173,123 research outputs found
Tomographic image quality of rotating slat versus parallel hole-collimated SPECT
Parallel and converging hole collimators are most frequently used in nuclear medicine. Less common is the use of rotating slat collimators for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The higher photon collection efficiency, inherent to the geometry of rotating slat collimators, results in much lower noise in the data. However, plane integrals contain spatial information in only one direction, whereas line integrals provide two-dimensional information. It is not a trivial question whether the initial gain in efficiency will compensate for the lower information content in the plane integrals. Therefore, a comparison of the performance of parallel hole and rotating slat collimation is needed. This study compares SPECT with rotating slat and parallel hole collimation in combination with MLEM reconstruction with accurate system modeling and correction for scatter and attenuation. A contrast-to-noise study revealed an improvement of a factor 2-3 for hot lesions and more than a factor of 4 for cold lesion. Furthermore, a clinically relevant case of heart lesion detection is simulated for rotating slat and parallel hole collimators. In this case, rotating slat collimators outperform the traditional parallel hole collimators. We conclude that rotating slat collimators are a valuable alternative for parallel hole collimators
Dynamics and control of gold-encapped gallium arsenide nanowires imaged by 4D electron microscopy
Eutectic related reaction is a special chemical/physical reaction involving
multiple phases, solid and liquid. Visualization of phase reaction of composite
nanomaterials with high spatial and temporal resolution provides a key
understanding of alloy growth with important industrial applications. However,
it has been a rather challenging task. Here we report the direct imaging and
control of the phase reaction dynamics of a single, as-grown free-standing
gallium arsenide nanowire encapped with a gold nanoparticle, free from
environmental confinement or disturbance, using four-dimensional electron
microscopy. The non-destructive preparation of as-grown free-standing nanowires
without supporting films allows us to study their anisotropic properties in
their native environment with better statistical character. A laser heating
pulse initiates the eutectic related reaction at a temperature much lower than
the melting points of the composite materials, followed by a precisely
time-delayed electron pulse to visualize the irreversible transient states of
nucleation, growth and solidification of the complex. Combined with theoretical
modeling, useful thermodynamic parameters of the newly formed alloy phases and
their crystal structures could be determined. This technique of dynamical
control and 4D imaging of phase reaction processes on the nanometer-ultrafast
time scale open new venues for engineering various reactions in a wide variety
of other systems
An Adaptive Interacting Wang-Landau Algorithm for Automatic Density Exploration
While statisticians are well-accustomed to performing exploratory analysis in
the modeling stage of an analysis, the notion of conducting preliminary
general-purpose exploratory analysis in the Monte Carlo stage (or more
generally, the model-fitting stage) of an analysis is an area which we feel
deserves much further attention. Towards this aim, this paper proposes a
general-purpose algorithm for automatic density exploration. The proposed
exploration algorithm combines and expands upon components from various
adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, with the Wang-Landau algorithm at
its heart. Additionally, the algorithm is run on interacting parallel chains --
a feature which both decreases computational cost as well as stabilizes the
algorithm, improving its ability to explore the density. Performance is studied
in several applications. Through a Bayesian variable selection example, the
authors demonstrate the convergence gains obtained with interacting chains. The
ability of the algorithm's adaptive proposal to induce mode-jumping is
illustrated through a trimodal density and a Bayesian mixture modeling
application. Lastly, through a 2D Ising model, the authors demonstrate the
ability of the algorithm to overcome the high correlations encountered in
spatial models.Comment: 33 pages, 20 figures (the supplementary materials are included as
appendices
A 3D radiative transfer framework: I. non-local operator splitting and continuum scattering problems
We describe a highly flexible framework to solve 3D radiation transfer
problems in scattering dominated environments based on a long characteristics
piece-wise parabolic formal solution and an operator splitting method. We find
that the linear systems are efficiently solved with iterative solvers such as
Gauss-Seidel and Jordan techniques. We use a sphere-in-a-box test model to
compare the 3D results to 1D solutions in order to assess the accuracy of the
method. We have implemented the method for static media, however, it can be
used to solve problems in the Eulerian-frame for media with low velocity
fields.Comment: A&A, in press. 14 pages, 19 figures. Full resolution figures
available at ftp://phoenix.hs.uni-hamburg.de/preprints/3DRT_paper1.pdf HTML
version (low res figures) at
http://hobbes.hs.uni-hamburg.de/~yeti/PAPERS/3drt_paper1/index.htm
Diffusion-Based Coarse Graining in Hybrid Continuum-Discrete Solvers: Theoretical Formulation and A Priori Tests
Coarse graining is an important ingredient in many multi-scale
continuum-discrete solvers such as CFD--DEM (computational fluid
dynamics--discrete element method) solvers for dense particle-laden flows.
Although CFD--DEM solvers have become a mature technique that is widely used in
multiphase flow research and industrial flow simulations, a flexible and
easy-to-implement coarse graining algorithm that can work with CFD solvers of
arbitrary meshes is still lacking. In this work, we proposed a new coarse
graining algorithm for continuum--discrete solvers for dense particle-laden
flows based on solving a transient diffusion equation. Via theoretical analysis
we demonstrated that the proposed method is equivalent to the statistical
kernel method with a Gaussian kernel, but the current method is much more
straightforward to implement in CFD--DEM solvers. \textit{A priori} numerical
tests were performed to obtain the solid volume fraction fields based on given
particle distributions, the results obtained by using the proposed algorithm
were compared with those from other coarse graining methods in the literature
(e.g., the particle centroid method, the divided particle volume method, and
the two-grid formulation). The numerical tests demonstrated that the proposed
coarse graining procedure based on solving diffusion equations is theoretically
sound, easy to implement and parallelize in general CFD solvers, and has
improved mesh-convergence characteristics compared with existing coarse
graining methods. The diffusion-based coarse graining method has been
implemented into a CFD--DEM solver, the results of which are presented in a
separate work (R. Sun and H. Xiao, Diffusion-based coarse graining in hybrid
continuum-discrete solvers: Application in CFD-DEM solvers for particle laden
flows)
Multi-function based modeling of 3D heterogeneous wound scaffolds for improved wound healing
This paper presents a new multi-function based modeling of 3D heterogeneous porous wound scaffolds to improve wound healing process for complex deep acute or chronic wounds. An imaging-based approach is developed to extract 3D wound geometry and recognize wound features. Linear healing fashion of the wound margin towards the wound center is mimicked. Blending process is thus applied to the extracted geometry to partition the scaffold into a number of uniformly gradient healing regions. Computer models of 3D engineered porous wound scaffolds are then developed for solid freeform modeling and fabrication. Spatial variation over biomaterial and loaded bio-molecule concentration is developed based on wound healing requirements. Release of bio-molecules over the uniform healing regions is controlled by varying their amount and entrapping biomaterial concentration. Thus, localized controlled release is developed to improve wound healing. A prototype multi-syringe single nozzle deposition system is used to fabricate a sample scaffold. Proposed methodology is implemented and illustrative examples are presented in this paper
Influence of mean distance between fibers on the effective gas thermal conductivity in highly porous fibrous materials
This work was supported by the Russian Goverment Grant No. 14.Z50.31.0036.Peer reviewedPostprin
Review of the Synergies Between Computational Modeling and Experimental Characterization of Materials Across Length Scales
With the increasing interplay between experimental and computational
approaches at multiple length scales, new research directions are emerging in
materials science and computational mechanics. Such cooperative interactions
find many applications in the development, characterization and design of
complex material systems. This manuscript provides a broad and comprehensive
overview of recent trends where predictive modeling capabilities are developed
in conjunction with experiments and advanced characterization to gain a greater
insight into structure-properties relationships and study various physical
phenomena and mechanisms. The focus of this review is on the intersections of
multiscale materials experiments and modeling relevant to the materials
mechanics community. After a general discussion on the perspective from various
communities, the article focuses on the latest experimental and theoretical
opportunities. Emphasis is given to the role of experiments in multiscale
models, including insights into how computations can be used as discovery tools
for materials engineering, rather than to "simply" support experimental work.
This is illustrated by examples from several application areas on structural
materials. This manuscript ends with a discussion on some problems and open
scientific questions that are being explored in order to advance this
relatively new field of research.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, review article accepted for publication in J.
Mater. Sc
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