveforms sharing similar paths. The group velocity and shear velocity maps are in good agreement with published regional scale models. The new model maps velocity values on a local scale and successfully recovers the basin structure beneath the Delta. From this Vs model I find the maximum depth of the basin to reach approximately 15 km with the Great Valley Ophiolite body rising to a depth of 10 km east of the SSJRD. We consider our basement-depth estimates from the Vp model to be more robust than from the Vs model.

Image guided radiation therapy may result in improved local control in locally advanced lung cancer patients.

PubMed

Kilburn, Jeremy M; Soike, Michael H; Lucas, John T; Ayala-Peacock, Diandra; Blackstock, William; Isom, Scott; Kearns, William T; Hinson, William H; Miller, Antonius A; Petty, William J; Munley, Michael T; Urbanic, James J

2016-01-01

Image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) is designed to ensure accurate and precise targeting, but whether improved clinical outcomes result is unknown. A retrospective comparison of locally advanced lung cancer patients treated with and without IGRT from 2001 to 2012 was conducted. Median local failure-free survival (LFFS), regional, locoregional failure-free survival (LRFFS), distant failure-free survival, progression-free survival, and overall survival (OS) were estimated. Univariate and multivariate models assessed the association between patient- and treatment-related covariates and local failure. A total of 169 patients were treated with definitive radiation therapy and concurrent chemotherapy with a median follow-up of 48 months in the IGRT cohort and 96 months in the non-IGRT cohort. IGRT was used in 36% (62 patients) of patients. OS was similar between cohorts (2-year OS, 47% vs 49%, P = .63). The IGRT cohort had improved 2-year LFFS (80% vs 64%, P = .013) and LRFFS (75% and 62%, P = .04). Univariate analysis revealed IGRT and treatment year improved LFFS, whereas group stage, dose, and positron emission tomography/computed tomography planning had no impact. IGRT remained significant in the multivariate model with an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.40 (P = .01). Distant failure-free survival (58% vs 59%, P = .67) did not differ significantly. IGRT with daily cone beam computed tomography confers an improvement in the therapeutic ratio relative to patients treated without this technology. Copyright © 2015 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.