7,224 research outputs found
Development of an expert system to assist in Resource Management
© 2014 IEEE. This paper aims to demonstrate an idea of utilizing Kohonen Maps as a tool to portray and study resource allocations when constructing an expert system to assist in Resource Management. The context of work encompasses resource allocation and management tasks related to design of courses, as well as, various teaching and learning projects. The key aspect is to show the design of an expert system for resource allocation with the use of Kohonen Maps as an alternative way to visualise the demand and availability of project resources
Segmentation, Reconstruction, and Analysis of Blood Thrombus Formation in 3D 2-Photon Microscopy Images
We study the problem of segmenting, reconstructing, and analyzing the structure growth of thrombi (clots) in blood vessels in vivo based on 2-photon microscopic image data. First, we develop an algorithm for segmenting clots in 3D microscopic images based on density-based clustering and methods for dealing with imaging artifacts. Next, we apply the union-of-balls (or alpha-shape) algorithm to reconstruct the boundary of clots in 3D. Finally, we perform experimental studies and analysis on the reconstructed clots and obtain quantitative data of thrombus growth and structures. We conduct experiments on laser-induced injuries in vessels of two types of mice (the wild type and the type with low levels of coagulation factor VII) and analyze and compare the developing clot structures based on their reconstructed clots from image data. The results we obtain are of biomedical significance. Our quantitative analysis of the clot composition leads to better understanding of the thrombus development, and is valuable to the modeling and verification of computational simulation of thrombogenesis
Structural study on hole-doped superconductors Pr1-xSrxFeAsO
The structural details in Pr1-xSrxFeAsO (1111) superconducting system are
analyzed using data obtained from synchrotron X-ray diffraction and the
structural parameters are carefully studied as the system is moving from
non-superconducting to hole-doped superconducting with the Sr concentration.
Superconductivity emerges when the Sr doping amount reaches 0.221. The linear
increase of the lattice constants proves that Sr is successfully introduced
into the system and its concentration can accurately be determined by the
electron density analyses. The evolution of structural parameters with Sr
concentration in Pr1-xSrxFeAsO and their comparison to other similar structural
parameters of the related Fe-based superconductors suggest that the interlayer
space between the conducting As-Fe-As layer and the insulating Pr-O-Pr layer is
important for improving Tc in the hole-doped (1111) superconductors, which
seems to be different from electron-doped systems.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
Fermion Masses and Mixing and CP-Violation in SO(10) Models with Family Symmetries
Several ideas for solving the problem of fermion mass hierarchy and mixing
and specific supersymmetric models that realize it are reviewed. In particular,
we discuss many models based on SO(10) in four dimensions combined with a
family symmetry to accommodate fermion mass hierarchy and mixing, including the
case of neutrinos. These models are compared and various tests that can be used
to distinguish these models are suggested. We also include a discussion of a
few SO(10) models in higher space-time dimensions.Comment: 66 pages; 5 figures; Submitted to International Journal of Modern
Physics A; v2: a few references added; some changes in tex
Relations as executable specifications: taming partiality and non-determinism using invariants
Comunicação publicada em "Lecture Notes in Computer Science", vol. 7560 (2012), pag. 146-161The calculus of relations has been widely used in program specification and reasoning. It is very tempting to use such specifications as running prototypes of the desired program, but, even considering finite domains, the inherent partiality and non-determinism of relations makes this impractical and highly inefficient. To tame partiality we prescribe the usage of invariants, represented by coreflexives, to characterize the exact domains and codomains of relational specifications. Such invariants can be used as pre-condition checkers to avoid runtime errors. Moreover, we show how such invariants can be used to narrow the non-deterministic execution of relational specifications, making it viable for a relevant class of problems. In particular, we show how the proposed techniques can be applied to execute specifications of bidirectional transformations, a domain where partiality and non-determinism are paramount.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi
Angular dependence of resistivity in the superconducting state of NdFeAsOF single crystals
We report the results of angle dependent resistivity of
NdFeAsOF single crystals in the superconducting state. By
doing the scaling of resistivity within the frame of the anisotropic
Ginzburg-Landau theory, it is found that the angle dependent resistivity
measured under different magnetic fields at a certain temperature can be
collapsed onto one curve. As a scaling parameter, the anisotropy can
be determined for different temperatures. It is found that
increases slowly with decreasing temperature, varying from 5.48
at T=50 K to 6.24 at T=44 K. This temperature dependence can be
understood within the picture of multi-band superconductivity.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Pressure Effect on the superconducting properties of LaO_{1-x}F_{x}FeAs(x=0.11) superconductor
Diamagnetic susceptibility measurements under high hydrostatic pressure (up
to 1.03 GPa) were carried out on the newly discovered Fe-based superconductor
LaO_{1-x}F_{x}FeAs(x=0.11). The transition temperature T_c, defined as the
point at the maximum slope of superconducting transition, was enhanced almost
linearly by hydrostatic pressure, yielding a dT_c/dP of about 1.2 K/GPa.
Differential diamagnetic susceptibility curves indicate that the underlying
superconducting state is complicated. It is suggested that pressure plays an
important role on pushing low T_c superconducting phase toward the main
(optimal) superconducting phase.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Hawking Radiation of an Arbitrarily Accelerating Kinnersley Black Hole: Spin-Acceleration Coupling Effect
The Hawking radiation of Weyl neutrinos in an arbitrarily accelerating
Kinnersley black hole is investigated by using a method of the generalized
tortoise coordinate transformation. Both the location and temperature of the
event horizon depend on the time and on the angles. They coincide with previous
results, but the thermal radiation spectrum of massless spinor particles
displays a kind of spin-acceleration coupling effect.Comment: 8 pages, no figure, revtex 4.0, revisted version with typesetting
errors and misprint correcte
Segmentation of Vascular Structures and Hematopoietic Cells in 3-D Microscopy Images and Quantitative Analysis
In this paper, we present image processing methods for quantitative study of how the bone marrow microenvironment changes (characterized by altered vascular structure and hematopoietic cell distribution) caused by diseases or various factors. We develop algorithms that automatically segment vascular structures and hematopoietic cells in 3-D microscopy images, perform quantitative analysis of the properties of the segmented vascular structures and cells, and examine how such properties change. In processing images, we apply local thresholding to segment vessels, and add post-processing steps to deal with imaging artifacts. We propose an improved watershed algorithm that relies on both intensity and shape information and can separate multiple overlapping cells better than common watershed methods. We then quantitatively compute various features of the vascular structures and hematopoietic cells, such as the branches and sizes of vessels and the distribution of cells. In analyzing vascular properties, we provide algorithms for pruning fake vessel segments and branches based on vessel skeletons. Our algorithms can segment vascular structures and hematopoietic cells with good quality. We use our methods to quantitatively examine the changes in the bone marrow microenvironment caused by the deletion of Notch pathway. Our quantitative analysis reveals property changes in samples with deleted Notch pathway. Our tool is useful for biologists to quantitatively measure changes in the bone marrow microenvironment, for developing possible therapeutic strategies to help the bone marrow microenvironment recovery
Remarks on the Scalar Graviton Decoupling and Consistency of Horava Gravity
Recently Horava proposed a renormalizable gravity theory with higher
derivatives by abandoning the Lorenz invariance in UV. But there have been
confusions regarding the extra scalar graviton mode and the consistency of the
Horava model. I reconsider these problems and show that, in the Minkowski
vacuum background, the scalar graviton mode can be consistency decoupled from
the usual tensor graviton modes by imposing the (local) Hamiltonian as well as
the momentum constraints.Comment: Some clarifications regarding the projectable case added, Typos
corrected, Comments (Footnote No.9, Note Added) added, References updated,
Accepted in CQ
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