Improved 3D MR Image Acquisition and Processing in Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common type of birth defect, affecting about 1% of the population. MRI is an essential tool in the assessment of CHD, including diagnosis, intervention planning and follow-up. Three-dimensional MRI can provide particularly rich visualization and information. However, it is often complicated by long scan times, cardiorespiratory motion, injection of contrast agents, and complex and time-consuming postprocessing. This thesis comprises four pieces of work that attempt to respond to some of these challenges. The first piece of work aims to enable fast acquisition of 3D time-resolved cardiac imaging during free breathing. Rapid imaging was achieved using an efficient spiral sequence and a sparse parallel imaging reconstruction. The feasibility of this approach was demonstrated on a population of 10 patients with CHD, and areas of improvement were identified. The second piece of work is an integrated software tool designed to simplify and accelerate the development of machine learning (ML) applications in MRI research. It also exploits the strengths of recently developed ML libraries for efficient MR image reconstruction and processing. The third piece of work aims to reduce contrast dose in contrast-enhanced MR angiography (MRA). This would reduce risks and costs associated with contrast agents. A deep learning-based contrast enhancement technique was developed and shown to improve image quality in real low-dose MRA in a population of 40 children and adults with CHD. The fourth and final piece of work aims to simplify the creation of computational models for hemodynamic assessment of the great arteries. A deep learning technique for 3D segmentation of the aorta and the pulmonary arteries was developed and shown to enable accurate calculation of clinically relevant biomarkers in a population of 10 patients with CHD

Time Series and Spectral Analysis in Asteroseismology

A major breakthrough in stellar astrophysics occurred a decade ago when a number of space photometry telescopes were launched and began operations. In particular, the NASA space telescope Kepler was constructed with the goal of finding Earth-like planets around other stars in our galaxy. The technique involved observing the same field of stars, searching for dips in the stellar light curves caused by transits of exoplanets. For four years, the Kepler mission observed almost 200,000 stars with a wide variety of spectral types and evolutionary states. The light curves are also ideal for asteroseismology, the study of stellar oscillations. Fitting the frequencies of these oscillations to stellar models returns accurate fundamental properties including mass, luminosity, radius, and age of the observed star. The goal of this thesis is to use a range of asteroseismic data analysis techniques to improve the understanding of the physical properties of various classes of oscillating stars. This thesis is split into four main chapters. Firstly, I follow the adiabatic frequency pattern of the most evolved solar-like oscillators and observe a departure to the well known asymptotic relation. Secondly, I compare Kepler data and stellar models of main-sequence solar-like oscillators to characterise the frequency discrepancy, known as the surface correction. Thirdly, I devise a technique to use the centroid of blended radial-quadrupole modes to accurately determine fundamental stellar parameters in F-type stars. Finally, I investigate a method to detect stellar companions by measuring the modulation of light arrival time using stable oscillation modes, and attempt to apply it to stars of different spectral types

Detecting, Modeling, and Predicting User Temporal Intention

The content of social media has grown exponentially in the recent years and its role has evolved from narrating life events to actually shaping them. Unfortunately, content posted and shared in social networks is vulnerable and prone to loss or change, rendering the context associated with it (a tweet, post, status, or others) meaningless. There is an inherent value in maintaining the consistency of such social records as in some cases they take over the task of being the first draft of history as collections of these social posts narrate the pulse of the street during historic events, protest, riots, elections, war, disasters, and others as shown in this work. The user sharing the resource has an implicit temporal intent: either the state of the resource at the time of sharing, or the current state of the resource at the time of the reader \clicking . In this research, we propose a model to detect and predict the user\u27s temporal intention of the author upon sharing content in the social network and of the reader upon resolving this content. To build this model, we first examine the three aspects of the problem: the resource, time, and the user. For the resource we start by analyzing the content on the live web and its persistence. We noticed that a portion of the resources shared in social media disappear, and with further analysis we unraveled a relationship between this disappearance and time. We lose around 11% of the resources after one year of sharing and a steady 7% every following year. With this, we turn to the public archives and our analysis reveals that not all posted resources are archived and even they were an average 8% per year disappears from the archives and in some cases the archived content is heavily damaged. These observations prove that in regards to archives resources are not well-enough populated to consistently and reliably reconstruct the missing resource as it existed at the time of sharing. To analyze the concept of time we devised several experiments to estimate the creation date of the shared resources. We developed Carbon Date, a tool which successfully estimated the correct creation dates for 76% of the test sets. Since the resources\u27 creation we wanted to measure if and how they change with time. We conducted a longitudinal study on a data set of very recently-published tweet-resource pairs and recording observations hourly. We found that after just one hour, ~4% of the resources have changed by ≥30% while after a day the change rate slowed to be ~12% of the resources changed by ≥40%. In regards to the third and final component of the problem we conducted user behavioral analysis experiments and built a data set of 1,124 instances manually assigned by test subjects. Temporal intention proved to be a difficult concept for average users to understand. We developed our Temporal Intention Relevancy Model (TIRM) to transform the highly subjective temporal intention problem into the more easily understood idea of relevancy between a tweet and the resource it links to, and change of the resource through time. On our collected data set TIRM produced a significant 90.27% success rate. Furthermore, we extended TIRM and used it to build a time-based model to predict temporal intention change or steadiness at the time of posting with 77% accuracy. We built a service API around this model to provide predictions and a few prototypes. Future tools could implement TIRM to assist users in pushing copies of shared resources into public web archives to ensure the integrity of the historical record. Additional tools could be used to assist the mining of the existing social media corpus by derefrencing the intended version of the shared resource based on the intention strength and the time between the tweeting and mining

Time-dependent spectrum analysis of high power gyrotrons

In this work, a novel measurement system for the analysis of the gyrotron RF output spectrum was developed. It enables unprecedented time dependent measurements within a large bandwidth, dynamic range and unambiguous RF indication in the entire D-Band (110-170 GHz). Special attention was given to the investigation of parasitic RF oscillations, and the analysis of the interplay of thermal cavity expansion and ionization-based space charge neutralization at the start of long RF pulses

Gravity Field Refinement by Radial Basis Functions from In-situ Satellite Data

In this thesis, an integrated approach is developed for the regional refinement of global gravity field solutions. The analysis concepts are tailored to the in-situ type character of the observations provided by the new satellite missions CHAMP, GRACE, and GOCE. They are able to evaluate data derived from short arcs of the satellite's orbit and, therefore, offer the opportunity to use regional satellite data for the calculation of regional gravity field solutions. The regional character of the approach will be realized at various stages of the analysis procedure. The first step is the design of specifically tailored space localizing basis functions. In order to adapt the basis functions to the signal content to be expected in the gravity field solution, they will be derived from the covariance function of the gravitational potential. To use the basis functions in gravity field modeling, they have to be located at the nodal points of a spherical grid; therefore investigations will be performed regarding a suitable choice of such a nodal point distribution. Another important aspect in the regional gravity field analysis approach is the downward continuation process. In this context, a regionally adapted regularization will be introduced which assigns different regularization matrices to geographical areas with varying signal content. Regularization parameters individually determined for each region take into account the varying frequency behavior, allowing to extract additional information out of a given data set. To conclude the analysis chain, an approach will be described that combines regional solutions with global coverage to obtain a global solution and to derive the corresponding spherical harmonic coefficients by means of the Gauss-Legendre quadrature method. The capability of the method will be demonstrated by its successful application to real data provided by CHAMP and GRACE and to a simulation scenario based on a combination of GRACE and GOCE observations.Verfeinerungen des Gravitationsfeldes mit radialen Basisfunktionen aus in-situ Satellitendaten In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein ganzheitliches Konzept für die regionale Verfeinerung globaler Gravitationsfeldmodelle entwickelt. Die dazu verwendeten Analyseverfahren sind dem in-situ Charakter der Beobachtungen der neuen Satellitenmissionen CHAMP, GRACE und GOCE angepasst. Sie beruhen auf kurzen Bahnbögen und ermöglichen somit die Berechnung regionaler Gravitationsfeldmodelle aus regional begrenzten Satellitendaten. Der regionale Charakter des Ansatzes wird dabei auf verschiedenen Ebenen des Analyseprozesses realisiert. Der erste Schritt ist die Entwicklung angepasster orts-lokalisierender Basisfunktionen. Diese sollen das Frequenzverhalten des zu bestimmenden Gravitationsfeldes widerspiegeln; sie werden daher aus der Kovarianzfunktion des Gravitationspotentials abgeleitet. Um die Basisfunktionen für die Schwerefeldmodellierung zu verwenden, müssen sie an den Knotenpunkten eines sphärischen Gitters angeordnet werden. Daher werden Untersuchungen durchgeführt, welche Punktverteilung für diese Aufgabe besonders geeignet ist. Einen wichtigen Aspekt bei der regionalen Gravi-tationsfeldanalyse stellt der Fortsetzungsprozess nach unten dar. In diesem Zusammenhang wird ein regional angepasstes Regularisierungsverfahren entwickelt, das verschiedene Regularisierungsmatrizen für regionale Gebiete mit unterschiedlichem Schwerefeldsignal ermöglicht. Individuell angepasste Regularisierungsparameter berücksichtigen den variierenden Signalinhalt, wodurch erreicht wird, dass zusätzliche Informationen aus einem gegebenen Datensatz extrahiert werden können. Schließlich wird ein Ansatz vorgestellt, der regionale Lösungen mit globaler Überdeckung zu einer globalen Lösung zusammenfügt und die zugehörigen sphärischen harmonischen Koeffizienten mit Hilfe der Gauss-Legendre-Quadratur berechnet. Die Leistungsfähigkeit des beschriebenen Ansatzes wird durch eine erfolgreiche Anwendung auf die Echtdatenanalyse aus Daten der Satellitenmissionen CHAMP und GRACE und auf ein Simulationsszenario aus einer Kombination simulierter GRACE- und GOCE-Beobachtungen verdeutlicht

RMN de materiais híbridos inorgânicos-orgânicos cristalino : métodos e aplicações

Doutoramento em QuímicaNa primeira das três partes em que esta tese está organizada apresentam-se algumas ideias e conceitos fundamentais em Ressonância Magnética Nuclear (RMN). Em particular, dá-se uma panorâmica dos métodos disponíveis para realizar o desacoplamento homonuclear 1H-1H por impulsos, baseados no desacoplamento dito Frequency-Switched Lee-Goldburg (FS-LG). Discute-se, também, como optimizar as condições experimentais que permitem registar espectros de alta resolução de RMN bidimensional (2D). A segunda parte desta tese apresenta casos de estudo de RMN dos seguintes materiais híbridos inorgânicos-orgânicos: complexos (i) binuclear e (ii) hexanuclear de germânio, ambos contendo ácidos fosfónicos como ligandos (respectivamente, pmida4- e hedp4-); (iii) um aluminofosfato microporoso, e (iv) um γ-titanofosfato lamelar tendo como hóspedes, respectivamente, metilamina e hexilamina. Estes sólidos são ricos em núcleos 1H e, por esta razão, as linhas espectrais de RMN de 1H sofrem alargamento homogéneo devido ao forte acoplamento dipolar homonuclear. Assim, não é de estranhar que os materiais híbridos tenham, até a data, sido objecto de poucos estudos de RMN de 1H. Nesta tese mostra-se que o desacoplamento FS-LG é uma técnica muito poderosa e robusta para estudar estes materiais, permitindo a aquisição, sob condições de alta resolução de 1H, de espectros 2D com correlação homo e heteronuclear 1H-X (X = 1H, 13C, 31P, 27Al). Ilustra-se, também, o uso de técnicas de reacoplamento dipolar, nomeadamente BABA, POSTC7 e RFDR. Usada em combinação com dados de difracção de raios-X, a informação RMN permite construir um modelo claro da estrutura dos materiais híbridos. Na terceira parte desta tese propõe-se uma nova técnica de RMN para estudo de núcleos quadrupolares, de spin 3/2 e 5/2, em sólidos. Concretamente, relata-se um método para a obtenção de espectros de núcleos quadrupolares de spin semi-inteiro, que permite o registo simultâneo dos chamados “multiple coherence transfer pathways (CTP)”, reduzindo consideravelmente o tempo de experiência. Usa-se uma ciclagem de fases do tipo “multiplex”, com registo separado de cada CTP na memória do computador, tendo em vista a selecção e o processamento de sinal após a aquisição. A aplicação, a estes conjuntos de dados, de uma mudança discreta da fase numérica permite gerar os CTPs alvo e combiná-los de forma a obter espectros 2D sem componentes dispersivas. Mostra-se, ainda, que é possível realizar experiências múltiplas com diferentes CTPs, durante o tempo de uma única experiência, por exemplo a aquisição de espectros 3QMAS/5QMAS, MQMAS/STMAS e MQMAS/DQFSTMAS. Finalmente, demonstra-se que acoplando o chamado soft-pulse added mixing (SPAM) e uma ciclagem de fases do tipo “multiplex duplo” permite adicionar construtivamente os CTPs, mesmo se estes tiverem sinal oposto. Encurta-se, desta forma, consideravelmente o tempo experimental, relativamente ao método multiplex simples.This thesis is organised in three parts, and the first one presents some basic NMR concepts and ideas. In particular, an overview of the 1H-1H homonuclear decoupling pulse methods, based on Frequency-Switched Lee-Goldburg (FSLG) decoupling, is given. The optimisation of the experimental conditions which afford high-resolution two-dimensional (2D) NMR spectra is also discussed. In its second part, this thesis presents a number of NMR case studies centred on the following inorganic-organic hybrid materials: (i) a germanium binuclear and (ii) a germanium hexanuclear complex, both containing phosphonic acid ligands (pmida4- and hedp4-, respectively); (iii) a microporous aluminophosphate, and (iv) a layered γ-titanium phosphate containing, respectively, methylamine and hexylamine guests. These solids are rich in 1H nuclei and, because of this, their 1H NMR spectral lines are usually broadened homogeneously by the strong homunuclear dipolar couplings. It is, thus, no wonder that hybrid materials have not been much studied by 1H NMR. Here, I show that FS-LG decoupling is a very powerful and robust technique to study these materials, allowing the acquisition, under 1H high-resolution, of 2D homoand hetero-nuclear correlation 1H-X (X = 1H, 13C, 31P, 27Al) NMR spectra. Dipolar recoupling techniques such as BABA, POSTC7 and RFDR were also employed. When used in tandem with X-ray diffraction data, the information forthcoming from these NMR studies provides a clear structural picture of the hybrid materials. In the third part of this thesis I introduce a new NMR method to study I = 3/2 and 5/2 quadrupole nuclei in powdered solids. More specifically, a new processing method to obtain 2D NMR spectra of half-integer quadrupole nuclei is described. This scheme allows the simultaneous acquisition of multiplecoherence transfer pathways (CTP), thus shortening considerably the experimental time. A “multiplex” phase cycling procedure is employed, which allows recording separately in the computer memory each CTP, for postacquisition signal selection and processing. By applying a numerical phase shift to these data sets it is possible to generate the targeted CTPs and combine them to obtain pure-absorption 2D spectra. I also demonstrate the feasibility of performing multiple experiments with distinct CTPs, during the timespan of a single experiment, for example the simultaneous acquisition of 3QMAS/5QMAS, MQMAS/STMAS and MQMAS/DQF-STMAS. Finally, I demonstrate that coupling the so-called “soft-pulse added mixing” (SPAM) and “double-multiplex” phase cycling allows the constructive addition of CTPs, even if they have opposite signs. The result is a considerable reduction in the experimental time as compared to the simple multiplex method

Investigation of techniques for automatic polyphonic music transcription using wavelets.

Thesis (M.Sc) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.It has been said (although sadly I have no source) that music is one of the most useful yet useless phenomena known to mankind. Useless in that it has, apparently, no tangible or immediately practical function in our lives, but extremely useful in that it is a truly universal language between human beings, which transcends boundaries and allows us to express ourselves and experience emotions in rather profound ways. For the majority of us, music exists to be listened to, appreciated, admired (sometimes reviled) but generally as some sort of stimulus for our auditory senses. Some of us feel the need to produce music, perhaps simply for our own creative enjoyment, or maybe because we crave the power it lends us to be able to inspire feelings in others. For those of us who love to know “the reason why” or “how things work” and wish to discover the secrets of music, arguably the greatest of all the arts, there can surely be no doubt that a fascinating world of mathematics, harmony and beauty awaits us. Perhaps the reason why music is able to convey such strong emotions in us is because we are (for whatever strange evolutionary reason or purpose) designed to be innately pattern pursuing, sequence searching and harmony hungry creatures. Music, as we shall discover in this research, is chock-a-block full of the most incredible patterns, which are just waiting to be deciphered

Summary of Research 1994

The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.This report contains 359 summaries of research projects which were carried out under funding of the Naval Postgraduate School Research Program. A list of recent publications is also included which consists of conference presentations and publications, books, contributions to books, published journal papers, and technical reports. The research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Meteorology, National Security Affairs, Oceanography, Operations Research, Physics, and Systems Management. This also includes research by the Command, Control and Communications (C3) Academic Group, Electronic Warfare Academic Group, Space Systems Academic Group, and the Undersea Warfare Academic Group

Conjugate heat transfer coupling relying on large eddy simulation with complex geometries in massively parallel environments

Progress in scientific computing has led to major advances in simulation and understanding of the different physical phenomena that exist in industrial gas turbines. However' most of these advances have focused on solving one problem at a time. Indeed' the combustion problem is solved independently from the thermal or radiation problems' etc... In reality all these problems interact: one speaks of coupled problems. Thus performing coupled computations can improve the quality of simulations and provide gas turbines engineers with new design tools. Recently' solutions have been developed to handle multiple physics simultaneously using generic solvers. However' due to their genericity these solutions reveal to be ineffective on expensive problems such as Large Eddy Simulation (LES). Another solution is to perform code coupling: specialized codes are connected together' one for each problem and they exchange data periodically. In this thesis a conjugate heat transfer problem is considered. A fluid domain solved by a combustion LES solver is coupled with a solid domain in which the conduction problem is solved. Implementing this coupled problem raises multiple issues which are addressed in this thesis. Firstly' the specific problem of coupling an LES solver to a conduction solver is considered: the impact of the inter-solver exchange frequency on convergence' possible temporal aliasing' and stability of the coupled system is studied. Then interpolation and geometrical issues are addressed: a conservative interpolation method is developed and compared to other methods. These methods are then applied to an industrial configuration' highlighting the problems and solutions specific to complex geometry. Finally' high performance computing (HPC) is considered: an efficient method to perform data exchange and interpolation between parallel codes is developed. This work has been applied to an aeronautical combustion chamber configuration