8,893 research outputs found
Implementation Aspects of a Transmitted-Reference UWB Receiver
In this paper, we discuss the design issues of an ultra wide band (UWB) receiver targeting a single-chip CMOS implementation for low data-rate applications like ad hoc wireless sensor networks. A non-coherent transmitted reference (TR) receiver is chosen because of its small complexity compared to other architectures. After a brief recapitulation of the UWB fundamentals and a short discussion on the major differences between coherent and non-coherent receivers, we discuss issues, challenges and possible design solutions. Several simulation results obtained by means of a behavioral model are presented, together with an analysis of the trade-off between performance and complexity in an integrated circuit implementation
Comparison of an open-hardware electroencephalography amplifier with medical grade device in brain-computer interface applications
Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are promising communication devices between
humans and machines. BCI based on non-invasive neuroimaging techniques such as
electroencephalography (EEG) have many applications , however the dissemination
of the technology is limited, in part because of the price of the hardware. In
this paper we compare side by side two EEG amplifiers, the consumer grade
OpenBCI and the medical grade g.tec g.USBamp. For this purpose, we employed an
original montage, based on the simultaneous recording of the same set of
electrodes. Two set of recordings were performed. During the first experiment a
simple adapter with a direct connection between the amplifiers and the
electrodes was used. Then, in a second experiment, we attempted to discard any
possible interference that one amplifier could cause to the other by adding
"ideal" diodes to the adapter. Both spectral and temporal features were tested
-- the former with a workload monitoring task, the latter with an visual P300
speller task. Overall, the results suggest that the OpenBCI board -- or a
similar solution based on the Texas Instrument ADS1299 chip -- could be an
effective alternative to traditional EEG devices. Even though a medical grade
equipment still outperforms the OpenBCI, the latter gives very close EEG
readings, resulting in practice in a classification accuracy that may be
suitable for popularizing BCI uses.Comment: PhyCS - International Conference on Physiological Computing Systems,
Jul 2016, Lisbon, Portugal. SCITEPRESS, 201
Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler. VIII. A Fully Automated Catalog with Measured Completeness and Reliability Based on Data Release 25
We present the Kepler Object of Interest (KOI) catalog of transiting exoplanets based on searching 4 yr of Kepler time series photometry (Data Release 25, Q1–Q17). The catalog contains 8054 KOIs, of which 4034 are planet candidates with periods between 0.25 and 632 days. Of these candidates, 219 are new, including two in multiplanet systems (KOI-82.06 and KOI-2926.05) and 10 high-reliability, terrestrial-size, habitable zone candidates. This catalog was created using a tool called the Robovetter, which automatically vets the DR25 threshold crossing events (TCEs). The Robovetter also vetted simulated data sets and measured how well it was able to separate TCEs caused by noise from those caused by low signal-to-noise transits. We discuss the Robovetter and the metrics it uses to sort TCEs. For orbital periods less than 100 days the Robovetter completeness (the fraction of simulated transits that are determined to be planet candidates) across all observed stars is greater than 85%. For the same period range, the catalog reliability (the fraction of candidates that are not due to instrumental or stellar noise) is greater than 98%. However, for low signal-to-noise candidates between 200 and 500 days around FGK-dwarf stars, the Robovetter is 76.7% complete and the catalog is 50.5% reliable. The KOI catalog, the transit fits, and all of the simulated data used to characterize this catalog are available at the NASA Exoplanet Archive
Deformable Nanovesicles Synthesized through an Adaptable Microfluidic Platform for Enhanced Localized Transdermal Drug Delivery.
Phospholipid-based deformable nanovesicles (DNVs) that have flexibility in shape offer an adaptable and facile method to encapsulate diverse classes of therapeutics and facilitate localized transdermal delivery while minimizing systemic exposure. Here we report the use of a microfluidic reactor for the synthesis of DNVs and show that alteration of input parameters such as flow speeds as well as molar and flow rate ratios increases entrapment efficiency of drugs and allows fine-tuning of DNV size, elasticity, and surface charge. To determine the ability of DNV-encapsulated drug to be delivered transdermally to a local site, we synthesized, characterized, and tested DNVs carrying the fluorescently labeled hydrophilic bisphosphonate drug AF-647 zoledronate (AF647-Zol). AF647-Zol DNVs were lyophilized, resuspended, and applied topically as a paste to the calvarial skin of mice. High-resolution fluorescent imaging and confocal microscopy revealed significant increase of encapsulated payload delivery to the target tissue-cranial bone-by DNVs as compared to nondeformable nanovesicles (NVs) or aqueous drug solutions. Interestingly, NV delivery was not superior to aqueous drug solution. Our studies show that microfluidic reactor-synthesized DNVs can be produced in good yield, with high encapsulation efficiency, reproducibility, and stability after storage, and represent a useful vehicle for localized transdermal drug delivery
Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler. VIII. A Fully Automated Catalog With Measured Completeness and Reliability Based on Data Release 25
We present the Kepler Object of Interest (KOI) catalog of transiting
exoplanets based on searching four years of Kepler time series photometry (Data
Release 25, Q1-Q17). The catalog contains 8054 KOIs of which 4034 are planet
candidates with periods between 0.25 and 632 days. Of these candidates, 219 are
new and include two in multi-planet systems (KOI-82.06 and KOI-2926.05), and
ten high-reliability, terrestrial-size, habitable zone candidates. This catalog
was created using a tool called the Robovetter which automatically vets the
DR25 Threshold Crossing Events (TCEs, Twicken et al. 2016). The Robovetter also
vetted simulated data sets and measured how well it was able to separate TCEs
caused by noise from those caused by low signal-to-noise transits. We discusses
the Robovetter and the metrics it uses to sort TCEs. For orbital periods less
than 100 days the Robovetter completeness (the fraction of simulated transits
that are determined to be planet candidates) across all observed stars is
greater than 85%. For the same period range, the catalog reliability (the
fraction of candidates that are not due to instrumental or stellar noise) is
greater than 98%. However, for low signal-to-noise candidates between 200 and
500 days around FGK dwarf stars, the Robovetter is 76.7% complete and the
catalog is 50.5% reliable. The KOI catalog, the transit fits and all of the
simulated data used to characterize this catalog are available at the NASA
Exoplanet Archive.Comment: 61 pages, 23 Figures, 9 Tables, Accepted to The Astrophysical Journal
Supplement Serie
Noise and nonlinearities in high-throughput data
High-throughput data analyses are becoming common in biology, communications,
economics and sociology. The vast amounts of data are usually represented in
the form of matrices and can be considered as knowledge networks. Spectra-based
approaches have proved useful in extracting hidden information within such
networks and for estimating missing data, but these methods are based
essentially on linear assumptions. The physical models of matching, when
applicable, often suggest non-linear mechanisms, that may sometimes be
identified as noise. The use of non-linear models in data analysis, however,
may require the introduction of many parameters, which lowers the statistical
weight of the model. According to the quality of data, a simpler linear
analysis may be more convenient than more complex approaches.
In this paper, we show how a simple non-parametric Bayesian model may be used
to explore the role of non-linearities and noise in synthetic and experimental
data sets.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure
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