16,008 research outputs found
Simple Muscle Architecture Analysis (SMA): an ImageJ macro tool to automate measurements in B-mode ultrasound scans
In vivo measurements of muscle architecture (i.e. the spatial arrangement of
muscle fascicles) are routinely included in research and clinical settings to
monitor muscle structure, function and plasticity. However, in most cases such
measurements are performed manually, and more reliable and time-efficient
automated methods are either lacking completely, or are inaccessible to those
without expertise in image analysis. In this work, we propose an ImageJ script
to automate the entire analysis process of muscle architecture in ultrasound
images: Simple Muscle Architecture Analysis (SMA). Images are filtered in the
spatial and frequency domains with built-in commands and external plugins to
highlight aponeuroses and fascicles. Fascicle dominant orientation is then
computed in regions of interest using the OrientationJ plugin. Bland-Altman
plots of analyses performed manually or with SMA indicates that the automated
analysis does not induce any systematic bias and that both methods agree
equally through the range of measurements. Our test results illustrate the
suitability of SMA to analyse images from superficial muscles acquired with a
broad range of ultrasound settings.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 1 appendi
Flexible Integration of Alternative Energy Sources for Autonomous Sensing
Recent developments in energy harvesting and autonomous sensing mean that it is now possible to power sensors solely from energy harvested from the environment. Clearly this is dependent on sufficient environmental energy being present. The range of feasible environments for operation can be extended by combining multiple energy sources on a sensor node. The effective monitoring of their energy resources is also important to deliver sustained and effective operation. This paper outlines the issues concerned with combining and managing multiple energy sources on sensor nodes. This problem is approached from both a hardware and embedded software viewpoint. A complete system is described in which energy is harvested from both light and vibration, stored in a common energy store, and interrogated and managed by the node
Catching Super Massive Black Hole Binaries Without a Net
The gravitational wave signals from coalescing Supermassive Black Hole
Binaries are prime targets for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA).
With optimal data processing techniques, the LISA observatory should be able to
detect black hole mergers anywhere in the Universe. The challenge is to find
ways to dig the signals out of a combination of instrument noise and the large
foreground from stellar mass binaries in our own galaxy. The standard procedure
of matched filtering against a grid of templates can be computationally
prohibitive, especially when the black holes are spinning or the mass ratio is
large. Here we develop an alternative approach based on Metropolis-Hastings
sampling and simulated annealing that is orders of magnitude cheaper than a
grid search. We demonstrate our approach on simulated LISA data streams that
contain the signals from binary systems of Schwarzschild Black Holes, embedded
in instrument noise and a foreground containing 26 million galactic binaries.
The search algorithm is able to accurately recover the 9 parameters that
describe the black hole binary without first having to remove any of the bright
foreground sources, even when the black hole system has low signal-to-noise.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Refined search algorithm, added low SNR exampl
Solution of a Braneworld Big Crunch/Big Bang Cosmology
We solve for the cosmological perturbations in a five-dimensional background
consisting of two separating or colliding boundary branes, as an expansion in
the collision speed V divided by the speed of light c. Our solution permits a
detailed check of the validity of four-dimensional effective theory in the
vicinity of the event corresponding to the big crunch/big bang singularity. We
show that the four-dimensional description fails at the first nontrivial order
in (V/c)^2. At this order, there is nontrivial mixing of the two relevant
four-dimensional perturbation modes (the growing and decaying modes) as the
boundary branes move from the narrowly-separated limit described by
Kaluza-Klein theory to the well-separated limit where gravity is confined to
the positive-tension brane. We comment on the cosmological significance of the
result and compute other quantities of interest in five-dimensional
cosmological scenarios.Comment: 54 pages, 12 figures, URL updated & 3 references adde
Constraining alternative theories of gravity using pulsar timing arrays
The opening of the gravitational wave window by ground-based laser
interferometers has made possible many new tests of gravity, including the
first constraints on polarization. It is hoped that within the next decade
pulsar timing will extend the window by making the first detections in the
nano-Hertz frequency regime. Pulsar timing offers several advantages over
ground-based interferometers for constraining the polarization of gravitational
waves due to the many projections of the polarization pattern provided by the
different lines of sight to the pulsars, and the enhanced response to
longitudinal polarizations. Here we show that existing results from pulsar
timing arrays can be used to place stringent limits on the energy density of
longitudinal stochastic gravitational waves. Paradoxically however, we find
that longitudinal modes will be very difficult to detect due to the large
variance in the pulsar-pulsar correlation patterns for these modes. Existing
upper limits on the power spectrum of pulsar timing residuals imply that the
amplitude of vector longitudinal and scalar longitudinal modes at frequencies
of 1/year are constrained: and , while the bounds on the energy density for a
scale invariant cosmological background are: and .Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Baseline-and-Credit Style Emission Trading Mechanisms: An Experimental Investigation of Economic Inefficiency
Two approaches to emissions trading are cap-and-trade, in which an aggregate cap on emissions is distributed in the form of allowance permits, and baseline-and-credit, in which firms earn emission reduction credits for emissions below their baselines. Theoretical considerations suggest the long-run equilibria of the two plans will differ if baselines are proportional to output, because a variable baseline is equivalent to an output subsidy. This paper reports on a laboratory experiment designed to test the prediction in a laboratory environ- ment in which sub jects representing firms choose emission technologies and output capacities. A computerized environment has been created in which sub jects participate in markets for emission rights and for output. Demand for output is simulated. All decisions are tracked through a double-entry bookkeeping system. Our evidence supports the theoretical prediction that aggregate output and emissions are in- efficiently high under a baseline-and-credit trading plan compared to a corresponding cap-and-trade plan.
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