1,478 research outputs found
Simulation and Analysis Chain for Acoustic Ultra-high Energy Neutrino Detectors in Water
Acousticneutrinodetectionisapromisingapproachforlarge-scaleultra-highenergyneutrinodetectorsinwater.In
this article, a Monte Carlo simulation chain for acoustic neutrino detection
devices in water will be presented. The simulation chain covers the generation
of the acoustic pulse produced by a neutrino interaction and its propagation to
the sensors within the detector. Currently, ambient and transient noise models
for the Mediterranean Sea and simulations of the data acquisition hardware,
equivalent to the one used in ANTARES/AMADEUS, are implemented. A pre-selection
scheme for neutrino-like signals based on matched filtering is employed, as it
is used for on-line filtering. To simulate the whole processing chain for
experimental data, signal classification and acoustic source reconstruction
algorithms are integrated in an analysis chain. An overview of design and
capabilities of the simulation and analysis chain will be presented and
preliminary studies will be discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, ARENA 2012. arXiv admin note: substantial text
overlap with arXiv:1304.057
Functional Relaxation and Guided Imagery as Complementary Therapy in Asthma: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
Background: Asthma is a frequently disabling and almost invariably distressing disease that has a high overall prevalence. Although relaxation techniques and hypnotherapeutic interventions have proven their effectiveness in numerous trials, relaxation therapies are still not recommended in treatment guidelines due to a lack of methodological quality in many of the trials. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the efficacy of the brief relaxation technique of functional relaxation (FR) and guided imagery (GI) in adult asthmatics in a randomized controlled trial. Methods: 64 patients with extrinsic bronchial asthma were treated over a 4-week period and assessed at baseline, after treatment and after 4 months, for follow-up. 16 patients completed FR, 14 GI, 15 both FR and GI (FR/GI) and 13 received a placebo relaxation technique as the control intervention (CI). The forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV 1) as well as the specific airway resistance (sR(aw)) were employed as primary outcome measures. Results: Participation in FR, GI and FR/GI led to increases in FEV 1 (% predicted) of 7.6 +/- 13.2, 3.3 +/- 9.8, and 8.3 +/- 21.0, respectively, as compared to -1.8 +/- 11.1 in the CI group at the end of the therapy. After follow-up, the increases in FEV 1 were 6.9 +/- 10.3 in the FR group, 4.4 +/- 7.3 in the GI and 4.5 +/- 8.1 in the FR/GI, compared to -2.8 +/- 9.2 in the CI. Improvements in sR(aw) (% predicted) were in keeping with the changes in FEV 1 in all groups. Conclusions: Our study confirms a positive effect of FR on respiratory parameters and suggests a clinically relevant long-term benefit from FR as a nonpharmacological and complementary therapy treatment option. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base
Development of Combined Opto-Acoustical Sensor Modules
The faint fluxes of cosmic neutrinos expected at very high energies require
large instrumented detector volumes. The necessary volumes in combination with
a sufficient shielding against background constitute forbidding and complex
environments (e.g. the deep sea) as sites for neutrino telescopes. To withstand
these environments and to assure the data quality, the sensors have to be
reliable and their operation has to be as simple as possible. A compact sensor
module design including all necessary components for data acquisition and
module calibration would simplify the detector mechanics and ensures the long
term operability of the detector. The compact design discussed here combines
optical and acoustical sensors inside one module, therefore reducing
electronics and additional external instruments for calibration purposes. In
this design the acoustical sensor is primary used for acoustic positioning of
the module. The module may also be used for acoustic particle detection and
marine science if an appropriate acoustical sensor is chosen.
First tests of this design are promising concerning the task of calibration.
To expand the field of application also towards acoustic particle detection
further improvements concerning electromagnetic shielding and adaptation of the
single components are necessary.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, ARENA2010 proceeding
Reconstruction methods for acoustic particle detection in the deep sea using clusters of hydrophones
This article focuses on techniques for acoustic noise reduction, signal
filters and source reconstruction. For noise reduction, bandpass filters and
cross correlations are found to be efficient and fast ways to improve the
signal to noise ratio and identify a possible neutrino-induced acoustic signal.
The reconstruction of the position of an acoustic point source in the sea is
performed by using small-volume clusters of hydrophones (about 1 cubic meter)
for direction reconstruction by a beamforming algorithm. The directional
information from a number of such clusters allows for position reconstruction.
The algorithms for data filtering, direction and position reconstruction are
explained and demonstrated using simulated data.Comment: 7 pages, 13 figure
Psychotherapy in dizziness: a systematic review
About 30-50% of complex dizziness disorders are organically not sufficiently explained or related to a psychiatric disorder. Of patients with such dizziness disorders, 80% are severely impaired by dizziness in their daily and working lives; nevertheless, they are often not diagnosed or treated adequately
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Blood Processing Technologies for Cryopreserved Transfusion Products and Extracorporeal Treatment Applications
There is a significant need for technological advancement in blood processing. New technologies in rapid processing of frozen blood products could significantly improve management of the blood supply chain in the United States by enabling on-demand use of frozen blood products that can be stored for 10 years instead of the current 6 weeks of refrigerated shelf life. In addition, advancements in blood processing for the extracorporeal treatment of sepsis could potentially save over 100,000 lives every year in the United States alone. Here we describe a new mathematical modeling approach for the design of procedures to rapidly remove the cryoprotectant glycerol from frozen-thawed red blood cells. We employ a concentration dependent permeability parameter to account for the varied glycerol transport rates of red blood cells over the wide range of glycerol concentrations encountered during deglycerolization. Additionally, variability of glycerol permeability is addressed by optimizing procedures to account for faster and slower responding cells within the population. These mathematically optimized procedures resulted in a significant reduction in hemolysis when compared to previous procedures that used a fixed value for permeability and did not account for cell variability. Our findings here indicate higher variability than anticipated within the cell population and between donors. Although ultra-rapid (< 1 min) removal of glycerol was not achieved, we achieved a significant reduction in processing times compared to the current standard. In addition to advancements in cryopreservation of blood products, new technologies were developed for applications in the extracorporeal treatment of sepsis. We presented a new hot embossing rapid prototyping approach for creation of high aspect ratio microfluidic devices in polycarbonate. We used a model system to test the effects of bifurcated microchannels on the removal of endotoxin from blood. We saw no significant effect of bifurcations on endotoxin removal, but reduction of channel width resulted in a significant increase in removal efficiency with up to 80% single pass clearance in the smallest width channel. This work forwards understanding on design of absorption-based blood perfusion devices to harness the unique flow properties of blood in microchannels
Position reconstruction of acoustic sources with the AMADEUS Detector
This article focuses on techniques for position reconstruction of acoustic
point sources with the AMADEUS setup consisting of 36 acoustic sensors in the
Mediterranean Sea. The direction reconstruction of an acoustic point source
utilizes the information of the 6 small-volume hydrophone clusters of AMADEUS
individually. Source position reconstruction is then done by combining the
directional information of each cluster. The algorithms for direction and
position reconstruction are explained and demonstrated using data taken in the
deep sea.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 3rd
International Workshop on the Acoustic and Radio EeV Neutrino detection
Activities, Rome, Ital
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