The combline filter and phase-lock loop. A new technique to improve FM television reception

Development and performance of combline filter phase locked loop combination for television receptio

A Distributed Parameters Model for Solar Cells

Distributive circuit element model for solar cells with series and shunt path

New filter technique improves home television reception

Program studies and designs combline filters and analyzes their effectiveness in improving TV quality. Signal tracking methods are improved. Combline phase-lock loop provides significant sensitivity improvement above and below threshold

Media Portrayal of Regions in the Czech Republic

Import 05/08/2014Sdělovací prostředky spolu s informacemi, které poskytují, se významnou měrou podílejí na utváření image regionů a také spoluurčují jejich postavení na mentálních mapách. Cílem této diplomové práce je kvantitativní a kvalitativní analýza a interpretace zpravodajských příspěvků o krajích České republiky, které byly publikovány ve zpravodajských relacích nejsledovanějších televizních stanic u nás – České televize, televize Nova a televize Prima. Teoretická část této práce je zaměřená na samotné sdělovací prostředky a regionální členění České republiky. Profily krajů poskytují srovnání krajů České republiky z hlediska geografické polohy, demografického vývoje, situace na trhu práce a ekonomické úrovně. Analytická část je zaměřená na kvantitativní a kvalitativní analýzu a interpretaci zpravodajských příspěvků o jednotlivých krajích. Podle výsledků analýzy byl z kvantitativního hlediska zaznamenán převažující podíl počtu zpráv, které se váží k hlavnímu městu Praze. Z výsledků kvalitativní analýzy je zřejmé, že tematická struktura zpravodajských příspěvků o krajích České republiky je poměrně jednostranně orientovaná na zprávy bulvárního charakteru.The media along with the information that provide significantly contribute to shaping the image of the regions and also factors determining their position on the mental maps. The objective of this thesis is a quantitative and qualitative analysis and interpretation of news reports about the regions of the Czech Republic published in national TV coverage the most watched television stations in the country – Česká televize, TV Nova and TV Prima. The theoretical part of this thesis is focused on the media and the regional division of the Czech Republic. Profiles of the regions provide comparisons between regions in terms of geographic location, demographic trends, situation on the labor market and economic level. The analytical part is focused on quantitative and qualitative analysis and interpretation of news reports about regions of the Czech Republic. According to the results of analysis from a quantitative point of view was recorded predominant proportion of the number of contributions that are associated with the capital city Prague. From results of qualitative analysis is evident that the thematic structure of news reports about the regions of the Czech Republic is relatively unilaterally oriented on reports tabloid character.118 - Katedra regionální a environmentální ekonomikyvýborn

Fetal cardiac cine magnetic resonance imaging in utero.

Fast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) led to the emergence of 'cine MRI' techniques, which enable the visualization of the beating heart and the assessment of cardiac morphology and dynamics. However, established cine MRI methods are not suitable for fetal heart imaging in utero, where anatomical structures are considerably smaller and recording an electrocardiogram signal for synchronizing MRI data acquisition is difficult. Here we present a framework to overcome these challenges. We use methods for image acquisition and reconstruction that robustly produce images with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to detect the heart contractions of the fetus, enabling a retrospective gating of the images and thus the generation of images of the beating heart. To underline the potential of our approach, we acquired in utero images in six pregnant patients and compared these with their echocardiograms. We found good agreement in terms of diameter and area measurements, and low inter- and intra- observer variability. These results establish MRI as a reliable modality for fetal cardiac imaging, with a substantial potential for prenatal evaluation of congenital heart defects

Multiplex real-time PCR and blood culture for identification of bloodstream pathogens in patients with suspected sepsis

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Improved myocardial scar visualization with fast free-breathing motion-compensated black-blood T₁-rho-prepared late gadolinium enhancement MRI.

Clinical guidelines recommend the use of bright-blood late gadolinium enhancement (BR-LGE) for the detection and quantification of regional myocardial fibrosis and scar. This technique, however, may suffer from poor contrast at the blood-scar interface, particularly in patients with subendocardial myocardial infarction. The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical performance of a two-dimensional black-blood LGE (BL-LGE) sequence, which combines free-breathing T <sub>1</sub> -rho-prepared single-shot acquisitions with an advanced non-rigid motion-compensated patch-based reconstruction. Extended phase graph simulations and phantom experiments were performed to investigate the performance of the motion-correction algorithm and to assess the black-blood properties of the proposed sequence. Fifty-one patients (37 men, 14 women; mean age, 55 ± 15 [SD] years; age range: 19-81 years) with known or suspected cardiac disease prospectively underwent free-breathing T <sub>1</sub> -rho-prepared BL-LGE imaging with inline non-rigid motion-compensated patch-based reconstruction at 1.5T. Conventional breath-held BR-LGE images were acquired for comparison purposes. Acquisition times were recorded. Two readers graded the image quality and relative contrasts were calculated. Presence, location, and extent of LGE were evaluated. BL-LGE images were acquired with full ventricular coverage in 115 ± 25 (SD) sec (range: 64-160 sec). Image quality was significantly higher on free-breathing BL-LGE imaging than on its breath-held BR-LGE counterpart (3.6 ± 0.7 [SD] [range: 2-4] vs. 3.9 ± 0.2 [SD] [range: 3-4]) (P <0.01) and was graded as diagnostic for 44/51 (86%) patients. The mean scar-to-myocardium and scar-to-blood relative contrasts were significantly higher on BL-LGE images (P < 0.01 for both). The extent of LGE was larger on BL-LGE (median, 5 segments [IQR: 2, 7 segments] vs. median, 4 segments [IQR: 1, 6 segments]) (P < 0.01), the method being particularly sensitive in segments with LGE involving the subendocardium or papillary muscles. In eight patients (16%), BL-LGE could ascertain or rule out a diagnosis otherwise inconclusive on BR-LGE. Free-breathing T <sub>1</sub> -rho-prepared BL-LGE imaging with inline motion compensated reconstruction offers a promising diagnostic technology for the non-invasive assessment of myocardial injuries

In vitro optimization and comparison of CT angiography versus radial cardiovascular magnetic resonance for the quantification of cross-sectional areas and coronary endothelial function.

Our objectives were first to determine the optimal coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) protocol for the quantification and detection of simulated coronary artery cross-sectional area (CSA) differences in vitro, and secondly to quantitatively compare the performance of the optimized CTA protocol with a previously validated radial coronary cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) technique. 256-multidetector CTA and radial coronary CMR were used to obtain images of a custom in vitro resolution phantom simulating a range of physiological responses of coronary arteries to stress. CSAs were automatically quantified and compared with known nominal values to determine the accuracy, precision, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and circularity of CSA measurements, as well as the limit of detection (LOD) of CSA differences. Various iodine concentrations, radiation dose levels, tube potentials, and iterative image reconstruction algorithms (ASiR-V) were investigated to determine the optimal CTA protocol. The performance of the optimized CTA protocol was then compared with a radial coronary CMR method previously developed for endothelial function assessment under both static and moving conditions. The iodine concentration, dose level, tube potential, and reconstruction algorithm all had significant effects (all p < 0.001) on the accuracy, precision, LOD, SNR, and circularity of CSA measurements with CTA. The best precision, LOD, SNR, and circularity with CTA were achieved with 6% iodine, 20 mGy, 100 kVp, and 90% ASiR-V. Compared with the optimized CTA protocol under static conditions, radial coronary CMR was less accurate (- 0.91 ± 0.13 mm <sup>2</sup> vs. -0.35 ± 0.04 mm <sup>2</sup> , p < 0.001), but more precise (0.08 ± 0.02 mm <sup>2</sup> vs. 0.21 ± 0.02 mm <sup>2</sup> , p < 0.001), and enabled the detection of significantly smaller CSA differences (0.16 ± 0.06 mm <sup>2</sup> vs. 0.52 ± 0.04 mm <sup>2</sup> ; p < 0.001; corresponding to CSA percentage differences of 2.3 ± 0.8% vs. 7.4 ± 0.6% for a 3-mm baseline diameter). The same results held true under moving conditions as CSA measurements with CMR were less affected by motion. Radial coronary CMR was more precise and outperformed CTA for the specific task of detecting small CSA differences in vitro, and was able to reliably identify CSA changes an order of magnitude smaller than those reported for healthy physiological vasomotor responses of proximal coronary arteries. However, CTA yielded more accurate CSA measurements, which may prove useful in other clinical scenarios, such as coronary artery stenosis assessment

Dopamine Operates as a Subsecond Modulator of Food Seeking

The dopamine projection to the nucleus accumbens has been implicated in behaviors directed toward the acquisition and consumption of natural rewards. The neurochemical studies that established this link made time-averaged measurements over minutes, and so the precise temporal relationship between dopamine changes and these behaviors is not known. To resolve this, we sampled dopamine every 100 msec using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry at carbon-fiber microelectrodes in the nucleus accumbens of rats trained to press a lever for sucrose. Cues that signal the opportunity to respond for sucrose evoked dopamine release (67 +/- 20 nm) with short latency (0.2 +/- 0.1 sec onset). When the same cues were presented to rats naive to the cue-sucrose pairing, similar dopamine signals were not observed. Thus, cue-evoked increases in dopamine in trained rats reflected a learned association between the cues and sucrose availability. Lever presses for sucrose occurred at the peak of the dopamine surges. After lever presses, and while sucrose was delivered and consumed, no further increases in dopamine were detected. Rather, dopamine returned to baseline levels. Together, the results strongly implicate subsecond dopamine signaling in the nucleus accumbens as a real-time modulator of food-seeking behavior

In vitro optimization and comparison of CT angiography versus radial cardiovascular magnetic resonance for the quantification of cross-sectional areas and coronary endothelial function.

Our objectives were first to determine the optimal coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) protocol for the quantification and detection of simulated coronary artery cross-sectional area (CSA) differences in vitro, and secondly to quantitatively compare the performance of the optimized CTA protocol with a previously validated radial coronary cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) technique. 256-multidetector CTA and radial coronary CMR were used to obtain images of a custom in vitro resolution phantom simulating a range of physiological responses of coronary arteries to stress. CSAs were automatically quantified and compared with known nominal values to determine the accuracy, precision, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and circularity of CSA measurements, as well as the limit of detection (LOD) of CSA differences. Various iodine concentrations, radiation dose levels, tube potentials, and iterative image reconstruction algorithms (ASiR-V) were investigated to determine the optimal CTA protocol. The performance of the optimized CTA protocol was then compared with a radial coronary CMR method previously developed for endothelial function assessment under both static and moving conditions. The iodine concentration, dose level, tube potential, and reconstruction algorithm all had significant effects (all p < 0.001) on the accuracy, precision, LOD, SNR, and circularity of CSA measurements with CTA. The best precision, LOD, SNR, and circularity with CTA were achieved with 6% iodine, 20 mGy, 100 kVp, and 90% ASiR-V. Compared with the optimized CTA protocol under static conditions, radial coronary CMR was less accurate (- 0.91 ± 0.13 mm <sup>2</sup> vs. -0.35 ± 0.04 mm <sup>2</sup> , p < 0.001), but more precise (0.08 ± 0.02 mm <sup>2</sup> vs. 0.21 ± 0.02 mm <sup>2</sup> , p < 0.001), and enabled the detection of significantly smaller CSA differences (0.16 ± 0.06 mm <sup>2</sup> vs. 0.52 ± 0.04 mm <sup>2</sup> ; p < 0.001; corresponding to CSA percentage differences of 2.3 ± 0.8% vs. 7.4 ± 0.6% for a 3-mm baseline diameter). The same results held true under moving conditions as CSA measurements with CMR were less affected by motion. Radial coronary CMR was more precise and outperformed CTA for the specific task of detecting small CSA differences in vitro, and was able to reliably identify CSA changes an order of magnitude smaller than those reported for healthy physiological vasomotor responses of proximal coronary arteries. However, CTA yielded more accurate CSA measurements, which may prove useful in other clinical scenarios, such as coronary artery stenosis assessment