84 research outputs found
Pulsar timing analysis in the presence of correlated noise
Pulsar timing observations are usually analysed with least-square-fitting
procedures under the assumption that the timing residuals are uncorrelated
(statistically "white"). Pulsar observers are well aware that this assumption
often breaks down and causes severe errors in estimating the parameters of the
timing model and their uncertainties. Ad hoc methods for minimizing these
errors have been developed, but we show that they are far from optimal.
Compensation for temporal correlation can be done optimally if the covariance
matrix of the residuals is known using a linear transformation that whitens
both the residuals and the timing model. We adopt a transformation based on the
Cholesky decomposition of the covariance matrix, but the transformation is not
unique. We show how to estimate the covariance matrix with sufficient accuracy
to optimize the pulsar timing analysis. We also show how to apply this
procedure to estimate the spectrum of any time series with a steep red
power-law spectrum, including those with irregular sampling and variable error
bars, which are otherwise very difficult to analyse.Comment: Accepted by MNRA
Corpuscular model of two-beam interference and double-slit experiments with single photons
We introduce an event-based corpuscular simulation model that reproduces the
wave mechanical results of single-photon double slit and two-beam interference
experiments and (of a one-to-one copy of an experimental realization) of a
single-photon interference experiment with a Fresnel biprism. The simulation
comprises models that capture the essential features of the apparatuses used in
the experiment, including the single-photon detectors recording individual
detector clicks. We demonstrate that incorporating in the detector model,
simple and minimalistic processes mimicking the memory and threshold behavior
of single-photon detectors is sufficient to produce multipath interference
patterns. These multipath interference patterns are built up by individual
particles taking one single path to the detector where they arrive one-by-one.
The particles in our model are not corpuscular in the standard, classical
physics sense in that they are information carriers that exchange information
with the apparatuses of the experimental set-up. The interference pattern is
the final, collective outcome of the information exchanges of many particles
with these apparatuses. The interference patterns are produced without making
reference to the solution of a wave equation and without introducing signalling
or non-local interactions between the particles or between different detection
points on the detector screen.Comment: Accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn
Target Detection Performance Bounds in Compressive Imaging
This paper describes computationally efficient approaches and associated
theoretical performance guarantees for the detection of known targets and
anomalies from few projection measurements of the underlying signals. The
proposed approaches accommodate signals of different strengths contaminated by
a colored Gaussian background, and perform detection without reconstructing the
underlying signals from the observations. The theoretical performance bounds of
the target detector highlight fundamental tradeoffs among the number of
measurements collected, amount of background signal present, signal-to-noise
ratio, and similarity among potential targets coming from a known dictionary.
The anomaly detector is designed to control the number of false discoveries.
The proposed approach does not depend on a known sparse representation of
targets; rather, the theoretical performance bounds exploit the structure of a
known dictionary of targets and the distance preservation property of the
measurement matrix. Simulation experiments illustrate the practicality and
effectiveness of the proposed approaches.Comment: Submitted to the EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processin
Positioning pharmacists’ roles in primary health care: a discourse analysis of the compensation plan in Alberta, Canada
Abstract Background A comprehensive Compensation Plan for pharmacy services delivered by community pharmacists was implemented in Alberta, Canada in July 2012. Services covered by the Compensation Plan include care planning services, prescribing services such as adapting prescriptions, and administering a drug or publicly-funded vaccine by injection. Understanding how the Compensation Plan was framed and communicated provides insight into the roles of pharmacists and the potential influence of language on the implementation of services covered by the Compensation Plan by Albertan pharmacists. The objective of this study is to examine the positioning of pharmacists’ roles in documents used to communicate the Compensation Plan to Albertan pharmacists and other audiences. Methods Publicly available documents related to the Compensation Plan, such as news releases or reports, published between January 2012 and December 2015 were obtained from websites such as the Government of Alberta, Alberta Blue Cross, the Alberta College of Pharmacists, the Alberta Pharmacists’ Association, and the Blueprint for Pharmacy. Searches of the Canadian Newsstand database and Google identified additional documents. Discourse analysis was performed using social positioning theory to explore how pharmacists’ roles were constructed in communications about the Compensation Plan. Results In total, 65 publicly available documents were included in the analysis. The Compensation Plan was put forward as a framework for payment for professional services and formal legitimization of pharmacists’ changing professional roles. The discourse associated with the Compensation Plan positioned pharmacists’ roles as: (1) expanding to include services such as medication management for chronic diseases, (2) contributing to primary health care by providing access to services such as prescription renewals and immunizations, and (3) collaborating with other health care team members. Pharmacists’ changing roles were positioned in alignment with the aims of primary health care. Conclusions Social positioning theory provides a useful lens to examine the dynamic and evolving roles of pharmacists. This study provides insight into how communications regarding the Compensation Plan in Alberta, Canada positioned pharmacists’ changing roles in the broader context of changes to primary health care delivery. Our findings may be useful for other jurisdictions considering implementation of remunerated clinical services provided by pharmacists
Gut mucosal DAMPs in IBD: From mechanisms to therapeutic implications
Endogenous damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) are released during tissue damage and have increasingly recognized roles in the etiology of many human diseases. The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), are immune-mediated conditions where high levels of DAMPs are observed. DAMPs such as calprotectin (S100A8/9) have an established clinical role as a biomarker in IBD. In this review, we use IBD as an archetypal common chronic inflammatory disease to focus on the conceptual and evidential importance of DAMPs in pathogenesis and why DAMPs represent an entirely new class of targets for clinical translation. </p
Signal Processing for NDE
Nowadays, testing and evaluating of industrial equipment using nondestructive tests, is a
fundamental step in the manufacturing process. The complexity and high costs of manufacturing
industrial components, require examinations in some way about the quality and reliability of the
specimens. However, it should be noted, that in order to accurately perform the nondestructive
test, in addition to theoretical knowledge, it is also essential to have the experience and carefulness,
which requires special courses and experience with theoretical education. Therefore, in the
traditional methods, which are based on manual testing techniques and the test results depend on
the operator, there is the possibility of an invalid inference from the test data. In other words, the
accuracy of conclusion from the obtained data is dependent on the skill and experience of the
operator. Thus, using the signal processing techniques for nondestructive evaluation (NDE), it is
possible to optimize the methods of nondestructive inspection, and in other words, to improve the
overall system performance, in terms of reliability and system implementation costs.
In recent years, intelligent signal processing techniques have had a significant impact on the
progress of nondestructive assessment. In other words, by automating the processing of
nondestructive data and signals, and using the artificial intelligence methods, it is possible to
optimize nondestructive inspection methods. Hence, improve overall system performance in terms
of reliability and Implementation costs of the system. This chapter reviews the issues of intelligent
processing of nondestructive testing (NDT) signals
Loss of Toll-Like Receptor 4 Function Partially Protects against Peripheral and Cardiac Glucose Metabolic Derangements During a Long-Term High-Fat Diet
We would like to acknowledge Matt Priest for excellent technical assistance.Diabetes is a chronic inflammatory disease that carries a high risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the pathophysiological link between these disorders is not well known. We hypothesize that TLR4 signaling mediates high fat diet (HFD)-induced peripheral and cardiac glucose metabolic derangements. Mice with a loss-of-function mutation in TLR4 (C3H/HeJ) and age-matched control (C57BL/6) mice were fed either a high-fat diet or normal diet for 16 weeks. Glucose tolerance and plasma insulin were measured. Protein expression of glucose transporters (GLUT), AKT (phosphorylated and total), and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α and SOCS-3) were quantified in the heart using Western Blotting. Both groups fed a long-term HFD had increased body weight, blood glucose and insulin levels, as well as impaired glucose tolerance compared to mice fed a normal diet. TLR4-mutant mice were partially protected against long-term HFD-induced insulin resistance. In control mice, feeding a HFD decreased cardiac crude membrane GLUT4 protein content, which was partially rescued in TLR4-mutant mice. TLR4-mutant mice fed a HFD also had increased expression of GLUT8, a novel isoform, compared to mice fed a normal diet. GLUT8 content was positively correlated with SOCS-3 and IL-6 expression in the heart. No significant differences in cytokine expression were observed between groups, suggesting a lack of inflammation in the heart following a HFD. Loss of TLR4 function partially restored a healthy metabolic phenotype, suggesting that TLR4 signaling is a key mechanism in HFD-induced peripheral and cardiac insulin resistance. Our data further suggest that TLR4 exerts its detrimental metabolic effects in the myocardium through a cytokine-independent pathway.Yeshttp://www.plosone.org/static/editorial#pee
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