1,702 research outputs found
Electromagnetic Simulation and Design of a Novel Waveguide RF Wien Filter for Electric Dipole Moment Measurements of Protons and Deuterons
The conventional Wien filter is a device with orthogonal static magnetic and
electric fields, often used for velocity separation of charged particles. Here
we describe the electromagnetic design calculations for a novel waveguide RF
Wien filter that will be employed to solely manipulate the spins of protons or
deuterons at frequencies of about 0.1 to 2 MHz at the COoler SYnchrotron COSY
at J\"ulich. The device will be used in a future experiment that aims at
measuring the proton and deuteron electric dipole moments, which are expected
to be very small. Their determination, however, would have a huge impact on our
understanding of the universe.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 4 table
Application of a Multivariate Process Control Technique for Set-Up Dominated Low Volume Operations
In traditional high-volume manufacturing applications, the timing of control adjustments to processes is based on parametric Statistical Process Control (SPC) methods, such as Shewhart X & R charts. In high-value, high-complexity and low-volume industries, where production runs are in the order of tens rather than thousands, traditional SPC approaches are not easily applicable. A manufactured component's complexity, with multiple critical features to monitor, increases the difficulty for a process operator to maintain all of them within their design tolerances. In response to this, this paper presents a framework of nonparametric SPC, called multivariate Set-Up Process Algorithm (mSUPA), for managing control adjustment when required. mSUPA uses a simple to interpret traffic light system for alerting process operators when an adjustment is required. mSUPA is underpinned by multivariate statistics and probability theory for validating a process set up. The case of mSUPA application to a real industry process is discussed
Preclinical Tests for Cerebral Stroke
Stroke is the second single highest cause of death in Europe. The low reliability of animal models in replicating the human disease is one of the most serious problems in the field of medical and pharmaceutical research about stroke. The standard models for the study of ischemic stroke are often poorly predictive as they simulate only partially the human disease. This work aims at investigating animal models with diseases typically associated with the onset of stroke in human patients. We have designed and realised a knowledge base for collecting, elaborating, and extracting analytical results of genomic, proteomic, biochemical, morphological investigations from animal models of cerebral stroke. Data analysis techniques are tailored to make the data available for processing and correlation, in
order to increase the predictive value of the preclinical data, to perform biosimulation studies, and to support both academic and industrial research in the area of cerebral stroke therapy. A first statistical analysis of the retrieved information leads to the validation of our animal models and suggests a predictive and translational value for parameters related to a specific model. In particular, concerning gene expression data, we have applied a data analysis pipeline that initially takes into account an initial set of 64,000 genes and brings down the focus on a few tens of them
Clinical infections and nonsurgical treatment of parapharyngeal space infections complicating throat infection
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Automated motion analysis of bony joint structures from dynamic computer tomography images: A multi-atlas approach
Dynamic computer tomography (CT) is an emerging modality to analyze in-vivo joint kinematics at the bone level, but it requires manual bone segmentation and, in some instances, landmark identification. The objective of this study is to present an automated workflow for the assessment of three-dimensional in vivo joint kinematics from dynamic musculoskeletal CT images. The proposed method relies on a multi-atlas, multi-label segmentation and landmark propagation framework to extract bony structures and detect anatomical landmarks on the CT dataset. The segmented structures serve as regions of interest for the subsequent motion estimation across the dynamic sequence. The landmarks are propagated across the dynamic sequence for the construction of bone embedded reference frames from which kinematic parameters are estimated. We applied our workflow on dynamic CT images obtained from 15 healthy subjects on two different joints: thumb base (n = 5) and knee (n = 10). The proposed method resulted in segmentation accuracies of 0.90 ± 0.01 for the thumb dataset and 0.94 ± 0.02 for the knee as measured by the Dice score coefficient. In terms of motion estimation, mean differences in cardan angles between the automated algorithm and manual segmentation, and landmark identification performed by an expert were below 1◦. Intraclass correlation (ICC) between cardan angles from the algorithm and results from expert manual landmarks ranged from 0.72 to 0.99 for all joints across all axes. The proposed automated method resulted in reproducible and reliable measurements, enabling the assessment of joint kinematics using 4DCT in clinical routine
Dynamic Profiling of β-Coronavirus 3CL Mpro Protease Ligand-Binding Sites
β-coronavirus (CoVs) alone has been responsible for three major global outbreaks in the 21st century. The current crisis has led to an urgent requirement to develop therapeutics. Even though a number of vaccines are available, alternative strategies targeting essential viral components are required as a backup against the emergence of lethal viral variants. One such target is the main protease (Mpro) that plays an indispensable role in viral replication. The availability of over 270 Mpro X-ray structures in complex with inhibitors provides unique insights into ligand-protein interactions. Herein, we provide a comprehensive comparison of all nonredundant ligand-binding sites available for SARS-CoV2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV Mpro. Extensive adaptive sampling has been used to investigate structural conservation of ligand-binding sites using Markov state models (MSMs) and compare conformational dynamics employing convolutional variational auto-encoder-based deep learning. Our results indicate that not all ligand-binding sites are dynamically conserved despite high sequence and structural conservation across β-CoV homologs. This highlights the complexity in targeting all three Mpro enzymes with a single pan inhibitor
Preclinical validation of the advection diffusion flow estimation method using computational patient specific coronary tree phantoms
Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) does not allow the quantification of reduced blood flow due to coronary artery disease (CAD). In response, numerical methods based on the CCTA image have been developed to compute coronary blood flow and assess the impact of disease. However to compute blood flow in the coronary arteries, numerical methods require specification of boundary conditions that are difficult to estimate accurately in a patient-specific manner. We describe herein a new noninvasive flow estimation method, called Advection Diffusion Flow Estimation (ADFE), to compute coronary artery flow from CCTA to use as boundary conditions for numerical models of coronary blood flow. ADFE uses image contrast variation along the tree-like structure to estimate flow in each vessel. For validating this method we used patient specific software phantoms on which the transport of contrast was simulated. This controlled validation setting enables a direct comparison between estimated flow and actual flow and a detailed investigation of factors affecting accuracy. A total of 10 CCTA image data sets were processed to extract all necessary information for simulating contrast transport. A spectral element method solver was used for computing the ground truth simulations with high accuracy. On this data set, the ADFE method showed a high correlation coefficient of 0.998 between estimated flow and the ground truth flow together with an average relative error of only 1 % . Comparing the ADFE method with the best method currently available (TAFE) for image-based blood flow estimation, which showed a correlation coefficient of 0.752 and average error of 20 % , it can be concluded that the ADFE method has the potential to significantly improve the quantification of coronary artery blood flow derived from contrast gradients in CCTA images. </p
Spin tune mapping as a novel tool to probe the spin dynamics in storage rings
Precision experiments, such as the search for electric dipole moments of
charged particles using storage rings, demand for an understanding of the spin
dynamics with unprecedented accuracy. The ultimate aim is to measure the
electric dipole moments with a sensitivity up to 15 orders in magnitude better
than the magnetic dipole moment of the stored particles. This formidable task
requires an understanding of the background to the signal of the electric
dipole from rotations of the spins in the spurious magnetic fields of a storage
ring. One of the observables, especially sensitive to the imperfection magnetic
fields in the ring is the angular orientation of stable spin axis. Up to now,
the stable spin axis has never been determined experimentally, and in addition,
the JEDI collaboration for the first time succeeded to quantify the background
signals that stem from false rotations of the magnetic dipole moments in the
horizontal and longitudinal imperfection magnetic fields of the storage ring.
To this end, we developed a new method based on the spin tune response of a
machine to artificially applied longitudinal magnetic fields. This novel
technique, called \textit{spin tune mapping}, emerges as a very powerful tool
to probe the spin dynamics in storage rings. The technique was experimentally
tested in 2014 at the cooler synchrotron COSY, and for the first time, the
angular orientation of the stable spin axis at two different locations in the
ring has been determined to an unprecedented accuracy of better than
rad.Comment: 32 pages, 15 figures, 7 table
Phase Measurement for Driven Spin Oscillations in a Storage Ring
This paper reports the first simultaneous measurement of the horizontal and
vertical components of the polarization vector in a storage ring under the
influence of a radio frequency (rf) solenoid. The experiments were performed at
the Cooler Synchrotron COSY in J\"ulich using a vector polarized, bunched
deuteron beam. Using the new spin feedback system, we
set the initial phase difference between the solenoid field and the precession
of the polarization vector to a predefined value. The feedback system was then
switched off, allowing the phase difference to change over time, and the
solenoid was switched on to rotate the polarization vector. We observed an
oscillation of the vertical polarization component and the phase difference.
The oscillations can be described using an analytical model. The results of
this experiment also apply to other rf devices with horizontal magnetic fields,
such as Wien filters. The precise manipulation of particle spins in storage
rings is a prerequisite for measuring the electric dipole moment (EDM) of
charged particles
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