Renyi Entropy based Target Tracking in Mobile Sensor Networks

This paper proposes an entropy based target tracking approach for mobile sensor networks. The proposed tracking algorithm runs a target state estimation stage and a motion control stage alternatively. A distributed particle filter is developed to estimate the target position in the first stage. This distributed particle filter does not require to transmit the weighted particles from one sensor node to another. Instead, a Gaussian mixture model is formulated to approximate the posterior distribution represented by the weighted particles via an EM algorithm. The EM algorithm is developed in a distributed form to compute the parameters of Gaussian mixture model via local communication, which leads to the distributed implementation of the particle filter. A flocking controller is developed to control the mobile sensor nodes to track the target in the second stage. The flocking control algorithm includes three components. Collision avoidance component is based on the design of a separation potential function. Alignment component is based on a consensus algorithm. Navigation component is based on the minimization of an quadratic Renyi entropy. The quadratic Renyi entropy of Gaussian mixture model has an analytical expression so that its optimization is feasible in mobile sensor networks. The proposed active tracking algorithm is tested in simulation. © 2011 IFAC

Comparison of two methods of fatigue testing bone cement

Two different methods have been used to fatigue test four bone cements. Each method has been used previously, but the results have not been compared. The ISO 527-based method tests a minimum of 10 samples over a single stress range in tension only and uses Weibull analysis to calculate the median number of cycles to failure and the Weibull modulus. The ASTM F2118 test regime uses fewer specimens at various stress levels tested in fully reversed tension–compression, and generates a stress vs. number of cycles to failure (S–N) or Wöhler curve. Data from specimens with pores greater than 1 mm across is rejected. The ISO 527-based test while quicker to perform, provides only tensile fatigue data, but the material tested includes pores, thus the cement is closer to cement in clinical application. The ASTM regime uses tension and compression loading and multiple stress levels, thus is closer to physiological loading, but excludes specimens with defects obviously greater than 1 mm, so is less representative of cement in vivo. The fatigue lives between the cements were up to a factor 15 different for the single stress level tension only tests, while they were only a factor of 2 different in the fully reversed tension–compression testing. The ISO 527-based results are more sensitive to surface flaws, thus the differences found using ASTM F2118 are more indicative of differences in the fatigue lives. However, ISO 527-based tests are quicker, so are useful for initial screening

Experimental Investigation of Rotorcraft Outwash in Ground Effect

The wake characteristics of a rotorcraft are affected by the proximity of a rotor to the ground surface, especially during hover. Ground effect is encountered when the rotor disk is within a distance of a few rotor radii above the ground surface and results in an increase in thrust for a given power relative to that same power condition with the rotor out of ground effect. Although this phenomenon has been highly documented and observed since the beginning of the helicopter age, there is still a relatively little amount of flow-field data existing to help understand its features. Joint Army and NASA testing was conducted at NASA Langley Research Center using a powered rotorcraft model in hover at various rotor heights and thrust conditions in order to contribute to the complete outwash data set. The measured data included outwash velocities and directions, rotor loads, fuselage loads, and ground pressures. The researchers observed a linear relationship between rotor height and percent download on the fuselage, peak mean outwash velocities occurring at radial stations between 1.7 and 1.8 r/R regardless of rotor height, and the measurement azimuthal dependence of the outwash profile for a model incorporating a fuselage. Comparisons to phase-locked PIV data showed similar contours but a more contracted wake boundary for the PIV data. This paper describes the test setup and presents some of the averaged results

Ordering of droplets and light scattering in polymer dispersed liquid crystal films

We study the effects of droplet ordering in initial optical transmittance through polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films prepared in the presence of an electrical field. The experimental data are interpreted by using a theoretical approach to light scattering in PDLC films that explicitly relates optical transmittance and the order parameters characterizing both the orientational structures inside bipolar droplets and orientational distribution of the droplets. The theory relies on the Rayleigh-Gans approximation and uses the Percus-Yevick approximation to take into account the effects due to droplet positional correlations.Comment: revtex4, 18 pages, 8 figure

Mechanisms of Active Aerodynamic Load Reduction on a Rotorcraft Fuselage With Rotor Effects

The reduction of the aerodynamic load that acts on a generic rotorcraft fuselage by the application of active flow control was investigated in a wind tunnel test conducted on an approximately 1/3-scale powered rotorcraft model simulating forward flight. The aerodynamic mechanisms that make these reductions, in both the drag and the download, possible were examined in detail through the use of the measured surface pressure distribution on the fuselage, velocity field measurements made in the wake directly behind the ramp of the fuselage and computational simulations. The fuselage tested was the ROBIN-mod7, which was equipped with a series of eight slots located on the ramp section through which flow control excitation was introduced. These slots were arranged in a U-shaped pattern located slightly downstream of the baseline separation line and parallel to it. The flow control excitation took the form of either synthetic jets, also known as zero-net-mass-flux blowing, and steady blowing. The same set of slots were used for both types of excitation. The differences between the two excitation types and between flow control excitation from different combinations of slots were examined. The flow control is shown to alter the size of the wake and its trajectory relative to the ramp and the tailboom and it is these changes to the wake that result in a reduction in the aerodynamic load

Spin-Charge Separation in the t−Jt-J Model: Magnetic and Transport Anomalies

A real spin-charge separation scheme is found based on a saddle-point state of the $t-J$ model. In the one-dimensional (1D) case, such a saddle-point reproduces the correct asymptotic correlations at the strong-coupling fixed-point of the model. In the two-dimensional (2D) case, the transverse gauge field confining spinon and holon is shown to be gapped at {\em finite doping} so that a spin-charge deconfinement is obtained for its first time in 2D. The gap in the gauge fluctuation disappears at half-filling limit, where a long-range antiferromagnetic order is recovered at zero temperature and spinons become confined. The most interesting features of spin dynamics and transport are exhibited at finite doping where exotic {\em residual} couplings between spin and charge degrees of freedom lead to systematic anomalies with regard to a Fermi-liquid system. In spin dynamics, a commensurate antiferromagnetic fluctuation with a small, doping-dependent energy scale is found, which is characterized in momentum space by a Gaussian peak at ($\pi/a$, $\pi/a$) with a doping-dependent width ($\propto \sqrt{\delta}$, $\delta$ is the doping concentration). This commensurate magnetic fluctuation contributes a non-Korringa behavior for the NMR spin-lattice relaxation rate. There also exits a characteristic temperature scale below which a pseudogap behavior appears in the spin dynamics. Furthermore, an incommensurate magnetic fluctuation is also obtained at a {\em finite} energy regime. In transport, a strong short-range phase interference leads to an effective holon Lagrangian which can give rise to a series of interesting phenomena including linear-$T$ resistivity and $T^2$ Hall-angle. We discuss the striking similarities of these theoretical features with those found in the high-$T_c$ cuprates and give aComment: 70 pages, RevTex, hard copies of 7 figures available upon request; minor revisions in the text and references have been made; To be published in July 1 issue of Phys. Rev. B52, (1995

Modified femoral pressuriser generates a longer lasting high pressure during cement pressurisation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The strength of the cement-bone interface in hip arthroplasty is strongly related to cement penetration into the bone. A modified femoral pressuriser has been investigated, designed for closer fitting into the femoral opening to generate higher and more constant cement pressure compared to a commercial (conventional) design.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Femoral cementation was performed in 10 Sawbones^®models, five using the modified pressuriser and five using a current commercial pressuriser as a control. Pressure during the cementation was recorded at the proximal and distal regions of the femoral implant. The peak pressure and the pressure-time curves were analysed by student's t-test and Two way ANOVA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The modified pressuriser showed significantly and substantially longer durations at higher cementation pressures and slightly, although not statistically, higher peak pressures compared to the conventional pressuriser. The modified pressuriser also produced more controlled cement leakage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The modified pressuriser generates longer higher pressure durations in the femoral model. This design modification may enhance cement penetration into cancellous bone and could improve femoral cementation.</p

A Novel Model on DST-Induced Transplantation Tolerance by the Transfer of Self-Specific Donor tTregs to a Haplotype-Matched Organ Recipient

Donor-specific blood transfusion (DST) can lead to significant prolongation of allograft survival in experimental animal models and sometimes human recipients of solid organs. The mechanisms responsible for the beneficial effect on graft survival have been a topic of research and debate for decades and are not yet fully elucidated. Once we discover how the details of the mechanisms involved are linked, we could be within reach of a procedure making it possible to establish donor-specific tolerance with minimal or no immunosuppressive medication. Today, it is well established that CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) are indispensable for maintaining immunological self-tolerance. A large number of animal studies have also shown that Tregs are essential for establishing and maintaining transplantation tolerance. In this paper, we present a hypothesis of one H2-haplotype-matched DST-induced transplantation tolerance (in mice). The formulated hypothesis is based on a re-interpretation of data from an immunogenetic experiment published by Niimi and colleagues in 2000. It is of importance that the naïve recipient mice in this study were never immunosuppressed and were therefore fully immune competent during the course of tolerance induction. Based on the immunological status of the recipients, we suggest that one H2-haplotype-matched self-specific Tregs derived from the transfusion blood can be activated and multiply in the host by binding to antigen-presenting cells presenting allopeptides in their major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II (MHC-II). We also suggest that the endothelial and epithelial cells within the solid organ allograft upregulate the expression of MHC-II and attract the expanded Treg population to suppress inflammation within the graft. We further suggest that this biological process, here termed MHC-II recruitment, is a vital survival mechanism for organs (or the organism in general) when attacked by an immune system

Diffusion basis spectrum imaging as an adjunct to conventional MRI leads to earlier diagnosis of high-grade glioma tumor progression versus treatment effect

BACKGROUND: Following chemoradiotherapy for high-grade glioma (HGG), it is often challenging to distinguish treatment changes from true tumor progression using conventional MRI. The diffusion basis spectrum imaging (DBSI) hindered fraction is associated with tissue edema or necrosis, which are common treatment-related changes. We hypothesized that DBSI hindered fraction may augment conventional imaging for earlier diagnosis of progression versus treatment effect. METHODS: Adult patients were prospectively recruited if they had a known histologic diagnosis of HGG and completed standard-of-care chemoradiotherapy. DBSI and conventional MRI data were acquired longitudinally beginning 4 weeks post-radiation. Conventional MRI and DBSI metrics were compared with respect to their ability to diagnose progression versus treatment effect. RESULTS: Twelve HGG patients were enrolled between August 2019 and February 2020, and 9 were ultimately analyzed (5 progression, 4 treatment effect). Within new or enlarging contrast-enhancing regions, DBSI hindered fraction was significantly higher in the treatment effect group compared to progression group ( CONCLUSIONS: In the first longitudinal prospective study of DBSI in adult HGG patients, we found that in new or enlarging contrast-enhancing regions following therapy, DBSI hindered fraction is elevated in cases of treatment effect compared to those with progression. Hindered fraction map may be a valuable adjunct to conventional MRI to distinguish tumor progression from treatment effect

Synchrotron radiation representation in phase space

The notion of brightness is efficiently conveyed in geometric optics as density of rays in phase space. Wigner has introduced his famous distribution in quantum mechanics as a quasi-probability density of a quantum system in phase space. Naturally, the same formalism can be used to represent light including all the wave phenomena. It provides a natural framework for radiation propagation and optics matching by transferring the familiar `baggage' of accelerator physics (beta-function, emittance, phase space transforms, etc.) to synchrotron radiation. This paper details many of the properties of the Wigner distribution and provides examples of how its use enables physically insightful description of partially coherent synchrotron radiation in phase space