873 research outputs found
Optimal estimation for Large-Eddy Simulation of turbulence and application to the analysis of subgrid models
The tools of optimal estimation are applied to the study of subgrid models
for Large-Eddy Simulation of turbulence. The concept of optimal estimator is
introduced and its properties are analyzed in the context of applications to a
priori tests of subgrid models. Attention is focused on the Cook and Riley
model in the case of a scalar field in isotropic turbulence. Using DNS data,
the relevance of the beta assumption is estimated by computing (i) generalized
optimal estimators and (ii) the error brought by this assumption alone. Optimal
estimators are computed for the subgrid variance using various sets of
variables and various techniques (histograms and neural networks). It is shown
that optimal estimators allow a thorough exploration of models. Neural networks
are proved to be relevant and very efficient in this framework, and further
usages are suggested
Mean Age of Patients with and without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus during Surgical Treatment of Age-Related Cataract
Introduction: Age-related cataract is one of the most common causes of preventable blindness. Type 2 diabetes is a non-infectious epidemic disease with an ever-increasing number of diseased patients. Cataract is one of the leading causes of reduced vision in diabetics. The preferred treatment method is phacoemulsification. The aim of the present study was to compare the mean age of patients with and without diabetes type 2 at the time of cataract surgery. Materials and methods: After informed consent and approval by the Ethics Commission of the Medical University of Sofia, 176 patients admitted to the Clinic of Ophthalmology at the University Hospital „Alexandrovska“ for surgical treatment of cataract were randomized. Inclusion criteria: diagnosed age-related cataract, requiring surgical treatment. Patients were divided into two groups – diabetic type 2 and non-diabetic patients. Inclusion criteria for the group of diabetics: medical history of diabetes type 2 and administration of anti diabetic medications. Results: The average age of patients undergoing cataract surgery was 70.81 years. The average ageof patients with diabetes type 2 was 65.89 years, and that of non-diabetics – 71.74 years. Diabetes type 2 was established at 15.91 % of patients (19 men and 9 women). Conclusion: Patients with diabetes type 2 develop age-related cataract, requiring surgical treatment, at an earlier age compared to non-diabetics. The transparency of the lens in diabetic patients is of particular importance for the diagnosis and treatment of the diabetic retinopathy. Follow-up by an ophthalmologist and maintenance of strict blood glucose control are necessary to reduce the incidence of vision loss, caused by cataract and diabetic retinopathy
Towards a feasible implementation of quantum neural networks using quantum dots
We propose an implementation of quantum neural networks using an array of
quantum dots with dipole-dipole interactions. We demonstrate that this
implementation is both feasible and versatile by studying it within the
framework of GaAs based quantum dot qubits coupled to a reservoir of acoustic
phonons. Using numerically exact Feynman integral calculations, we have found
that the quantum coherence in our neural networks survive for over a hundred ps
even at liquid nitrogen temperatures (77 K), which is three orders of magnitude
higher than current implementations which are based on SQUID-based systems
operating at temperatures in the mK range.Comment: revtex, 5 pages, 2 eps figure
On Security and reliability using cooperative transmissions in sensor networks
Cooperative transmissions have received recent attention and research papers have demonstrated their benefits for wireless networks. Such benefits include improving the reliability of links through diversity and/or increasing the reach of a link compared to a single transmitter transmitting to a single receiver (single-input single-output or SISO). In one form of cooperative transmissions, multiple nodes can act as virtual antenna elements and provide diversity gain or range improvement using space-time coding. In a multi-hop ad hoc or sensor network, a source node can make use of its neighbors as relays with itself to reach an intermediate node with greater reliability or at a larger distance than otherwise possible. The intermediate node will use its neighbors in a similar manner and this process continues till the destination is reached. Thus, for the same reliability of a link as SISO, the number of hops between a source and destination may be reduced using cooperative transmissions as each hop spans a larger distance. However, the presence of ma-licious or compromised nodes in the network impacts the benefits obtained with cooperative transmissions. Using more relays can increase the reach of a link, but if one or more relays are malicious, the transmission may fail. However, the relationships between the number of relays, the number of hops, and success probabilities are not trivial to determine. In this paper, we analyze this problem to understand the conditions under which cooperative transmissions fare better or worse than SISO transmissions. We take into consideration additional parameters such as the path-loss exponent and provide a framework that allows us to evaluate the conditions when cooperative transmissions are better than SISO transmissions. This analysis provides insights that can be employed before resorting to simulations or experimentation. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012
Exploring the randomness of Directed Acyclic Networks
The feed-forward relationship naturally observed in time-dependent processes
and in a diverse number of real systems -such as some food-webs and electronic
and neural wiring- can be described in terms of so-called directed acyclic
graphs (DAGs). An important ingredient of the analysis of such networks is a
proper comparison of their observed architecture against an ensemble of
randomized graphs, thereby quantifying the {\em randomness} of the real systems
with respect to suitable null models. This approximation is particularly
relevant when the finite size and/or large connectivity of real systems make
inadequate a comparison with the predictions obtained from the so-called {\em
configuration model}. In this paper we analyze four methods of DAG
randomization as defined by the desired combination of topological invariants
(directed and undirected degree sequence and component distributions) aimed to
be preserved. A highly ordered DAG, called \textit{snake}-graph and a
Erd\:os-R\'enyi DAG were used to validate the performance of the algorithms.
Finally, three real case studies, namely, the \textit{C. elegans} cell lineage
network, a PhD student-advisor network and the Milgram's citation network were
analyzed using each randomization method. Results show how the interpretation
of degree-degree relations in DAGs respect to their randomized ensembles depend
on the topological invariants imposed. In general, real DAGs provide disordered
values, lower than the expected by chance when the directedness of the links is
not preserved in the randomization process. Conversely, if the direction of the
links is conserved throughout the randomization process, disorder indicators
are close to the obtained from the null-model ensemble, although some
deviations are observed.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures and 5 table
Childhood glaucoma
Въведение: Глаукомата в детска възраст е сравнително рядко, но сериозно застрашаващо зрението заболяване. По литературни данни засяга 1 на 10 000 до 12 500 новородени. Заболяването има значителни различия по отношение на етиопатогенезата, клиниката и лечението в сравнение с глаукомата при възрастни. Цел: Целта на настоящата статия е да представи алгоритъм за диагностика и проследяване на деца с глаукома, както и резултатите от изследване на деца с първична конгенитална глаукома. Материали и Методи: Под обща маскова анестезия са изследвани 18 очи на 9 деца. Изследвани са вътреочното налягане, централната роговична дебелина и хоризонтален роговичен диаметър. Резултати: При 3 от децата заболяването засяга само едното око, a при останалите 6 и двете очи. Средната възраст на изследваните деца е 6 месеца и 5 дни. Заключение: Глаукомата в детска възраст е актуален, значим, широко дискутиран медико-социален проблем. При всички деца с глаукома или съмнение за такава трябва да се предложи пакет от изследвания, които се правят в определена последователност, струват пари и отнемат време. Без тяхна помощ обаче е абсолютно невъзможна правилната диагноза, стадирането на болестта и предлагането на адекватна терапия. Повече от половината от пациентите с ПКГ стигат до слепота.Introduction: Childhood glaucoma is a relatively rare but seriously sight threatening disease. According to the literature it affects 1 out of 10 000 to 12 500 newborns. It has ethiopathological, clinical and therapeutic differences from the adult glaucoma.
Aim: The aim of the current study is to present an algorithm for diagnosis and follow-up of patients with glaucoma and the results of the examination of 9 children with primary congenital glaucoma
Methods and Materials: We have examined under general mask anestesia 18 eyes of 9 children (3 boys and 6 girls): intraocular pressure of each eye; central corneal sickness and horizontal corneal diameter.
Results: Three of the children had unilateral disease and in the rest the diseases affected both eyes. The average age of the examined children was 6 months and 5 days.
Conclusion: Childhood glaucoma is a relevant, significant and widely-discussed medico-social problem. In all cases of children with glaucoma or suspicion for such a package of tests should be performed which are costly and time-consuming. However, without these tests it is absolutely impossible to give an accurate diagnosis and hence initiate a proper therapy. More than half of the patients with primary congenital glaucoma become blind
Perturbation spreading in many-particle systems: a random walk approach
The propagation of an initially localized perturbation via an interacting
many-particle Hamiltonian dynamics is investigated. We argue that the
propagation of the perturbation can be captured by the use of a continuous-time
random walk where a single particle is traveling through an active, fluctuating
medium. Employing two archetype ergodic many-particle systems, namely (i) a
hard-point gas composed of two unequal masses and (ii) a Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chain
we demonstrate that the corresponding perturbation profiles coincide with the
diffusion profiles of the single-particle L\'{e}vy walk approach. The
parameters of the random walk can be related through elementary algebraic
expressions to the physical parameters of the corresponding test many-body
systems
Spatially Resolved Mapping of Local Polarization Dynamics in an Ergodic Phase of Ferroelectric Relaxor
Spatial variability of polarization relaxation kinetics in relaxor
ferroelectric 0.9Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.1PbTiO3 is studied using time-resolved
Piezoresponse Force Microscopy. Local relaxation attributed to the
reorientation of polar nanoregions is shown to follow stretched exponential
dependence, exp(-(t/tau)^beta), with beta~~0.4, much larger than the
macroscopic value determined from dielectric spectra (beta~~0.09). The spatial
inhomogeneity of relaxation time distributions with the presence of 100-200 nm
"fast" and "slow" regions is observed. The results are analyzed to map the
Vogel-Fulcher temperatures on the nanoscale.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, supplementary materials attached; to be
submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Adaptive filtering techniques for gravitational wave interferometric data: Removing long-term sinusoidal disturbances and oscillatory transients
It is known by the experience gained from the gravitational wave detector
proto-types that the interferometric output signal will be corrupted by a
significant amount of non-Gaussian noise, large part of it being essentially
composed of long-term sinusoids with slowly varying envelope (such as violin
resonances in the suspensions, or main power harmonics) and short-term ringdown
noise (which may emanate from servo control systems, electronics in a
non-linear state, etc.). Since non-Gaussian noise components make the detection
and estimation of the gravitational wave signature more difficult, a denoising
algorithm based on adaptive filtering techniques (LMS methods) is proposed to
separate and extract them from the stationary and Gaussian background noise.
The strength of the method is that it does not require any precise model on the
observed data: the signals are distinguished on the basis of their
autocorrelation time. We believe that the robustness and simplicity of this
method make it useful for data preparation and for the understanding of the
first interferometric data. We present the detailed structure of the algorithm
and its application to both simulated data and real data from the LIGO 40meter
proto-type.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Transmitter-side antennas correlation in SVD-assisted MIMO systems
MIMO techniques allow increasing wireless channel performance by decreasing the BER and increasing the channel throughput and in consequence are included in current mobile communication standards. MIMO techniques are based on benefiting the existence of multipath in wireless communications and the application of appropriate signal processing techniques. The singular value decomposition (SVD) is a popular signal processing technique which, based on the perfect channel state information (PCSI) knowledge at both the transmitter and receiver sides, removes inter-antenna interferences and improves channel performance. Nevertheless, the proximity of the multiple antennas at each front-end produces the so called antennas correlation effect due to the similarity of the various physical paths. In consequence, antennas correlation drops the MIMO channel performance. This investigation focuses on the analysis of a MIMO channel under transmitter-side antennas correlation conditions. First, antennas correlation is analyzed and characterized by the correlation coefficients. The analysis describes the relation between antennas correlation and the appearance of predominant layers which significantly affect the channel performance. Then, based on the SVD, pre- and post-processing is applied to remove inter-antenna interferences. Finally, bit- and power allocation strategies are applied to reach the best performance. The resulting BER reveals that antennas correlation effect diminishes the channel performance and that not necessarily all MIMO layers must be activated to obtain the best performance
- …