Generation of Synthetic-Focus Images from Pulse-Echo Ultrasound using Difference Equations

To produce a complete-dataset, pulse-echo image requires a knowledge of the time of flight (TOF) from each source to each sensor in the transducer array for each site to be imaged. Increasing the speed of TOF calculation is important in adaptive-focus schemes. The authors determined TOF more rapidly than via direct calculation by representing TOF surfaces by two-dimensional (2-D), positive-integer-degree polynomials implemented in their forward-difference form. Errors which accumulate due to the use of a difference equation depend on the degree of the polynomial and on the size of the image. The number of bits needed to address echo samples in backscatter memory and the allowable error define the minimum precision needed for accurate values of TOF, Accurate calculation of TOF, expressed as 10-b addresses in backscatter memory, for each pixel in a 512 x 512 image with a second-degree difference equation requires 44 b of precision, Using the complete dataset from a 32-element array and a second-degree approximation to TOF on a typical graphics workstation reduced generation time of a 512 x 512 image from 702 to 239 s. Parallel formulation of both the TOF calculation and the retrieval and summation of echo samples resulted in significant further reduction in image-generation time. Parallel implementation on a SIMD array with 4096 processors, each of which had an indirect-addressing mode, allowed the generation of a 512 x 512 image in 16.3 s

Estimation of Heart-Surface Potentials using Regularized Multipole Sources

Direct inference of heart-surface potentials from body-surface potentials has been the goal of most recent work on electrocardiographic inverse solutions. We developed and tested indirect methods for inferring heart-surface potentials based on estimation of regularized multipole sources. Regularization was done using Tikhonov, constrained-least-squares, and multipole-truncation techniques. These multipole-equivalent methods (MEMs) were compared to the conventional mixed boundary-value method (BVM) in a realistic torso model with up to 20% noise added to body-surface potentials and ±1 cm error in heart position and size. Optimal regularization was used for all inverse solutions. The relative error of inferred heart-surface potentials of the MEM was significantly less (p \u3c 0.05) than that of the BVM using zeroth-order Tikhonov regularization in 10 of the 12 cases tested. These improvements occurred with a fourth-degree (24 coefficients) or smaller multipole moment. From these multipole coefficients, heart-surface potentials can be found at an unlimited number of heart-surface locations. Our indirect methods for estimating heart-surface potentials based on multipole inference appear to offer significant improvement over the conventional direct approach

Plastid establishment did not require a chlamydial partner

Primary plastids descend from the cyanobacterial endosymbiont of an ancient eukaryotic host, but the initial selective drivers that stabilized the association between these two cells are still unclear. One hypothesis that has achieved recent prominence suggests that the first role of the cyanobiont was in energy provision for a host cell whose reserves were being depleted by an intracellular chlamydial pathogen. A pivotal claim is that it was chlamydial proteins themselves that converted otherwise unusable cyanobacterial metabolites into host energy stores. We test this hypothesis by investigating the origins of the key enzymes using sophisticated phylogenetics. Here we show a mosaic origin for the relevant pathway combining genes with host, cyanobacterial or bacterial ancestry, but we detect no strong case for Chlamydiae to host transfer under the best-fitting models. Our conclusion is that there is no compelling evidence from gene trees that Chlamydiae played any role in establishing the primary plastid endosymbiosis

Introduction of Medical Emergency Teams in Australia and New Zealand: a multi-centre study

INTRODUCTION: Information about Medical Emergency Teams (METs) in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) is limited to local studies and a cluster randomised controlled trial (the Medical Emergency Response and Intervention Trial [MERIT]). Thus, we sought to describe the timing of the introduction of METs into ANZ hospitals relative to relevant publications and to assess changes in the incidence and rate of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions due to a ward cardiac arrest (CA) and ICU readmissions. METHODS: We used the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society database to obtain the study data. We related MET introduction to publications about adverse events and MET services. We compared the incidence and rate of readmissions and admitted CAs from wards before and after the introduction of an MET. Finally, we identified hospitals without an MET system which had contributed to the database for at least two years from 2002 to 2005 and measured the incidence of adverse events from the first year of contribution to the second. RESULTS: The MET status was known for 131 of the 172 (76.2%) hospitals that did not participate in the MERIT study. Among these hospitals, 110 (64.1%) had introduced an MET service by 2005. In the 79 hospitals in which the MET commencement date was known, 75% had introduced an MET by May 2002. Of the 110 hospitals in which an MET service was introduced, 24 (21.8%) contributed continuous data in the year before and after the known commencement date. In these hospitals, the mean incidence of CAs admitted to the ICU from the wards changed from 6.33 per year before to 5.04 per year in the year after the MET service began (difference of 1.29 per year, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.09 to 2.67; P = 0.0244). The incidence of ICU readmissions and the mortality for both ICU-admitted CAs from wards and ICU readmissions did not change. Data were available to calculate the change in ICU admissions due to ward CAs for 16 of 62 (25.8%) hospitals without an MET system. In these hospitals, admissions to the ICU after a ward CA decreased from 5.0 per year in the first year of data contribution to 4.2 per year in the following year (difference of 0.8 per year, 95% CI -0.81 to 3.49; P = 0.3). CONCLUSION: Approximately 60% of hospitals in ANZ with an ICU report having an MET service. Most introduced the MET service early and in association with literature related to adverse events. Although available in only a quarter of hospitals, temporal trends suggest an overall decrease in the incidence of ward CAs admitted to the ICU in MET as well as non-MET hospitals

Conducting-Polymer Nanotubes Improve Electrical Properties, Mechanical Adhesion, Neural Attachment, and Neurite Outgrowth of Neural Electrodes

An in vitro comparison of conducting-polymer nanotubes of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and poly(pyrrole) (PPy) and to their film counterparts is reported. Impedance, charge-capacity density (CCD), tendency towards delamination, and neurite outgrowth are compared. For the same deposition charge density, PPy films and nanotubes grow relatively faster vertically, while PEDOT films and nanotubes grow more laterally. For the same deposition charge density (1.44 C cm −2 ), PPy nanotubes and PEDOT nanotubes have lower impedance (19.5 ± 2.1 kΩ for PPy nanotubes and 2.5 ± 1.4 kΩ for PEDOT nanotubes at 1 kHz) and higher CCD (184 ± 5.3 mC cm −2 for PPy nanotubes and 392 ± 6.2 mC cm −2 for PEDOT nanotubes) compared to their film counterparts. However, PEDOT nanotubes decrease the impedance of neural-electrode sites by about two orders of magnitude (bare iridium 468.8 ± 13.3 kΩ at 1 kHz) and increase capacity of charge density by about three orders of magnitude (bare iridium 0.1 ± 0.5 mC cm −2 ). During cyclic voltammetry measurements, both PPy and PEDOT nanotubes remain adherent on the surface of the silicon dioxide while PPy and PEDOT films delaminate. In experiments of primary neurons with conducting-polymer nanotubes, cultured dorsal root ganglion explants remain more intact and exhibit longer neurites (1400 ± 95 µm for PPy nanotubes and 2100 ± 150 µm for PEDOT nanotubes) than their film counterparts. These findings suggest that conducting-polymer nanotubes may improve the long-term function of neural microelectrodes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65046/1/421_ftp.pd

No apparent role for the Wari insulator in transcriptional regulation of the endogenous white gene of Drosophila melanogaster

Chromatin insulators have been proposed to play an important role in chromosome organization and local regulatory interactions. In; Drosophila; , one of these insulators is known as Wari. It is located immediately downstream of the 3' end of the; white; transcription unit. Wari has been proposed to interact with the; white; promoter region, thereby facilitating recycling of the RNA polymerase machinery. We have tested this model by deleting the Wari insulator at the endogenous; white; locus and could not detect a significant effect on eye pigmentation

Predicting Radiated Emissions from an Electrical Drive System

A Measurement-Based SPICE Model is Proposed to Predict Radiated Emissions from an Electrical Drive System over a Frequency Range from 20-300 MHz. the Model Combines a Model for the Radiated Emissions from the Cabling and Housings with a Model for Coupling Inside the Electrical Motor. the Electromagnetic Properties of the Cabling and Housings Were Captured with Measured S-Parameters. the Coupling Mechanisms Inside the Electrical Machine Were Represented using a Circuit- Element based Model. the Intent is to Provide Insight into How Coupling Mechanisms and Placement of Structures in the Motor Affect Radiated Emissions from the Drive System, and to Give the Designer an Opportunity to Evaluate the Impact of Changes to the Motor Design. the Model Was Able to Predict Radiated Emissions within Several Decibels of the Measurement over the Frequency Range of Interest, to Provide Insight into Strategies for Fixing Emissions Issues, and to Provide Estimates for the Reduction in Emissions that Could Be Expected from Each Fix

Influence of Conformal Coatings on the Emc Performance of a Printed Circuit Board

Conformal coatings are often applied to printed circuit boards to protect the board and its components from environmental factors like moisture, chemicals, and vibration. The impact of a conformal coating on crosstalk and radiated emissions was studied in the following paper. Two coating materials were characterized in terms of their permittivity and permeability. The impact of the conformal coating was evaluated based on the crosstalk between microstrip traces, the radiated emissions from a switch-mode power supply (SMPS), and on coupling from an EMI filter to nearby components. The coatings increased crosstalk between microstrip traces by up to 5 ~ 6 dB, and increased radiated emissions from the SMPS by up to 8 dB. While the coating did not affect the performance of the EMI filter, a 5.5 dB increase in coupling was observed from the filter to nearby components. These effects should be considered if pre-compliance testing is performed before the coatings are applied