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At least 217 records · Page 12

Construction and Use of Resting 12-Lead High Fidelity ECG "SuperScores" in Screening for Heart Disease

We investigated the accuracy of several conventional and advanced resting ECG parameters for identifying obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) and cardiomyopathy (CM). Advanced high-fidelity 12-lead ECG tests (approx. 5-min supine) were first performed on a "training set" of 99 individuals: 33 with ischemic or dilated CM and low ejection fraction (EF less than 40%); 33 with catheterization-proven obstructive CAD but normal EF; and 33 age-/gender-matched healthy controls. Multiple conventional and advanced ECG parameters were studied for their individual and combined retrospective accuracies in detecting underlying disease, the advanced parameters falling within the following categories: 1) Signal averaged ECG, including 12-lead high frequency QRS (150-250 Hz) plus multiple filtered and unfiltered parameters from the derived Frank leads; 2) 12-lead P, QRS and T-wave morphology via singular value decomposition (SVD) plus signal averaging; 3) Multichannel (12-lead, derived Frank lead, SVD lead) beat-to-beat QT interval variability; 4) Spatial ventricular gradient (and gradient component) variability; and 5) Heart rate variability. Several multiparameter ECG SuperScores were derivable, using stepwise and then generalized additive logistic modeling, that each had 100% retrospective accuracy in detecting underlying CM or CAD. The performance of these same SuperScores was then prospectively evaluated using a test set of another 120 individuals (40 new individuals in each of the CM, CAD and control groups, respectively). All 12-lead ECG SuperScores retrospectively generated for CM continued to perform well in prospectively identifying CM (i.e., areas under the ROC curve greater than 0.95), with one such score (containing just 4 components) maintaining 100% prospective accuracy. SuperScores retrospectively generated for CAD performed somewhat less accurately, with prospective areas under the ROC curve typically in the 0.90-0.95 range. We conclude that resting 12-lead high-fidelity ECG employing and combining the results of several advanced ECG software techniques shows great promise as a rapid and inexpensive tool for screening of heart disease.

Schlegel, T. T.↗

A Linearized Prognostic Cloud Scheme in NASAs Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation Tools

A linearized prognostic cloud scheme has been developed to accompany the linearized convection scheme recently implemented in NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System data assimilation tools. The linearization, developed from the nonlinear cloud scheme, treats cloud variables prognostically so they are subject to linearized advection, diffusion, generation, and evaporation. Four linearized cloud variables are modeled, the ice and water phases of clouds generated by large-scale condensation and, separately, by detraining convection. For each species the scheme models their sources, sublimation, evaporation, and autoconversion. Large-scale, anvil and convective species of precipitation are modeled and evaporated. The cloud scheme exhibits linearity and realistic perturbation growth, except around the generation of clouds through large-scale condensation. Discontinuities and steep gradients are widely used here and severe problems occur in the calculation of cloud fraction. For data assimilation applications this poor behavior is controlled by replacing this part of the scheme with a perturbation model. For observation impacts, where efficiency is less of a concern, a filtering is developed that examines the Jacobian. The replacement scheme is only invoked if Jacobian elements or eigenvalues violate a series of tuned constants. The linearized prognostic cloud scheme is tested by comparing the linear and nonlinear perturbation trajectories for 6-, 12-, and 24-h forecast times. The tangent linear model performs well and perturbations of clouds are well captured for the lead times of interest.

Precipitation↗

High-Gradient Wien Spin Rotators at Jefferson Lab

Nuclear physics experiments performed in the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Laboratory (JLab) require spin manipulation of electron beams. Two Wien spin rotators in the injector keV region are essential at CEBAF to establish longitudinal polarization at the end station target, and to flip the polarization direction by ? rad to rule out false asymmetries. In a Wien filter, the homogeneous and independent electric and magnetic fields, along with the velocity vectors of the electrons that traverse it, form a mutually orthogonal system. The magnitude of the electrostatic field, established by biasing two highly-polished electrodes, defines the desired spin angle at the target yet deviates the beam trajectory due to the Lorentz force. The beam trajectory in the Wien is then re-established by adjusting the magnetic field, induced by an electromagnet encasing the device vacuum chamber. This contribution describes the evolution design and high voltage testing of Wien filters for spin manipulation at increased beam energies in the keV injector region, required by high precision parity violation experiments like MOLLER.

Palacios Serrano, G. G.↗

High-Gradient Wien Spin Rotators at Jefferson Lab

Nuclear physics experiments performed in the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Laboratory (JLab) require spin manipulation of electron beams. Two Wien spin rotators in the injector keV region are essential at CEBAF to establish longitudinal polarization at the end station target, and to flip the polarization direction by ? rad to rule out false asymmetries. In a Wien filter, the homogeneous and independent electric and magnetic fields, along with the velocity vectors of the electrons that traverse it, form a mutually orthogonal system. The magnitude of the electrostatic field, established by biasing two highly-polished electrodes, defines the desired spin angle at the target yet deviates the beam trajectory due to the Lorentz force. The beam trajectory in the Wien is then re-established by adjusting the magnetic field, induced by an electromagnet encasing the device vacuum chamber. This contribution describes the evolution design and high voltage testing of Wien filters for spin manipulation at increased beam energies in the keV injector region, required by high precision parity violation experiments like MOLLER.

Palacios Serrano, G. G.↗

Beam focusing and consequences for Doppler backscattering measurements

The phenomenon of focusing of microwave beams in a plasma near a turning-point caustic is discussed by exploiting the analytical solution to the Gaussian beam-tracing equations in the two-dimensional (2-D) linear-layer problem. The location of maximum beam focusing and the beam width at that location are studied in terms of the beam initial conditions. This focusing must be taken into account to interpret Doppler backscattering (DBS) measurements. We find that the filter function that characterises the scattering intensity contribution along the beam path through the plasma is inversely proportional to the beam width, predicting enhanced scattering from the beam focusing region. We show that the DBS signal enhancement for decreasing incident angles between the beam path and the density gradient is due to beam focusing and not due to forward scattering, as was originally proposed by (Gusakov et al., (Plasma Phys. Contr. Fusion, vol. 56, 2014, p. 0250092014, 2017); Plasma Phys. Rep. vol. 43(6), 2017, pp. 605–613). The analytic beam model is used to predict the measurement of the k y density-fluctuation wavenumber power spectrum via DBS, showing that, in an NSTX-inspired example, the spectral exponent of the turbulent, intermediate-to-high k y density-fluctuation spectrum might be quantitatively measurable via DBS, but not the spectral peak corresponding to the driving scale of the turbulent cascade.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Data-based filtered dissipation rate modelling for multi-modal turbulent combustion: evaluating a priori model generalizability

Manifold-based models offer a computationally efficient alternative to directly transporting the thermochemical state in computational simulations of turbulent reacting flows, projecting the high-dimensional thermochemical state-space onto a low-dimensional manifold. Recent efforts have yielded a manifold-based model applicable to multi-modal combustion, enabling reconstruction of the thermochemical state from solutions to two-dimensional manifold equations in mixture fraction and generalized progress variable that are parameterised by three scalar dissipation rates. In coarse-grained simulations such as Large Eddy Simulation (LES), closure of the multi-modal manifold equations and subfilter variances/covariance requires closure of three filtered scalar dissipation rates. Here, the present work adopts a data-based approach, providing closure for the three filtered scalar dissipation rates via deep neural networks (DNNs). High-fidelity datasets corresponding to an autoigniting n-dodecane jet flame and a bluff body swirl-stabilized confined lifted spray flame of two aviation fuels (Jet-A and C1) with different ignition propensities are leveraged to generate training data that spans a diverse range of thermodynamic conditions and combustion modes, including low- and high-temperature ignition regimes in addition to premixed and nonpremixed behaviour. A final DNN model is trained to enforce inherent physical constraints by learning nonlinear functional transformations of the three filtered scalar dissipation rates. The generalizability of this constrained DNN model is demonstrated a priori via conditional statistics evaluated on the lifted spray flame with C1–a configuration that had not been included in the training data. Excellent DNN agreement with conditional DNS statistics is observed, and integrated gradients are computed to identify the most sensitive input variables. The similarity of the marginal PDFs of the most informative input variables and outputs across configurations are quantified via the Wasserstein metric, demonstrating that data-based models may successfully generalize to unseen parametric conditions so long as the most informative input variables share similar distributions across training and testing datasets.

Data-based modelling↗

Edge discrimination as applied to Thematic Mapper data

An evaluation of suitable edge discrimination techniques and their application to image segmentation is reported. From an analysis of Thematic Mapper Simulator data, it is concluded that segmentation by automated edge discrimination is a valuable technique which can be used in the development of per-field classifiers. A Laplacian convolution operator appears to be the most cost-effective high-pass filter. Spatial frequency domain filtering is more versatile in its ability to enhance different edge types. A simple global gray value threshold can produce good edge discrimination from an enhanced image which may be improved by using a local thresholding technique. A gap-fill postprocessing technique is necessary for useful segmentation. Gradient and other directionally dependent techniques are unsuitable for segmentation.

Hall, J. R.↗

A vorticity-based criterion to characterise leading edge dynamic stall onset

We propose a more conservative, physically-intuitive criterion, namely, the boundary enstrophy flux ( BEF), to characterise leading-edge-type dynamic stall onset in incompressible flows. Our results are based on wall-resolved large-eddy simulations of pitching aerofoils, with fine spatial and temporal resolution around stall onset. We observe that |BEF| reaches a maximum within the stall onset regime identified. By decomposing the contribution to BEF from the flow field, we find that the dominant contribution arises from the laminar leading edge region, due to the combined effect of large clockwise vorticity and favourable pressure gradient. A relatively small contribution originates from the transitional/turbulent laminar separation bubble (LSB) region, due to LSB-induced counter-clockwise vorticity and adverse pressure gradient. This results in BEF being nearly independent of the integration length as long as the region very close to the leading edge is included. This characteristic of BEF yields a major advantage in that the effect of partial or complete inclusion of the noisy LSB region can be filtered out, without changing the BEF peak location in time significantly. Next, we analytically relate BEF to the net wall shear and show that its critical value (=max(|BEF|) ) corresponds to the instant of maximum net shear prevailing at the wall. Finally, we have also compared BEF with the leading edge suction parameter ( LESP) and find that the former reaches its maximum value between 0.3° and 0.8° of rotation earlier.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Recent Enhancements to Modeling Sonic Boom Propagation using Augmented Burgers’ Equation

Sonic boom propagation through the atmosphere is modeled with an augmented Burgers’ equation which includes nonlinearity and loss mechanisms. This work details an updated discretization of the governing equations which is fully conservative and duality preserving. Adjoint equations, for all the mechanisms involved, are re-derived and implemented using adjoint consistent discretizations. Computation of loudness metrics is performed using digital filters. The updated implementation is demonstrated and compared against the previous formulation for selected cases, and the differences are documented and discussed. The improved discretization results in faster mesh convergence of the loudness metrics and substantially de-creases runtime. In addition, the adjoint solutions provide mesh-converged gradients which are free from spurious oscillations.

Sonic Boom↗

A Photometric Technique for Determining Fluid Concentration using Consumer-Grade Hardware

In support of a separate study to produce an exponential concentration gradient in a magnetic fluid, a noninvasive technique for determining, species concentration from off-the-shelf hardware has been developed. The approach uses a backlighted fluid test cell photographed with a commercial digital camcorder. Because the light extinction coefficient is wavelength dependent, tests were conducted to determine the best filter color to use, although some guidance was also provided using an absorption spectrophotometer. With the appropriate filter in place, the provide attenuation of the light passing, through the test cell was captured by the camcorder. The digital image was analyzed for intensity using, software from Scion Image Corp. downloaded from the Internet. The analysis provides a two-dimensional array of concentration with an average error of 0.0095 ml/ml. This technique is superior to invasive techniques, which require extraction of a sample that disturbs the concentration distribution in the test cell. Refinements of this technique using a true monochromatic laser light Source are also discussed.

Leslie, F.↗

THIRTY DAY ENDURANCE TEST OF A 30KW ARC JET ENGINE

Details are presented on a 30-day run of a radiation cooled thermal arc jet engine. The engine performed satisfactorily throughout the test period, maintaining a thrust of 250 grams and a propellant specific impulse greater than 1000 seconds a t an input power level of 30 kilowatts. The resulting propulsive efficiency was greater than 40 percent. Visual examination of the arc discharge through a quartz constrictor indicates that there is a smooth, constant diameter, bright core extending from the cathode completely through the constrictor to the cathode. Photographic observations on the arc discharge, using a red filter, indicate that the center of the column is darker than the outside: and this, in turn, suggests that the maximum core temperature is greater than 20,000°K. Calculations on the energy flow rate through a fully developed laminar column, combined with the experimental observation that the longitudinal energy flux gradient along the column is small, suggest that there may be a region of high volumetric energy release in the vicinity of the cathode tip.

Arc jet↗

Springtime surface ozone fluctuations at high Arctic latitudes and their possible relationship to atmospheric bromine

At high Arctic stations such as Barrow, Alaska, springtime near-surface ozone amounts fluctuate between the highest and lowest values seen during the course of the year. Episodes when the surface ozone concentration is essentially zero last up to several days during this time of year. In the Arctic Gas and Aerosol Sampling Program (AGASP-I and AGASP-II) in 1983 and 1986, it was found that ozone concentrations often showed a very steep gradient in altitude with very low values near the surface. The cold temperatures, and snow-covered ground make it unlikely that the surface itself would rapidly destroy significant amounts of ozone. The AGASP aircraft measurements that found low ozone concentrations in the lowest layers of the troposphere also found that filterable excess bromine (the amount of bromine in excess of the sea salt component) in samples collected wholly or partially beneath the temperature inversion had higher bromine concentrations than other tropospheric samples. Of the four lowest ozone minimum concentrations, three of them were associated with the highest bromine enrichments. Surface measurements of excess filterable bromine at Barrow show a strong seasonal dependence with values rising dramatically early in March, then declining in May. The concentration of organic bromine gases such as bromoform rise sharply during the winter and then begin to decline after March with winter and early spring values at least three times greater than the summer minimum.

Oltmans, Samuel J.↗

A Wavelet Based Suboptimal Kalman Filter for Assimilation of Stratospheric Chemical Tracer Observations

A suboptimal Kalman filter system which evolves error covariances in terms of a truncated set of wavelet coefficients has been developed for the assimilation of chemical tracer observations of CH4. The truncation is carried out in such a way that the resolution of the error covariance, is reduced only in the zonal direction, where gradients are smaller. Assimilation experiments which last 24 days, and used different degrees of truncation were carried out. These reduced the covariance, by 90, 97 and 99 % and the computational cost of covariance propagation by 80, 93 and 96 % respectively. The difference in both error covariance and the tracer field between the truncated and full systems over this period were found to be not growing in the first case, and a growing relatively slowly in the later two cases. The largest errors in the tracer fields were found to occur in regions of largest zonal gradients in the tracer field.

Auger, Ludovic↗

Analysis and improved design considerations for airborne pulse Doppler radar signal processing in the detection of hazardous windshear

High resolution windspeed profile measurements are needed to provide reliable detection of hazardous low altitude windshear with an airborne pulse Doppler radar. The system phase noise in a Doppler weather radar may degrade the spectrum moment estimation quality and the clutter cancellation capability which are important in windshear detection. Also the bias due to weather return Doppler spectrum skewness may cause large errors in pulse pair spectral parameter estimates. These effects are analyzed for the improvement of an airborne Doppler weather radar signal processing design. A method is presented for the direct measurement of windspeed gradient using low pulse repetition frequency (PRF) radar. This spatial gradient is essential in obtaining the windshear hazard index. As an alternative, the modified Prony method is suggested as a spectrum mode estimator for both the clutter and weather signal. Estimation of Doppler spectrum modes may provide the desired windshear hazard information without the need of any preliminary processing requirement such as clutter filtering. The results obtained by processing a NASA simulation model output support consideration of mode identification as one component of a windshear detection algorithm.

Lee, Jonggil↗

STS-40 orbital acceleration research experiment flight results during a typical sleep period

The Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE), an electrostatic accelerometer package with complete on-orbit calibration capabilities, was flown for the first time aboard the Space Shuttle on STS-40. This is also the first time an accelerometer package with nano-g sensitivity and a calibration facility has flown aboard the Space Shuttle. The instrument is designed to measure and record the Space Shuttle aerodynamic acceleration environment from the free molecule flow regime through the rarified flow transition into the hypersonic continuum regime. Because of its sensitivity, the OARE instrument defects aerodynamic behavior of the Space Shuttle while in low-earth orbit. A 2-hour orbital time period on day seven of the mission, when the crew was asleep and other spacecraft activities were at a minimum, was examined. During the flight, a 'trimmed-mean' filter was used to produce high quality, low frequency data which was successfully stored aboard the Space Shuttle in the OARE data storage system. Initial review of the data indicated that, although the expected precision was achieved, some equipment problems occurred resulting in uncertain accuracy. An acceleration model which includes aerodynamic, gravity-gradient, and rotational effects was constructed and compared with flight data. Examination of the model with the flight data shows the instrument to be sensitive to all major expected low frequency acceleration phenomena; however, some erratic instrument bias behavior persists in two axes. In these axes, the OARE data can be made to match a comprehensive atmospheric-aerodynamic model by making bias adjustments and slight linear corrections for drift. The other axis does not exhibit these difficulties and gives good agreement with the acceleration model.

Blanchard, R. C.↗

Numerical study of the small scale structures in Boussinesq convection

Two-dimensional Boussinesq convection is studied numerically using two different methods: a filtered pseudospectral method and a high order accurate Essentially Nonoscillatory (ENO) scheme. The issue whether finite time singularity occurs for initially smooth flows is investigated. The numerical results suggest that the collapse of the bubble cap is unlikely to occur in resolved calculations. The strain rate corresponding to the intensification of the density gradient across the front saturates at the bubble cap. We also found that the cascade of energy to small scales is dominated by the formulation of thin and sharp fronts across which density jumps.

Weinan, E.↗

An extrapolation method to remove spurious stress concentration in micromechanical analyses of composites using pixel-based meshes

It is easier to generate a finite element mesh of complicated geometries with voxel-based meshes compared to conformal meshes. However, the local stresses in voxel-based meshes are higher owing to artificial stress concentration caused due to jagged lines that approximate a curve. Here, we propose a method that accounts for this anomaly which would lead to accurate prediction of maximum von Mises stress in voxel-based meshes. The method is based on the variation of reciprocal of stresses and associated numerical gradient. The prediction of the proposed method is compared against the results of a conformal mesh by considering four two-dimensional example problems. The accuracy of the proposed method is verified using different mesh densities, material properties, and integration schemes. The proposed method was also implemented on a conformal mesh to verify that it filters out just the spurious stress concentration and not the realistic stress concentration.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Global Design Optimization for Aerodynamics and Rocket Propulsion Components

Modern computational and experimental tools for aerodynamics and propulsion applications have matured to a stage where they can provide substantial insight into engineering processes involving fluid flows, and can be fruitfully utilized to help improve the design of practical devices. In particular, rapid and continuous development in aerospace engineering demands that new design concepts be regularly proposed to meet goals for increased performance, robustness and safety while concurrently decreasing cost. To date, the majority of the effort in design optimization of fluid dynamics has relied on gradient-based search algorithms. Global optimization methods can utilize the information collected from various sources and by different tools. These methods offer multi-criterion optimization, handle the existence of multiple design points and trade-offs via insight into the entire design space, can easily perform tasks in parallel, and are often effective in filtering the noise intrinsic to numerical and experimental data. However, a successful application of the global optimization method needs to address issues related to data requirements with an increase in the number of design variables, and methods for predicting the model performance. In this article, we review recent progress made in establishing suitable global optimization techniques employing neural network and polynomial-based response surface methodologies. Issues addressed include techniques for construction of the response surface, design of experiment techniques for supplying information in an economical manner, optimization procedures and multi-level techniques, and assessment of relative performance between polynomials and neural networks. Examples drawn from wing aerodynamics, turbulent diffuser flows, gas-gas injectors, and supersonic turbines are employed to help demonstrate the issues involved in an engineering design context. Both the usefulness of the existing knowledge to aid current design practices and the need for future research are identified.

Shyy, Wei↗