Array signal processing robust to pointing errors

The objective of this thesis is to design computationally efficient DOA (direction-of- arrival) estimation algorithms and beamformers robust to pointing errors, by harnessing the antenna geometrical information and received signals. Initially, two fast root-MUSIC-type DOA estimation algorithms are developed, which can be applied in arbitrary arrays. Instead of computing all roots, the first proposed iterative algorithm calculates the wanted roots only. The second IDFT-based method obtains the DOAs by scanning a few circles in parallel and thus the rooting is avoided. Both proposed algorithms, with less computational burden, have the asymptotically similar performance to the extended root-MUSIC. The second main contribution in this thesis is concerned with the matched direction beamformer (MDB), without using the interference subspace. The manifold vector of the desired signal is modeled as a vector lying in a known linear subspace, but the associated linear combination vector is otherwise unknown due to pointing errors. This vector can be found by computing the principal eigen-vector of a certain rank-one matrix. Then a MDB is constructed which is robust to both pointing errors and overestimation of the signal subspace dimension. Finally, an interference cancellation beamformer robust to pointing errors is considered. By means of vector space projections, much of the pointing error can be eliminated. A one-step power estimation is derived by using the theory of covariance fitting. Then an estimate-and-subtract interference canceller beamformer is proposed, in which the power inversion problem is avoided and the interferences can be cancelled completely

Nonosecond Pulsed Electric Field Induced Changes in Dielectric Properties of Biological Cells

Nanosecond pulsed electric field induced biological effects have been a focus of research interests since the new millennium. Promising biomedical applications, e.g. tumor treatment and wound healing, are emerging based on this principle. Although the exact mechanisms behind the nanosecond pulse-cell interactions are not completely understood yet, it is generally believed that charging along the cell membranes (including intracellular membranes) and formation of membrane pores trigger subsequent biological responses, and the number and quality of pores are responsible for the cell fate. The immediate charging response of a biological cell to a nanosecond pulsed electric field exposure relies on the dielectric properties of its cellular components. Conversely, intense nanosecond pulses will change these properties due to conformational and functional changes. Hence, an understanding of biodielectric phenomena is necessary to explain the underlying interaction mechanisms between nanosecond pulses and biological materials. To this end, we have investigated the changes in dielectric characteristics of biological cells and tissues after exposure to multiple nanosecond pulses. Significant differences have been observed in dielectric properties and membrane integrity of Jurkat cells for exposures to nanosecond and microsecond pulsed electric fields despite delivery of the same energy, suggesting different pore formation and development mechanisms. The effect of nanosecond pulsed electric fields on the dielectric properties of Jurkat cells is long-lasting which is consistent with predictions of much longer pore resealing times for shorter pulses. Strong correlation between short-term plasma membrane conductivity and long-term cell survival has also been observed for different nanosecond-exposure conditions. Together with the studies on tissues, we demonstrate that dielectric spectroscopy is capable of assessing conformational and possibly functional changes of cells after exposure to nanosecond pulsed electric fields on biologically relevant time scales, and in turn, evaluate and compare the efficacy of chosen pulse parameters

Serum EGF and NGF levels of patients with brain injury and limb fracture

AbstractObjectiveTo explore the expression and significance of human epidermal growth factor (EGF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) in patients with knee osteoarthritis.MethodsRT-PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to measure the serum EGF and NGF expression levels of patients with limb fracture and brain trauma injurry after 1 d, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d and the relationship between them was analyzed. The level was compared among the simple fracture group, traumatic brain injury group and the normal control group, with 40 cases in each group.ResultsThe serum NGF levels were significantly different among three groups. Serum NGF, EGF mRNA and protein levels gradually decreased with the increasing injury time in the limb fracture combined with brain injury group, traumatic brain injury group, the simple fracture group and the health control group (P<0.05).ConclusionsThe serum of NGF, EGF levels significantly increased when limb fracture combined with brain injury, so EGF and NGF may be involved in the process of fracture healing

Phonological and syntactic competition effects in spoken word recognition: evidence from corpus-based statistics.

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor and Francis via https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2016.1241886As spoken language unfolds over time the speech input transiently activates multiple candidates at different levels of the system - phonological, lexical, and syntactic - which in turn leads to short-lived between-candidate competition. In an fMRI study, we investigated how different kinds of linguistic competition may be modulated by the presence or absence of a prior context (Tyler 1984; Tyler et al. 2008). We found significant effects of lexico-phonological competition for isolated words, but not for words in short phrases, with high competition yielding greater activation in left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and posterior temporal regions. This suggests that phrasal contexts reduce lexico-phonological competition by eliminating form-class inconsistent cohort candidates. A corpus-derived measure of lexico-syntactic competition was associated with greater activation in LIFG for verbs in phrases, but not for isolated verbs, indicating that lexico-syntactic information is boosted by the phrasal context. Together, these findings indicate that LIFG plays a general role in resolving different kinds of linguistic competition.This research was funded by an EPSRC, UK, grant to Lorraine K. Tyler [grant number EP/F030061/1], and by the European Research Council under the European Commission Seventh Fra- mework Programme (FP7/2007- 2013) [grant number 249640] to Lorraine K. Tyler

Nano-Carbons as Theranostics

Nano-carbons, including fullerenes, carbon nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and nano-diamonds, are an important class of nanostructures attracting tremendous interests in the past two decades. In this special issue, seven review articles and research reports are collected, to summarize and present the latest progress in the exploration of various nano-carbons for theranostic applications

EFFECTS OF LOWER EXTREMITY STRENGTH TRAINING ON GAIT PATTERNS IN OBESE CHILDREN

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of muscle strength training on gait patterns in obese children. This study included 14 obese children who were required to complete 8 week lower extremity strength training. All participants went through a 3D gait analysis and an isokinetic strength test before and after training. With the improvement in muscle strength, walking speed and stride length significantly increased after intervention. Hip flexion moment and hip power generation increased 31.1% and 22.4%, respectively. Hip and knee power absorption also significantly increased. We concluded that the strength training improved obese children’s ability to promote locomotion through greater propulsion. Muscle strength plays an important role in attenuating the negative effects that obesity has on gait characteristics and kinetics

Formation mechanism of streamer discharges in liquids: A review

Streamer discharges in liquids have received lots of attention with respect to their considerable applications in various disciplines. Much effort has been spent to understand the basis of streamer ignition and propagation in dielectric liquids, but a comprehensive mechanism is far from conclusive. In this review, based on an introduction to the streamer physics and experimentally observed characteristics in various liquids, the authors emphasise on the current status of streamer discharge ignition mechanisms and present their understanding for each theory