International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steam generator tubes in nuclear power plants are periodically checked by means of eddy current probes. The output of a probe is composed of three types of signals: known events (rolling zone, support plates, U-bend part), noise (mainly metallurgical noise) and possible flaws. The latter are random transients, both in arrival time and in shape: they have to be detected and then estimated, before to be fed to the high level stages of a diagnostic system. The objective of the study presented is to develop a semi-automatic system, which could manage and process more than 1 M-bytes of data per tube and provide an operator with reliable diagnostics proposals within a few minutes. This can be achieved only by cooperation of several digital signal processing techniques: detection, segmentation, estimation, noise subtraction, adaptive filtering, modelization, pattern recognition. The paper describes some of ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

... body body areas diagnostic techniques hazards health hazards mammals

Science.gov (United States)

Farmers' lung disease (FLD) is a pulmonary disease that results from repeated inhalation of antigens from mouldy hay or straw. The objective of this prospective study was to assess the reliability of four serological techniques in FLD diagnosis. Sera from 15 consecutive patients with FLD, 15 healthy control farmers and 30 urban controls were analysed using four serological techniques [electrosyneresis (ES), Ouchterlony double diffusion (DD), ELISA and Western blot (WB)] with four antigens (Absidia corymbifera, Eurotium amstelodami, Wallemia sebi and Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula). In the authors' region, ES on cellulose acetate with A. corymbifera antigen was the most relevant diagnostic tool for discriminating FLD patients from healthy exposed farmers (sensitivity 87 %, specificity 100 %). DD tests were in accordance with ES, but their discriminatory power was lower. No threshold indicating both good ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

ObjectiveAngiography remains a critical component for diagnostic imaging and therapeutic intervention in peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The goal of this study...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steam generator tubes in nuclear power plants are periodically checked by means of eddy current probes. The output of a probe is composed of three types of signals: known events (rolling zone, support plates, U-bend part), noise (mainly metallurgical noise) and possible flaws. The latter are random transients, both in arrival time and in shape: they have to be detected and then estimated, before to be fed to the high level stages of a diagnostic system. The objective of the study presented is to develop a semi-automatic system, which could manage and process more than 1 M-bytes of data per tube and provide an operator with reliable diagnostics proposals within a few minutes. This can be achieved only by cooperation of several digital signal processing techniques: detection, segmentation, estimation, noise subtraction, adaptive filtering, modelization, pattern recognition. The paper describes some of ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

From the frequency of diagnostic radiologic examinations and their radiation dose delivered to the population the risk of cancer induction and genetic damage is calculated on the basis of the risk factors given by the ICRP. Thus 0.38 % and 3 % of the total mortality for cancer and leukemia, resp., can be attributed to X-ray diagnostics. Chest examinations alone result in 0.07-0.7 damages per 100,000 persons depending on the imaging technique applied. (author).

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

There is now an acute need to optimize maintenance to improve both reliability and competitiveness of nuclear power plant operation. There is an increasing tendency to move from the preventive (time based) maintenance concept to one dependent on plant and component conditions. In this context, various on-line and off-line condition monitoring and diagnostics, nondestructive inspection techniques and surveillance are used. Component selection for condition based maintenance, parameter selection for monitoring condition, evaluation of condition monitoring results are issues influencing the effectiveness of condition based maintenance. All these selections of components and parameters to be monitored, monitoring and diagnostics techniques to be used, acceptance criteria and trending for condition evaluation, and the economic aspect of predictive maintenance and condition monitoring should be incorporated ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The National Radiological Protection Board is to carry out a survey of doses received by patients from the diagnostic use of X-rays, beginning in June 1977, and carried out at over 100 National Health Service hospitals. Details are given of the reasons for carrying out the survey and the survey objectives. The survey working methods are discussed, together with methods of calculation of the genetically significant dose. The radiation doses will be measured by a thermoluminescent dosimeter developed specially for the survey. (U.K.).

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The objective of this study was to develop a specific immunological diagnostic assay for yellow disease in hyacinths, using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Mice were immunized with a crude cell wall preparation...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Various diagnostics techniques for condition monitoring and life prediction of fluid power components and system are discussed. Though some of the techniques are very promising but may not be accepted because of increase in the instrumentation, it is planned to implement these techniques on various circuits of Fluid Power Lab for further improving and developing these for direct implementation in various fluid power circuits of power reactors. (author). 6 figs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This book provides an analysis of pathophysiologic concepts of trauma and reviews the effectiveness of the available imaging modalities in acute trauma of various organ system. Topics covered are chest injuries; abdominal trauma; fractures of long bones; the foot and ankle; the knee; hand and wrist; the elbow; the shoulder; the pelvis hips; the spine; the skull and facial trauma and the clinical assessment of multiple injuries patients. Comparative evaluation of diagnostic techniques of radiography is discussed. Normal anatomy and bone fractures along with soft-tissue injuries are described.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A central problem in diagnostic radiology is to compare a new X-ray picture with a previous picture and from this comparison be able to decide if anatomical changes have occurred in the patient or not. It is of primary interest that these pictures are identical in projection. If not it is difficult to decide with confidence if differences between the pictures are due to anatomical changes or differences in their projection geometry. In this thesis we present a non invasive method that makes it possible to find the relative changes in the projection geometry between the exposure of a previous picture and a new picture. The method presented is based on the projection slice theorem (central section theorem). Instead of an elaborate search for a single new picture a pre-planned set of pictures are exposed from a circular orbit above the patient. By using 3D Fourier transform techniques we are able to synthesize a new X-ray picture from this set of ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundPCR amplification for the detection of pathogens in biological material is generally considered a rapid and informative diagnostic technique. Invasive Salmonella...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

This report reviews neurotoxicological principles relevant to situations of hazardous waste disposal. Some of the diagnostic techniques currently used for field assessment of nervous system dysfunction...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We present the design of a diagnostic system to measure electron cyclotron absorption at the second harmonic E-mode resonance in the JET pumped divertor plasma. The diagnostic will measure transmission as a function of frequency along one or more sightlines from which the spatial profile of the n_eT_e product will be deduced. The divertor is briefly described, and the electron cyclotron resonance physics relevant to this measurement is reviewed. The problems of measuring transmission using an oversized transmission system are discussed and the chosen measurement technique, a swept frequency interferometer using a coherent radiation source, is described. A prototype of the instrument has been assembled to test the measurement technique. Some data demonstrating the instrument's characteristics are presented. The nonresonant losses, which may affect the interpretation of the measurement, are also ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diseases of the mandible affect the soft tissues aside from the osseous manifestation. This can be shown clearly and in great detail by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI is the gold standard in the diagnostic evaluation of any internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint. Dental MRI requires high resolution techniques and in some cases also intravenous administration of contrast material. These techniques allow delineation of the neurovascular bundle. In the past few years new indications were formulated, for example, the evaluation of the integrity of the inferior alveolar nerve in trauma and in radicular cysts. New quantitative methods now enable insights into the pathophysiology. The objective of this review is to communicate accepted indications for MRI of the mandible and to present innovative applications. (orig.) [German] Mandibulaere Erkrankungen beteiligen neben dem Knochen ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report summarizes the work performed under the Sandia Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project ``Optical Diagnostics for Turbulent and Multiphase Flows.`` Advanced optical diagnostics have been investigated and developed for flow field measurements, including capabilities for measurement in turbulent, multiphase, and heated flows. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) includes several techniques for measurement of instantaneous flow field velocities and associated turbulence quantities. Nonlinear photorefractive optical materials have been investigated for the possibility of measuring turbulence quantities (turbulent spectrum) more directly. The two-dimensional PIV techniques developed under this LDRD were shown to work well, and were compared with more traditional laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). Three-dimensional PIV techniques were developed and tested, but due ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The paper presents information in the form of data, tables and diagrams compiled to a broad but very up-to-date survey of required radiation for the various most frequently performed X-ray examinations of patients. The required dose is discussed from the point of view of radiation protection, defining the inevitably administered dose to the skin, the frequency of examinations, and the diagnostic image quality as the main three factors to be observed, as these determine the radiation dose to the patient and to the personnel. The somatic risks of radiography examinations are a point of main interest. (DG).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The purpose of this paper is to describe instrumentation and control (I&C) system improvements at Experimental Breeder Reactor 11 (EBR-11). The improvements are focused on three objectives; to keep the reactor and balance of plant (BOP) I&C systems at a high level of reliability, to provide diagnostic systems that can provide accurate information needed for analysis of fuel performance, and to provide systems that will be prototypic of I&C systems of the next generation of liquid metal reactor (LMR) plants.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this study was to compare contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE MRA) and multislice computed tomographic angiography (MS CTA) in the follow-up of thoracic stent-graft placement. The CE MRA and MS CTA were performed following nitinol stent-graft treatment due to thoracic aneurysm (n=4), intramural bleeding (n=2) and type-B aortic dissection (n=5). Corresponding evaluation of arterial-phase imaging characteristics focused on the stent-graft morphology and leakage assessment. Stent-graft and aneurysm extensions were comparable between both techniques. Complete exclusion (aneurysm, n=4; dissection, n=2) was assessed with high confidence with CE MRA and MS CTA. Incomplete exclusion (intramural bleeding, n=2; dissection, n=3) was assigned to lower confidence scores on CE MRA compared with MS CTA. On CE MRA the stent-graft lumen demonstrated an inhomogeneous signal, the stent struts could not be assessed. The CE MRA can ...

CERN Document Server

Large optical surveys provide an unprecedented census of galaxies in the local Universe, forming an invaluable framework into which more detailed studies of objects can be placed. But how useful are optical surveys for understanding the co-evolution of black holes and galaxies, given their limited wavelength coverage, selection criteria, and depth? In this conference paper I present work-in-progress comparing optical and mid-IR diagnostics of three "unusual" low redshift populations (luminous Seyferts, dusty Balmer-strong AGN, ULIRGs) with a set of ordinary star-forming galaxies from the SDSS. I address the questions: How well do the mid-infrared and optical diagnostics of star formation and AGN strength agree? To what extent do optical surveys allow us to include extreme, dusty, morphologically disturbed galaxies in our "complete" census of black hole-galaxy co-evolution?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This work presents the spectroscopic results of the investigations of ancient pottery remains excavated in ancient Kremna (BURDUR-TURKEY). The micro-Raman and FT-IR spectroscopic studies of the pottery remains belonging to sixth century allowed us to identify the mineral composition. Some examples are described of the use of this technique in the field of art conservation and diagnostics, with regard to pigments, and some products of metal alteration.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

From the numbers of radiographs of the different examinations and the total amount of radiological diagnostics in the GDR their possible modification by new imaging techniques is discussed under the aspects of costs and radiation burden. Film-screen-systems are of special importance, because they also will be most frequently used image recording system in future. The importance of their various properties and parameters, methods of determining these parameters as well as future developments are analyzed from the standpoint of practical requirements.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A small cholangiocarcinoma was detected at autopsy in a patient with thorotrastosis who died from the rupture of esophageal varices at the esophagogastric junction. Prior to the advent of recent diagnostic imaging technique, a correct antemortem diagnosis could only be obtained from tumor markers. However, the tendency for the opacity of the liver to decrease slowly with time and develop uneven trabeculation suggests that small tumors may be difficult to detect against such a non-homogeneous background. (author).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Infections of aortoarterial prostheses are serious, difficult to detect, and difficult to treat. Scintigraphy with indium-111 labeled autologous leukocytes is an accurate noninvasive method of assessing the presence and extent of such an infection. In three cases of aorto-arterial bypass graft infections, the leukocyte study was successful in establishing the diagnosis and in assessing the extent of infection. Other noninvasive diagnostic techniques are useful, but all have serious limitations. The leukocyte study alone appears to be free of likely sources of error.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scientists at JPL have developed chemical and biological techniques using microspheres filled with drugs, electron-opaque metals, or radioactive, fluorescent, magnetic or electrically charged materials to label specific groups of cells. Synthetic polymeric microspheres are coupled with specific antibodies to form reagents called immunomicrospheres, which can seek out and attach themselves to any specific group of cells. These cell-labeling techniques, therefore, open new avenues not only to the basic study of cells but also to the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases, including cancer.

International Science & Technology Center (ISTC)

Development of Methods and Apparatus for Processes Diagnostics in Plasma Reactors at the Neutralization of Chemical Herbiside and Pestiside

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In this study the development of a methodology to detect illicit drugs and plastic explosives is described with the objective of being applied in the realm of public security. For this end, non-destructive assay with neutrons was used and the technique applied was the real time neutron radiography together with computerized tomography. The system is endowed with automatic responses based upon the application of an artificial intelligence technique. In previous tests using real samples, the system proved capable of identifying 97% of the inspected materials.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In less than a decade computed tomography (CT scanning) had a profound impact on diagnostic radiology. Radiology of the orbit is no exception. As early as 1973, reports published in the radiological literature indicated that this new noninvasive imaging method was a highly effective way of demonstrating intraorbital mass lesions. As CT scanners became widely available, computed tomography became a significant adjunct to ophthalmological diagnosis. Today the main indications for CT scanning of the orbit are: (1) suspected mass lesions, most frequently presenting as exophthalmos, (2) orbital trauma, including foreign bodies, (3) some congenital anomalies, and (4) suspicion of extension into the orbit of extraorbital disease processes. Along with ultrasonography, another new noninvasive imaging technique, CT has replaced a number of more invasive and often less effective diagnostic methods, such as orbital pneumography, ...

CERN Document Server

We formulate a complete theory of Edge Radiation based on a novel method relying on Fourier Optics techniques. Similar types of radiation like Transition Undulator Radiation are addressed in the framework of the same formalism. Special attention is payed in discussing the validity of approximations upon which the theory is built. Our study makes consistent use of both similarity techniques and comparisons with numerical results from simulation. We discuss both near and far zone. Physical understanding of many asymptotes is discussed. Based on the solution of the field equation with a tensor Green's function technique, we also discuss an analytical model to describe the presence of a vacuum chamber. In particular, explicit calculations for a circular vacuum chamber are reported. Finally, we consider the use of Edge Radiation as a tool for electron beam diagnostics. We discuss Coherent Edge Radiation, ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The need for a Combustion and Melting Research Facility focused on the solution of glass manufacturing problems common to all segments of the glass industry was given high priority in the earliest version of the Glass Industry Technology Roadmap (Eisenhauer et al., 1997). Visteon Glass Systems and, later, PPG Industries proposed to meet this requirement, in partnership with the DOE/OIT Glass Program and Sandia National Laboratories, by designing and building a research furnace equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostics in the DOE Combustion Research Facility located at the Sandia site in Livermore, CA. Input on the configuration and objectives of the facility was sought from the entire industry by a variety of routes: (1) through a survey distributed to industry leaders by GMIC, (2) by conducting an open workshop following the OIT Glass Industry Project Review in September 1999, (3) from discussions with numerous glass engineers, scientists, ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Objective. For the multislice CT (MSCT) systems with a larger number of detector rows, it is essential to employ dose-reduction techniques. As...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The "1"3"1-radioiodine use in Guanabara area, during 1972-1973, is analysed. References are made to the radiation levels delivered to thyroid, bone marrow and gonads in a population of 27000 people examined by tracer techniques, 190 submitted to hyperthyroidism treatment and 50 treated for thyroid cancer. The pertinent literature gives some data concerning radiation induced cancer (leukaemia and thyroid cancer). By this, it was possible to estimate the probability of tumour occurrence in that population, assuming a linear relationship between dose and effect. The conclusions are the followings: 1 - there are many duties in this field at the present; 2 - the leukaemia incidence related to the 131-radioiodine use is negligible, either in diagnostic or therapeutic modalities; 3 - the possibility of thyroid tumors induced by radiation is real, specially in hyperthyroidism treatment; 4 - the use of tracer techniques that cause ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The quantitative imaging of a phase object using 16 keV x-rays is reported. The theoretical basis of the techniques is presented along with its implementation using a synchrotron x-ray source. It is found that the phase image is in quantitative agreement with independent measurements of the object. 13 refs., 5 figs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Surface probe and laser-induced fluorescence measurements in ISX-B and EBT-S have made significant contributions to the understanding of plasma edge characteristics and plasma-surface interactions in these devices. Where comparison is possible, these techniques have led to results which are consistent with plasma diagnostics. Charge-exchange neutral sputtering and self-ion sputtering have been identified as the dominent heavy impurity release mechanisms in ISX-B and EBT-S, respectively.

Science.gov (United States)

The initiation of explosives by laser illumination has been known for many years. In this paper we will discuss the development of a working detonator design that reduces the energy required for detonation in a low-density secondary explosive by vaporizing a thin metal coating. We present data on the development of the design for a workhorse laser detonator that provides enhanced safety over existing exploding bridgewire detonators (EBWs). Comparison of this laser initiated data to an exploding-bridgewire (EBW) provides insight into the mechanism of initiation of detonation in low-density PETN by the plasma source. A novel diagnostic technique to determine the run-distance to detonation also known as the apparent Center-of-Initiation (COI) will also be discussed.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A confocal microscopy imaging system was devised to selectively detect Second harmonic signals generated by biological tissues. Several types of biological tissues were examined using this imaging system, including human teeth, bovine blood vessels, and chicken skin. All these tissues generated strong second harmonic signals. There is considerable evidence that the source of these signals in tissue is collagen. Collagen, the predominant component of most tissues, is known to have second order nonlinear susceptibility. This technique may have diagnostic usefulness in pathophysiological conditions characterized by changes in collagen structure including malignant transformation of nevi, progression of diabetic complications, and abnormalities in wound healing.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malfunctions in machinery are often sources of reduced productivity and increased maintenance costs in various industrial applications. For this reason, machine condition monitoring is being pursued to recognise incipient faults. In this paper, the fault diagnostic problem is tackled within a neuro-fuzzy approach to pattern classification. Besides the primary purpose of a high rate of correct classification, the proposed neuro-fuzzy approach also aims at obtaining an easily interpretable classification model. The efficiency of the approach is verified with respect to a literature problem and then applied to a case of motor bearing fault classification.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We introduce a novel search technique that can identify trans-Neptunian objects in three to five exposures of a pointing within a single Hubble Space Telescope (HST) orbit. The process is fast enough to allow the discovery of candidates soon after the data are available. This allows sufficient time to schedule follow-up observations with HST within a month. We report the discovery of 14 slow-moving objects found within 50 of the ecliptic in archival data taken with the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys. The luminosity function of these objects is consistent with previous ground-based and space-based results. We show evidence that the size distribution of both high and low inclination populations is similar for objects smaller than 100 km, as expected from collisional evolution models, while their size distribution differs for brighter ...

ScienceCinema

...different sparking language english ? ...

CERN Document Server

The narrow emission line spectra of active galactic nuclei are not accurately described by simple photoionization models of single clouds. Recent Hubble Space Telescope images of Seyfert 2 galaxies show that these objects are rich with ionization cones, knots, filaments, and strands of ionized gas. Here we extend to the narrow line region the ``locally optimally emitting cloud'' (LOC) model, in which the observed spectra are predominantly determined by powerful selection effects. We present a large grid of photoionization models covering a wide range of physical conditions and show the optimal conditions for producing many of the strongest emission lines. We show that the integrated narrow line spectrum can be predicted by an integration of an ensemble of clouds, and we present these results in the form of diagnostic line ratio diagrams making comparisons with observations. We also predict key diagnostic line ratios as a ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The enhancements described of high-performance CT systems of latest design have again confirmed the importance of CT systems for acute and selective diagnostic imaging. Higher availability, shorter exposure times, and better applicability and handling for examination of poly-traumata patients or patients of intensive care departments are some of the advantages achieved with CT systems which demonstrate CT system efficiency in addition to MRI, which for specific examinations will remain the modality of first choice for diagnostic evaluation. The Tomoscan Av-E presented here was able to answer all relevant diagnostic questions appearing in routine diagnostics and scientific work. For patients, examinations using the spiral CT technique also offers significant advantages. (orig./CB) [Deutsch] Durch die dargestellten Verbesserungen bei Hochleistungs-CT-Systemen neuester Bauart wurde die ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The objective of this study is development of technology on chicken yard design and its environment control. For this objective, the micro processor interface techniques and related programming techniques have been surveyed, and the chicken yard environment monitoring system has been developed that equipped with micro computer and signal measurement module. Software has also been developed that operated the system and analyzes measured data. By using micro computer and signal input/output module, the system can have various functions, such as monitoring, alarm, and data analysis function. Three dimensional graphic modeling of a chicken yard is performed using graphic package in this study. Application of three dimensional modeling technique make it easy to design chicken yard. 9 figs. (Author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Already, MR Imaging is superior in diagnostic imaging of joints in many cases; however, there have been recent developments, which are the subjects of this paper. With gradient-echo sequences acquired in 3D technique, it is possible to produce high-resolution images of joints in acceptable scantime, because gradient-echo sequences are less time-consuming than convential SE sequences. With the acquisition of two echoes, phase difference between water and fat protons have to be considered. 3D Imaging is capable of displaying complex pathology in a superior way, which should be useful in preoperative planning. Tissue contrast is altered by fat saturation or magnetization transfer in order to achieve better conspicuity of lesions. Although diagnostic value of some of these options is not yet clear and further clinical studies are needed, they are a promising possibility for improving MR Imaging of the joints. (orig.) [Deutsch] ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Background/Objectives: Cardiotoxic drug poisoning can lead to severe cardiac shock (CS) and death. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a well-established diagnostic and prognostic marker in heart failure but has never been assessed in patients with cardiotoxic drug poisoning. The aim of the study was to determine whether BNP could be useful for early stratification of patients admitted to intensive care unit. Methods: 30 consecutive patients experiencing shock and cardiotoxic drug exposure were enrolled in a prospective monocentric study and underwent at least two BNP measurements within the first 24 h after admission. Results: While BNP values on admission were poorly informative, subsequent BNP measurements (11 +- 6 h after admission) were significantly increased in patients with CS comp...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Mullin BC, Harvey AG, Hinshaw SP. A preliminary study of sleep in adolescents with bipolar disorder, ADHD, and non-patient controls.-Bipolar Disord 2011: 13: 425-432. 2011 The Authors.-Journal compilation 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Objectives:- To compare the sleep of adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD) to groups of adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder-combined type (ADHD-C) and those without psychopathology. Methods:- A sample of 13 adolescents diagnosed with BD who were not in the midst of a mood episode, 14 adolescents with ADHD-C, and 21 healthy controls, all between the ages of 11 and 17 years served as participants. They were psychiatrically evaluated using a structured diagnostic interview and completed four nights of in-home sleep monitoring using actigraph...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Digital imaging techniques such as Digital Image Intensifier Radiography and Digital Storage Phosphor (Selenium) Radiography are replacing conventional film-screen radiography more and more. The aim of this development is the extension of diagnostic capabilities and the reduction of side effects such as radiation dose. Conventional film-screen radiography and digital radiography are very different ways of imaging. For digital radiography specific post-processing is the link between imaging conditions and film documentation. Optimisation of the images includes new possibilities of post-processing and a broad range for variation of the dose. Especially in fluoroscopy, dose can be reduced significantly by new technical features like pulsed fluoroscopy. For digital radiography the European guidelines on quality criteria have to be applied to projection radiography, digital subtraction radiography and to fluoroscopy. Further work should lead to a ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The second volume contains a comprehensive presentation of inflammatory bone diseases, including seldom primary chronic osteomyelitis and morbus Paget. Substantial chapters on bone tumors and tumor-like lesions of bone joints are covering the state-of-the-art of diagnostic techniques of these seldom but important diseases. Besides the importance of projection radiography the contribution of MRI within differential diagnosis und staging of these diseases is emphasized. [German] Der zweite Band des Muskuloskelettalen Systems befasst sich mit der umfassenden Darstellung zur Diagnostik entzuendlicher Knochenerkrankungen und beinhaltet neben den klassischen infektioesen auch die seltenen, primaer chronischen Osteomyelitiden und den Morbus Paget. Umfangreiche Kapitel ueber die Knochentumoren und tumoraehnlichen Laesionen der Gelenke stellen in modernster Weise den aktuellen Stand des Wissens und der Diagnostik dieser seltenen, aber aus ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Computed tomography (CT) of the thorax shows early promise of important diagnostic advances. We believe that CT often provides information superior to that provided by standard roentgenographic techniques, is capable of significantly influencing patient management, and in selected instances, offers unique information not available by other methods. Computed tomography permits the imaging of mediastinal structures not possible with conventional roentgenographic methods and can diagnose with certainty benign mediastinal conditions such as pericardial cysts and focal or diffuse accumulations of fat. It is ideal for detecting pleural abnormalities and for displaying underlying parenchymal disease in patients with complex pleuroparenchymal shadows on conventional films. Pulmonary metastases unseen on the plain chest film can be detected with greater sensitivity than by any other method. Future applications of CT include the staging of mediastinal ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In an effort to evaluate the feasibility of introducing computed radiography (FCR) into mass screening for lung cancer, the ability of FCR to detect nodules one cm in diameter was examined using a humanoid chest phantom. Based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the detectability of FCR was compared with that of conventional radiography and photofluorography. The values of area under ROC curves were higher for FCR (0.963 for image similar to that with conventional film-intensifying screen system, image A; and 0.952 for processed image, image B) than the other two methods (0.774 for radiography and 0.789 for photofluorography). Degradation of image quality in FCR could be avoided by a wide latitude even if proper exposure techniques might not be employed. Images A and B in FCR yielded excellent delineation for nodules in the lung field and in the retrocardiac and subdiaphragmatic regions, respectively. This may have implications for the value of ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Staggered arrays of dimples printed on opposite surfaces of a cooling channel is formulated numerically and optimized with hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm and Pareto optimal front. As Pareto optimal front produces a set of optimal solutions, the trends of objective functions with design variables are predicted by hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. The problem is defined by three non-dimensional geometric design variables composed of dimpled channel height, dimple print diameter, dimple spacing, and dimple depth, to maximize heat transfer rate compromising with pressure drop. Twenty designs generated by Latin hypercube sampling were evaluated by Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solver and the evaluated objectives were used to construct Pareto optimal front through hybrid multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. The optimum designs were grouped by k-means ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The high spatial resolution of state-of-the-art commercial satellite imagery provides a good basis for recognising and monitoring even small-scale structural changes within nuclear facilities and for planning of routine and/or challenge inspections of nuclear sites. Despite the advantages of the improved spatial resolution some problems exist that may make the interpretation of the changes more difficult: Firstly, the results of the change analysis can be very complex and unclear at a glance. Secondly, shadow formation and off-nadir images due to different sensor and solar conditions at the acquisition times can cause false signals or overlap real changes. In view to the fast-growing amount of data from different sensor types there are then some requirements of an effective change detection procedure for safeguards purposes: i. The techniques involved should possess a certain amount of robustness in terms of small misregistration errors, different atmospheric ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The luminescence techniques have evolved over the last 40 years to a powerful dating instrument in archaeology and geoscience. Depending on how the luminescence is stimulated, one distinguishes the phenomena of thermoluminescence (TL), optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL). Each of these phenomena has its specific potential for dating various archaeological materals in the time range from medieval back to palaeolithic periods, or, speaking in geological terms, for dating of Holocene and late Pleistocene objects. The OSL and IRSL techniques are sometimes treated together as 'optical dating'. The luminescence techniques differ from other major dating techniques, such as 14C, essentially by their applicability to inorganic materials, their wide age-range from about 100 years to more than 100,000 years and the kind of datable events which ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neutron radiography is a non-destructive test method to examine a material by using the dependency of neutron attenuation on the nuclear characteristics of the atoms composing the object material. There are two categories of neutron radiography; static neutron radiography and dynamic neutron radiography. The static neutron radiography is a technique to observe a standing object by using a camera or a film cassette. The dynamic neutron radiography(DNR) is a technique to observe a moving object usually by using a camera. Depending on the camera frame rate, the dynamic neutron radiography is categorized into the real time neutron radiography(RTNR) and the high speed neutron radiography(HSNR). The frame rate for RTNR is 30 frames/s and that for HSNR is usually more that 500 frames/sec. Thus, RTNR is good for observing time-averaged phenomena and HSNR is good for observing instantaneous ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

We investigated 161 children under 24 months of age by CT of the skull and reviewed the anamnestic and clinical history. 87 children showed subdural effusions, and 74 did not. There were 33 patients with other pathological findings in CT, and 41 had normal scans. Age and sex distribution as well as localization of the subdural effusions were consistent with the literature. The 87 children with subdural effusions represented 17% in a sample of about 5000 CT scans. CT was the most reliable method for diagnosis of subdural effusions, compared to other techniques. There was a preponderance of small subdural effusions from 1 to 7 mm thickness (51%). Other CT abnormalities accompanying subdural effusions were found. Most frequently the interhemispheric sulcus was dilated and an internal hydrocephalus was present. Also in our group there were 7 anamnestical and 6 clinical symptoms highly diagnostic of subdural effusions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) need long-lived high-power batteries as energy storage devices. Batteries based on lithium-ion technology can meet the high-power goals but have been unable to meet HEV calendar-life requirements. As part of the US Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Development (ATD) Program, diagnostic studies are being conducted on 18650-type lithium-ion cells that were subjected to accelerated aging tests at temperatures ranging from 40 to 70 C. This article summarizes data obtained by gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, electron microscopy, X-ray spectroscopy and electrochemical techniques, and identifies cell components that are responsible for the observed impedance rise and power fade.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Multi-kilo-electron-volt x-ray microscopy will be an important laser-produced plasma diagnostic at future megajoule facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF). However, laser energies and plasma characteristics imply that x-ray microscopy will be more challenging at NIF than at existing facilities. We use analytical estimates and numerical ray tracing to investigate several instrumentation options in detail, and we conclude that near-normal-incidence single spherical or toroidal crystals may offer the best general solution for high-energy x-ray microscopy at NIF and similar large facilities. Apertured Kirkpatrick{endash}Baez microscopes using multilayer mirrors may also be good options, particularly for applications requiring one-dimensional imaging over narrow fields of view. {copyright} 1998 Optical Society of America

Science.gov (United States)

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common severe gastrointestinal emergency that affects premature newborns. This disease often has a rapid onset with few, if any, antecedent signs that can be used to reliably predict its occurrence. Its rapid onset and progression to death, as well as its severe morbidity when the infant survives, begs for early diagnostic tools that may be used in determining those infants who would be at greatest risk for development of the disease and for whom early preventative measures could be targeted. Although studies have suggested efficacy of several techniques such as breath hydrogen, inflammatory mediators in blood, urine or stool, and genetic markers, these all have drawbacks limiting their use. The application of newly developed "omic" approaches may provide biomarkers for early diagnosis and targeted prevention of this disease. PMID:19190533

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A Real-Time Neutron Radiography (RTNR) system is developed to determine two-phase flow parameters for a vertical co-current two-phase flow channel with a hexagonal finned bundle. Image processing techniques are applied to visualize the two-phase flow, and procedures for measuring flow regime, cross-sectional averaged void fraction, time averaged void fraction, and void distribution for this complex geometry are discussed. The results show that the experimental flow regime map agrees well with an existing flow regime model for a hexagonal fined bundle. The hexagonal finned bundle is observed to significantly affect the void fraction, void migration, and void fluctuation along the axial flow channel.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A radiometric method of measuring the ratio of liquid and solid phases (crust thickness) in a continuous ingot for automation of the continuous steel casting process, has been proposed. The essence of the method is, that radiation flux, bearing information on the object tested, is transformed in a succession of electric pulses, which is processed afterwords for obtaining necessary information. In this case either the flux of non-scattered radiation, passed through the object, or the flux of single-scattered radiation reflected from the object is registered. Block-diagram and specifications of a radiometric device with the Co source of 50 gxequiv. Ra activity developed for this purpose are presented. The technique for calibration ob the device and the results of its tests, are described. It is shown, that introduction of such devices for the control crust thickness at the installations of continuous ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

We have begun the ExploreNEOs project in which we observe some 700 Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) at 3.6 and 4.5 ?m with the Spitzer Space Telescope in its Warm Spitzer mode. From these measurements and catalog optical photometry we derive albedos and diameters of the observed targets. The overall goal of our ExploreNEOs program is to study the history of near-Earth space by deriving the physical properties of a large number of NEOs. In this paper, we describe both the scientific and technical construction of our ExploreNEOs program. We present our observational, photometric, and thermal modeling techniques. We present results from the first 101 targets observed in this program. We find that the distribution of albedos in this first sample is quite broad, probably indicating a wide range of compositions within the NEO population. Many objects smaller than 1 km have high albedos (?>0.35), but few objects ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The determination of the dose to organs from diagnostic x rays has become important because of reports of radiation injury to patients from fluoroscopically guided interventional procedures. We have modified a convolution/superposition-based treatment planning system to compute the dose distribution for kilovoltage beams. We computed lung doses using this system and compared them to those calculated using the CDI3 organ dose calculation program. We also computed average lung doses from a simulated radiofrequency ablation procedure and compared our results to published doses for a similar procedure. Doses calculated using this system were an average of 20% lower for AP beams and 7% higher for PA beams than those obtained using CDI3. The ratio of the average dose to the lungs to the skin dose from the simulated ablation procedure ranged from 25% higher to 15% lower than that determined by other authors. Our results show that a treatment planning system designed for ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A subsurface imaging system is utilized to test the ability of the spectral polarization difference imaging technique for deep subsurface imaging in tissues. The illumination of the system is derived from compact class III lasers in the red and NIR spectral region and, alternatively, from a white light source and selection of the appropriate illumination wavelength using band-pass optical filters. The experimental results demonstrate detection and imaging of a high-scattering object located up to 1.5 cm underneath the surface of a host chicken tissue.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Characterization of high temperature superconducting film and bulk samples has been carried out using 2 MeV [alpha]-particle Rutherford backscattering, 2.4 MeV proton elastic scattering, 2.4 MeV proton-induced x-ray emission, 9 MeV proton induced [gamma]-ray emission and 100 MeV iodine elastic recoil detection analysis techniques. The objective was to compare different ion beam based techniques for: (i) compositional analysis; and (ii) consistency of the results obtained for samples prepared using similar preparation methodology. (author).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A chromatographic technique is described for checking the condition of cable insulation by analyzing cable oil for the gases that are typical of defects in power transformers: carbon dioxide, acetylene, methane and ethylene. This technique was successfully used for predicting breakdown of insulation on KL-2 cable at one of the hydroelectric plants of Kirgizglavenergo power grid 1.5 months in advance. The presence of the above-mentioned gases in cable oil can provide a signal for monitoring the state of cable insulation. Further research is needed in addition to more operational experience to work out criteria for objective evaluation of the state of cable lines.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

When any new accelerator or storage ring is built that advances the state of the art, the diagnostic system becomes extremely important in tuning the facility to full specification. This paper will discuss the various diagnostic devices planned or under construction for the PSR and their connection into the control system.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

We performed a comparative study of digitally and conventionally acquired images in gastrointestinal examinations. Radiation dose and spatial resolution were determined in a water phantom. In 676 examinations with either conventional or digital imaging (system: Diagnost 76, DSI) the number of images and the duration of the fluoroscopy time were compared. 101 examinations with digital as well as conventional documentation were evaluated by using 5 criteria describing the diagnostic performance. The entrance dose of the DSI is 12% to 36% of the film/screen system and the spatial resolution of the DSI may be better than that of a film/screen system with a speed of 200. The fluoroscopy time shows no significant difference between DSI and the film/screen technique. In 2 of 4 examination modes significantly more images were produced by the DSI. With exception of the criterion of edge sharpness, DSI yields a significantly inferior ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tank calibration experiments have been carried out using a mock-up input accountancy tank with the object of developing a high accuracy solution volume measurement technique for Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant (RRP). The experimental parameters such as temperature, solution density, off gas pressure and so on have been fluctuated in the calibration experiments in order to evaluate the influence on the solution volume measurement. As a result, it was confirmed that the solution volume measurement error of the mock-up tank was within #+-#0.04% (at full volume) using careful data correction technique for measured data. For the high accuracy volume measurement at RRP, it is important to correct data properly taking account of the actual conditions such as uncontrollable ambient temperature that are different from the experiment. (author)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The purpose of the study was to optimise the technique employed for AP shoulder and lateral cervical spine examinations following an investigation into image quality, based on clinical assessment, and effective dose, calculated from patient entrance surface dose measurements. A study was therefore conducted in an attempt to determine whether the increased radiation dose to the patient following the introduction of an anti-scatter grid was justified by the level of improvement in image quality. The study, involving 100 patients, was able to demonstrate that the increase in radiation dose to the patient when using an anti-scatter grid for AP shoulder examinations is not justified by the improved image quality. A poor level of inter-rater reliability between the consultants scoring the lateral cervical spine images prevented a firm conclusion from being reached. The fact that all images were of diagnostic quality, however, suggested that the use ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In this work a study of simulation of the gamma graphic studies that are carried out in human esophagus in the Dept. of Nuclear Medicine of the 'Celestino Hernandez Robau Hospital of Santa Clara is presented. For the investigation tubular reactors were used and sting-response techniques with radioactive tracer of Technetium 99 metastable to a concentration of 1 mCi and several flows were applied. The distribution curves of residences times were obtained, those that respond to an equation of the type: Y = A + B exp (- exp((x-C)/D)) - ((x-C/D)+1). They were also carried out, optimizations studies of the doses of the radioactive to give to the patients from 1 mCi (that is the one used in studies) up to 0,5 mCi, and the influences on the obtained distributions of residence time were analyzed. It was confirmed the possibility to lower the doses with clear information of the signal. It was also carried out a simulation of the attenuation of the radiations that ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boat sampling technique (BST) is a surface sampling technique, which has been developed for obtaining, in-situ, metal samples from the surface of an operating component without affecting its operating service life. The BST is non-destructive in nature and the sample is obtained without plastic deformation or without thermal degradation of the parent material. The shape and size of the sample depends upon the shape of the cutter and the surface geometry of the parent material. Miniature test specimens are generated from the sample and the specimens are subjected to various tests, viz. Metallurgical Evaluation, Metallographic Evaluation, Micro-hardness Evaluation, sensitisation test, small punch test etc. to confirm the integrity and assessment of safe operating life of the component. This paper highlights design objective of boat sampling technique, description of sampling module, sampling cutter and its ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper proposes a novel and efficient algorithm to obtain optimal generation dispatch reflecting the operator's intention in power system rescheduling. In optimal system operation, various objectives, such as economy, quality and transmission security, need to be achieved simultaneously. However, these objectives are often contradictory and in a trade-off relationship with respect to each other thus making it difficult to handle this class of problem by conventional approaches. In the proposed algorithm, optimal generation dispatch is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem. A fuzzy coordination technique based on fuzzy set theory is used to obtain an optimal solution. Evaluation indices composed of fuel cost, transmission line overload and AFC regulation capacity margin are measured by the membership functions, and multi-objective optimization is solved by ...

Science.gov (United States)

PMID:7900316

Science.gov (United States)

Discussion of an electrohydraulic and magnetic forming process

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The CT colonography or virtual coloscopy is a new diagnostic method that allows the presentation of the whole colon using minimal invasive procedures. The method allows the detection of colorectal polyps and colorectal carcinomas. The book includes the following chapters: indications for CT colonography, diagnostic procedures, data processing and interpretation, diagnostic findings, preparation of the diagnostic result description and documentation, screening.

International Science & Technology Center (ISTC)

Creation of Economic Alternative Technologies for Radionuclide Production for Medical Diagnostics and Therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The standard protocol in multislice spiral CT (MSCT) angiography for coronary arteries with fixed tube current-time settings leads to an overexposure and thus to an unnecessary high radiation dose in patients with lower weight when compared to heavier patients. The purpose of this study was to estimate the effect of reducing the radiation dose by adapting the tube current-time settings individually. Fifty patients underwent retrospectively ECG-gated MSCT of the heart. In 25 patients (group A_1) a standard protocol with constant tube current-time settings was used (4 x 1-mm collimation, 120 kV, 400 mAs_e_f_f). Subsequently, artificial image noise was added to the data of these patients simulating a directive for weight-adapted tube current-time settings (group A_2). In the other 25 patients (group B) an alternative protocol with individually weight-adapted tube current-time settings was applied. The data of all groups were evaluated by a regression analysis. The image quality was ...

Science.gov (United States)

Research into methods for reasoning under uncertainty is currently one of the most exciting areas of artificial intelligence, largely because it has recently become possible to record, store, and process large amounts of data. While impressive achievements have been made in pattern classification problems such as handwritten character recognition, face detection, speaker identification, and prediction of gene function, it is even more exciting that researchers are on the verge of introducing systems that can perform large-scale combinatorial analyses of data, decomposing the data into interacting components. For example, computational methods for automatic scene analysis are now emerging in the computer vision community. These methods decompose an input image into its constituent objects, lighting conditions, motion patterns, etc. Two of the main challenges are finding effective representations and models in specific applications and finding efficient algorithms ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report presents the record of the workshop Water Treeing and Aging.'' The workshop was held in Phoenix, Arizona on December 9--11, 1990 and was sponsored by the Distribution Program of the Electrical Systems Division of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Attendance at the workshop was by invitation only. Twenty two attendees from seven countries, from universities, research organizations, electric utilities and polymeric materials suppliers took part in this workshop. The workshop was designed to assess progress in the understanding of water treeing phenomena and polymeric cable insulation aging since the last meeting of a similar forum of experts, which was organized by the Office of Exploratory Research of EPRI in December 1985. The objective of the present workshop was to assess progress and to provide direction for further studies in this field. The discussions covered a wide range of subjects including water tree structure, ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Objective: To investigate the value of MRI in the diagnosis of hepatic hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Methods: Sixty-four patients with hepatic hilar cholangiocarcinomas confirmed by surgery or pathology underwent MRI using a 1.5-T superconductive MR system including conventional unenhanced MRI, MRCP and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI with Gd-DTPA. Results: Dilatation of the intrahepatic biliary tree with narrowing, occlusion or filling defects in the hepatic hilar bile ducts was noted in all 64 cases. Unenhanced MR[ showed T_1- and T_2-hyperintense hilar masses in 42 patients and was normal in the remaining 22 patients. The hilar masses demonstrated slow, progressive and delayed enhancement patterns. There was enhancement of the thickened bile duct wall with luminal narrowing in the 22 patients without hilar masses. Conclusion: The characteristic MRI findings of enhancing hepatic hilar mass and bile duct wall thickening together with MRCP are valuable for diagnosing ...

CERN Document Server

The Proportional-Integral-Derivative Controller is widely used in industries for process control applications. Fractional-order PID controllers are known to outperform their integer-order counterparts. In this paper, we propose a new technique of fractional-order PID controller synthesis based on peak overshoot and rise-time specifications. Our approach is to construct an objective function, the optimization of which yields a possible solution to the design problem. This objective function is optimized using two popular bio-inspired stochastic search algorithms, namely Particle Swarm Optimization and Differential Evolution. With the help of a suitable example, the superiority of the designed fractional-order PID controller to an integer-order PID controller is affirmed and a comparative study of the efficacy of the two above algorithms in solving the optimization problem is also presented.

Science.gov (United States)

In this paper, we introduce a new recursive neural network model able to process directed acyclic graphs with labelled edges. The model uses a state transition function which considers the edge labels and is independent both from the number and the order of the children of each node. The computational capabilities of the new recursive architecture are assessed. Moreover, in order to test the proposed architecture on a practical challenging application, the problem of object detection in images is also addressed. In fact, the localization of target objects is a preliminary step in any recognition system. The proposed technique is general and can be applied in different detection systems, since it does not exploit any a priori knowledge on the particular problem. Some experiments on face detection, carried out on scenes acquired by an indoor camera, are reported, showing very promising results. PMID:16181770

Science.gov (United States)

The recent development of matrix-assisted UV laser desorption (LD) mass spectrometry has made possible the ionization and detection of extremely large molecules (with molecular weights exceeding 100,000 Daltons). This technique has generated enormous interest in the biological community for the direct examination of large peptides and oligonucleotides. Although this matrix-assisted ionization method has been developed and used almost exclusively with time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometers, research is currently in progress to demonstrate this technique with trapped ion mass spectrometers, such as Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTMS). The potential capabilities of FTMS for wide mass range, high resolution measurement, and ion trapping experiments suggest that this instrumental technique should be useful for the detailed structural characterization of large ions generated by the matrix-assisted ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

As an alternative to surgery, endovascular therapy with stent grafts has become the second main treatment option for infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. Unlike surgery, endovascular treatment with stent grafts is also applicable in patients unfit for open repair. Despite current improvements in endovascular repair devices, significant anatomic barriers still exclude this technique for a large number of patients. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound are essential for diagnostics, preintervention planning, and postintervention follow-up of abdominal aneurysms treated with stent grafts. This review covers etiology, pathology, and diagnostic aspects. Materials and methods for endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms are presented in detail, and clinical results and complications are discussed. (orig.) [German] Die endovaskulaere Therapie des infrarenalen Bauchaortenaneurysmas hat sich ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The basic relationships of the convolution/superposition dose calculation technique are reviewed, and a modelling technique that can be used for obtaining a satisfactory beam model for a commercially available convolution/superposition-based treatment planning system is described. A fluence energy spectrum for a Co-60 treatment machine obtained from a Monte Carlo simulation was used for modelling the fluence spectrum for a Rokus M machine. In order to achieve this model we measured the depth dose distribution and the dose profiles with a Wellhofer dosimetry system. The primary fluence was iteratively modelled by comparing the computed depth dose curves and beam profiles with the depth dose curves and crossbeam profiles measured in a water phantom. The objective of beam modelling is to build a model of the primary fluence that the patient is exposed to, which can then be used for the calculation of the dose deposited in the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Understanding the erosion and deposition rates in a small watershed is important for designing soil and water conservation measures. The objective of this study is to estimate the net soil loss and gain at points with various land use types and landform positions in a small watershed in the Sichuan Hilly Basin of China by the 137Cs tracing technique. Among various land use types, the order of erosion rate was bare rock > sloping cultivated land > forest land. The paddy field and Caotu (a kind of cultivated land located at the foot of hills) were depositional areas. The erosion rate under different landform was in this order: hillside > saddle > hilltop. The footslope and the valley were depositional areas. The 137Cs technique was shown to provide an effective means of documenting the spatial distribution of soil erosion and deposition within the small watershed.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Real-time neutron radiography (NTV) has been used for practical applications at the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR). At present, however, the direct image from the TV system is still poor in resolution and low in contrast. In this paper several image improvements are demonstrated, such as a frame summing technique, which are effective in increasing image quality in neutron radiography. Image integration before the A/D converter has a beneficial effect on image quality and the high quality image reveals details invisible in direct images, such as: small holes by a reversed image, defects in a neutron converter screen through a high quality image, a moving object in a contoured image, a slight difference between two low-contrast images by a subtraction technique, and so on. For the real-time application a contouring operation and an averaging approach can also be utilized effectively. (orig.).

CERN Document Server

The present research scholars are having keen interest in doing their research activities in the area of Data mining all over the world. Especially, [13]Mining Image data is the one of the essential features in this present scenario since image data plays vital role in every aspect of the system such as business for marketing, hospital for surgery, engineering for construction, Web for publication and so on. The other area in the Image mining system is the Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) which performs retrieval based on the similarity defined in terms of extracted features with more objectiveness. The drawback in CBIR is the features of the query image alone are considered. Hence, a new technique called Image retrieval based on optimum clusters is proposed for improving user interaction with image retrieval systems by fully exploiting the similarity information. The index is created by describing the images according to their color ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In the paper, a fuzzy decision-making methodology is presented to decide the generation schedule of long-term hydrothermal problems with explicit recognition of statistical uncertainties in system production cost data, NO{sub x} emission data, system load demand and hydro reservoir water inflows. In deciding the optimal operation, three objectives operating cost, NO{sub x} emission and unsatisfied load demand over the whole of the planning period are simultaneously minimised. Specific technique is put forth to convert the stochastic models into their deterministic equivalents. The weighted minimax method is used to simulate the tradeoff relation between the conflicting objectives in the non-inferior domain. The fuzzy set theory is exploited to choose the best operating point over the tradeoff curve. An efficient decomposition technique is applied to reduce the complexity of the problem. In each ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This 4.5-year project consisted of routine analytical support to DOE`s direct liquefaction process development effort (the Base Program), and an extensive effort to develop, demonstate, and apply new analytical methods for the characterization of liquefaction process streams (the Participants Program). The objective of the Base Program was to support the on-going DOE direct coal liquefaction process development program. Feed, process, and product samples were used to assess process operations, product quality, and the effects of process variables, and to direct future testing. The primary objective of the Participants Program was to identify and demonstrate analytical methods for use in support of liquefaction process develpment, and in so doing, provide a bridge between process design, development, and operation and analytical chemistry. To achieve this direct coal liquefaction-derived materials. CONSOL made an evaluation of each analytical ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Purpose: To evaluate the significance of preoperative localization of abnormal parathyroid glands to the surgical outcome in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. Material and Methods: Thirty-nine patients with primary hyperparathyroidism were studied preoperatively with US (39 patients), CT (30 patients) and MR imaging (18 patients). The overall diagnostic accuracy for US was 87%, CT 66% and MR 94%. In patients with a single parathyroid adenoma US was the most cost-effective localization technique with a detection rate of 96%. CT had a lower detection rate (78%) but was of particular value for fairly large ectopic adenomas in the root of the neck. MR imaging was a good confirmatory test (93%). In patients with multiple gland disease (primary hyperplasia and multiple adenomas), no single localization study alone was sufficient. Combination of all 3 studies, however, alerted the physician to the presence of disease in more than one gland in ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The need for noninvasive sensitive techniques for the diagnosis and follow-up of metabolic bone disease in dialysis patients has stimulated the author's interest in the efficacy of more detailed quantitative bone scintigraphy. Using hemodialysis to reduce elevated soft-tissue activity at scintigraphy, an attempt was made to assess the diagnostic sensitivity of quantitative bone scintigraphy as compared to qualitative bone scintigraphic, biochemical, radiographic and bone histologic studies. The second aim of these studies was to determine if one of the two major components of renal osteodystrophy is a major determinant for skeletal radiotracer uptake. The clinical observations on the efficacy and possible specificity of quantitative bone scintigraphy in the diagnosis and follow-up during treatment of renal osteodystrophy are presented briefly in this chapter. Thus, the use of scintigraphy for the routine detection and follow-up of renal ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Purpose of this item is to report the CT patterns of pancreatic mesenchymal lesions and to investigate the capabilities and limitations of this technique in terms of characterization. In selected cases, CT can provide virtually diagnostic information (lipoma and teratoma), or at least highly suggestive findings (NHL, plexiform neurofibroma, lymphangioma). Moreover, knowledge of the variable morphostructural patterns of mesenchymal hisototypes (SCH, Sarcoma etc.) permits to include them in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic masses. [Italian] Scopo di questo rapporto e' descrivere gli aspetti semeiologici dei tumori mesenchimali del pancreas con la TC verificandone le possibilita e i limiti per la caratterizzazione. Pur nella rarita' dei reperti considerati, la TC puo' consentire l'effettiva caratterizzazione in alcuni casi (lipoma, neurofibroma plessiforme, linfangioma) o includere anche istotipi meno ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Multiplex PCR is practically a reasonable choice for molecular marker-assisted selection in potato breeding. We had developed and were using a multiplex PCR method for selection of resistance genes to cyst nematode (H1), Potato virus X (Rx1) and late blight (R1 and R2). Since then, more reliable and tightly linked markers for H1 and R2, and a new marker for resistance to Potato virus Y (Ry chc ) were developed. In this article, all these superior markers, including a positive marker to eliminate PCR-failed samples, were incorporated into one multiplex PCR assay. Using the newly developed multiplex PCR technique, five plants potentially harboring all five resistance genes were selected from 96 hybrid plants approximately 5?h after DNA extraction, which is a third of the operation time compa...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The application of neural networks, alone or in conjunction with other advanced technologies (expert systems, fuzzy logic, and/or genetic algorithms), to some of the problems of complex engineering systems has the potential to enhance the safety, reliability, and operability of these systems. Typically, the measured variables from the systems are analog variables that must be sampled and normalized to expected peak values before they are introduced into neural networks. Often data must be processed to put it into a form more acceptable to the neural network (e.g., a fast Fourier transformation of the time-series data to produce a spectral plot of the data). Specific applications described include: (1) Diagnostics: State of the Plant (2) Hybrid System for Transient Identification, (3) Sensor Validation, (4) Plant-Wide Monitoring, (5) Monitoring of Performance and Efficiency, and (6) Analysis of Vibrations. Although specific examples described deal with nuclear power ...

CERN Document Server

The task of similarity search in multimedia databases is usually accomplished by range or k nearest neighbor queries. However, the expressing power of these "single-example" queries fails when the user's delicate query intent is not available as a single example. Recently, the well-known skyline operator was reused in metric similarity search as a "multi-example" query type. When applied on a multi-dimensional database (i.e., on a multi-attribute table), the traditional skyline operator selects all database objects that are not dominated by other objects. The metric skyline query adopts the skyline operator such that the multiple attributes are represented by distances (similarities) to multiple query examples. Hence, we can view the metric skyline as a set of representative database objects which are as similar to all the examples as possible and, simultaneously, are semantically distinct. In this paper we propose a ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This report presents the results of a development effort to design, test and begin production of a new class of small photovoltaic (PV) charge controllers. Sandia National Laboratories provided technical support, test data and financial support through a Balance-of-System Development contract. One of the objectives of the development was to increase user confidence in small PV systems by improving the reliability and operating life of the system controllers. Another equally important objective was to improve the economics of small PV systems by extending the battery lifetimes. Using new technology and advanced manufacturing techniques, these objectives were accomplished. Because small stand-alone PV systems account for over one third of all PV modules shipped, the positive impact of improving the reliability and economics of PV systems in this market segment will be felt throughout the industry. The ...

CERN Document Server

The article presents an approach to interactively solve multi-objective optimization problems. While the identification of efficient solutions is supported by computational intelligence techniques on the basis of local search, the search is directed by partial preference information obtained from the decision maker. An application of the approach to biobjective portfolio optimization, modeled as the well-known knapsack problem, is reported, and experimental results are reported for benchmark instances taken from the literature. In brief, we obtain encouraging results that show the applicability of the approach to the described problem.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The objectives of the project were to develop operational techniques for promoting contaminant hideout return from tube support crevices and to identify the effect of chemical inhibitor application on corrodent transport. The implementation of routine procedures for promoting the return of sequestered corrodents could retard the progression of denting or other corrosion processes and improve steam generator availability. Tests also quantified the effect of inhibitor application on crevice hideout and hideout return processes, with the intention of developing a better understanding of the inhibition mechanism. By carefully monitoring the hideout and hideout return inventories, the program also has provided the opportunity to study steam generator concentration processes in general.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

'Objective of this project is to develop and use Electrochemical Emission Spectroscopy (EES) and other electrochemical techniques as in situ tools for exploring corrosion mechanisms of iron and carbon steel in highly alkaline solutions and for continuously monitoring corrosion on structural materials in DOE liquid waste storage system. In particular, the author will explore the fundamental aspects of the passive behavior of pure iron since breakdown of passivity leads to localized corrosion. This report summarizes work after 1 year of a 3 year project.'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Objective of the project is characterization of electrode reactions in molten salt by using metal oxides and silica-based electrode. The scope of project are characterization of metal oxide properties in molten salt and miniaturization of 3-electrode electrochemical test cell. Electrochemical micro-cell for actinide-LiCl-KCl molten salt was newly designed. Electroless and electrochemical deposition technique was applied to Mo coating on quartz tube. From the design of electrode and 3-electrode electrochemical cell suitable for the tests in molten salt electrolyte, so it is anticipated to get the information on the electrochemical behavior of metallic electrode in molten salt and to secure the information on oxidation/reduction behavior of actinide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Recently the real-time neutron radiography system of the Kyoto University Reactor (KUR) has been developed and practically applied to penetrating the side plates of the MTR type reactor fuels and investigation of moving objects. In this paper an application of the KUR neutron TV system to neutron computed tomography (NCT) is described. By using the NTV system, projection data can be acquired in a single measurement and simultaneously the projection image can be observed on a CRT monitor. The Fourier-convolution technique is used to produce the reconstructed image and its image has a good enough quality for revealing water in a small hole of 1.5 mm in diameter.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic quality and adverse events of the water-soluble, non-ionic, iso-osmolar, dimeric contrast media iodixanol and iotrolan in hysterosalpingography (HSG). Material and Methods: One hundred and twenty patients participated in a double-blind randomized parallel-group phase-III study. Questionnaires and patient interviews were used. Diagnostic quality was assessed using a visual analogue scale and the quality in specific regions was rated using a categorical scale. Results: Overall diagnostic quality was equal for the two groups. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in diagnostic quality in the specific regions of interest. No differences between the contrast media were found with regard to adverse events. Conclusion: Both contrast media provided images of high diagnostic quality in HSG. (orig.)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

There is an increasing interest in using novel methods to generate electrical energy using wind and solar energy sources. Unfortunately, such energy sources are intermittent, and, therefore, conventional sources must still be available to meet demand during critical periods. In addition, renewable energy technologies are still expensive in general, although extensive research programs are being conducted to overcome this disadvantage. Hence, reliability, economic assessment and environmental impacts are three objectives to be satisfied simultaneously when designing either an autonomous or a grid-connected hybrid power generation system. The installation of any of these two systems should, undoubtedly, be preceded by an assessment of the available resources at the candidate site. In addition, many other factors are to be studied, including economics of transmission lines, site constraints, distances etc. In this thesis, the subjective judgments of various experts, ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Multi-dimensional modelling of two-phase flow requires accurate constitutive relationships for interfacial parameters such as interfacial heat transfer, void fraction distribution, interfacial area, etc. However, existing diagnostic systems for measurement of two-phase flow parameters have difficulty measuring two or three-dimensional void distributions required for determination of interfacial parameters. In this work, a Real-Time Neutron Radiography (RTNR) system is developed for non-intrusive measurement of two-phase flow parameters in nuclear fuel channels at low thermal neutron fluxes (on the order of 10"6n/cm"2-s). This advanced radiation technique has the advantage of measuring two-phase flow in 3 1/2 dimensions (x,#integral#dy,t) where the 1/2 dimension refers to an integrated or averaged space dimension. Pipe flow channels, annulus flow channels, MAPLE-type nuclear fuel flow channels, and CANDU-type nuclear fuel flow channels are ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Since October 2001 the development of the facility diagnostics for NIF has been funded by the NIF Director through the National NIF Diagnostic Program (NNDP). The current emphasis of the NNDP is on diagnostics for the early NIF quad scheduled to be available for experiment commissioning in FY03. During the past six months the NNDP has set in place processes for funding diagnostics, developing requirements for diagnostics, design reviews and monthly status reporting. Those processes are described in an interim management plan for diagnostics (''National NIF Diagnostic Program Interim Plan'', NIF-0081315, April 2002) and a draft Program Execution Plan (''Program Execution Plan for the National NlF Diagnostic Program'', NIF-0072083, October 2001) and ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The planned spallation source can be of considerable significance for biomedical basic research and for clinically relevant diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The following gives a brief description and explanations for its possible use in clinical medicine: I. Treatment of Malignant Tumors II. Production of Isotopes for Biochemical Investigations in Living Organisms for Diagnostic Purposes.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Young men's errors in sexual perception have been linked to sexual coercion. The current investigation sought to explicate the perceptual and decisional sources of these social perception errors,...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BackgroundIn sub-Saharan Africa, Plasmodium falciparum malaria in pregnancy presents an enormous diagnostic challenge. The epidemiological and clinical relevance...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

The diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV1)...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

There is no gold standard diagnostic test for the detection of bovine cryptosporidiosis. Infection is usually highest in 2-week-old calves, and these calves also excrete high numbers of oocysts. These...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are widely used in cardiac diagnostics. Both techniques have been carefully evaluated and are equivalent for the assessment of regional and global wall motion as well as the evaluation of ejection fraction and cardiac volumes, though MRI is herein currently seen as gold standard. For evaluation of myocardial perfusion, extensive data exist for nuclear imaging, that, next to high diagnostic accuracy for evaluation of coronary artery disease, show incremental prognostic information and allow for independent risk stratification. Because of rapid technical advance, myocardial perfusion imaging has also become feasible with cardiac MRI. Results of recent studies are promising, but the data are few compared to perfusion scintigraphy. For viability assessment in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, positron emission tomography (PET) with FDG is currently seen as gold ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A pole placement technique for power system stabilizer (PSS) and thyristor controlled series capacitor (TCSC) based stabilizer using simulated annealing (SA) algorithm is presented in this paper. The proposed approach employs SA optimization technique to PSS (SAPSS) and TCSC-based stabilizer (SACSC) design. The design problem is formulated as an optimization problem where SA is applied to search for the optimal setting of the proposed SAPSS and SACSC parameters. A pole placement-based objective function to shift the dominant eigenvalues to the left in the s-plane is considered. The proposed SAPSS and SACSC have been examined on a weakly connected power system with different disturbances, loading conditions, and system parameter variations. Eigenvalue analysis and nonlinear simulation results show the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed stabilizers and their ability to provide efficient damping of low frequency ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between micro-tensile bond strength (mTBS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of resin composite restorations in cavities filled by a bulk or incremental technique using the micro-tensile test.MethodsClass I cavities (4mm long, 3mm wide, 3mm deep) were prepared into dentine of sixteen human molars. All cavities were bonded with Clearfil SE Bond and restored with AP-X composite with either a bulk or incremental technique. After storage in water for 24h, the teeth were vertically sectioned to yield two slabs. Each slab was sectioned into three sticks. Sticks of one slab were trimmed into an hourglass of 0.7mm2 area at resin-dentine interface for bond strength measurement while the other sticks were trimmed at the centre of the...

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

... Union (INTAS), Brussels (Belgium) Science and Technology Center in Unkraine,

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Acute thoracic aortic injuries account for up to 10-20% of fatalities in high-speed deceleration road accidents and have an estimated immediate fatality rate of 80-90%. Untreated survivors to acute trauma (10-20%) have a dismal prognosis: 30% of them die within 6 hours, 40-50% die within 24 hours, and 90% within 4 months. It was investigated the diagnostic accuracy of Helical Computed Tomography (Helical CT) in acute traumatic injuries of the thoracic aorta, and the role of this technique in the diagnostic management of trauma patients with a strong suspicion of aortic rupture. It was compared retrospectively the chest Helical CT findings of 256 trauma patients examined June 1995 through August 1999. Chest Helical CT examinations were performed according to trauma score, to associated traumatic lesions and to plain chest radiographic findings. All the examinations were performed with no intravenous contrast agent ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quantitative digital imaging, using planar laser light scattering techniques is being developed for the analysis of turbulent and reacting flows. Quantitative image data, implying both a direct relation to flowfield variables as well as sufficient signal and spatial dynamic range, can be readily processed to yield two-dimensional distributions of flowfield scalars and in turn two-dimensional images of gradients and turbulence scales. Much of the development of imaging techniques to date has concentrated on understanding the requisite molecular spectroscopy and collision dynamics to be able to determine how flowfield variable information is encoded into the measured signal. From this standpoint the image is seen as a collection of single point measurements. The present effort aims at realizing necessary improvements in signal and spatial dynamic range, signal-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution in the imaging system as well as developing ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The advent of multislice spiral CT (MSCT) technique has led to new aspects of dose reduction, especially for the dedicated use of MSCT in children. Optimizing pediatric MSCT protocols according to the clinical problem allows reduction of radiation exposure to a minimum without loss of diagnostic quality. The different parameters that influence the degree of dose reduction, like tube current-time product (mAs), tube voltage (kV), collimation and pitch, are discussed in context with previously published data and our own experience in nearly 200 pediatric CT examinations. In our department, the effective mAs is calculated for a pediatric chest MSCT by multiplication of the body weight in kilogram with a factor of 1 to 1.5 and for a pediatric abdominal MSCT by multiplication with a factor of 2 to 2.5. To calculate the equivalent effective dose for a contrast media-enhanced 80 kV protocol, the effective mAs of the 120 kV protocol can be multiplied ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bone images obtained by single exposure dual energy subtraction with computed radiography, a new image processing method, were evaluated for the detectability of calcification in lung nodules in both phantom and clinical studies. In the phantom study, five simulated nodules containing known and uniformly distributed amounts of calcium hydroxide were placed in a human chest phantom and images were obtained the following five techniques: (1) conventional radiography (CXR), (2) low kV conventional radiography (Low), (3) Fuji computed radiography (FCR), (4) bone images with conventional singles exposure energy subtraction (ES) and (5) bone image with fine single exposure energy subtraction (FES). The detectability of calcification in the simulated nodules was evaluated by six radiologists using ROC analysis and two-way analysis of variance. In the clinical study, images of 42 lung nodules (21 calcified lung nodules and 21 non-calcified nodules), in which calcification ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The accuracy is investigated of both lymphangiography and CT in detecting lymph nodes metastases in 59 patients evaluated preoperatively and subsequently submitted to surgery with selective/systemic pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy. CT accuracy was also investigated in 46 patients with a clinically suspected relapse of ovarian cancer (verified by means of clinical and/or CT follow-up in 36 patients, by laparotomy in 7, by fine-needle biopsy in 1 and by necroscopy in the last 2). In the first group (previously untreated patients) the overall results in the pelvis were, respectively, for lymphangiography and CT: 94.9% vs 89.8% accuracy, 86.6% vs 60% sensitivity, 97.7% vs 100% specificity, and 92.8% vs 100%, 95.5% vs 88% positive and negative predictive values. In the paraaortic region the results were: 89.1% vs 86.5% accuracy, 73.3% vs 66.6% sensitivity, 100% specificity for both techniques, 100% positive predictive value, and 84.6% vs 81.5% negative predictive ...

Science.gov (United States)

This 4.5-year project consisted of routine analytical support to DOE`s direct liquefaction process development effort (the Base Program), and an extensive effort to develop, demonstrate, and apply new analytical methods for the characterization of liquefaction process streams (the Participants Program). The objective of the Base Program was to support the on-going DOE direct coal liquefaction process development program. Feed, process, and product samples were used to assess process operations, product quality, and the effects of process variables, and to direct future testing. The primary objective of the Participants Program was to identify and demonstrate analytical methods for use in support of liquefaction process development, and in so doing, provide a bridge between process design, and development, and operation and analytical chemistry. To achieve this objective, novel analytical methods were evaluated for ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The main purpose of this work is to evaluate the role of CT in identifying other morphological signs of met static lymph node involvement from non small cell bronchogenic carcinoma. This is done to improve N staging, a critical step in this disease. In fact, since diameter is the only criterion used to distinguish normal form abnormal lymph nodes, mediastinal CT only has 80% diagnostic accuracy. 137 patients with known or suspected lung cancer were examined with Helical CT during early and late arterial phases (2 min. delay, 3 mm thickness, 5 mm inter slice gap) to depict node characteristics. Mediastinal lymph nodes, located according to the American Thoracic Society mapping, were considered normal when they were not visible or, if visible, less than 1 cm in diameter and of homogeneous density; lymph nodes over 1 cm in diameter and homogenous density were considered reactive. A lymph node was considered metastatic when, independent of size, the following signs ...

Science.gov (United States)

We describe the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) Early Release Science (ERS) observations in the GOODS-South field. The new WFC3 ERS data provide calibrated, drizzled mosaics with FHWM=0.07--0.15" in the near-UV (filters F225W, F275W, and F336W) and near-IR (F098W, F125W, and F160W) in typically 2 orbits per filter. Together with the existing HST/ACS GOODS-S mosaics in the BVi'z' filters, the 10-band ERS data cover 40-50 sq. arcmin to AB=26-27.0 mag (10-sigma for point sources). In this poster, we describe the: (1) scientific rationale, data taking and reduction procedures of the WFC3 ERS mosaics; (2) object cataloging and star-galaxy separation techniques used in these 10 different filters; (3) reliability and completeness of the 10-band object catalogs from the ERS mosaics; (4) object counts in 10 different filters from 0.2-1.7 microns to AB=26.0-27.0 mag; and (5) the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In the fields of medical imaging, geophysical well logging, and industrial radiography, it is often of interest to characterize the spatially distributed sensitivities of neutron and gamma-ray measurement devices to the physical properties of the materials being examined. For instance, one may wish to know how the count rate in a detector varies in response to small changes in the local density of the irradiated object as a function of position. Experimental determination of such sensitivity functions is often impractical. Consequently, we have developed a general three-dimensional Monte Carlo numerical technique that allows us to directly compute the differential sensitivity of an arbitrary integral response parameter, such as a time- or energy-discriminated count rate, with respect to the spatial distribution of macroscopic cross sections and sources in the irradiated medium. Sensitivities to object density, porosity, ...

Environmental Research Database

ObjectivesObjectives Not AvailableDescriptionAbstract Not Available

Environmental Research Database

ObjectivesThe overall aim of the proposed research is explicit in the project title, i.e. the creation of a map of current vertical land movements in the UK based on an optimal combination of absolute gravity (AG) and continuous GPS (CGPS). This is consistent with specific objective (ii) of WP1.9 of the Oceans 2025 programme and is related to priority topic area 4 (application of satellite geodesy to sea level science) of the NERC Strategic Ocean Funding Initiative (SOFI). From long term geological an [continued...]DescriptionThe proposed research aims to create a map of current vertical land movements in the UK based on an optimal combination of estimates from two geodetic surveying and monitoring techniques; the measurement of absolute gravity (AG) and the use of high precision, continuous GPS (CGPS) observations. From long term geological and geophysical studies, vertical land movements in the UK are thought to be of the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korea Advanced Energy Research Institute (KAERI) conceived and started the development of MARS code with the main objective of producing a state-of-the-art realistic thermal hydraulic systems analysis code with multi-dimensional analysis capability. MARS achieves this objective by very tightly integrating the one dimensional RELAP5/MOD3 with the multi-dimensional COBRA-TF codes. The method of integration of the two codes is based on the dynamic link library techniques, and the system pressure equation matrices of both codes are implicitly integrated and solved simultaneously. In addition, the Equation-Of-State (EOS) for the light water was unified by replacing the EOS of COBRA-TF by that of the RELAP5. This models and correlations manual provides a complete list of detailed information of the thermal-hydraulic models used in MARS, so that this report would be very useful for the code users. The overall structure of the ...

Environmental Research Database

ObjectivesThe expected result of the proposed research will be a complete technique for taking the decision maker through the complex process of determining what type types of flexibly delivered public transport service - if any - suits their requirements, and what service characteristics are best adapted to the constraints of their operating environment. To summarise, the objectives are to:~%~ Investigate the various factors which influence the development of an appropriate public transport system for ar [continued...]DescriptionCurrently, many statutory authorities and public transport operators are experimenting with or considering flexibly delivered public transport systems, now generally referred to as Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) services, mainly with a view to improving social inclusion in rural and urban areas that are difficult to cover by conventional public transport. Statutory authorities may have some ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and clinical application of two stents insertion via single tract for treatment of hepatic hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Methods: Eighteen patients with hepatic hilar cholangiocarcinoma who had left and right bile duct obstruction were treated with stents insertion via right bile duct puncturing routeway. These two stents were implanted between right and left bile duct, and between right bile duct and common bile duct. Results: Eighteen patients obtained successful two stents placement by right bile duct puncturing tract and succeeded with internal drainage for all biliary tree jaundice subsided distinctly. Conclusions: The technique of two stents insertion via single tract could predigest interventional drainage procedure of high bile duct obstruction, reduce operation trauma, shorten handling time and possess promising application value

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This study is related to the use of thermoplastic liners to control corrosion of new and rehabilitated pipelines carrying aggressive hydrocarbon products. The aim is to investigate the technical and safety issues involved in introducing a thermoplastic liner into an existing carbon steel pipeline for aggressive hydrocarbon service at temperatures up to 150 C and internal pressures up to 34 MPa (5,000 psi). The principle objective is to provide design data for thermoplastic lined pipelines. The scope combines the use of liner insertion techniques with thermoplastic materials widely used in onshore pipelines and demonstrates the effectiveness of thermoplastic linings. The results indicate that thermoplastic liners can be used to control corrosion of pipelines in aggressive hydrocarbon environments.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A pin hole camera assembly for use in viewing an object having a relatively large light intensity range, for example a crucible containing molten metal in an atomic vapor laser isotope separation (AVLIS) system is disclosed herein. The assembly includes means for optically compressing the light intensity range appearing at its input sufficient to make it receivable and decipherable by a standard video camera. To accomplish this, the assembly utilizes the combination of interference filter and a liquid crystal notch filter. The latter which preferably includes a cholesteric liquid crystal arrangement is configured to pass light at all wavelengths, except a relatively narrow wavelength band which defines the filter's notch, and includes means for causing the notch to vary to at least a limited extent with the intensity of light at its light incidence surface.

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objectification theory contends that women are socialized to view their body as an object to be evaluated by others (Fredickson and Roberts 1997). In contrast, pregnancy may be a time that women are more attuned to their body?s functionality. Extending objectification theory, we investigate relationships among body surveillance, awareness and appreciation of body functionality, depressive symptoms, and prenatal health behaviors among an on-line sample of 156 predominantly White, middle-class pregnant women from throughout the U.S recruited through maternity stores, message boards, listservs, and snowballing techniques. We examine whether higher levels of awareness and appreciation of body functionality may attenuate, and thereby possibly protect women from the negative effects of high body...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A real time neutron radiography system has been developed at the University of Michigan Phoenix Memorial Laboratory (PML) and has recently been used to test the imaging capabilities of a neutron imaging device developed by Lixi, Inc. of Downers Grove, Illinois. This device uses an input phosphor that is high in gadolinium to generate a light image which is then sent through an intensifier stage to provide images that can be viewed by eye, video camera, or standard 35 mm camera. It was determined that this device provides images of much higher resolution and sensitivity than those obtained with the imaging system currently being used at PML. Using computerized image enhancement techniques, the images obtained with the Lixi neutron imaging device can then be further enhanced or processed to obtain quantitative information on the object being imaged.

Environmental Research Database

ObjectivesTo improving the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers in developing countries through plant sciences research.Information on individual projects in the programme can be found by selecting this programme in the advanced search page. Please note that expenditure given in the project records contributes towards the overall expenditure of the programme.DescriptionProject Background: The PSP broad spectrum of research encompasses the latest biotechnology techniques for screening and breeding for drought/disease tolerance through to the development of key technologies - simple, low-cost interventions, the impacts of which are large enough to induce farmers to make other, perhaps more risky or more costly, changes in agronomic practices in order to make yet further gains. The Plant Sciences Research Programme funds projects under five research theme [continued...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

The present investigation focuses on the study of design parameters for a generic fan-in-wing configuration. The objective is to evaluate the performance of a fan-in-wing concept in a Short-Take-Off and Landing situation. The results presented are also of interest for transition between hover and a wing-sustained flight for a Vertical Take Off and Landing concept. Steady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes computations using an actuator disk technique are performed. The results show a good agreement with experimental data and simulation results obtained in previous investigations for a generic wind tunnel model. A parametric study is conducted for a more realistic wing planform. For a single fan installed in the wing, the streamwise and spanwise influence on the wing aerodynamics is studied. I...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The three tasks were completed during this reporting period. During this quarter, work focused on a local structural analysis of the Table Rock field, greater Green River basin (GGRB) in southwestern Wyoming. The ultimate objective of the local analysis is to apply the techniques developed and demonstrated during earlier phases of the project in the Rulison Field area of the Piceance basin for sweet-spot delineation. The primary goal of this work is to focus in on the Table Rock field area in the northern Washakie basin of the Greater Green River basin in support of Union Pacific Resources and DOE planned horizontal drilling efforts. The work plan for the quarter of April 1, 1998--June 30, 1998 consisted of three tasks: (1) Acquire necessary seismic data and depth-convert, (2) Map major fault geometry and analyze displacement vectors, (3) Develop and initiate a natural fracture prediction study.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The purpose of this paper is to communicate how new and established management techniques are applied to environmental restoration projects at the Savannah River Site. Specifically, the paper discusses application of four (4) management approaches: Total Quality Principles; Task Team Structure; Cost Time Management; SAFER (Streamlined Approach for Environmental Restoration). The objective is to share Savannah River Site experience and document case studies where certain approaches have enhanced projects at hand. Each management approach is demonstrated by its project application and impact on performance. The visibility given the project is discussed to emphasize communications as avenues for public information, technical exchange, and employee motivation.

Environmental Research Database

Objectives(1) Evaluate various insitu techniques for determination of the permeability of slurry walls and investigate the extent of material disturbance and fracturing during drilling and testing.~%~~%~(2) Perform laboratory tests of block samples obtained from the field testing site and compare the results with field measurements.~%~~%~(3) Investigate the mechanisms of drilling using a newly developed instrumented self-boring device and develop a theoretical framework for drilling mechanisms in soils.~% [continued...]DescriptionCement-bentonite and clay liner systems are used as components of containment systems by the environmental industry to control the migration of pollution. In the interest of public safety, following construction, there is a requirement to test these structures in orde to assess if they meet the design critetia. At present this is done only indirectly via laboratory testing on samples ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Dysregulation of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis is associated with various pathological conditions and arrhythmogenesis of the heart. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of an acute increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) on the electrophysiology of ventricular myocytes by mimicking intracellular Ca2+ overload. The [Ca2+]i was clamped to either a controlled (65?100 nmol L?1) or increased (1 ?mol L?1) level. The transmembrane action potentials and ionic currents were recorded using whole-cell patch clamp techniques. We found that the acute increase in [Ca2+]i shortened the action potential duration, reduced the action potential amplitude, maximum depolarization velocity and resting membrane potential, caused delayed after-depolarizations (DADs), and tri...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The modeling and optimizing processes of a Ground Coupled Heat Pump (GCHP) with closed Horizontal Ground Heat eXchanger (HGHX) are presented in this paper. After thermal modeling of GCHP including HGHX, the optimum design parameters of the system were estimated by minimizing a defined objective function (total of investment and operation costs) subject to a list of constraints. This procedure was performed applying Genetic Algorithm technique. For given heating/cooling loads and various climatic conditions, the optimum values of saturated temperature/pressure of condenser and evaporator as well as inlet and outlet temperatures of the water source in cooling and heating modes were predicted. Then, for our case study, the design parameters as well as the configuration of HGHX were obtained. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis of change in the total annual cost of the system and optimum design parameters with the climatic conditions, ...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objective.The interest of dental research in metal-free restorations has been rising in the last 20 years following the introduction of innovative all-ceramic materials in the daily practice. In particular, high strength ceramics and related CAD/CAM techniques have widely increased the clinical indications of metal-free prostheses, showing more favourable mechanical characteristics compared to the early ceramic materials.The purpose of the present paper is providing a brief review on the all-ceramic dental materials, evaluating pros and cons in the light of the most recent scientific results and of the authors? clinical experience.Materials. A structured review of the literature was given on the basis of medical and engineering papers published in the last decades on the use of dental cera...

British Library Electronic Table of Contents (United Kingdom)

Objective:EEG source imaging provides important information regarding the underlying neural activity from noninvasive electrophysiological measurements. The aim of the present study was to evaluate source reconstruction techniques by means of the intracranial electrocorticograms (ECoGs) and functional MRI.Methods:Five source imaging algorithms, including the minimum norm least square (MNLS), LORETA with Lp-norm (p equal to 1, 1.5 and 2), sLORETA, the minimum Lp-norm (p equal to 1 and 1.5; when p=2, the MNLS method is mathematically equivalent to the minimum Lp-norm) and L1-norm (the linear programming) methods, were evaluated in a group of 10 human subjects, in a paradigm with somatosensory stimulation. Cortical current density (CCD) distributions were estimated from the scalp somatosensor...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Exposure control at the operating Nuclear Power Station is a major concern. The challenging task of meeting the International standards in the field of radiation protection is the calibration of the radiation monitoring instruments and interpretation of personnel and area monitoring results. Correct interpretation is based on accurate calibration of radiation measuring instruments. The reliability and accuracy of the measurements are also partly based on the procedures applied in calibration. Inadequate calibration can cause large errors in dose estimation in complete dose rate range and energy range. Semiautomatic calibration facility established at TAPS 3 and 4 for radiation monitoring instruments. Objective of calibration facility is (a) Ensure instruments are working properly (b) calibration adjustment and (c) in case without calibration adjustment to reveal the error involved. The calibration facility and calibration techniques established ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The alloy type 'alloy 800' with its different variants is used for numerous components in high-temperature reactor (HTR) plants, e.g. for hot-gas conductors, the high-pressure part of steam generators, superheaters, steam collecting vessels and live steam conductors. This study deals with the evaluation of creep rupture tests on 28 welded joints of alloy 800 with an accumulated test duration of 410 years, with the objective to obtain quantitative information on a possible loss of strength in comparison with the unwelded material. The longest test period of an individual test amounted to 98,000 h and the analyzed test temperature range lay between 550"0 and 1000"0C. (orig./MM).

Science.gov (United States)

Motion Camouflage (MC) is illuminated as a novel strategy in counterattacking anti-satellite by way of stealth trajectory scheduling. The dynamics model of MC in space is developed and a quadratic function with three boundary constraints is employed for trajectory determination. Based on the model a scenario is set to run the simulation. The results indicate given the designed acceleration input, the predator will be moved following a prescribed route, which precisely locates the predator between two objects at each time instant. In the last approaching phase, the motion is achieved with a big bumping rate which guarantees the power of this striking. Methods for deriving minimum fuel cost in the fixed approaching duration and the minimum approaching duration in limited acceleration input are proposed and are verified in the simulation. At last, camouflage is recognized as a multi-faceted affair, in which stealth trajectory design is considered an effective ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monitoring nuclear plants components enable to save on operation and maintenance costs by reducing incidents gravity and casual plant stoppages thank to early detection and fast diagnosis. Improving the knowledge of the behaviour of the plant will also allow to optimize maintenance and to increase plant life. In order to improve monitoring and diagnosis capabilities in nuclear power plants. Electricite de France (EDF) is extending the existing data processing chains towards automatic aided interpretation and diagnosis. Therefore, EDF has designed an integrated monitoring and diagnosis assistance system: PSAD-Poste de Surveillance et d'Aide au Diagnostic, including several monitoring functions of the main components. It integrates on-line monitoring, off-line diagnosis and knowledge based systems. PSAD stations provide homogeneous aids to diagnosis which enable plant personnel to pinpoint the mechanical behaviour of plant equipment. The ...

Science.gov (United States)

Objective:? Primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) is characterised by autonomous secretion of PTH from enlarged parathyroid glands leading, in most patients, to asymptomatic hypercalcaemia. Familial hypocalciuric hypercalcaemia (FHH) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by inactivating mutations in the calcium sensing receptor (CaSR) gene; it is characterised by lifelong and usually asymptomatic hypercalcaemia. Establishing the correct diagnosis is important because surgery can be curative in HPT, but ineffective in FHH. There is overlap in the diagnostic criteria for the two disorders and some patients carrying inactivating mutations in the CaSR gene, which is suggestive of FHH, also have HPT with hyperplastic parathyroid glands or adenomas. Design and Patients:? CaSR gene mutations were analyzed and clinical and biochemical parameters evaluated in 139 consecutive out-patients presenting with hypercalcaemia and suspected of having HPT. ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Phase-contrast imaging with a practical cone-beam X-ray tube has been realized for clinical use in digital mammography using computed radiography (CR). To perform phase-contrast imaging, the X-ray detector must be distanced from an object so that the phase-contrast image achieves magnification; in a mammography unit dedicated to phase-contrast imaging, the magnification ratio is 1.75. When using an X-ray tube with a 0.1-mm focal spot, it appears that the penumbra in magnification blurs both projected images and the phase contrast, which generates an edge effect. However, where the sampling pitch of the CR plate is 43.75 {mu}m, the blur stretches the width of the phase contrast so that unit pixels in the detector can capture it. Note that the width of an ideal phase contrast using an X-ray point source results in a phase contrast too narrow for detection with CR. In addition to phase contrast improving image quality, a re-scaling effect increases image sharpness in ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phase contrast X-ray imaging has been studied intensively using X-rays from synchrotron radiation and micro-focus X-ray tubes. However, these studies have revealed the difficulty of this technique's application to practical medical imaging. We have created a phase contrast imaging technique using a molybdenum X-ray tube with a small focal spot size for mammography. We identified the radiographic conditions in phase contrast magnification mammography with a screen-film system, where edge effect due to phase contrast overcomes geometrical unsharpness caused by the 0.1 mm-focal spot of a molybdenum X-ray tube. The edge enhancement due to phase imaging was observed in an image of a plastic tube, and then geometrical configuration of the X-ray tube, the object and the screen-film system was determined for phase imaging of mammography. In order to investigate a potential for medical application of this method, we conducted ...

Science.gov (United States)

In March 2007 in-pile testing of LEU U-Mo full-size IRT type fuel elements was started in the MIR reactor. Four prototype fuel elements for Uzbekistan WWR SM reactor are being tested simultaneously - two of tube type design and two of pin type design. The dismountable irradiation devices were constructed for intermediate reloading and inspection of fuel elements during reactor testing. The objective of the test is to obtain the experimental results for determination of more reliable design and licensing fuel elements for conversion of the WWR SM reactor. The heat power of fuel elements is measured on-line by thermal balance method. The distribution of fission density and burn-up of uranium in the volume of elements are calculated by using the MIR reactor MCU code (Monte-Carlo) model. In this paper the design of fuel elements, the technique, main parameters and preliminary results are described. (author)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The primary objective of this project is to enhance domestic petroleum production by demonstration and technology transfer of an advanced oil recovery technology in the Paradox basin, southeastern Utah. If this project can demonstrate technical and economic feasibility, the technique can be applied to approximately 100 additional small fields in the Paradox basin alone, and result in increased recovery of 150 to 200 million barrels of oil. This project is designed to characterize five shallow-shelf carbonate reservoirs in the Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) Paradox Formation and choose the best candidate for a pilot demonstration project for either a waterflood or carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}-)flood project. The field demonstration, monitoring of field performance, and associated validation activities will take place in the Paradox basin within the Navajo Nation. The results of this project will be transferred to industry and other researchers ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

With the objective to improve the reactor physics calculation on a 2D and 3D nuclear reactor via the Diffusion Equation, an adaptive automatic finite element remeshing method, based on the elementary area (2D) or volume (3D) constraints, has been developed. The adaptive remeshing technique, guided by a posteriori error estimator, makes use of two external mesh generator programs: Triangle and TetGen. The use of these free external finite element mesh generators and an adaptive remeshing technique based on the current field continuity show that they are powerful tools to improve the neutron flux distribution calculation and by consequence the power solution of the reactor core even though they have a minor influence on the critical coefficient of the calculated reactor core examples. Two numerical examples are presented: the 2D IAEA reactor core numerical benchmark and the 3D model of the Argonauta research reactor, built in ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The present work's objective is to test sampling methodologies applied on the bioremediation processes in situ, involving the establishment of sample replicates, specific laboratory procedures and its results, inedited on the referred technique. Agricultural fertilizers were used, NPK and OSMOCOTE, as biostimulants on mangroves substrates affected by petroleum activities. The tested methodology used on the experiment was based on the monitoring of this technology in aquarium with water from Sao Paulo's river and sediment contaminated by oil, realized in three steps (first pre-test, second pre-test and third pre-test) that happened between the months of August and November of 2007. The physical-chemical parameters were measured with portable devices carefully calibrated and the oil analyzed with gas chromatography. The saturated hydrocarbons (n-alkenes) had an increase on the concentrations for some aquariums and these found ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The overall goal of the proposed project is to explore the use of partitioning tracers to characterize dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) in aquifer systems. Bulk-phase partitioning tracers will be investigated to detect and determine DNAPL saturation, while interface partitioning tracers will be investigated to measure the area of the DNAPL-water interface. The specific objectives that will be addressed to accomplish this goal are: (1) Investigate the use of partitioning tracers to detect and determine both the saturation and interfacial area of DNAPLs in saturated porous media. (2) Investigate the effect of rate-limited mass transfer on the transport behavior of partitioning tracers. (3) Investigate the effect of porous-media heterogeneity on the transport behavior of partitioning tracers. (4) Develop and evaluate mathematical models capable of simulating the transport of partitioning tracers in complex systems. This proposal outlines an integrated approach ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The Joint Work Session of the ITER CDA (Conceptual Design Activities) by four parties, (eg. Japan, USA, USSR and EC), which has continued during 3 years from May 1988 to December 1990 was completed successfully. During the CDA, overall diagnostic systems for the next generation machine was performed for the first time and the principal tasks of Diagnostic research and development (R and D) are identified. In this paper, radiation hardening problems, which should be solved for the period 1991 through 1996 of the ITER EDA (Engineering Design Activities), are described. (author).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) will be the world's first x-ray free-electron laser (FEL). To ensure the vitality of FEL lasing, a longitudinal feedback system is required together with other diagnostics. In this paper, we study the possibility of using Coherent Synchrotron Radiation (CSR) from the chicane as a diagnostic tool for bunch length feedback. Studies show that CSR is a good candidate, even for a non-Gaussian, double-horn longitudinal charge distribution as in the LCLS. We further check the possibility for detecting possible microbunching.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irradiation of the human body in diagnostic X-ray procedures results in different absorbed doses in the various body organs. A somatic dose index in formulated by applying the relative sensitivity of the human to each of the most important somatic effects and utilizing the absorbed dose in the affected organs. This quantity is used to convey a cumulative somatic impact and is computed for common radiographic views in diagnostic radiology as a function of beam quality for a nominal IR entrance exposure. Using typical X-ray beam qualities and exposures, the frequency of the various radiographic views that make up an examination and the frequencies of the various examinations in the national population, illustrative examples of the application of the somatic dose index are presented. (author).

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

In an effort to develop octahedral metal complexes as chemotherapeutic and diagnostic agents targeted to DNA, it is critical to optimize the properties of their cellular uptake. Appending d-octaarginine...Full Text Available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Comparative analysis of diagnostic accuracy (dignity determination) in CT-guided fine-needle biopsy (141 patients), CT (141), ultrasonography (89), angiography (50), and cholegraphy (ERCP, 55), was carried out in suspected space-occupying lesions of the pancreas. With accuracy of 86%, sensitivity of 37% and specificity of 92% fine-needle biopsy was superior to imaging procedures. Additional comparison of the results concerning the patients and Roc curves confirm the statements. For reduction of the number of imaging investigations a diagnostic algorithm is proposed, that starts with diagnostic CT and subsequent fine-needle biopsy controlled by CT. This would result in a more adequate use of angiography and ERCP and in the elimination of ultrasonography. (author).

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The two main aspects of the concept proposed by the ICRP in recommendation 26 for the radiation risk, the differentiation of stochastic and non stochastic damages and the qualification of the stochastic risk, are discussed in its consequences for radiation protection in X-ray diagnostics. Quantitative results from the literature serve to demonstrate the risk factors for the various organs and their sum concerning the position of the layer. As special points of somatic risk appeared the mamma and the pelvic region. The particular risk of CT examination is determined by number and position of the layers and the scan parameters of the system. For typical CT examination the resulting risk factors are estimated in comparison with conventional X-ray diagnostics. The somatic risk of CT examination is relatively high and comparable to conventional examination with the highest risk, while the genetic risk - as in conventional ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The two main aspects of the concept proposed by the ICRP in recommendation 26 for the radiation risk, the differentiation of stochastic and non stochastic damages and the qualification of the stochastic risk, are discussed in its consequences for radiation protection in X-ray diagnostics. Quantitative results from the literature serve to demonstrate the risk factors for the various organs and their sum concerning the position of the layer. As special points of somatic risk appeared the mamma and the pelvic region. The particular risk of CT examination is determined by number and position of the layers and the scan parameters of the system. For typical CT examination the resulting risk factors are estimated in comparison with conventional X-ray diagnostics. The somatic risk of CT examination is relatively high and comparable to conventional examination with the highest risk, while the genetic risk - as in conventional ...

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

BACKGROUNDNew diagnostic tools are urgently needed to interrupt the transmission of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Rapid,...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Microcalcifications are an important diagnostic marker for breast cancer on mammograms, yet the mechanism of their formation is poorly understood. Indeed, there is presently no short-latency,...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pregraduate medical curricula are currently undergoing a reform process that is moving away from a traditional discipline-related structure and towards problem-based integrated forms of teaching. Imaging sciences, with their inherently technical advances, are specifically influenced by the effects of paradigm shifts in medical education. The teaching of diagnostic radiology should be based on the definition of three core competencies: in vivo visualization of normal and abnormal morphology and function, diagnostic reasoning, and interventional treatment. On the basis of these goals, adequate teaching methods and e-learning tools should be implemented by focusing on case-based teaching. Teaching materials used in the fields of normal anatomy, pathology, and clinical diagnosis may help diagnostic radiology to play a central role in modern pregraduate curricula. (orig.)

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Diagnostic accuracy of the currently available serum markers of cardiac injury, such as myoglobin, creatine kinase and its myocardial isoform, are altered in patients with renal failure. It is shown...Full Text Available

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

IntroductionThe development of novel diagnostic agents for the detection of breast cancer microcalcifications requires a reliable animal model. Based on previous...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eddy current testing (ECT) method is widely used as the non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of the various kinds of material degradation occurring in nuclear power plants (NPPs) components including steam generator (SG) tubes. Detection of any defects or flaws in the steam generator tubes in the early stage is very important in maintenance of NPP for its primary role as the pressure boundary with thin wall thickness. Although the ECT technique provides lots of information for a SG management, it has a generic problem in its reliability due to a low ability in detect of small defects and some difficulty in a signal analysis. For the improvement of these shortcomings in conventional ECT, profile-MRPC (motorized rotating pancake coil) ECT technology was developed in KAERI. The key of this new technology is the development of new eddy current probes, designated as a diagnostic probe (D-probe). The D-probe is furnished with a simultaneous dual function ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Problems and solutions in the diagnosis and operative treatment were clarified by retrospective evaluation of cases of intramedullary tumor in which MRI and surgery had been performed. The subjects were 16 patients (21-75 years old, mean age: 45 years) whose tumor was surgically removed between 1991 and 1998. MRI was performed preoperatively, and T1-weighted images, T2-weighted images, and enhanced images were obtained. Angiography was also performed in some cases. The histological diagnosis based on the MRI findings before surgery were compared with the pathological diagnosis after the operation. In 9/16 cases (56%), the preoperative histological diagnosis based on the MR images was the same as the pathological diagnosis after the operation. In 8 of the 11 cases (73%) whose images showed clear tumor margins and well shaped the tumor, the tumors were completely removed. The concordance rate between the pathological diagnosis during and after the operation was 67%. Spinal cord ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iron overload has been described in patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis. The present study was undertaken to evaluate a rapid, noninvasive method for determination of skin iron by the technique of diagnostic x-ray spectrometry (DXS). Thirty-five patients receiving chronic hemodialysis treatment entered the study and were compared with 25 normal controls. Since pathological skin iron deposition occurs mainly at the dermal-epidermal junction in the basal cells of the epidermis, measurements were made in the thenar eminence representing mainly epidermal tissue (FeE), and in the forearm representative mainly of dermis (FeD). The mean +/- SD FeE iron concentrations were equivalent to 14.5 +/- 8.8 and 18.2 +/- 10.2 parts per million wet weight tissue (ppm) and both were significantly higher than in normal controls in which they averaged 9.2 +/- 2.5 ppm (P less than 0.005) and 10.2 +/- 3.2 ppm (P less than 0.001), respectively. There was ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leukodystrophies are inherited white matter diseases due to abnormalities occurring in myelin synthesis and/or maintenance. The most common types of these rare childhood conditions are represented by adrenoleukodystrophy, metachromatic leukodystrophy, Canavan's, Alexander's, Krabbe's, and Pelizaeus-Merzbacher's diseases. Most of them are lethal during childhood, with the exception of the adrenoleukodystrophy-adrenomyeloneuropathy complex, which sometimes, during its early phases, may be cured with a dietary therapy. The aims of this paper are: 1) the description of inheritance factors, pathogenesis, pathological and clinical findings of each of the most frequent childhood leukodystrophies; 2) the description of the most common patterns of these conditions on CT and MR imaging; 3) the evaluation of the diagnostic capabilities of these two imaging techniques and the comparison of their results. Finally, some of the therapies suggested for the ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In 65 adult rabbits of both sexes (2.5 to 6 kg) the following salvaging procedures were performed after simulated trauma: (1) Continuous suture line; (2) closure with fibrin sealant after temporary clamping; (3) hemisplenectomy with omental wrap; (4) suture fixation of fragments and slices of spleen tissue to the peritoneum; (5) suture fixation of spleen fragments to the omentum; (6) extraperitoneal subcutaneous transposition of spleen cubes. In addition, the likelihood of spontaneous splenosis was examined in a preliminary study involving 5 animals by introducing unattached spleen meal and fragments. Scanning was repeated 4 to 12 weeks postoperatively. The functional competence of minor parenchymal islands was also investigated with well counter measurements of organ and muscle tissue homogenates. Spontaneous splenosis after abdominal injuries was not found to be the rule. Salvaging procedures at the natural vascular hilus by sutures, fibrin sealant and hemisplenectomy produced ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The evaluate the signs of aortic intramural hematoma with helical CT and the diagnostic role of this technique in patients with this condition. It was reviewed the CT findings of 396 patients submitted to emergency examinations for suspected aortic dissection from 1995 to 1999. Only 18 patients (6 women and 12 men) had CT signs of aortic intramural hematoma. Helical CT studies were carried out with the following parameters: slice thickness 10 mm, reconstruction index 10, feed 1.5 mm, conventional algorithm with minimum values of 130 kV and 125mA. All patients were examined with dynamic contrast-enhanced CT, before and after a power injection of 130 mL ionic contrast material. It was studied: hematoma localization and longitudinal extension; thickness and density of aortic wall; presence and location of intimal calcifications; integrity of intimal wall; hemo mediastinum and/or hemo thorax. Aortic wall thickening appeared as a high density ...

KoreaScience (Korea)

Full Text Available

Science.gov (United States)

No abstract available.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

In 15 children (in age 2 weeks - 15 years) the computer tomography beside radiological examination was done because of mediastinal diseases. In all cases the computer tomography was valuable. In 4 cases obtained results have changed diagnostic conclusions. The examples are described showing the usefulness of the computer tomography as supplementary diagnostic method in mediastinal diseases in children.

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

For comparison of radiation exposure and risk in different diagnostic procedures for adults and children dose measurements and calculations of organs with special risk were carried out. Parameters of image formation influencing image quality as well as of exposure concerning infants and children are recorded and discussed as to radiation exposure and protection. Conclusions are drawn with respect to systems of image formation and to standards of examination and quality assurance.

UK PubMed Central (United Kingdom)

Seven hundred thirty-two female urogenital samples were collected for Chlamydia trachomatis testing by both the Sanofi Diagnostics Pasteur (Chaska, Minn.) Chlamydia Microplate EIA by the shortened protocol...Full Text Available

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Accelerators can not be improved without the development of adequate beam instruments and diagnostic tools. This year this statement is particularly right: a lot of contributions are dedicated to beam monitoring and to the design of new beam monitors based on original technologies. This document gathers about 100 contributions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The correlation between baryon number and strangeness elucidates the nature of strongly interacting matter. This diagnostic can be extracted theoretically from lattice QCD calculations and experimentally from event-by-event fluctuations. The analysis of present lattice results above the critical temperature severely limits the presence of q{bar q} bound states, thus supporting a picture of independent (quasi)quarks. Details may be found in [1].

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A new eddy current array probe has been implemented as a straightforward and promising technique for detection of outer diameter (OD) surface-breaking cracks on the extrados of feeder bends. The design is based on previous work performed at AECL, which had demonstrated that eddy current probes with laterally displaced transmit-receive coils can overcome some of the limitations of inspecting ferritic steel components for surface-breaking cracks. The Feeder Integrity Joint Program-CANDU Owners Group Inc. (FIJP-COG) Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Team members commissioned AECL to work in collaboration with the probe manufacturer ZETEC, to develop a field usable eddy current array probe. The objective was to acquire a technique with the following capabilities: fast scanning non-contact inspection technique for surface breaking discontinuities; full inspection of the bend extrados OD surface in a single ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diagnostic capability of Fuji Computed Radiography (FCR) of the chest was compared to the conventional radiography (CoR) using regular film-screen system. FCR utilizers imaging plates of scanning laser stimulated luminescence. Visibility of 14 structures of the chest radiography was evaluated by 3 radiologists in 100 pairs of FCR and CoR which were taken at the same time with the same exposure factors. FCR was superior to CoR especially in observation of the mediastinum and areas behind the heart and diaphragm. The minor fissure was better seen on CoR. Superiority of FCR to CoR was thought to be mainly due to the processed image of FCR, and the so-called normal image of FCR had little diagnostic advantage. Simulated abnormal densities: nodular, alveolar, and interstitial densities with a chest phantom, were made, and detectability of alteration of these densities on FCR and CoR was evaluated by 19 radiologists, using ROC curve analysis. FCR and ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy, complications, and therapeutic impact of CT-guided percutaneous core biopsies of pulmonary lesions. Material and methods: Seventy-nine patients underwent diagnostic CT-guided percutaneous core biopsies of pulmonary lesions between July 1995 and March 1999. Evaluation included corresponding clinical data, pathologic results, and therapeutic consequences. Results: There were 29 benign and 50 malignant lesions. Percutaneous core biopsy had an overall diagnostic accuracy of 95%. For malignant lesions, core biopsy was positive in 48 patients (sensitivity 96%), and for benign lesions, in 27 (sensitivity 93%). There were no false-positive findings. Pneumothoraces were observed in 19 patients (24%) and 4 of them required a chest drain (5%). There were no hematothoraces or major bleeding complications; however, postinterventional local hemorrhages were observed in 23 patients (29%). No hemoptysis ...

Science.gov (United States)

IntroductionBreast cancer is the most diagnosed and second leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. female population. An estimated 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers are inherited, caused by mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility genes (BRCA1/2). As many as 90% of all mutations are nonsense mutations, causing a truncated polypeptide product. A popular and low cost method of mutation detection has been the protein truncation test (PTT), where target regions of BRCA1/2 are PCR amplified, transcribed/translated in a cell-free protein synthesis system and analyzed for truncated polypeptides by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and autoradiography. We previously reported a novel High Throughput Solid-Phase PTT (HTS-PTT) based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format that eliminates the need for radioactivity, SDS-PAGE and subjective interpretation of the results. Here, we report the next generation HTS-PTT using ...

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The operation and safety of both fossil-fuel and nuclear power stations depend on adequate cooling of the thermal source involved. This is usually accomplished using liquid coolants that are forced through the high temperature regions by a pumping system; this fluid then transports the thermal energy to another section of the power station. However, fluids that undergo boiling during this process create vapor that can be detrimental, and influence safe operation of other system components. The behavior of this vapor, or void, as it is generated and transported through the system is critical in predicting the operational and safety performance. This study uses two advanced penetrating radiation techniques, Real Time Neutron Radiography (RTNR), and High Speed X-Ray Tomography (HS-XCT), to examine void generation and transport behavior in a flow boiling system. The geometries studied were tube side flow boiling in a cylindrical configuration, and a similar flow ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The main objective of the present study is twofold: (i) to analyze thermal loads of the geothermally and passively heated solar greenhouses; and (ii) to investigate wind energy utilization in greenhouse heating which is modeled as a hybrid solar assisted geothermal heat pump and a small wind turbine system which is separately installed in the Solar Energy Institute of Ege University, Izmir, Turkey. The study shows 3.13% of the total yearly electricity energy consumption of the modeled system (3568 kWh) or 12.53% of the total yearly electricity energy consumptions of secondary water pumping, brine pumping, and fan coil (892 kWh) can be met by using small wind turbine system (SWTS) theoretically. According to this result, modeled passive solar pre heating technique and combined with geothermal heat pump system (GHPS) and SWTS can be economically preferable to the conventional space heating/cooling systems used in agricultural and residential ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Power system stabilizers (PSSs) are used to enhance damping of power system oscillations through excitation control of synchronous generator. The objective of the PSS is to generate a stabilizing signal, which produces a damping torque component on the generator shaft. Conventional PSSs are designed with the phase compensation technique in the frequency domain and include the lead-lag blocks whose parameters are determined according to a linearized power system model. The performance of conventional PSSs (CPSSs) depends upon the generator operating point and the system parameters, but a reasonable level of robustness can be achieved depending on the tuning method. This paper presents a new three-dimensional PSS (3D PSS), which uses rotor speed deviation, rotor acceleration and load angle deviation as input signals. The 3D PSS attempts to return the generator to the state-space origin, based on the generator's trajectory in state-space ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper describes TENT, a system designed for integrating the various tools and parts of a CFD simulation system (CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics) and the simulation code itself in one interactive simulation environment. Initially the system was intended to be a TEstbed for Numerical Turbine simulation but it turned out that the approach was general enough to be suitable for more complex simulation tasks in the field of aircraft simulation. The paper will give a brief description of a CFD simulation system and its component interactions, which are the basis for describing the Component Architecture based on CORBA. This includes the control architecture using an event model and data flow considerations. Because most CFD codes use parallelization techniques based on Message Passing, a so called MIMD Object Abstraction is described in order to abstract the parallel computation threads to a single CORBA conform instance. The main goal for ...