High speed high stakes scoring rule: assessing the performance of a new scoring rule for digital asssesment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klinkenberg, S.; Kalz, M.; Ras, E.

2014-01-01

In this paper we will present the results of a three year subsidized research project investigating the performance of a new scoring rule for digital assessment. The scoring rule incorporates response time and accuracy in an adaptive environment. The project aimed to assess the validity and

Efficient high-performance ultrasound beamforming using oversampling

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Steven R.; Quick, Marshall K.; Morin, Marc A.; Anderson, R. C.; Desilets, Charles S.; Linnenbrink, Thomas E.; O'Donnell, Matthew

1998-05-01

High-performance and efficient beamforming circuitry is very important in large channel count clinical ultrasound systems. Current state-of-the-art digital systems using multi-bit analog to digital converters (A/Ds) have matured to provide exquisite image quality with moderate levels of integration. A simplified oversampling beamforming architecture has been proposed that may a low integration of delta-sigma A/Ds onto the same chip as digital delay and processing circuitry to form a monolithic ultrasound beamformer. Such a beamformer may enable low-power handheld scanners for high-end systems with very large channel count arrays. This paper presents an oversampling beamformer architecture that generates high-quality images using very simple; digitization, delay, and summing circuits. Additional performance may be obtained with this oversampled system for narrow bandwidth excitations by mixing the RF signal down in frequency to a range where the electronic signal to nose ratio of the delta-sigma A/D is optimized. An oversampled transmit beamformer uses the same delay circuits as receive and eliminates the need for separate transmit function generators.

Performance of digital integrated circuit technologies at very high temperatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prince, J.L.; Draper, B.L.; Rapp, E.A.; Kromberg, J.N.; Fitch, L.T.

1980-01-01

Results of investigations of the performance and reliability of digital bipolar and CMOS integrated circuits over the 25 to 340/sup 0/C range are reported. Included in these results are both parametric variation information and analysis of the functional failure mechanisms. Although most of the work was done using commercially available circuits (TTL and CMOS) and test chips from commercially compatible processes, some results of experimental simulations of dielectrically isolated CMOS are also discussed. It was found that commercial Schottky clamped TTL, and dielectrically isolated, low power Schottky-clamped TTL, functioned to junction temperatures in excess of 325/sup 0/C. Standard gold doped TTL functioned only to 250/sup 0/C, while commercial, isolated I/sup 2/L functioned to the range 250/sup 0/C to 275/sup 0/C. Commercial junction isolated CMOS, buffered and unbuffered, functioned to the range 280/sup 0/C to 310/sup 0/C/sup +/, depending on the manufacturer. Experimental simulations of simple dielectrically isolated CMOS integrated circuits, fabricated with heavier doping levels than normal, functioned to temperatures in excess of 340/sup 0/C. High temperature life testing of experimental, silicone-encapsulated simple TTL and CMOS integrated circuits have shown no obvious life limiting problems to date. No barrier to reliable functionality of TTL bipolar or CMOS integrated ciruits at temperatures in excess of 300/sup 0/C has been found.

Analysis of Valve Requirements for High-Efficiency Digital Displacement Fluid Power Motors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rømer, Daniel; Johansen, Per; Pedersen, Henrik C.

2013-01-01

Digital displacement fluid power motors have been shown to enable high-efficiency operation in a wide operation range, including the part load range where conventional fluid power motors suffers from poor efficiencies. The use of these digital displacement motors set new requirements for the valve...... transition time and flow-pressure coefficient are normalized, leading to a presentation of the general efficiency map of the digital displacement motor. Finally the performance of existing commercial valves with respect to digital motors is commented....

Digitally Programmable High-Q Voltage Mode Universal Filter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Singh

2013-12-01

Full Text Available A new low-voltage low-power CMOS current feedback amplifier (CFA is presented in this paper. This is used to realize a novel digitally programmable CFA (DPCFA using transistor arrays and MOS switches. The proposed realizations nearly allow rail-to-rail swing capability at all the ports. Class-AB output stage ensures low power dissipation and high current drive capability. The proposed CFA/ DPCFA operates at supply voltage of ±0.75 V and exhibits bandwidth better than 95 MHz. An application of the DPCFA to realize a novel voltage mode high-Q digitally programmable universal filter (UF is given. Performances of all the proposed circuits are verified by PSPICE simulation using TSMC 0.25μm technology parameters.

Digitalization of highly precise fluxgate magnetometers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cerman, Ales; Kuna, A.; Ripka, P.

2005-01-01

This paper describes the theory behind all three known ways of digitalizing the fluxgate magnetometers: analogue magnetometers with digitalized output using high resolution ADC, application of the delta-sigma modulation to the sensor feedback loop and fully digital signal detection. At present time...... the Delta-Sigma ADCs are mostly used for the digitalization of the highly precise fluxgate magnetorneters. The relevant part of the paper demonstrates some pitfalls of their application studied during the design of the magnetometer for the new Czech scientific satellite MIMOSA. The part discussing...... the application of the A-E modulation to the sensor feedback loop theoretically derives the main advantage of this method-increasing of the modulation order and shows its real potential compared to the analog magnetometer with consequential digitalization. The comparison is realized on the modular magnetometer...

FERMI: a digital Front End and Readout MIcrosystem for high resolution calorimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexanian, H.; Appelquist, G.; Bailly, P.

1995-01-01

We present a digital solution for the front-end electronics of high resolution calorimeters at future colliders. It is based on analogue signal compression, high speed A/D converters, a fully programmable pipeline and a digital signal processing (DSP) chain with local intelligence and system supervision. This digital solution is aimed at providing maximal front-end processing power by performing waveform analysis using DSP methods. For the system integration of the multichannel device a multi-chip, silicon-on-silicon multi-chip module (MCM) has been adopted. This solution allows a high level of integration of complex analogue and digital functions, with excellent flexibility in mixing technologies for the different functional blocks. This type of multichip integration provides a high degree of reliability and programmability at both the function and the system level, with the additional possibility of customising the microsystem to detector-specific requirements. For enhanced reliability in high radiation environments, fault tolerance strategies, i.e. redundancy, reconfigurability, majority voting and coding for error detection and correction, are integrated into the design. ((orig.))

Classified one-step high-radix signed-digit arithmetic units

Science.gov (United States)

Cherri, Abdallah K.

1998-08-01

High-radix number systems enable higher information storage density, less complexity, fewer system components, and fewer cascaded gates and operations. A simple one-step fully parallel high-radix signed-digit arithmetic is proposed for parallel optical computing based on new joint spatial encodings. This reduces hardware requirements and improves throughput by reducing the space-bandwidth produce needed. The high-radix signed-digit arithmetic operations are based on classifying the neighboring input digit pairs into various groups to reduce the computation rules. A new joint spatial encoding technique is developed to present both the operands and the computation rules. This technique increases the spatial bandwidth product of the spatial light modulators of the system. An optical implementation of the proposed high-radix signed-digit arithmetic operations is also presented. It is shown that our one-step trinary signed-digit and quaternary signed-digit arithmetic units are much simpler and better than all previously reported high-radix signed-digit techniques.

Digital pulse processing techniques for high resolution amplitude measurement of radiation detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singhai, P.; Roy, A.; Dhara, P.; Chatterjee, S.

2012-01-01

The digital pulse processing techniques for high resolution amplitude measurement of radiation detector pulse is an effective replacement of expensive and bulky analog processing as the digital domain offers higher channel density and at the same time it is cheaper. We have demonstrated a prototype digital setup with highspeed sampling ADC with sampling frequency of 80-125 MHz followed by series of IIR filters for pulse shaping in a trigger-less acquisition mode. The IIR filters, peak detection algorithm and the data write-out logic was written on VHDL and implemented on FPGA. We used CAMAC as the read out platform. In conjunction with the full hardware implementation we also used a mixed platform with VME digitizer card with raw-sample read out using C code. The rationale behind this mixed platform is to test out various filter algorithms quickly on C and also to benchmark the performance of the chip level ADCs against the standard commercial digitizer in terms of noise or resolution. The paper describes implementation of both the methods with performance obtained in both the methods. (author)

Performance of the Lep Time Digitizer (LTD)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berst, J.D.; Colledani, C.; Loukas, D.

1988-01-01

Performance of the fastbus digitizer to be used for signal digitizing in the DELPHI detectors is described. Two prototypes, a 128 multihit capability device and a 256 capability device were tested. Test results show that the digitizer works properly. A very good stability is achieved in the range of + 150 mV from the nominal (-2V) supply with the total number of lost hits of the order of 10 -6 either in veto or non veto mode. The optimum clock frequency strongly depends on the gates used as delay elements. With the gates of the first prototype, the optimum frequencies obtained are 117 MHz for the first prototype, and 112 MHz for the second. Output linearity is excellent

Total cost of performing analog-to-digital upgrades

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albrigo, T.

1993-01-01

The financial well-being of nuclear power plants in the United States is dependent on reducing costs. Rapid advances in industrial technology have created a conundrum for utility executives and their engineering staffs. Digital technology is being touted as beneficial in many ways; however, a number of significant issues have been raised regarding the adequacy and financial viability of digital systems in nuclear power plants. Actual or perceived problems with digital system design, development, and installation have caused significant financial losses for nuclear utilities. This paper provides a list of problems that must be considered in performing an analog-to-digital conversion or for doing a large digital upgrade. It is desirable that the full financial risks associated with these types of upgrades are considered. Specific problems encountered at Palo Verde nuclear generating station are reviewed to emphasize some of the problem areas

Comparing the performance of three digital forensic tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Cusack

Full Text Available Software used for digital forensic investigations requires to be verified against reliability and validity criteria. In this paper, three well known tools are tested against the mandatory features of digital forensic tools published by the National Institute of Standards (NIST. It was found that a variation in performance existed between the tools, with all having measureable areas of non performance. The findings have an impact on the professional use of the tools and illustrate the need for benchmarking and testing of the tools before use.

Advanced digital technology - improving nuclear power plant performance through maintainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, J.L.; Senechal, R.R.; Altenhein, G.D.; Harvey, R.P.

1998-01-01

In today's energy sector there is ever increasing pressure on utilities to operate power plants at high capacity factors. To ensure nuclear power is competitive into the next century, it is imperative that strategic design improvements be made to enhance the performance of nuclear power plants. There are a number of factors that affect a nuclear power plant's performance; lifetime maintenance is one of the major contributors. The maturing of digital technology has afforded ABB the opportunity to make significant design improvements in the area of maintainability. In keeping with ABB's evolutionary advanced nuclear plant design approach, digital technology has systematically been incorporated into the control and protection systems of the most recent Korean nuclear units in operation and under construction. One example of this was the multi-functional design team approach that was utilized for the development of ABB's Digital Plant Protection System (DPPS). The design team consisted of engineers, maintenance technicians, procurement specialists and manufacturing personnel in order to provide a complete perspective on all facets of the design. The governing design goals of increased reliability and safety, simplicity of design, use of off-the-shelf products and reduced need for periodic surveillance testing were met with the selection of proven ABB-Advant Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) as the heart of the DPPS. The application of digital PLC technology allows operation for extended periods without requiring routine maintenance or re-calibration. A well documented commercial dedication program approved by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) as part of the System 80+ TM Advanced Light Water Reactor Design Certification Program, allowed the use of off-the shelf products in the design of the safety protection system. In addition, a number of mechanical and electrical improvements were made which support maintainability. The result is a DPPS

Realizing the increased potential of an open-system high-definition digital projector design

Science.gov (United States)

Daniels, Reginald

1999-05-01

Modern video projectors are becoming more compact and capable. Various display technologies are very competitive and are delivering higher performance and more compact projectors to market at an ever quickening pace. However the end users are often left with the daunting task of integrating the 'off the self projectors' into a previously existing system. As the projectors become more digitally enhanced, there will be a series of designs, and the digital projector technology matures. The design solutions will be restricted by the state of the art at the time of manufacturing. In order to allow the most growth and performance for a given price, many design decisions will be made and revisited over a period of years or decades. A modular open digital system design concept is indeed a major challenge of the future high definition digital displays for al applications.

Developments in gamma-ray spectrometry: systems, software, and methods-II. 4. High-Performance Digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michael Momayezi

2001-01-01

use is to correct for the effect of varying charge collection times when measuring gamma-ray energies using large-volume Ge detectors. The substantial charge collection times in a large Ge detector cause ballistic deficit when used with a resistive feedback preamplifier. Conventional Gaussian shaping with long time constants can reduce the resulting spectral broadening to an insignificant level at the great expense of limiting the high count rate capability of a big Ge detector. Pulse shape analysis can be used to accurately correct for the preamplifier ballistic deficit independent of the filter time. As a result, the energy resolution of a big Ge detector at high count rates will be degraded only by the noise performance of its preamplifier. Pulse rise time analysis can be fruitfully applied to hemispherical CdZnTe detectors with a small charge-collecting electrode. In CdZnTe electrons travel fast and are collected with good efficiency over appreciable distances. Holes, on the other hand, travel slowly and are collected with poor efficiency. Hemispherical detectors use the small-pixel effect to reduce their intrinsic sensitivity to this effect. Yet, a pulse rise time analysis can provide a significant improvement in spectral resolution by eliminating events in which the gamma ray converts close to the collecting electrode. Finally, pulse rise time analysis can be used to implement an extremely efficient pileup rejecter, with an equivalent double pulse resolution much less than the trigger filter time or the sampling time of the wave form digitizer. (authors)

High Density Digital Data Storage System

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Kenneth D., II; Gray, David L.; Rowland, Wayne D.

1991-01-01

The High Density Digital Data Storage System was designed to provide a cost effective means for storing real-time data from the field-deployable digital acoustic measurement system. However, the high density data storage system is a standalone system that could provide a storage solution for many other real time data acquisition applications. The storage system has inputs for up to 20 channels of 16-bit digital data. The high density tape recorders presently being used in the storage system are capable of storing over 5 gigabytes of data at overall transfer rates of 500 kilobytes per second. However, through the use of data compression techniques the system storage capacity and transfer rate can be doubled. Two tape recorders have been incorporated into the storage system to produce a backup tape of data in real-time. An analog output is provided for each data channel as a means of monitoring the data as it is being recorded.

Operational performance of a bunch by bunch digital damper in the Fermilab Main Injector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamson, P.; Ashmanskas, W.J.; Foster, G.W.; Hansen, S.; Marchionni, A.; Nicklaus, D.; Semenov, A.; Wildman, D.; Kang, H.

2005-01-01

We have implemented a transverse and longitudinal bunch by bunch digital damper system in the Fermilab Main Injector, using a single digital board for all 3 coordinates. The system has been commissioned over the last year, and is now operational in all MI cycles, damping beam bunched at both 53MHz and 2.5MHz. We describe the performance of this system both for collider operations and high-intensity running for the NuMI project

Two high accuracy digital integrators for Rogowski current transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Pan-dian; Li, Hong-bin; Li, Zhen-hua

2014-01-01

The Rogowski current transducers have been widely used in AC current measurement, but their accuracy is mainly subject to the analog integrators, which have typical problems such as poor long-term stability and being susceptible to environmental conditions. The digital integrators can be another choice, but they cannot obtain a stable and accurate output for the reason that the DC component in original signal can be accumulated, which will lead to output DC drift. Unknown initial conditions can also result in integral output DC offset. This paper proposes two improved digital integrators used in Rogowski current transducers instead of traditional analog integrators for high measuring accuracy. A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) feedback controller and an attenuation coefficient have been applied in improving the Al-Alaoui integrator to change its DC response and get an ideal frequency response. For the special design in the field of digital signal processing, the improved digital integrators have better performance than analog integrators. Simulation models are built for the purpose of verification and comparison. The experiments prove that the designed integrators can achieve higher accuracy than analog integrators in steady-state response, transient-state response, and temperature changing condition.

Performance Evaluation of Digital Coherent Receivers for Phase-Modulated Radio-Over-Fiber Links

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caballero Jambrina, Antonio; Zibar, Darko; Tafur Monroy, Idelfonso

2011-01-01

The performance of optical phase-modulated (PM) radio-over-fiber (RoF) links assisted with coherent detection and digital signal processing (PM-Coh) is analyzed and experimentally demonstrated for next-generation wireless-over-fiber systems. PM-Coh offers high linearity for transparent transport ...

The asynchronous rapid single-flux quantum electronics ─ a promising alternative for the development of high-performance digital circuits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Terzieva

2008-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate the application of the asynchronous logic approach for the realization of ultra high-speed digital electronics with high complexity. We evaluate the possible physical, technological, and schematical origins of restrictions limiting such an application, and propose solutions for their overcoming. Although our considerations are based on the rapid single-flux quantum technique, the conclusions derived can be generalized about any type of digital information coding.

A low-cost, high-performance, digital signal processor-based lock-in amplifier capable of measuring multiple frequency sweeps simultaneously

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sonnaillon, Maximiliano Osvaldo; Bonetto, Fabian Jose

2005-01-01

A high-performance digital lock-in amplifier implemented in a low-cost digital signal processor (DSP) board is described. This lock in is capable of measuring simultaneously multiple frequencies that change in time as frequency sweeps (chirps). The used 32-bit DSP has enough computing power to generate N=3 simultaneous reference signals and accurately measure the N=3 responses, operating as three lock ins connected in parallel to a linear system. The lock in stores the measured values in memory until they are downloaded to the a personal computer (PC). The lock in works in stand-alone mode and can be programmed and configured through the PC serial port. Downsampling and multiple filter stages were used in order to obtain a sharp roll off and a long time constant in the filters. This makes measurements possible in presence of high-noise levels. Before each measurement, the lock in performs an autocalibration that measures the frequency response of analog output and input circuitry in order to compensate for the departure from ideal operation. Improvements from previous lock-in implementations allow measuring the frequency response of a system in a short time. Furthermore, the proposed implementation can measure how the frequency response changes with time, a characteristic that is very important in our biotechnological application. The number of simultaneous components that the lock in can generate and measure can be extended, without reprogramming, by only using other DSPs of the same family that are code compatible and work at higher clock frequencies

A low-cost, high-performance, digital signal processor-based lock-in amplifier capable of measuring multiple frequency sweeps simultaneously

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sonnaillon, Maximiliano Osvaldo; Bonetto, Fabian Jose [Laboratorio de Cavitacion y Biotecnologia, San Carlos de Bariloche (8400) (Argentina)

2005-02-01

A high-performance digital lock-in amplifier implemented in a low-cost digital signal processor (DSP) board is described. This lock in is capable of measuring simultaneously multiple frequencies that change in time as frequency sweeps (chirps). The used 32-bit DSP has enough computing power to generate N=3 simultaneous reference signals and accurately measure the N=3 responses, operating as three lock ins connected in parallel to a linear system. The lock in stores the measured values in memory until they are downloaded to the a personal computer (PC). The lock in works in stand-alone mode and can be programmed and configured through the PC serial port. Downsampling and multiple filter stages were used in order to obtain a sharp roll off and a long time constant in the filters. This makes measurements possible in presence of high-noise levels. Before each measurement, the lock in performs an autocalibration that measures the frequency response of analog output and input circuitry in order to compensate for the departure from ideal operation. Improvements from previous lock-in implementations allow measuring the frequency response of a system in a short time. Furthermore, the proposed implementation can measure how the frequency response changes with time, a characteristic that is very important in our biotechnological application. The number of simultaneous components that the lock in can generate and measure can be extended, without reprogramming, by only using other DSPs of the same family that are code compatible and work at higher clock frequencies.

Mediaprocessors in medical imaging for high performance and flexibility

Science.gov (United States)

Managuli, Ravi; Kim, Yongmin

2002-05-01

New high performance programmable processors, called mediaprocessors, have been emerging since the early 1990s for various digital media applications, such as digital TV, set-top boxes, desktop video conferencing, and digital camcorders. Modern mediaprocessors, e.g., TI's TMS320C64x and Hitachi/Equator Technologies MAP-CA, can offer high performance utilizing both instruction-level and data-level parallelism. During this decade, with continued performance improvement and cost reduction, we believe that the mediaprocessors will become a preferred choice in designing imaging and video systems due to their flexibility in incorporating new algorithms and applications via programming and faster-time-to-market. In this paper, we will evaluate the suitability of these mediaprocessors in medical imaging. We will review the core routines of several medical imaging modalities, such as ultrasound and DR, and present how these routines can be mapped to mediaprocessors and their resultant performance. We will analyze the architecture of several leading mediaprocessors. By carefully mapping key imaging routines, such as 2D convolution, unsharp masking, and 2D FFT, to the mediaprocessor, we have been able to achieve comparable (if not better) performance to that of traditional hardwired approaches. Thus, we believe that future medical imaging systems will benefit greatly from these advanced mediaprocessors, offering significantly increased flexibility and adaptability, reducing the time-to-market, and improving the cost/performance ratio compared to the existing systems while meeting the high computing requirements.

A high speed, wide dynamic range digitizer circuit for photomultiplier tubes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yarema, R.J.; Foster, G.W.; Knickerbocker, K.; Sarraj, M.; Tschirhart, R.; Whitmore, J.; Zimmerman, T. [Fermi National Accelerator Lab., Batavia, IL (United States); Lindgren, M. [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Physics Dept.

1994-06-01

High energy physics experiments running at high interaction rates frequently require long record lengths for determining a level 1 trigger. The easiest way to provide a long event record is by digital means. In applications requiring wide dynamic range, however, digitization of an analog signal to obtain the digital record has been impossible due to lack of high speed, wide range FADCs. One such application is the readout of thousands of photomultiplier tubes in fixed target and colliding beam experiment calorimeters. A circuit has been designed for digitizing PMT signals over a wide dynamic range (17--18 bits) with 8 bits of resolution at rates up to 53 MHz. Output from the circuit is in a floating point format with a 4 bit exponent and an 8 bit mantissa. The heart of the circuit is a full custom integrated circuit called the QIE (Charge Integrator and Encoder). The design of the QIE and associated circuitry reported here permits operation over a 17 bit dynamic range. Tests of the circuit with a PMT input and a pulsed laser have provided respectable results with little off line correction. Performance of the circuit for demanding applications can be significantly enhanced with additional off line correction. Circuit design, packaging issues, and test results of a multirange device are presented for the first time.

A high speed, wide dynamic range digitizer circuit for photomultiplier tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yarema, R.J.; Foster, G.W.; Knickerbocker, K.; Sarraj, M.; Tschirhart, R.; Whitmore, J.; Zimmerman, T.; Lindgren, M.

1994-06-01

High energy physics experiments running at high interaction rates frequently require long record lengths for determining a level 1 trigger. The easiest way to provide a long event record is by digital means. In applications requiring wide dynamic range, however, digitization of an analog signal to obtain the digital record has been impossible due to lack of high speed, wide range FADCs. One such application is the readout of thousands of photomultiplier tubes in fixed target and colliding beam experiment calorimeters. A circuit has been designed for digitizing PMT signals over a wide dynamic range (17--18 bits) with 8 bits of resolution at rates up to 53 MHz. Output from the circuit is in a floating point format with a 4 bit exponent and an 8 bit mantissa. The heart of the circuit is a full custom integrated circuit called the QIE (Charge Integrator and Encoder). The design of the QIE and associated circuitry reported here permits operation over a 17 bit dynamic range. Tests of the circuit with a PMT input and a pulsed laser have provided respectable results with little off line correction. Performance of the circuit for demanding applications can be significantly enhanced with additional off line correction. Circuit design, packaging issues, and test results of a multirange device are presented for the first time

High quality digital holographic reconstruction on analog film

Science.gov (United States)

Nelsen, B.; Hartmann, P.

2017-05-01

High quality real-time digital holographic reconstruction, i.e. at 30 Hz frame rates, has been at the forefront of research and has been hailed as the holy grail of display systems. While these efforts have produced a fascinating array of computer algorithms and technology, many applications of reconstructing high quality digital holograms do not require such high frame rates. In fact, applications such as 3D holographic lithography even require a stationary mask. Typical devices used for digital hologram reconstruction are based on spatial-light-modulator technology and this technology is great for reconstructing arbitrary holograms on the fly; however, it lacks the high spatial resolution achievable by its analog counterpart, holographic film. Analog holographic film is therefore the method of choice for reconstructing highquality static holograms. The challenge lies in taking a static, high-quality digitally calculated hologram and effectively writing it to holographic film. We have developed a theoretical system based on a tunable phase plate, an intensity adjustable high-coherence laser and a slip-stick based piezo rotation stage to effectively produce a digitally calculated hologram on analog film. The configuration reproduces the individual components, both the amplitude and phase, of the hologram in the Fourier domain. These Fourier components are then individually written on the holographic film after interfering with a reference beam. The system is analogous to writing angularly multiplexed plane waves with individual component phase control.

Toward High-Performance Communications Interfaces for Science Problem Solving

Science.gov (United States)

Oviatt, Sharon L.; Cohen, Adrienne O.

2010-12-01

From a theoretical viewpoint, educational interfaces that facilitate communicative actions involving representations central to a domain can maximize students' effort associated with constructing new schemas. In addition, interfaces that minimize working memory demands due to the interface per se, for example by mimicking existing non-digital work practice, can preserve students' attentional focus on their learning task. In this research, we asked the question: What type of interface input capabilities provide best support for science problem solving in both low- and high- performing students? High school students' ability to solve a diverse range of biology problems was compared over longitudinal sessions while they used: (1) hardcopy paper and pencil (2) a digital paper and pen interface (3) pen tablet interface, and (4) graphical tablet interface. Post-test evaluations revealed that time to solve problems, meta-cognitive control, solution correctness, and memory all were significantly enhanced when using the digital pen and paper interface, compared with tablet interfaces. The tangible pen and paper interface also was the only alternative that significantly facilitated skill acquisition in low-performing students. Paradoxically, all students nonetheless believed that the tablet interfaces provided best support for their performance, revealing a lack of self-awareness about how to use computational tools to best advantage. Implications are discussed for how pen interfaces can be optimized for future educational purposes, and for establishing technology fluency curricula to improve students' awareness of the impact of digital tools on their performance.

Method and apparatus for performing digital intravenous subtraction angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stein, J.A.

1986-01-01

This invention relates to digital intravenous subtraction angiography (DISA), and more particularly concerns novel apparatus and techniques for providing high resolution angiograms with equipment that coacts with existing standard medical X-ray equipment. A typical medical X-ray generator provides low mA, continuous X-ray exposures illuminating a standard image intensifier producing an image scanned by a conventional television camera to produce a video signal. An analog-to-digital converter digitizes the signal, and adding means adds the digital frame signals together in real time to provide an intermediate digital signal representing the addition of 5 to 20 frames. Digital storage means store the intermediate image signals. Preferably there are two system memories with means for summing a subsequent intermediate image in the second memory while a previously-formed intermediate image is being transferred to disk storage

Digital mammography with high-resolution storage plates (CR) versus full-field digital mammography (CCD) (DR) for microcalcifications and focal lesions - a retrospective clinical histologic analysis (n = 102)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulz-Wendtland, R.; Lell, M.; Wenkel, E.; Boehner, C.; Dassel, M.S.; Bautz, W.

2005-01-01

Purpose: to determine the diagnostic accuracy of microcalcifications and focal lesions in a retrospective clinical-histological study using high-resolution digital phosphor storage plates (hard copy) and full-field digital mammography (hard copy). Materials and methods: from May 2003 to September 2003, 102 patients underwent digital storage plate mammography (CR), using a mammography unit (Mammomat 3000 N, Siemens) in combination with a high resolution (9 lp/mm) digital storage phosphor plate system (pixel size 50 μm) (Fuji/Siemens). After diagnosis and preoperative wire localization, full-field digital mammography (CCD) (DR) was performed with the same exposure parameters. The full-field digital mammography used a CCD-detector (SenoScan) (fisher imaging) with a resolution of 10 Ip/mm and a pixel size of 50 μm. Five investigators determined the diagnosis (BI-RADS trademark I-V) retrospectively after the operation from randomly distributed mediolateral views (hard copy reading). These results were correlated with the final histology. Results: the diagnostic accuracy of digital storage plate mammography (CR) and full-field digital mammography (CCD) (DR) was 73% and 71% for all findings (n = 102), 73% and 71% for microcalcifications (n = 51), and 72% and 70% for focal lesions (n = 51). The overall results showed no difference. Conclusion: our findings indicate the equivalence of high-resolution digital phosphor storage plate mammography (CR) and full-field digital mammography (CCD) (DR). (orig.)

High-performance computing for airborne applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quinn, Heather M.; Manuzatto, Andrea; Fairbanks, Tom; Dallmann, Nicholas; Desgeorges, Rose

2010-01-01

Recently, there has been attempts to move common satellite tasks to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAVs are significantly cheaper to buy than satellites and easier to deploy on an as-needed basis. The more benign radiation environment also allows for an aggressive adoption of state-of-the-art commercial computational devices, which increases the amount of data that can be collected. There are a number of commercial computing devices currently available that are well-suited to high-performance computing. These devices range from specialized computational devices, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and digital signal processors (DSPs), to traditional computing platforms, such as microprocessors. Even though the radiation environment is relatively benign, these devices could be susceptible to single-event effects. In this paper, we will present radiation data for high-performance computing devices in a accelerated neutron environment. These devices include a multi-core digital signal processor, two field-programmable gate arrays, and a microprocessor. From these results, we found that all of these devices are suitable for many airplane environments without reliability problems.

Digital Image Correlation for Performance Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Palaviccini, Miguel; Turner, Dan; Herzberg, Michael

2016-01-01

Evaluating the health of a mechanism requires more than just a binary evaluation of whether an operation was completed. It requires analyzing more comprehensive, full-field data. Health monitoring is a process of non-destructively identifying characteristics that indicate the fitness of an engineered component. In order to monitor unit health in a production setting, an automated test system must be created to capture the motion of mechanism parts in a real-time and non-intrusive manner. One way to accomplish this is by using high-speed video and Digital Image Correlation (DIC). In this approach, individual frames of the video are analyzed to track the motion of mechanism components. The derived performance metrics allow for state-of-health monitoring and improved fidelity of mechanism modeling. The results are in-situ state-of-health identification and performance prediction. This paper introduces basic concepts of this test method, and discusses two main themes: the use of laser marking to add fiducial patterns to mechanism components, and new software developed to track objects with complex shapes, even as they move behind obstructions. Finally, the implementation of these tests into an automated tester is discussed.

The digital Emily project: achieving a photorealistic digital actor.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Oleg; Rogers, Mike; Lambeth, William; Chiang, Jen-Yuan; Ma, Wan-Chun; Wang, Chuan-Chang; Debevec, Paul

2010-01-01

The Digital Emily Project uses advanced face scanning, character rigging, performance capture, and compositing to achieve one of the world's first photorealistic digital facial performances. The project scanned the geometry and reflectance of actress Emily O'Brien's face in 33 poses, showing different emotions, gaze directions, and lip formations in a light stage. These high-resolution scans-accurate to skin pores and fine wrinkles-became the basis for building a blendshape-based facial-animation rig whose expressions closely matched the scans. The blendshape rig drove displacement maps to add dynamic surface detail. A video-based facial animation system animated the face according to the performance in a reference video, and the digital face was tracked onto the video's motion and rendered under the same illumination. The result was a realistic 3D digital facial performance credited as one of the first to cross the "uncanny valley" between animated and fully human performances.

Quality assurance in digital radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Busch, H.P.; Lehmann, K.J.

1989-01-01

At present, there is no standard way of evaluating performance characteristics of digital radiography systems. Continuous measurements of performance parameters are necessary in order to obtain images of high quality. Parameters of quality assurance in digital radiography, which can be evaluated with simple, quick methods, are spatial resolution, low-contrast detectability, dynamic range and exposure dose. Spatial resolution was determined by a lead bar pattern, whereas the other parameters were measured by commercially available phantoms. Performance measurements of 10 digital subtraction angiography (DSA) units and one digital radiography system for unsubtracted digital radiography were assessed. From these results, recommendations for performance parameter levels will be discussed. (author)

Digital Technologies and performative pedagogies: Repositioning the visual

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathryn Grushka

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Images are becoming a primary means of information presentation in the digitized global media and digital technologies have emancipated and democratized the image. This allows for the reproduction and manipulation of images on a scale never seen before and opens new possibilities for teachers schooled in critical visuality. This paper reports on an innovative pre-service teacher training course in which a cross-curricula cohort of secondary teachers employed visual performative competencies to produce a series of learning objects on a digital platform. The resulting intertextual narratives demonstrate that the manipulation of image and text offered by digital technologies create a powerful vehicle for investigating knowledge and understandings, evolving new meaning and awakening latent creativity in the use of images for meaning making. This research informs the New Literacies and multimodal fields of enquiry and argues that visuality is integral to any pedagogy that purports to be relevant to the contemporary learner. It argues that the visual has been significantly under-valued as a conduit for knowledge acquisition and meaning making in the digital environment and supports the claim that critical literacy, interactivity, experimentation and production are vital to attaining the tenets of transformative education (Buckingham, 2007; Walsh, 2007; Cope & Kalantzis, 2008.

The Impact of Digital Skills on Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Performance Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Pagani, Laura; Argentin, Gianluca; Gui, Marco; Stanca, Luca

2016-01-01

Digital skills are increasingly important for labour market outcomes and social participation. Do they also matter for academic performance? This paper investigates the effects of digital literacy on educational outcomes by merging data from the Italian National Assessment in secondary schools with an original data-set on performance tests of…

High-performance digital triggering system for phase-controlled rectifiers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsen, R.E.

1983-01-01

The larger power supplies used to power accelerator magnets are most commonly polyphase rectifiers using phase control. While this method is capable of handling impressive amounts of power, it suffers from one serious disadvantage, namely that of subharmonic ripple. Since the stability of the stored beam depends to a considerable extent on the regulation of the current in the bending magnets, subharmonic ripple, especially that of low frequency, can have a detrimental effect. At the NSLS, we have constructed a 12-pulse, phase control system using digital signal processing techniques that essentially eliminates subharmonic ripple

Calibration of high resolution digital camera based on different photogrammetric methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamid, N F A; Ahmad, A

2014-01-01

This paper presents method of calibrating high-resolution digital camera based on different configuration which comprised of stereo and convergent. Both methods are performed in the laboratory and in the field calibration. Laboratory calibration is based on a 3D test field where a calibration plate of dimension 0.4 m × 0.4 m with grid of targets at different height is used. For field calibration, it uses the same concept of 3D test field which comprised of 81 target points located on a flat ground and the dimension is 9 m × 9 m. In this study, a non-metric high resolution digital camera called Canon Power Shot SX230 HS was calibrated in the laboratory and in the field using different configuration for data acquisition. The aim of the calibration is to investigate the behavior of the internal digital camera whether all the digital camera parameters such as focal length, principal point and other parameters remain the same or vice-versa. In the laboratory, a scale bar is placed in the test field for scaling the image and approximate coordinates were used for calibration process. Similar method is utilized in the field calibration. For both test fields, the digital images were acquired within short period using stereo and convergent configuration. For field calibration, aerial digital images were acquired using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system. All the images were processed using photogrammetric calibration software. Different calibration results were obtained for both laboratory and field calibrations. The accuracy of the results is evaluated based on standard deviation. In general, for photogrammetric applications and other applications the digital camera must be calibrated for obtaining accurate measurement or results. The best method of calibration depends on the type of applications. Finally, for most applications the digital camera is calibrated on site, hence, field calibration is the best method of calibration and could be employed for obtaining accurate

Experimental Adaptive Digital Performance Monitoring for Optical DP-QPSK Coherent Receiver

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borkowski, Robert; Zhang, Xu; Zibar, Darko

2011-01-01

We report on a successful experimental demonstration of a digital optical performance monitoring (OPM) yielding satisfactory estimation accuracy along with adaptive impairment equalization. No observable penalty is measured when equalizer is driven by monitoring module.......We report on a successful experimental demonstration of a digital optical performance monitoring (OPM) yielding satisfactory estimation accuracy along with adaptive impairment equalization. No observable penalty is measured when equalizer is driven by monitoring module....

Fast digitization and digital receiver technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimball, Ralph C.

2002-01-01

The potentially lucrative wireless market has led to technological advances in mixed signal devices such as high speed, high resolution A/D and D/A converters. This same market has also driven the development of high performance multi-channel digital receiver and digital transmitter ICs. Similarly, advances in semiconductor processes, coupled with the need for reduced time-to-market, has led to the development of large, enhanced performance, in-circuit programmable logic devices. A review of the key characteristics of these mixed-signal, signal processing and programmable logic devices is presented. The application of these devices and technologies to the instrumentation of Accelerators and Storage Rings is discussed and presented by way of examples. Issues relating to the requirements associated with real-time processing, I/O throughput, reconfigurability, reliability, maintainability and packaging requirements are also addressed

Bounds on the performance of a class of digital communication systems

Science.gov (United States)

Polk, D. R.; Gupta, S. C.; Cohn, D. L.

1973-01-01

Bounds on the capacity of a class of digital communication channels are derived. Equating the bounds on capacity to rate-distortion functions of (typical) sources in turn produces bounds on the performance of a class of digital communication systems. For ratios of squared quantization level to noise variance much less than one, the power requirements for this class of digital communication systems are shown to be within approximately 3 dB of the theoretical optimum.

High-speed and high-resolution analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van de Plassche, R.J.

1989-01-01

Analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters are important building blocks connecting the analog world of transducers with the digital world of computing, signal processing and data acquisition systems. In chapter two the converter as part of a system is described. Requirements of analog

JMorph: Software for performing rapid morphometric measurements on digital images of fossil assemblages

Science.gov (United States)

Lelièvre, Peter G.; Grey, Melissa

2017-08-01

Quantitative morphometric analyses of form are widely used in palaeontology, especially for taxonomic and evolutionary research. These analyses can involve several measurements performed on hundreds or even thousands of samples. Performing measurements of size and shape on large assemblages of macro- or microfossil samples is generally infeasible or impossible with traditional instruments such as vernier calipers. Instead, digital image processing software is required to perform measurements via suitable digital images of samples. Many software packages exist for morphometric analyses but there is not much available for the integral stage of data collection, particularly for the measurement of the outlines of samples. Some software exists to automatically detect the outline of a fossil sample from a digital image. However, automatic outline detection methods may perform inadequately when samples have incomplete outlines or images contain poor contrast between the sample and staging background. Hence, a manual digitization approach may be the only option. We are not aware of any software packages that are designed specifically for efficient digital measurement of fossil assemblages with numerous samples, especially for the purposes of manual outline analysis. Throughout several previous studies, we have developed a new software tool, JMorph, that is custom-built for that task. JMorph provides the means to perform many different types of measurements, which we describe in this manuscript. We focus on JMorph's ability to rapidly and accurately digitize the outlines of fossils. JMorph is freely available from the authors.

Physical evaluation of prototype high-performance anti-scatter grids: potential for improved digital radiographic image quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fetterly, Kenneth A; Schueler, Beth A

2009-01-01

Grid evaluation for a screen-film x-ray system has typically included independent measurement of the opposing contrast improvement factor and Bucky factor. Neither of these metrics, however, is appropriate when assessing grid performance in a digital imaging environment. For digital radiographic systems, the benefit of an anti-scatter grid is well characterized by the quantum signal-to-noise ratio improvement factor (K SNR ) provided by the grid. The purpose of this work was to measure K SNR of prototype grids designed for use with digital radiographic systems. The prototype grids had 5 mm tall lead septa, fiber interspace material, line rate N = 25 and 36 cm -1 and ratio r = 15 and 21, respectively. The primary and scatter transmission properties of the grids were measured, and K SNR was evaluated over a phantom thickness range of 10-50 cm. To provide a comparison, the K SNR of similarly constructed N44r15 and N80r15 grids is also reported. K SNR of the prototype grids ranged from 1.4 for the 10 cm phantom to 2.4 for the 50 cm phantom. For the thickest phantom, the SNR improvement factor of the prototype grids was 18-83% higher than that of the N44r15 and N80r15 grids, respectively. (note)

Signal processing for high granularity calorimeter: amplification, filtering, memorization and digitalization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Royer, L; Manen, S; Gay, P, E-mail: royer@clermont.in2p3.f [Clermont Universite, Universite Blaise Pascal, CNRS/IN2P3, LPC, BP 10448, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand (France)

2010-12-15

A very-front-end electronics dedicated to high granularity calorimeters has been designed and its performance measured. This electronics performs the amplification of the charge delivered by the detector thanks to a low-noise Charge Sensitive Amplifier. The dynamic range is improved using a bandpass filter based on a Gated Integrator. Studying its weighting function, we show that this filter is more efficient than standard CRRC shaper, thanks to the integration time which can be expand near the bunch interval time, whereas the peaking time of the CRRC shaper is limited to pile-up consideration. Moreover, the Gated Integrator performs intrinsically the analog memorization of the signal before its delayed digital conversion. The analog-to-digital conversion is performed through a 12-bit cyclic ADC specifically developed for this application. The very-front-end channel has been fabricated using a 0.35 {mu}m CMOS technology. Measurements show a global non-linearity better than 0.1%. The Equivalent Noise Charge at the input of the channel is evaluated to 1.8 fC, compare to the maximum input charge of 10 pC. The power consumption of the complete channel is limited to 6.5 mW.

High-performance electronics for time-of-flight PET systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choong, W-S; Peng, Q; Vu, C Q; Turko, B T; Moses, W W

2013-01-01

We have designed and built a high-performance readout electronics system for time-of-flight positron emission tomography (TOF PET) cameras. The electronics architecture is based on the electronics for a commercial whole-body PET camera (Siemens/CPS Cardinal electronics), modified to improve the timing performance. The fundamental contributions in the electronics that can limit the timing resolution include the constant fraction discriminator (CFD), which converts the analog electrical signal from the photo-detector to a digital signal whose leading edge is time-correlated with the input signal, and the time-to-digital converter (TDC), which provides a time stamp for the CFD output. Coincident events are identified by digitally comparing the values of the time stamps. In the Cardinal electronics, the front-end processing electronics are performed by an Analog subsection board, which has two application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), each servicing a PET block detector module. The ASIC has a built-in CFD and TDC. We found that a significant degradation in the timing resolution comes from the ASIC's CFD and TDC. Therefore, we have designed and built an improved Analog subsection board that replaces the ASIC's CFD and TDC with a high-performance CFD (made with discrete components) and TDC (using the CERN high-performance TDC ASIC). The improved Analog subsection board is used in a custom single-ring LSO-based TOF PET camera. The electronics system achieves a timing resolution of 60 ps FWHM. Prototype TOF detector modules are read out with the electronics system and give coincidence timing resolutions of 259 ps FWHM and 156 ps FWHM for detector modules coupled to LSO and LaBr 3 crystals respectively.

Digital signal processors for cryogenic high-resolution x-ray detector readout

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Friedrich, Stephan; Drury, Owen B.; Bechstein, Sylke; Hennig, Wolfgang; Momayezi, Michael

2003-01-01

We are developing fast digital signal processors (DSPs) to read out superconducting high-resolution X-ray detectors with on-line pulse processing. For superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) detector read-out, the DSPs offer online filtering, rise time discrimination and pile-up rejection. Compared to analog pulse processing, DSP readout somewhat degrades the detector resolution, but improves the spectral purity of the detector response. We discuss DSP performance with our 9-channel STJ array for synchrotron-based high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. (author)

Clinical performance evaluation of total protein measurement by digital refractometry and characterization of non-protein solute interferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua J.H. Hunsaker

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Refractometric methods to measure total protein (TP in serum and plasma specimens have been replaced by automated biuret methods in virtually all routine clinical testing. A subset of laboratories, however, still report using refractometry to measure TP in conjunction with serum protein electrophoresis. The objective of this study was therefore to conduct a modern performance evaluation of a digital refractometer for TP measurement. Design and methods: Performance evaluation of a MISCO Palm Abbe™ digital refractometer was conducted through device familiarization, carryover, precision, accuracy, linearity, analytical sensitivity, analytical specificity, and reference interval verification. Comparison assays included a manual refractometer and an automated biuret assay. Results: Carryover risk was eliminated using a demineralized distilled water (ddH2O wash step. Precision studies demonstrated overall imprecision of 2.2% CV (low TP pool and 0.5% CV (high TP pool. Accuracy studies demonstrated correlation to both manual refractometry and the biuret method. An overall positive bias (+5.0% was observed versus the biuret method. On average, outlier specimens had an increased triglyceride concentration. Linearity was verified using mixed dilutions of: a low and high concentration patient pools, or b albumin-spiked ddH2O and high concentration patient pool. Decreased recovery was observed using ddH2O dilutions at low TP concentrations. Significant interference was detected at high concentrations of glucose (>267 mg/dL and triglycerides (>580 mg/dL. Current laboratory reference intervals for TP were verified. Conclusions: Performance characteristics of this digital refractometer were validated in a clinical laboratory setting. Biuret method remains the preferred assay for TP measurement in routine clinical analyses. Keywords: Refractometry, Digital refractometry, Total protein, Biuret, Serum protein electrophoresis, Monoclonal

The performance and limitations of FPGA-based digital servos for atomic, molecular, and optical physics experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Shi Jing; Fajeau, Emma; Liu, Lin Qiao; Jones, David J; Madison, Kirk W

2018-02-01

In this work, we address the advantages, limitations, and technical subtleties of employing field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based digital servos for high-bandwidth feedback control of lasers in atomic, molecular, and optical physics experiments. Specifically, we provide the results of benchmark performance tests in experimental setups including noise, bandwidth, and dynamic range for two digital servos built with low and mid-range priced FPGA development platforms. The digital servo results are compared to results obtained from a commercially available state-of-the-art analog servo using the same plant for control (intensity stabilization). The digital servos have feedback bandwidths of 2.5 MHz, limited by the total signal latency, and we demonstrate improvements beyond the transfer function offered by the analog servo including a three-pole filter and a two-pole filter with phase compensation to suppress resonances. We also discuss limitations of our FPGA-servo implementation and general considerations when designing and using digital servos.

The performance and limitations of FPGA-based digital servos for atomic, molecular, and optical physics experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Shi Jing; Fajeau, Emma; Liu, Lin Qiao; Jones, David J.; Madison, Kirk W.

2018-02-01

In this work, we address the advantages, limitations, and technical subtleties of employing field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based digital servos for high-bandwidth feedback control of lasers in atomic, molecular, and optical physics experiments. Specifically, we provide the results of benchmark performance tests in experimental setups including noise, bandwidth, and dynamic range for two digital servos built with low and mid-range priced FPGA development platforms. The digital servo results are compared to results obtained from a commercially available state-of-the-art analog servo using the same plant for control (intensity stabilization). The digital servos have feedback bandwidths of 2.5 MHz, limited by the total signal latency, and we demonstrate improvements beyond the transfer function offered by the analog servo including a three-pole filter and a two-pole filter with phase compensation to suppress resonances. We also discuss limitations of our FPGA-servo implementation and general considerations when designing and using digital servos.

Using High-Dimensional Image Models to Perform Highly Undetectable Steganography

Science.gov (United States)

Pevný, Tomáš; Filler, Tomáš; Bas, Patrick

This paper presents a complete methodology for designing practical and highly-undetectable stegosystems for real digital media. The main design principle is to minimize a suitably-defined distortion by means of efficient coding algorithm. The distortion is defined as a weighted difference of extended state-of-the-art feature vectors already used in steganalysis. This allows us to "preserve" the model used by steganalyst and thus be undetectable even for large payloads. This framework can be efficiently implemented even when the dimensionality of the feature set used by the embedder is larger than 107. The high dimensional model is necessary to avoid known security weaknesses. Although high-dimensional models might be problem in steganalysis, we explain, why they are acceptable in steganography. As an example, we introduce HUGO, a new embedding algorithm for spatial-domain digital images and we contrast its performance with LSB matching. On the BOWS2 image database and in contrast with LSB matching, HUGO allows the embedder to hide 7× longer message with the same level of security level.

High-performance dual-speed CCD camera system for scientific imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Raymond W.

1996-03-01

Traditionally, scientific camera systems were partitioned with a `camera head' containing the CCD and its support circuitry and a camera controller, which provided analog to digital conversion, timing, control, computer interfacing, and power. A new, unitized high performance scientific CCD camera with dual speed readout at 1 X 106 or 5 X 106 pixels per second, 12 bit digital gray scale, high performance thermoelectric cooling, and built in composite video output is described. This camera provides all digital, analog, and cooling functions in a single compact unit. The new system incorporates the A/C converter, timing, control and computer interfacing in the camera, with the power supply remaining a separate remote unit. A 100 Mbyte/second serial link transfers data over copper or fiber media to a variety of host computers, including Sun, SGI, SCSI, PCI, EISA, and Apple Macintosh. Having all the digital and analog functions in the camera made it possible to modify this system for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for use on a remote controlled submersible vehicle. The oceanographic version achieves 16 bit dynamic range at 1.5 X 105 pixels/second, can be operated at depths of 3 kilometers, and transfers data to the surface via a real time fiber optic link.

Comparison of Response Characteristics of High-Purity Germanium Detectors using Analog Versus Digital Processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luke, S J; Raschke, K

2004-01-01

In this article we will discuss some of the results of the response characteristics of High Purity germanium detectors using analog versus digital processing of the signals that are outputted from the detector. The discussion will focus on whether or not there is a significant difference in the response of the detector with digital electronics that it limits the ability of the detection system to get reasonable gamma ray spectrometric results. Particularly, whether or not the performance of the analysis code Pu600 is compromised

Film-screen digital radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwenker, R.P.; Eger, H.

1985-01-01

The excellent performance of the digital film-screen system as a receptor for projection radiographic data is discussed. An experimental system for obtaining high quality digital radiographic data by laser scanning radiographic films is described. This system is being used to evaluate the clinical utility of various digital image processing algorithms. Future plans include an investigation of quantitative analysis of projection radiographic data. Digital data obtained by film scanning can be used with digital image archiving and communications systems. (author)

Performances of different digital mammography imaging systems: Evaluation and comparison

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bisogni, M.G. [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E. Fermi' , Universita di Pisa, e Sezione INFN di Pisa, Pisa (Italy)]. E-mail: giuseppina.bisogni@pi.infn.it; Bulajic, D. [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E. Fermi' , Universita di Pisa, e Sezione INFN di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste (Italy); Delogu, P. [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E. Fermi' , Universita di Pisa, e Sezione INFN di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Fantacci, M.E. [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E. Fermi' , Universita di Pisa, e Sezione INFN di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Novelli, M. [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E. Fermi' , Universita di Pisa, e Sezione INFN di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Quattrocchi, M. [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E. Fermi' , Universita di Pisa, e Sezione INFN di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Rosso, V. [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E. Fermi' , Universita di Pisa, e Sezione INFN di Pisa, Pisa (Italy); Stefanini, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica ' E. Fermi' , Universita di Pisa, e Sezione INFN di Pisa, Pisa (Italy)

2005-07-01

Digital mammography is entering routine clinical use and many commercial systems are now in use in the radiological units for screening and diagnostic mammography. At the same time, the research in the digital mammography field is very active in the development of more and more performing devices. In this paper we present the performance of single photon counting pixel detectors (MedipixI) tailored for digital mammographic applications. These devices are based on semiconductor (Si and GaAs) pixel detectors of different thickness, read-out by custom designed integrated circuits. To assess the imaging capability of such systems, the images of a mammographic phantom have been acquired in standard conditions for a clinical examination. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of details simulating tumor masses has been evaluated. The same phantom has been also radiographed by three different commercial digital mammographic systems in the same reference conditions and a comparison in terms of SNR has been carried out. The spatial resolution of the single photon counting systems has also been evaluated by measuring the line spread function with the edge technique and then calculating the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF). The MTFs of the single photon counting systems have been compared with the MTFs of the commercial systems.

Performances of different digital mammography imaging systems: Evaluation and comparison

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bisogni, M.G.; Bulajic, D.; Delogu, P.; Fantacci, M.E.; Novelli, M.; Quattrocchi, M.; Rosso, V.; Stefanini, A.

2005-01-01

Digital mammography is entering routine clinical use and many commercial systems are now in use in the radiological units for screening and diagnostic mammography. At the same time, the research in the digital mammography field is very active in the development of more and more performing devices. In this paper we present the performance of single photon counting pixel detectors (MedipixI) tailored for digital mammographic applications. These devices are based on semiconductor (Si and GaAs) pixel detectors of different thickness, read-out by custom designed integrated circuits. To assess the imaging capability of such systems, the images of a mammographic phantom have been acquired in standard conditions for a clinical examination. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of details simulating tumor masses has been evaluated. The same phantom has been also radiographed by three different commercial digital mammographic systems in the same reference conditions and a comparison in terms of SNR has been carried out. The spatial resolution of the single photon counting systems has also been evaluated by measuring the line spread function with the edge technique and then calculating the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF). The MTFs of the single photon counting systems have been compared with the MTFs of the commercial systems

Noise Performance Evaluation of the Candidate Digitizers for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aguayo Navarrete, Estanislao

2011-03-16

The noise performance evaluation of the two digitizer cards being considered for the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR (MJD) is presented in this document. The procurement of the data acquisition electronics for the MJD is scheduled to happen this year. At the time of writing this document, there are two candidate digitizer electronic boards. One aspect that is being considered by the collaboration is the feasibility of using the MJD for dark matter searches. The feasibility of using the MJD for this application is going to be dictated by the ability of the demonstrator to reach sub-keV energy resolution. One of the potential sources of noise in the MJD is the data acquisition system. This document will is concluded with a recommendation for the final digitizer board by comparing the noise performance of the two electronics systems. Noise parameters such as the effective number of bits, input range linearity and signal to noise ratio are experimentally determined. The two digitizer cards feature different on-board digital signal processing and these features are compared. The experimental set-up was also used to identify sources of noise. This paper describes these sources of noise in the data acquisition system, along with mitigation strategies. Issues such as grounding and wiring scheme have an impact in the overall data acquisition system performance and are discussed in detail. As a conclusion, the suitability of each one of the cards to become the back bone of the data acquisition system of the MJD is discussed.

An ASIC implementation of digital front-end electronics for a high resolution PET scanner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newport, D.F.; Young, J.W.

1993-01-01

AN Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) has been designed and fabricated which implements many of the current functions found in the digital front-end electronics for a high resolution Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner. The ASIC performs crystal selection, energy qualification, time correction, and event counting functions for block technology high resolution PET scanners. Digitized x and y position, event energy, and time information are used by the ASIC to determine block crystal number, qualify the event based on energy, and correct the event time. In addition, event counting and block dead time calculations are performed for system dead time corrections. A loadable sequencer for controlling the analog front-end electronics is also implemented. The ASIC is implemented in a 37,000 gate, 1.0 micron CMOS gate-array and is capable of handling 4 million events/second while reducing parts count, cost, and power consumption over current board-level designs

Baseline Screening Mammography: Performance of Full-Field Digital Mammography Versus Digital Breast Tomosynthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Elizabeth S; McCarthy, Anne Marie; Akhtar, Amana L; Synnestvedt, Marie B; Schnall, Mitchell; Conant, Emily F

2015-11-01

Baseline mammography studies have significantly higher recall rates than mammography studies with available comparison examinations. Digital breast tomosynthesis reduces recalls when compared with digital mammographic screening alone, but many sites operate in a hybrid environment. To maximize the effect of screening digital breast tomosynthesis with limited resources, choosing which patient populations will benefit most is critical. This study evaluates digital breast tomosynthesis in the baseline screening population. Outcomes were compared for 10,728 women who underwent digital mammography screening, including 1204 (11.2%) baseline studies, and 15,571 women who underwent digital breast tomosynthesis screening, including 1859 (11.9%) baseline studies. Recall rates, cancer detection rates, and positive predictive values were calculated. Logistic regression estimated the odds ratios of recall for digital mammography versus digital breast tomosynthesis for patients undergoing baseline screening and previously screened patients, adjusted for age, race, and breast density. In the baseline subgroup, recall rates for digital mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis screening were 20.5% and 16.0%, respectively (p = 0.002); digital breast tomosynthesis screening in the baseline subgroup resulted in a 22% reduction in recall compared with digital mammography, or 45 fewer patients recalled per 1000 patients screened. Digital breast tomosynthesis screening in the previously screened patients resulted in recall reduction of 14.3% (p tomosynthesis than from digital mammography alone.

Clinical performance evaluation of total protein measurement by digital refractometry and characterization of non-protein solute interferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunsaker, Joshua J H; Wyness, Sara P; Snow, Taylor M; Genzen, Jonathan R

2016-12-01

Refractometric methods to measure total protein (TP) in serum and plasma specimens have been replaced by automated biuret methods in virtually all routine clinical testing. A subset of laboratories, however, still report using refractometry to measure TP in conjunction with serum protein electrophoresis. The objective of this study was therefore to conduct a modern performance evaluation of a digital refractometer for TP measurement. Performance evaluation of a MISCO Palm Abbe™ digital refractometer was conducted through device familiarization, carryover, precision, accuracy, linearity, analytical sensitivity, analytical specificity, and reference interval verification. Comparison assays included a manual refractometer and an automated biuret assay. Carryover risk was eliminated using a demineralized distilled water (ddH 2 O) wash step. Precision studies demonstrated overall imprecision of 2.2% CV (low TP pool) and 0.5% CV (high TP pool). Accuracy studies demonstrated correlation to both manual refractometry and the biuret method. An overall positive bias (+5.0%) was observed versus the biuret method. On average, outlier specimens had an increased triglyceride concentration. Linearity was verified using mixed dilutions of: a) low and high concentration patient pools, or b) albumin-spiked ddH 2 O and high concentration patient pool. Decreased recovery was observed using ddH 2 O dilutions at low TP concentrations. Significant interference was detected at high concentrations of glucose (>267 mg/dL) and triglycerides (>580 mg/dL). Current laboratory reference intervals for TP were verified. Performance characteristics of this digital refractometer were validated in a clinical laboratory setting. Biuret method remains the preferred assay for TP measurement in routine clinical analyses.

Characterization of Vocal Fold Vibration in Sulcus Vocalis Using High-Speed Digital Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Yamauchi, Akihito; Yokonishi, Hisayuki; Imagawa, Hiroshi; Sakakibara, Ken-Ichi; Nito, Takaharu; Tayama, Niro; Yamasoba, Tatsuya

2017-01-01

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize vocal fold vibrations in sulcus vocalis by high-speed digital imaging (HSDI) and to clarify the correlations between HSDI-derived parameters and traditional vocal parameters. Method: HSDI was performed in 20 vocally healthy subjects (8 men and 12 women) and…

Benchmarking the performance of fixed-image receptor digital radiography systems. Part 2: system performance metric.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kam L; Bernardo, Michael; Ireland, Timothy A

2016-06-01

This is part two of a two-part study in benchmarking system performance of fixed digital radiographic systems. The study compares the system performance of seven fixed digital radiography systems based on quantitative metrics like modulation transfer function (sMTF), normalised noise power spectrum (sNNPS), detective quantum efficiency (sDQE) and entrance surface air kerma (ESAK). It was found that the most efficient image receptors (greatest sDQE) were not necessarily operating at the lowest ESAK. In part one of this study, sMTF is shown to depend on system configuration while sNNPS is shown to be relatively consistent across systems. Systems are ranked on their signal-to-noise ratio efficiency (sDQE) and their ESAK. Systems using the same equipment configuration do not necessarily have the same system performance. This implies radiographic practice at the site will have an impact on the overall system performance. In general, systems are more dose efficient at low dose settings.

Evaluation of the vidar`s VXR-12 digitizer performances for film dosimetry of beams delimited by multileaf collimator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Julia, F [Centre de Lutte Contre le Cancer Gustave-Roussy, 94 - Villejuif (France); Briot, E

1995-12-01

The development of new irradiation techniques such as conformal radiotherapy increasingly implies the use of a multileaf collimator. The measurement of dose gradients in the penumbra region, and of dose distributions at the edge of complex shaped fields defined by multileaf collimators requires a high definition dosimetric method. Nowadays film digitizers have been notably improved and allow the film dosimetry to be faster, more accurate, presenting a sensitivity and high spatial resolution. To be able to perform the study of physical and dosimetric specifications of a multileaf collimator, we have evaluated the performances of the Vidar VCR-12 digitizer, with respect to its sensitivity, linearity, optical density range and the resolution. These performances were compared with the performances of different systems already in use in our department, either manual or automatic, using specific patterns. The main limitation for dosimetric use is the detection threshold that can introduce errors in isodose calculation, especially for the lowest values. The result of the intercomparisons have allowed corrections to be added, taking into account this Vidar problem. The results obtained after correction for the dose profiles of squared fields are in good agreement with ionization chamber measurements in a water phantom. It is concluded that Vidar digitizer is suitable for the use of film dosimetry for the dose distributions in fields defined by multileaf collimator.

Volumetric breast density affects performance of digital screening mammography

OpenAIRE

Wanders, JO; Holland, K; Veldhuis, WB; Mann, RM; Pijnappel, RM; Peeters, PH; Van Gils, CH; Karssemeijer, N

2016-01-01

PURPOSE: To determine to what extent automatically measured volumetric mammographic density influences screening performance when using digital mammography (DM). METHODS: We collected a consecutive series of 111,898 DM examinations (2003-2011) from one screening unit of the Dutch biennial screening program (age 50-75 years). Volumetric mammographic density was automatically assessed using Volpara. We determined screening performance measures for four density categories comparable to the Ameri...

Perspectives of creators and performers on the digital era

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poort, J.; Akker, I.; Rutten, P.; Weda, J.

2015-01-01

In this contribution, a nearly comprehensive survey among creators and performers in media, arts and entertainment in the Netherlands is presented. It concerns the implications of digital reproduction and distribution for the creative professions as perceived by those working in it. Based on

Perspectives of Creators and Performers on the Digital Era

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poort, J.; Weda, J.; Akker, I.; Rutten, P.

2013-01-01

In this contribution, a nearly comprehensive survey among creators and performers in media, arts and entertainment in the Netherlands is presented. It concerns the implications of digital reproduction and distribution for the creative professions as perceived by those working in it. Based on

Design of DSP-based high-power digital solar array simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yang; Liu, Zhilong; Tong, Weichao; Feng, Jian; Ji, Yibo

2013-12-01

To satisfy rigid performance specifications, a feedback control was presented for zoom optical lens plants. With the increasing of global energy consumption, research of the photovoltaic(PV) systems get more and more attention. Research of the digital high-power solar array simulator provides technical support for high-power grid-connected PV systems research.This paper introduces a design scheme of the high-power digital solar array simulator based on TMS320F28335. A DC-DC full-bridge topology was used in the system's main circuit. The switching frequency of IGBT is 25kHz.Maximum output voltage is 900V. Maximum output current is 20A. Simulator can be pre-stored solar panel IV curves.The curve is composed of 128 discrete points .When the system was running, the main circuit voltage and current values was feedback to the DSP by the voltage and current sensors in real-time. Through incremental PI,DSP control the simulator in the closed-loop control system. Experimental data show that Simulator output voltage and current follow a preset solar panels IV curve. In connection with the formation of high-power inverter, the system becomes gridconnected PV system. The inverter can find the simulator's maximum power point and the output power can be stabilized at the maximum power point (MPP).

Technical difficulties and challenges for performing safety analysis on digital I and C systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yih, Swu

1996-01-01

Performing safety analysis on digital I and C systems is an important task for nuclear safety analysts. The analysis results can not only confirm that the system is well-developed but also provide crucial evidence for licensing process. However, currently both I and C developers and regulators have difficulties in evaluating the safety of digital I and C systems. To investigate this problem, this paper propose a frame-based model to analyze the working and failure mechanisms of software and its interaction with the environment. Valid isomorphic relationship between the logical (software) and the physical (hardware environment) frame is identified as a major factor that determines the safe behavior of the software. The failures that may potentially cause the violation of isomorphic relations are also discussed. To perform safety analysis on digital I and C systems, analysts need to predict the effects incurred by such failures. However, due to lack of continuity, regularity, integrity, and high complexity of software structure, software does not have a stable and predictable pattern of behavior, which in turn makes the trustworthiness of results of software safety analysis susceptible. Our model can explain many troublesome events experienced by computer controlled systems. Implications and possible directions for improvement are also discussed. (author)

Digital control of high-frequency switched-mode power converters

CERN Document Server

Corradini, Luca; Mattavelli, Paolo; Zane, Regan

This book is focused on the fundamental aspects of analysis, modeling and design of digital control loops around high-frequency switched-mode power converters in a systematic and rigorous manner Comprehensive treatment of digital control theory for power converters Verilog and VHDL sample codes are provided Enables readers to successfully analyze, model, design, and implement voltage, current, or multi-loop digital feedback loops around switched-mode power converters Practical examples are used throughout the book to illustrate applications of the techniques developed Matlab examples are also

High speed digital TDC for D0 vertex reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Guosheng; Partridge, R.

1992-01-01

A high speed digital TDC has been built as part of the Level 0 trigger for the D0 experiment at Fermilab. The digital TDC is used to make a fast determination of the primary vertex position by timing the arrival time of beam jets detected in the Level 0 counters. The vertex position is then used by the Level 1 trigger to determine the proper sinθ weighting factors for calculation transverse energies. Commercial GaAs integrated circuits are used in the digital TDC to obtain a time resolution of σ t == 226 ps

El cuerpo-huella en el performance digital 10 minutos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Enrique Ariza Gómez, PhD

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Este artículo de reflexión aborda el concepto de cuerpo-huella, eje principal del performance “El fajadito”. Esta puesta en escena forma parte de una creación escénica más grande llamada 10 minutos, performance digital que pone en tensión la relación cuerpo-máquina en el entorno de una unidad de cuidados intensivos (UCI, y se entrelaza junto con otros tres para ofrecer al público la totalidad de una obra que surge del proceso de investigación-creación 10 minutos. El discurso del presente artículo se abrirá hacia la comprensión de la manera en que fue abordado, para el performance “El fajadito”, el cuerpo de las personas víctimas de minas antipersona en Colombia. Un cuerpo-huella que aparece en la puesta en escena como un cuerpo en suspensión proponiendo con ello una postura política y social sobre lo que ha significado, para Colombia, el uso de armas que no buscan la muerte del individuo, sino la provocación del dolor y exhibe un cuerpo mutilado como huella de guerra. Palabras clave: fajaditos, cuerpo-huella, 10 minutos, performance digital, minas antipersona.

Method and apparatus for digitally based high speed x-ray spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warburton, W.K.; Hubbard, B.

1997-01-01

A high speed, digitally based, signal processing system which accepts input data from a detector-preamplifier and produces a spectral analysis of the x-rays illuminating the detector. The system achieves high throughputs at low cost by dividing the required digital processing steps between a ''hardwired'' processor implemented in combinatorial digital logic, which detects the presence of the x-ray signals in the digitized data stream and extracts filtered estimates of their amplitudes, and a programmable digital signal processing computer, which refines the filtered amplitude estimates and bins them to produce the desired spectral analysis. One set of algorithms allow this hybrid system to match the resolution of analog systems while operating at much higher data rates. A second set of algorithms implemented in the processor allow the system to be self calibrating as well. The same processor also handles the interface to an external control computer. 19 figs

Use of Digital Signal Processors (DSP) in high energy physics experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crosetto, D.

1988-01-01

The FDDP - Fast Digital Data Processor - is a modular system for executing parallel digital processing algorithms to perform programmable trigger decisions or programmable on-line data reduction. Typical application involve zero suppression and pulse shape analysis. The characteristics of the system are: modularity, expandability and flexibility. (author). 4 refs, 5 figs

Design and image-quality performance of high resolution CMOS-based X-ray imaging detectors for digital mammography

Science.gov (United States)

Cha, B. K.; Kim, J. Y.; Kim, Y. J.; Yun, S.; Cho, G.; Kim, H. K.; Seo, C.-W.; Jeon, S.; Huh, Y.

2012-04-01

In digital X-ray imaging systems, X-ray imaging detectors based on scintillating screens with electronic devices such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs), thin-film transistors (TFT), complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) flat panel imagers have been introduced for general radiography, dental, mammography and non-destructive testing (NDT) applications. Recently, a large-area CMOS active-pixel sensor (APS) in combination with scintillation films has been widely used in a variety of digital X-ray imaging applications. We employed a scintillator-based CMOS APS image sensor for high-resolution mammography. In this work, both powder-type Gd2O2S:Tb and a columnar structured CsI:Tl scintillation screens with various thicknesses were fabricated and used as materials to convert X-ray into visible light. These scintillating screens were directly coupled to a CMOS flat panel imager with a 25 × 50 mm2 active area and a 48 μm pixel pitch for high spatial resolution acquisition. We used a W/Al mammographic X-ray source with a 30 kVp energy condition. The imaging characterization of the X-ray detector was measured and analyzed in terms of linearity in incident X-ray dose, modulation transfer function (MTF), noise-power spectrum (NPS) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE).

“Do We Have LIFT-Off?” Social Media Marketing and Digital Performance at a British Arts Festival

OpenAIRE

Miles, S

2017-01-01

Arts festivals have been explored through many lenses, but social media marketing and digital performance are less studied. The potential of social media networks in digital performance is exemplified by the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), which repositions social media technology as an enabler for audiences to co-produce digitally oriented performance. This article argues that the relationship between social media marketing and performance is more hybridized than often assum...

Enhancement of Performance and Motivation through Application of Digital Games in an English Language Class

Science.gov (United States)

Wichadee, Saovapa; Pattanapichet, Fasawang

2018-01-01

The study was conducted to find out what impact a digital game had on students' learning performance and motivation. A quasi-experimental study was performed with two groups of students. The experimental group was taught using the digital game "Kahoot" whereas the control group was taught with the conventional method. Pre-tests,…

Effects of Simulated Conductive Hearing Loss on Dichotic Listening Performance for Digits.

Science.gov (United States)

Niccum, Nancy; And Others

1987-01-01

Conductive hearing losses were simulated in 12 subjects aged 19-35 and performance was compared with normal hearing performance. Digit dichotic performance was affected when test intensities were within 8 dB of the "knees" (95 percent correct point) of monotic performance intensity functions, but not when test intensities were 12 dB…

A high-speed bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy system based on the digital auto-balancing bridge method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Nan; Xu, Hui; Zhou, Zhou; Wang, Wei; Qiao, Guofeng; Li, David D-U

2013-01-01

A novel bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy system based on the digital auto-balancing bridge method improved from the conventional analogue auto-balancing method is presented for bioelectrical impedance measurements. The hardware of the proposed system consists of a reference source, a null detector, a variable source, a field programmable gate array, a clock generator, a flash and a USB controller. Software implemented in the field programmable gate array includes three major blocks: clock management, peripheral control and digital signal processing. The principle and realization of the least-mean-squares-based digital auto-balancing algorithm is introduced in detail. The performances of our system were examined by comparing with a commercial impedance analyzer. The results reveal that the proposed system has high speed (less than 3.5 ms per measurement) and high accuracy in the frequency range of 1 kHz–10 MHz. Compared with the commercial instrument based on the traditional analogue auto-balancing method, our system shows advantages in measurement speed, compactness and flexibility, making it suitable for various bioelectrical impedance measurement applications. (paper)

Library performance measurement in the digital age

OpenAIRE

Conyers, A.; Payne, Philip

2011-01-01

Book synopsis: University libraries around the world have embraced the possibilities of the digital learning environment, facilitating its use and proactively seeking to develop the provision of electronic resources and services. The digital environment offers opportunities and challenges for librarians in all aspects of their work - in information literacy, virtual reference, institutional repositories, e-learning, managing digital resources and social media. The authors in this timely book ...

High-speed digital holographic interferometry for vibration measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedrini, Giancarlo; Osten, Wolfgang; Gusev, Mikhail E.

2006-01-01

A system based on digital holographic interferometry for the measurement of vibrations is presented. A high-power continuous laser(10 W) and a high-speed CCD camera are used. Hundreds of holograms of an object that has been subjected to dynamic deformation are recorded. The acquisition speed and the time of exposure of the detector are determined by the vibration frequency. Two methods are presented for triggering the camera in order to acquire at a given phase of the vibration. The phase of the wavefront is calculated from the recorded holograms by use of a two-dimensional digital Fourier-transform method. The deformation of the object is obtained from the phase. By combination of the deformations recorded at different times it is possible to reconstruct the vibration of the object

Impact of matrix size on observer performance in digital chest radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koelblinger, C.

2003-02-01

This thesis compared the observer performance in the detection of abnormalities on 2k matrix(0,2 mm pixel size) and 4k matrix (0,1 mm pixel size) digital chest radiographs. Eighty five patients who underwent CT of the thorax were prospectively reccruited into the study. A chest x-ray of each patient was acquired in 2k and 4k format and four readers analyzed the images by different criterias. On the one hand a ROC analysis was performed with the CT data as goldstandard. On the other hand each reader had to rate different anatomical structures in a direct comparison of the pictures. The results of the ratings did not show any significant difference between the 2k and the 4k format. The conclusion or this study is that the use of a 4k instead of a 2k matrix in digital chest radiography does not yield to an improved observer performance. (author)

Digitally grown AlInAsSb for high gain separate absorption, grading, charge, and multiplication avalanche photodiodes

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Yuexi; Han, Xi; Sun, Yaoyao; Jiang, Zhi; Guo, Chunyan; Xiang, Wei; Dong, Yinan; Cui, Jie; Yao, Yuan; Jiang, Dongwei; Wang, Guowei; Xu, Yingqiang; Niu, Zhichuan

2018-01-01

We report on the growth of high quality GaSb-based AlInAsSb quaternary alloy by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to fabricate avalanche photodiodes (APDs). By means of high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), phase separation phenomenon of AlInAsSb random alloy with naturally occurring vertical superlattice configuration was demonstrated. To overcome the tendency for phase segregation while maintaining a highly crystalline film, a digital alloy technique with migration-enhanced epitaxy growth method was employed, using a shutter sequence of AlSb, AlAs, AlSb, Sb, In, InAs, In, Sb. AlInAsSb digital alloy has proved to be reproducible and consistent with single phase, showing sharp satellite peaks on HRXRD rocking curve and smooth surface morphology under atomic force microscopy (AFM). Using optimized digital alloy, AlInAsSb separate absorption, grading, charge, and multiplication (SAGCM) APD was grown and fabricated. At room temperature, the device showed high performance with low dark current density of ∼14.1 mA/cm2 at 95% breakdown and maximum stable gain before breakdown as high as ∼200, showing the potential for further applications in optoelectronic devices.

Low-cost, high-performance and efficiency computational photometer design

Science.gov (United States)

Siewert, Sam B.; Shihadeh, Jeries; Myers, Randall; Khandhar, Jay; Ivanov, Vitaly

2014-05-01

Researchers at the University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Colorado Boulder have built a low cost high performance and efficiency drop-in-place Computational Photometer (CP) to test in field applications ranging from port security and safety monitoring to environmental compliance monitoring and surveying. The CP integrates off-the-shelf visible spectrum cameras with near to long wavelength infrared detectors and high resolution digital snapshots in a single device. The proof of concept combines three or more detectors into a single multichannel imaging system that can time correlate read-out, capture, and image process all of the channels concurrently with high performance and energy efficiency. The dual-channel continuous read-out is combined with a third high definition digital snapshot capability and has been designed using an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) to capture, decimate, down-convert, re-encode, and transform images from two standard definition CCD (Charge Coupled Device) cameras at 30Hz. The continuous stereo vision can be time correlated to megapixel high definition snapshots. This proof of concept has been fabricated as a fourlayer PCB (Printed Circuit Board) suitable for use in education and research for low cost high efficiency field monitoring applications that need multispectral and three dimensional imaging capabilities. Initial testing is in progress and includes field testing in ports, potential test flights in un-manned aerial systems, and future planned missions to image harsh environments in the arctic including volcanic plumes, ice formation, and arctic marine life.

Digitally controlled analog proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller for high-speed scanning probe microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Dukic, Maja; Todorov, Vencislav; Andany, Santiago; Nievergelt, Adrian P.; Yang, Chen; Hosseini, Nahid; Fantner, Georg E.

2017-12-01

Nearly all scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) contain a feedback controller, which is used to move the scanner in the direction of the z-axis in order to maintain a constant setpoint based on the tip-sample interaction. The most frequently used feedback controller in SPMs is the proportional-integral (PI) controller. The bandwidth of the PI controller presents one of the speed limiting factors in high-speed SPMs, where higher bandwidths enable faster scanning speeds and higher imaging resolution. Most SPM systems use digital signal processor-based PI feedback controllers, which require analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters. These converters introduce additional feedback delays which limit the achievable imaging speed and resolution. In this paper, we present a digitally controlled analog proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. The controller implementation allows tunability of the PID gains over a large amplification and frequency range, while also providing precise control of the system and reproducibility of the gain parameters. By using the analog PID controller, we were able to perform successful atomic force microscopy imaging of a standard silicon calibration grating at line rates up to several kHz.

Parallel processing method for high-speed real time digital pulse processing for gamma-ray spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandes, A.M.; Pereira, R.C.; Sousa, J.; Neto, A.; Carvalho, P.; Batista, A.J.N.; Carvalho, B.B.; Varandas, C.A.F.; Tardocchi, M.; Gorini, G.

2010-01-01

A new data acquisition (DAQ) system was developed to fulfil the requirements of the gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) JET-EP2 (joint European Torus enhancement project 2), providing high-resolution spectroscopy at very high-count rate (up to few MHz). The system is based on the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture TM (ATCA TM ) and includes a transient record (TR) module with 8 channels of 14 bits resolution at 400 MSamples/s (MSPS) sampling rate, 4 GB of local memory, and 2 field programmable gate array (FPGA) able to perform real time algorithms for data reduction and digital pulse processing. Although at 400 MSPS only fast programmable devices such as FPGAs can be used either for data processing and data transfer, FPGA resources also present speed limitation at some specific tasks, leading to an unavoidable data lost when demanding algorithms are applied. To overcome this problem and foreseeing an increase of the algorithm complexity, a new digital parallel filter was developed, aiming to perform real time pulse processing in the FPGAs of the TR module at the presented sampling rate. The filter is based on the conventional digital time-invariant trapezoidal shaper operating with parallelized data while performing pulse height analysis (PHA) and pile up rejection (PUR). The incoming sampled data is successively parallelized and fed into the processing algorithm block at one fourth of the sampling rate. The following data processing and data transfer is also performed at one fourth of the sampling rate. The algorithm based on data parallelization technique was implemented and tested at JET facilities, where a spectrum was obtained. Attending to the observed results, the PHA algorithm will be improved by implementing the pulse pile up discrimination.

High-Speed Computation using FPGA for Excellent Performance of Direct Torque Control of Induction Machines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tole Sutikno

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The major problems in hysteresis-based DTC are high torque ripple and variable switching frequency. In order to minimize the torque ripple, high sampling time and fast digital realization should be applied. The high sampling and fast digital realization time can be achieved by utilizing high-speed processor where the operation of the discrete hysteresis regulator is becoming similar to the operation of analog-based comparator. This can be achieved by utilizing field programmable gate array (FPGA which can perform a sampling at a very high speed, compared to the fact that developing an ASIC chip is expensive and laborious.

Practical applications and methods in performing cardiac digital subtraction angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Markovic, D.M.; Withrow, S.; Moodie, D.S.

1986-01-01

One of the purposes of this book is to outline the utility of digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in common clinical practice. No text has dealt with the actual physical setup of the room or the patient prior and during a digital subtraction angiographic study at rest and with exercise. This chapter outlines the steps commonly used when cardiac DSA is performed on patients in the authors' laboratory. The authors have learned over the last few years the best way to prepare the patient and the equipment and it is hoped that utilizing this experience, other centers may avoid the mistakes the authors have made in the past and develop new techniques for the future

Direct drive digital servo press with high parallel control

Science.gov (United States)

Murata, Chikara; Yabe, Jun; Endou, Junichi; Hasegawa, Kiyoshi

2013-12-01

Direct drive digital servo press has been developed as the university-industry joint research and development since 1998. On the basis of this result, 4-axes direct drive digital servo press has been developed and in the market on April of 2002. This servo press is composed of 1 slide supported by 4 ball screws and each axis has linearscale measuring the position of each axis with high accuracy less than μm order level. Each axis is controlled independently by servo motor and feedback system. This system can keep high level parallelism and high accuracy even with high eccentric load. Furthermore the 'full stroke full power' is obtained by using ball screws. Using these features, new various types of press forming and stamping have been obtained by development and production. The new stamping and forming methods are introduced and 'manufacturing' need strategy of press forming with high added value and also the future direction of press forming are also introduced.

Possible applications of the sigma delta digitizer in particle physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hallgren, B.

1991-01-01

The sigma delta (ΣΔ) principle is an analog-to-digital conversion technique based on high-frequency sampling and low-pass filtering of the quantization noise. Resolution in time is exchanged for that in amplitude so as to avoid the difficulty of implementing complex precision analog circuits, in favour of digital circuits. The approach is attractive because it will make it possible to integrate complete channels of high resolution analog-to-digital converters and time digitizers in submicron digital VLSI technologies. Advantage is taken of the fact that the state-of-the-art VLSI is better suited for providing fast digital circuits than for providing precise analog circuits. This article describes the principle and the performance of the ideal ΣΔ digitizer. The design and measurements of a new 10 MHz prototype circuit of a second-order ΣΔ is presented to show the high speed operation of such a circuit. The expected performance of a CMOS test design using the same principles is discussed. Digital filters, useful for particle physics, are introduced. A comparison to other digitizing techniques is made and the potential applications of the ΣΔ digitizer in particle physics are outlined. (orig.)

Performance Effects of Display Incogruity in a Digital and Analog Clock Reading Task

Science.gov (United States)

Comstock, J. Raymond, Jr.; Derks, Peter L.

2004-01-01

In an era of increasing automation, it is important to design displays and input devices that minimize human error. In this context, information concerning the human response to the detection of incongruous information is important. Such incongruous information can be operationalized as unexpected (perhaps erroneous) information on which a decision by the human or operation by an automated system is based. In the aviation environment, decision making when faced with inadequate, incomplete, or incongruous information may occur in a failure scenario. An additional challenge facing the human operator in automated environments is maintaining alertness or vigilance. The vigilance issue is of particular concern as a factor that may interact with performance when faced with inadequate, incomplete, or incongruous information. From the literature on eye-scan behavior we know that the time spent looking at a particular display or indicator is a function of the type of information one is trying to discern from the display. For example, quick glances are all it takes for confirming that an indicator is in a normal position or range, whereas a continuous look of several seconds may be required for confirmation that a complex control input is having the desired effect. Important to consider is that while an extended look takes place, visual input from other sources may be missed. Much like an extended look, the interpretation of incongruous information may require extra time. The present experiment was designed to explore the performance consequences of a decision making task when incongruous information was presented. For this experiment a display incongruity was created on a subset of trials of a clock reading laboratory task. Display incongruity was made possible through presentation of 'impossible' times (e.g. 1:65 or 11:90). Subjects made 'same' 'different' decisions and keyboard responses to pairings of Analog-Analog (AA), Digital-Digital (DD), and Analog- Digital (AD

Digital front-end module (DFEM) series; Digital front end module (DFEM) series

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

The digital front-end module (DFEM) is a module in which the processes ranging from the reception of digitally modulated radiofrequencies to the output of digital IF (Intermediate Frequency) signals or data streams are integrated. Beginning with a module for the MCNS (Multimedia Cable Network System) cable modem which was the first module in this business field approved by the Cable Labs, U.S., Toshiba has developed a series of DFEMs for various digital media for satellites, ground waves, and CATV (Cable Television) systems. The series is characterized by (1) the serialization of DFEMs compatible with various digital modulation techniques such as 8 PSK (Phase Shift Keying), OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), and 256 QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), (2) easy connection with digital circuits thanks to the high shielding effect, and (3) the achievement of smaller size, higher performance, and lower power consumption. (translated by NEDO)

A High-Performance VME-Based Acquisition System for Positron Emission Mammography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbott, D.J.; Weisenberger, A.; Majewski, S.; Kieper, D.; Kross, B.; Popov, V.; Wojcik, R.; Raylman, R.R.

2001-01-01

A prototype for a practical and economical breast imaging system for cancer detection is currently under development at Jefferson Lab. The latest advances in bright, fast, crystal scintillators, compact position-sensitive photomultipliers (PSPMT), and high-performance digitizing and readout electronics are being used to develop a compact imager based on Positron Emission Tomography (PET). To facilitate the performance demands of the detector as well as the high number of readout channels, the data acquisition system is built around an intelligent, self-contained, VME form-factor

The role of long-term memory in digit-symbol test performance in young and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, R; Kaufman, A

2009-03-01

The psychological functions assessed by substitution tests, and the age-related performance decline, are not well understood. Here several aspects of long-term memory were manipulated across younger and older adults. A 45-page Digit-Symbol test was employed. Each page contained a 9-item digit symbol code-table and 9 response items. There were 9 study conditions with each condition deployed across 5 pages, or trials, of the test. The conditions were formed by crossing two within-subjects factors, each with 3 levels. The first factor, Digit Order, pertained to having the code table digits in numerical order vs. a pseudo-random order fixed across trials vs. a pseudo-random order that varied across trials. The second factor, Symbol Pairing, pertained to having a fixed digit-symbol pairing across trials vs. having a varying digit-symbol pairing across trials vs. having a novel set of 9 symbols introduced on each of the 5 trials. Including the additional factor, Age, resulted in a 2 x 3 x 3 mixed randomised block design. The older group was slowed, F(1, 22) = 17.267, p Symbol-Order interaction indicated that use of novel symbols disadvantaged only the older participants, F(1, 44) = 6.577, p = .014. While there was no evidence that incidental paired-associate learning or spatial memory affect digit-symbol performance, symbol familiarity may be important to digit symbol test completion in older adults. The benefit of ordinally arranged digits in the coding table highlights a fundamental process difference between Digit-Symbol and Symbol-Digit test formats.

High-definition hematoxylin and eosin staining in a transition to digital pathology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamie D Martina

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: A lot of attention has been generated in recent years by digital pathology and telepathology. Multiple reasons for and barriers to effective adoption are discussed in the current literature. Digital slides are the most promising medium at this time. The goal of our study was to evaluate whether the change in the methodology, particularly utilizing the so-called high-definition hematoxylin and eosin (H and E slides, enhanced the quality of the final digital slide, and whether pathologists who tested the results perceived this as a difference in quality. Methods: The study was a blinded comparison of digital slides prepared using two methods: standard H&E batch staining and automated individual "high definition" HD HE staining. Four pathologists have compared 80 cases stained with each method. Results: The results discussed in this study show potential promise that the utilization of protocol(s adapted for tissue and for imaging might be preferable for digital pathology in at least some of the pathology subspecialties. In particular, the protocol evaluated here was capable of turning out digital slides that had more contrast and detail, and therefore were perceived to provide enhanced diagnostically significant information for the pathologist.

A Novel High-Precision Digital Tunneling Magnetic Resistance-Type Sensor for the Nanosatellites’ Space Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiangyu Li

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Micro-electromechanical system (MEMS magnetic sensors are widely used in the nanosatellites field. We proposed a novel high-precision miniaturized three-axis digital tunneling magnetic resistance-type (TMR sensor. The design of the three-axis digital magnetic sensor includes a low-noise sensitive element and high-performance interface circuit. The TMR sensor element can achieve a background noise of 150 pT/Hz1/2 by the vertical modulation film at a modulation frequency of 5 kHz. The interface circuit is mainly composed of an analog front-end current feedback instrumentation amplifier (CFIA with chopper structure and a fully differential 4th-order Sigma-Delta (ΣΔ analog to digital converter (ADC. The low-frequency 1/f noise of the TMR magnetic sensor are reduced by the input-stage and system-stage chopper. The dynamic element matching (DEM is applied to average out the mismatch between the input and feedback transconductor so as to improve the gain accuracy and gain drift. The digital output is achieved by a switched-capacitor ΣΔ ADC. The interface circuit is implemented by a 0.35 μm CMOS technology. The performance test of the TMR magnetic sensor system shows that: at a 5 V operating voltage, the sensor can achieve a power consumption of 120 mW, a full scale of ±1 Guass, a bias error of 0.01% full scale (FS, a nonlinearity of x-axis 0.13% FS, y-axis 0.11% FS, z-axis 0.15% FS and a noise density of x-axis 250 pT/Hz1/2 (at 1 Hz, y-axis 240 pT/Hz1/2 (at 1 Hz, z-axis 250 pT/Hz1/2 (at 1 Hz, respectively. This work has a less power consumption, a smaller size, and higher resolution than other miniaturized magnetometers by comparison.

A high-resolution multimode digital microscope system.

Science.gov (United States)

Salmon, Edward D; Shaw, Sidney L; Waters, Jennifer C; Waterman-Storer, Clare M; Maddox, Paul S; Yeh, Elaine; Bloom, Kerry

2013-01-01

This chapter describes the development of a high-resolution, multimode digital imaging system based on a wide-field epifluorescent and transmitted light microscope, and a cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The three main parts of this imaging system are Nikon FXA microscope, Hamamatsu C4880 cooled CCD camera, and MetaMorph digital imaging system. This chapter presents various design criteria for the instrument and describes the major features of the microscope components-the cooled CCD camera and the MetaMorph digital imaging system. The Nikon FXA upright microscope can produce high resolution images for both epifluorescent and transmitted light illumination without switching the objective or moving the specimen. The functional aspects of the microscope set-up can be considered in terms of the imaging optics, the epi-illumination optics, the transillumination optics, the focus control, and the vibration isolation table. This instrument is somewhat specialized for microtubule and mitosis studies, and it is also applicable to a variety of problems in cellular imaging, including tracking proteins fused to the green fluorescent protein in live cells. The instrument is also valuable for correlating the assembly dynamics of individual cytoplasmic microtubules (labeled by conjugating X-rhodamine to tubulin) with the dynamics of membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum (labeled with DiOC6) and the dynamics of the cell cortex (by differential interference contrast) in migrating vertebrate epithelial cells. This imaging system also plays an important role in the analysis of mitotic mutants in the powerful yeast genetic system Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Copyright © 1998 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bringing Superconductor Digital Technology to the Market Place

Science.gov (United States)

Nisenoff, Martin

The unique properties of superconductivity can be exploited to provide the ultimate in electronic technology for systems such as ultra-precise analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converters, precise DC and AC voltage standards, ultra high speed logic circuits and systems (both digital and hybrid analogue-digital systems), and very high throughput network routers and supercomputers which would have superior electrical performance at lower overall electrical power consumption compared to systems with comparable performance which are fabricated using conventional room temperature technologies. This potential for high performance electronics with reduced power consumption would have a positive impact on slowing the increase in the demand for electrical utility power by the information technology community on the overall electrical power grid. However, before this technology can be successfully brought to the commercial market place, there must be an aggressive investment of resources and funding to develop the required infrastructure needed to yield these high performance superconductor systems, which will be reliable and available at low cost. The author proposes that it will require a concerted effort by the superconductor and cryogenic communities to bring this technology to the commercial market place or make it available for widespread use in scientific instrumentation.

El cuerpo-huella en el performance digital 10 minutos

OpenAIRE

Daniel Enrique Ariza Gómez, PhD

2017-01-01

Este artículo de reflexión aborda el concepto de cuerpo-huella, eje principal del performance “El fajadito”. Esta puesta en escena forma parte de una creación escénica más grande llamada 10 minutos, performance digital que pone en tensión la relación cuerpo-máquina en el entorno de una unidad de cuidados intensivos (UCI), y se entrelaza junto con otros tres para ofrecer al público la totalidad de una obra que surge del proceso de investigación-creación 10 minutos. El discurso del presente art...

Intra-system reliability of SICS: video-tracking system (Digital.Stadium®) for performance analysis in football.

Science.gov (United States)

Beato, Marco; Jamil, Mikael

2017-05-09

The correct evaluation of external load parameters is a key factor in professional football. The instrumentations usually utilised to quantify the external load parameters during official matches are Video-Tracking Systems (VTS). VTS is a technology that records two- dimensional position data (x and y) at high sampling rates (over 25 Hz). The aim of this study was to evaluate the intra-system reliability of Digital.Stadium® VTS. 28 professional male football players taking part in the Italian Serie A (age 24 ± 6 years, body mass 79.5 ± 7.8 kg, stature 1.83 ± 0.05 m) during the 2015/16 season were enrolled in this study (Team A and Team B). Video-analysis was done during an official match and data analysis was performed immediately after the game ended and then replicated a week later. This study reported a near perfect relationship between the initial analysis (analysis 1) and the replicated analysis undertaken a week later (analysis 2). R2 coefficients were highly significant for each of the performance parameters, p power of 9.65 ± 1.64 w kg-1 and 9.58 ± 1.61 w kg-1, in analysis 1 and analysis 2, respectively. The findings reported in this study underlined that all data reported by Digital.Stadium® VTS showed high levels of absolute and relative reliability.

A high-resolution TDC-based board for a fully digital trigger and data acquisition system in the NA62 experiment at CERN

CERN Document Server

Pedreschi, Elena; Angelucci, Bruno; Avanzini, Carlo; Galeotti, Stefano; Lamanna, Gianluca; Magazzù, Guido; Pinzino, Jacopo; Piandani, Roberto; Sozzi, Marco; Spinella, Franco; Venditti, Stefano

2015-01-01

A Time to Digital Converter (TDC) based system, to be used for most sub-detectors in the high-flux rare-decay experiment NA62 at CERN SPS, was built as part of the NA62 fully digital Trigger and Data AcQuisition system (TDAQ), in which the TDC Board (TDCB) and a general-purpose motherboard (TEL62) will play a fundamental role. While TDCBs, housing four High Performance Time to Digital Converters (HPTDC), measure hit times from sub-detectors, the motherboard processes and stores them in a buffer, produces trigger primitives from different detectors and extracts only data related to the lowest trigger level decision, once this is taken on the basis of the trigger primitives themselves. The features of the TDCB board developed by the Pisa NA62 group are extensively discussed and performance data is presented in order to show its compliance with the experiment requirements.

Digital System Reliability Test for the Evaluation of safety Critical Software of Digital Reactor Protection System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyun-Kook Shin

2006-08-01

Full Text Available A new Digital Reactor Protection System (DRPS based on VME bus Single Board Computer has been developed by KOPEC to prevent software Common Mode Failure(CMF inside digital system. The new DRPS has been proved to be an effective digital safety system to prevent CMF by Defense-in-Depth and Diversity (DID&D analysis. However, for practical use in Nuclear Power Plants, the performance test and the reliability test are essential for the digital system qualification. In this study, a single channel of DRPS prototype has been manufactured for the evaluation of DRPS capabilities. The integrated functional tests are performed and the system reliability is analyzed and tested. The results of reliability test show that the application software of DRPS has a very high reliability compared with the analog reactor protection systems.

Digital approach to high rate gamma-ray spectrometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Korolczuk, Stefan; Mianowski, Slawomir; Rzadkiewicz, Jacek; Sibczynski, Pawel; Swiderski, Lukasz; Szewinski, Jaroslaw; Zychor, Izabella [Narodowe Centrum Badan Jadrowych (NCBJ), 05-400 Otwock, (Poland)

2015-07-01

Basic concepts and preliminary results of creating high rate digital spectrometry system using efficient ADCs and latest FPGA are presented as well as a comparison with commercially available devices. The possibility to use such systems, coupled to scintillators, in plasma experiments is discussed. (authors)

Performance of high-temperature superconducting band-pass filters with high selectivity for base transceiver applications of digital cellular communication systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kwak, J. S.; Lee, J. H.; Kim, C. O.; Hong, J. P.; Han, S. K.; Char, K.

2002-07-01

Highly selective high-temperature superconducting band-pass filters based on spiral meander line structures have been developed for base transceiver station applications of digital cellular communication systems. The filter comprised 12-pole microstrip line resonators with a circuit size of 0.5 × 17 × 41 mm3. The filter was designed to have a bandwidth of 25 MHz at a centre frequency of 834 MHz. Particularly, the physical size of each resonator was chosen not only to reduce far-field radiation, but also to have reasonable tunability in the filter. Device characteristics exhibited a low insertion loss of 0.4 dB with a 0.2 dB ripple and a return loss better than 10 dB in the pass-band at 65 K. The out-of-band signals were attenuated better than 60 dB at about 3.5 MHz from the lower band edge, and 3.8 MHz from the higher band edge.

Performance of high-temperature superconducting band-pass filters with high selectivity for base transceiver applications of digital cellular communication systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwak, J.S.; Lee, J.H.; Kim, C.O.; Hong, J.P. [Department of Physics, Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Han, S.K.; Char, K. [RFtron Inc., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2002-07-01

Highly selective high-temperature superconducting band-pass filters based on spiral meander line structures have been developed for base transceiver station applications of digital cellular communication systems. The filter comprised 12-pole microstrip line resonators with a circuit size of 0.5x17x41 mm{sup 3}. The filter was designed to have a bandwidth of 25 MHz at a centre frequency of 834 MHz. Particularly, the physical size of each resonator was chosen not only to reduce far-field radiation, but also to have reasonable tunability in the filter. Device characteristics exhibited a low insertion loss of 0.4 dB with a 0.2 dB ripple and a return loss better than 10 dB in the pass-band at 65 K. The out-of-band signals were attenuated better than 60 dB at about 3.5 MHz from the lower band edge, and 3.8 MHz from the higher band edge. (author)

Performance of high-temperature superconducting band-pass filters with high selectivity for base transceiver applications of digital cellular communication systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwak, J.S.; Lee, J.H.; Kim, C.O.; Hong, J.P.; Han, S.K.; Char, K.

2002-01-01

Highly selective high-temperature superconducting band-pass filters based on spiral meander line structures have been developed for base transceiver station applications of digital cellular communication systems. The filter comprised 12-pole microstrip line resonators with a circuit size of 0.5x17x41 mm 3 . The filter was designed to have a bandwidth of 25 MHz at a centre frequency of 834 MHz. Particularly, the physical size of each resonator was chosen not only to reduce far-field radiation, but also to have reasonable tunability in the filter. Device characteristics exhibited a low insertion loss of 0.4 dB with a 0.2 dB ripple and a return loss better than 10 dB in the pass-band at 65 K. The out-of-band signals were attenuated better than 60 dB at about 3.5 MHz from the lower band edge, and 3.8 MHz from the higher band edge. (author)

Optical timing receiver for the NASA Spaceborne Ranging System. Part II: high precision event-timing digitizer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leskovar, Branko; Turko, Bojan

1978-08-01

Position-resolution capabilities of the NASA Spaceborne Laser Ranging System are essentially determined by the timeresolution capabilities of its optical timing receiver. The optical timing receiver consists of a fast photoelectric device; (e.g., photomultiplier or an avalanche photodiode detector), a timing discriminator, a high-precision event-timing digitizer, and a signal-processing system. The time-resolution capabilities of the receiver are determined by the photoelectron time spread of the photoelectric device, the time walk and resolution characteristics of the timing discriminator, and the resolution of the event-timing digitizer. It is thus necessary to evaluate available fast photoelectronic devices with respect to the time-resolution capabilities, and to develop a very low time walk timing discriminator and a high-resolution event-timing digitizer to be used in the high-resolution spaceborne laser ranging system receiver. This part of the report describes the development of a high precision event-timing digitizer. The event-timing digitizer is basically a combination of a very accurate high resolution real time digital clock and an interval timer. The timing digitizer is a high resolution multiple stop clock, counting the time up to 131 days in 19.5 ps increments.

Computer holography: 3D digital art based on high-definition CGH

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsushima, K; Arima, Y; Nishi, H; Yamashita, H; Yoshizaki, Y; Ogawa, K; Nakahara, S

2013-01-01

Our recent works of high-definition computer-generated holograms (CGH) and the techniques used for the creation, such as the polygon-based method, silhouette method and digitized holography, are summarized and reviewed in this paper. The concept of computer holography is proposed in terms of integrating and crystalizing the techniques into novel digital art.

Digital Filter Performance for the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger

CERN Document Server

Hadley, D R; The ATLAS collaboration

2010-01-01

The ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger is a hardware-based system designed to identify high-pT jets, electron/photon and tau candidates, and to measure total and missing ET in the ATLAS Liquid Argon and Tile calorimeters. It is a pipelined processor system, with a new set of inputs being evaluated every 25ns. The overall trigger decision has a latency budget of 2µs, including all transmission delays. The calorimeter trigger uses about 7200 reduced granularity analogue signals, which are first digitized at the 40 MHz LHC bunch-crossing frequency, before being passed to a digital Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter. Due to latency and chip real-estate constraints, only a simple 5-element filter with limited precision can be used. Nevertheless this filter achieves a significant reduction in noise, along with improving the bunch-crossing assignment and energy resolution for small signals. The context in which digital filters are used for the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger will be presented, before describing ...

Visual and auditory digit-span performance in native and nonnative speakers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Olsthoorn, N.M.; Andringa, S.; Hulstijn, J.H.

2014-01-01

We compared 121 native and 114 non-native speakers of Dutch (with 35 different first languages) on four digit-span tasks, varying modality (visual/auditory) and direction (forward/backward). An interaction was observed between nativeness and modality, such that, while natives performed better than

A Framework for Evaluating the Effects of Degraded Digital I and C Systems on Human Performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

OHara, J.; Gunther, B.; Hughes, N.; Barnes, V.

2009-01-01

New and advanced reactors will use integrated digital instrumentation and control (I and C) systems to support operators in their monitoring and control functions. Even though digital systems are typically highly reliable, their potential for degradation or failure could significantly affect operator situation awareness and performance and, consequently, impact plant safety. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a research project to investigate the effects of degraded I and C systems on human performance and plant operations. The ultimate objective of this project is to develop the technical basis for human factors review guidance for conditions of degraded I and C, including complete failure. Based on the results of this effort, NRC will determine the need for developing new guidance or revising NUREG-0800, NUREG-0711, NUREG-0700 and other pertinent NRC review guidance. This paper reports on the first phase of the research, the development of a framework for linking degraded I and C system conditions to human performance. The framework consists of three levels: I and C subsystems, human-system interfaces, and human performance. Each level is composed of a number of discrete elements. This paper will describe the elements at each level and their integration. In the next phase of the research, the framework will be used to systematically investigate the human performance consequences of various classes of failures

New modified map for digital image encryption and its performance

Science.gov (United States)

Suryadi, MT; Yus Trinity Irsan, Maria; Satria, Yudi

2017-10-01

Protection to classified digital data becomes so important in avoiding data manipulation and alteration. The focus of this paper is in data and information protection of digital images form. Protection is provided in the form of encrypted digital image. The encryption process uses a new map, {x}n+1=\\frac{rλ {x}n}{1+λ {(1-{x}n)}2}\\quad ({mod} 1), which is called MS map. This paper will show: the results of digital image encryption using MS map and how the performance is regarding the average time needed for encryption/decryption process; randomness of key stream sequence with NIST test, histogram analysis and goodness of fit test, quality of the decrypted image by PSNR, initial value sensitivity level, and key space. The results show that the average time of the encryption process is relatively same as the decryption process and it depends to types and sizes of the image. Cipherimage (encrypted image) is uniformly distributed since: it passes the goodness of fit test and also the histogram of the cipherimage is flat; key stream, that are generated by MS map, passes frequency (monobit) test, and runs test, which means the key stream is a random sequence; the decrypted image has same quality as the original image; and initial value sensitivity reaches 10-17, and key space reaches 3.24 × 10634. So, that encryption algorithm generated by MS map is more resistant to brute-force attack and known plaintext attack.

High resolution seismic refraction method with multichannel digital data acquisition system; Digital ta channel sokutei system wo mochiita koseido kussetsuho jishin tansa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hayashi, K [Oyo Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

1997-05-27

This paper introduces a multichannel digital data acquisition system and examples of measurements with the system in seismic exploration using the high resolution seismic refraction method. The high resolution seismic refraction system performs analyses nearly automatically by using a computer after initial travel time has been read. Therefore, the system requires high-accuracy travel time data, for which a multichannel digital measuring instrument developed recently for seismic exploration using the refraction method has been used for the measurement. The specification specifies the number of channels at 144 as a maximum, a sampling time of 62.5 {mu}sec to 4 m sec, the maximum number of sampling of 80,000 samples, and gain accuracy of {plus_minus} 1%. The system was used for surveying a tunnel having a maximum soil cover of about 800 m. The traverse line length is about 6 km, the distance between vibration receiving points is 50 m, and the number of vibration receiving points is 194. Executing measurements of single point system using GPS can derive accurate velocity in the vicinity of the basic face of the tunnel construction. Results were obtained from the investigation, which can serve more for actual construction work. 10 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.

A High-Dynamic-Range Optical Remote Sensing Imaging Method for Digital TDI CMOS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taiji Lan

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The digital time delay integration (digital TDI technology of the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS image sensor has been widely adopted and developed in the optical remote sensing field. However, the details of targets that have low illumination or low contrast in scenarios of high contrast are often drowned out because of the superposition of multi-stage images in digital domain multiplies the read noise and the dark noise, thus limiting the imaging dynamic range. Through an in-depth analysis of the information transfer model of digital TDI, this paper attempts to explore effective ways to overcome this issue. Based on the evaluation and analysis of multi-stage images, the entropy-maximized adaptive histogram equalization (EMAHE algorithm is proposed to improve the ability of images to express the details of dark or low-contrast targets. Furthermore, in this paper, an image fusion method is utilized based on gradient pyramid decomposition and entropy weighting of different TDI stage images, which can improve the detection ability of the digital TDI CMOS for complex scenes with high contrast, and obtain images that are suitable for recognition by the human eye. The experimental results show that the proposed methods can effectively improve the high-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI capability of the digital TDI CMOS. The obtained images have greater entropy and average gradients.

Proposal of an innovative benchmark for comparison of the performance of contactless digitizers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iuliano, Luca; Minetola, Paolo; Salmi, Alessandro

2010-01-01

Thanks to the improving performances of 3D optical scanners, in terms of accuracy and repeatability, reverse engineering applications have extended from CAD model design or reconstruction to quality control. Today, contactless digitizing devices constitute a good alternative to coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) for the inspection of certain parts. The German guideline VDI/VDE 2634 is the only reference to evaluate whether 3D optical measuring systems comply with the declared or required performance specifications. Nevertheless it is difficult to compare the performance of different scanners referring to such a guideline. An adequate novel benchmark is proposed in this paper: focusing on the inspection of production tools (moulds), the innovative test piece was designed using common geometries and free-form surfaces. The reference part is intended to be employed for the evaluation of the performance of several contactless digitizing devices in computer-aided inspection, considering dimensional and geometrical tolerances as well as other quantitative and qualitative criteria

Proposal of an innovative benchmark for comparison of the performance of contactless digitizers

Science.gov (United States)

Iuliano, Luca; Minetola, Paolo; Salmi, Alessandro

2010-10-01

Thanks to the improving performances of 3D optical scanners, in terms of accuracy and repeatability, reverse engineering applications have extended from CAD model design or reconstruction to quality control. Today, contactless digitizing devices constitute a good alternative to coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) for the inspection of certain parts. The German guideline VDI/VDE 2634 is the only reference to evaluate whether 3D optical measuring systems comply with the declared or required performance specifications. Nevertheless it is difficult to compare the performance of different scanners referring to such a guideline. An adequate novel benchmark is proposed in this paper: focusing on the inspection of production tools (moulds), the innovative test piece was designed using common geometries and free-form surfaces. The reference part is intended to be employed for the evaluation of the performance of several contactless digitizing devices in computer-aided inspection, considering dimensional and geometrical tolerances as well as other quantitative and qualitative criteria.

Diagnostic performance of digital breast tomosynthesis with a wide scan angle compared to full-field digital mammography for the detection and characterization of microcalcifications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clauser, Paola; Nagl, Georg; Helbich, Thomas H.; Pinker-Domenig, Katja; Weber, Michael; Kapetas, Panagiotis; Bernathova, Maria; Baltzer, Pascal A.T.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Wide scan-angle DBT alone shows a high detection rate for microcalcifications. • DBT and FFDM can characterize microcalcifications at a comparable level. • Characterization is influenced by reader and by lesion type (benign vs malignant). • DBT might be used as a stand-alone technique for the assessment of microcalcifications. - Abstract: Objectives: To assess the diagnostic performance of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), with a wide scan-angle, compared to full-field digital mammography (FFDM), for the detection and characterization of microcalcifications. Methods: IRB approval was obtained for this retrospective study. We selected 150 FFDM and DBT (50 benign and 50 malignant histologically verified microcalcifications, 50 cases classified as BI-RADS 1). Four radiologists evaluated, in separate sessions and blinded to patients’ history and histology, the presence of microcalcifications. Cases with microcalcifications were assessed for visibility, characteristics, and grade of suspicion using BI-RADS categories. Detection rate and diagnostic performance were calculated. Visibility, lesions’ characteristics and reading time were analysed. Results: Detection rate and visibility were good for both FFDM and DBT, without intra-reader differences (P = 0.510). Inter-reader differences were detected (P < 0.018). Only two lesions were not detected by any reader on either FFDM or DBT. Diagnostic performance with DBT was as good as that of FFDM, but a significant inter-reader difference was found (P = 0.041). High inter-reader variability in the use of the descriptors was found. Reading time for DBT was almost twice that for FFDM (44 and 25 s, respectively). Conclusion: Wide scan-angle DBT enabled the detection and characterization of microcalcifications with no significant differences from FFDM. Inter-reader variability was seen.

Diagnostic performance of digital breast tomosynthesis with a wide scan angle compared to full-field digital mammography for the detection and characterization of microcalcifications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clauser, Paola, E-mail: paola.clauser@meduniwien.ac.at [Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Division of Molecular and Gender Imaging, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna (Austria); Nagl, Georg [Department for Radiology and Interventional Radiology, Landesklinikum Horn, Spitalgasse 10, 3580 Horn (Austria); Helbich, Thomas H., E-mail: thomas.helbich@meduniwien.ac.at [Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Division of Molecular and Gender Imaging, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna (Austria); Pinker-Domenig, Katja [Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Division of Molecular and Gender Imaging, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna (Austria); Weber, Michael [Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Division of General and Pediatric Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna (Austria); Kapetas, Panagiotis; Bernathova, Maria; Baltzer, Pascal A.T. [Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Division of Molecular and Gender Imaging, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090 Vienna (Austria)

2016-12-15

Highlights: • Wide scan-angle DBT alone shows a high detection rate for microcalcifications. • DBT and FFDM can characterize microcalcifications at a comparable level. • Characterization is influenced by reader and by lesion type (benign vs malignant). • DBT might be used as a stand-alone technique for the assessment of microcalcifications. - Abstract: Objectives: To assess the diagnostic performance of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), with a wide scan-angle, compared to full-field digital mammography (FFDM), for the detection and characterization of microcalcifications. Methods: IRB approval was obtained for this retrospective study. We selected 150 FFDM and DBT (50 benign and 50 malignant histologically verified microcalcifications, 50 cases classified as BI-RADS 1). Four radiologists evaluated, in separate sessions and blinded to patients’ history and histology, the presence of microcalcifications. Cases with microcalcifications were assessed for visibility, characteristics, and grade of suspicion using BI-RADS categories. Detection rate and diagnostic performance were calculated. Visibility, lesions’ characteristics and reading time were analysed. Results: Detection rate and visibility were good for both FFDM and DBT, without intra-reader differences (P = 0.510). Inter-reader differences were detected (P < 0.018). Only two lesions were not detected by any reader on either FFDM or DBT. Diagnostic performance with DBT was as good as that of FFDM, but a significant inter-reader difference was found (P = 0.041). High inter-reader variability in the use of the descriptors was found. Reading time for DBT was almost twice that for FFDM (44 and 25 s, respectively). Conclusion: Wide scan-angle DBT enabled the detection and characterization of microcalcifications with no significant differences from FFDM. Inter-reader variability was seen.

The digital era: the position and interests of creators and performers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Akker, I.; Poort, J.; Rutten, P.; Weda, J.

2011-01-01

This contribution presents the results of a survey held among creators and performers in media, arts and entertainment in The Netherlands. It concerns the future of copyright in the digital age and its implications for the creative professions as perceived by those working in it. Based on cluster

Performance study of Philips digital silicon photomultiplier coupled to scintillating crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Z.; Pizzichemi, M.; Paganoni, M.; Auffray, E.; Lecoq, P.

2016-01-01

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) and scintillators are often arranged in the shape of arrays in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) systems. Digital SiPMs provide signal readout in single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) level. From the photon count rate measurement of each SPAD cell of digital SiPM, we found that the output scintillating photons distribute in an area larger than the scintillator physical coupling area. Taking advantage of the possibility to enable/disable individual cells of the digital SiPM, a group of Lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystals with different dimensions coupled to a digital SiPM was used to study the influence of using different SiPM active area on the number of photons detected, energy resolution and coincidence time resolution (CTR). For the same crystal coupled to the digital SiPM, the larger the active area of digital SiPM, the higher the number of photons detected. The larger active area of the digital SiPM also results in a better energy resolution after saturation correction. The best energy resolution full width half maximum (FWHM) obtained for the 2×2×5mm 3 , 2×2×10 mm 3 , 2×2×15mm 3 , 2×2×20mm 3 LYSO crystals was 10.7%, 11.6%, 12.1%, 12.5%, respectively. For crystals with different cross sections coupled to the digital SiPM, we found that the larger the cross section of coupling area, the more photons were detected and thus a better energy resolution was obtained. The CTR of crystals fully wrapped with Teflon or without wrapping was measured by positioning two identical crystals facing each other. A larger area of digital SiPM improves the CTR and the CTR reaches the plateau when the active area is larger than 2.2×2.2mm 2 with both two configurations of wrapping. The best CTR value for the 2×2×5mm 3 , 2×2×10mm 3 , 2×2×15mm 3 , 2×2×20mm 3 LYSO crystals was 128.9 ps, 148.4 ps, 171.6 ps, 177.9 ps, respectively. The measurements performed lead us to conclude that optimising the coupling between crystal

Design and theoretical investigation of a digital x-ray detector with large area and high spatial resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Gui, Jianbao; Guo, Jinchuan; Yang, Qinlao; Liu, Xin; Niu, Hanben

2007-05-01

X-ray phase contrast imaging is a promising new technology today, but the requirements of a digital detector with large area, high spatial resolution and high sensitivity bring forward a large challenge to researchers. This paper is related to the design and theoretical investigation of an x-ray direct conversion digital detector based on mercuric iodide photoconductive layer with the latent charge image readout by photoinduced discharge (PID). Mercuric iodide has been verified having a good imaging performance (high sensitivity, low dark current, low voltage operation and good lag characteristics) compared with the other competitive materials (α-Se,PbI II,CdTe,CdZnTe) and can be easily deposited on large substrates in the manner of polycrystalline. By use of line scanning laser beam and parallel multi-electrode readout make the system have high spatial resolution and fast readout speed suitable for instant general radiography and even rapid sequence radiography.

High-Speed, Low-Power ADC for Digital Beam Forming (DBF) Systems, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Ridgetop Group will design a high-speed, low-power silicon germanium (SiGe)-based, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to be a key element for digital beam forming...

Digital measurement system for the LHC klystron high voltage modulator.

CERN Document Server

Mikkelsen, Anders

Accelerating voltage in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is created by a means of 16 superconducting standing wave RF cavities, each fed by a 400MHz/300kW continuous wave klystron amplifier. Part of the upgrade program for the LHC long shutdown one is to replace the obsolete analogue current and voltage measurement circuitry located in the high voltage bunkers by a new, digital system, using ADCs and optical fibres. A digital measurement card is implemented and integrated into the current HV modulator oil tank (floating at -58kV) and interfaced to the existing digital VME boards collecting the data for several klystrons at the ground potential. Measured signals are stored for the logging, diagnostics and post-mortem analysis purposes.

A high speed digital-to-analogue converter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hallgren, B.I.

1974-02-01

An 8-bit Digital-to-Analogue converter of the current-weighting type has been constructed using 8 monolithic integrated circuit transistor arrays -one for each bit. The D/A-converter has a voltage output within the range 0 to -2V. The settling time to within half of the least significant bit is about 50 nsec. The temperature dependence and transient response of the converter has been analysed using computer aided design techniques. A comparison is made between the experimental and simulated transient performance. (Auth.)

Performance Analysis of Digital loudspeaker Arrays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Bo Rohde; Kontomichos, Fotios; Mourjopoulos, John

2008-01-01

An analysis of digital loudspeaker arrays shows that the ways in which bits are mapped to the drivers influence the quality of the audio result. Specifically, a "bit-summed" rather than the traditional "bit-mapped" strategy greatly reduces the number of times drivers make binary transitions per...... period of the input frequency. Detailed simulations compare the results for a 32-loudspeaker array with a similar configuration with analog excitation of the drivers. Ideally, drivers in digital arrays should be very small and span a small area, but that sets limits on the low-frequency response...

High-Speed, Low-Power ADC for Digital Beam Forming (DBF) Systems, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — In Phase 1, Ridgetop Group designed a high-speed, yet low-power silicon germanium (SiGe)-based, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to be a key element for digital...

A high speed digitizing photomultiplier tube base for the KTeV CsI calorimeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitmore, J.

1994-11-01

A circuit has been designed to digitize PMT signals over an 18-bit dynamic range with 8-bits of resolution. The crucial element of the circuit is the custom charge integrating and encoding (QIE) ASIC. This chip is designed to operate at rates up to 53 MHz, and, in conjunction with an 8-bit FADC, generates 12-bit floating point output. Bench tests of a 17-bit version of the digital base demonstrated excellent noise performance, linearity and pedestal and gain stability. Twenty-five channels of digitizing PMT bases have been built and used for readout of a CsI array in a test beam at CERN. Performance of these devices in a beam environment is discussed

Digital Filtering Performance in the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger

CERN Document Server

Hadley, D R; The ATLAS collaboration

2010-01-01

The ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger is a hardware-based system designed to identify high-pT jets, elec- tron/photon and tau candidates, and to measure total and missing ET in the ATLAS Liquid Argon and Tile calorimeters. It is a pipelined processor system, with a new set of inputs being evaluated every 25ns. The overall trigger decision has a latency budget of 2µs, including all transmission delays. The calorimeter trigger uses about 7200 reduced granularity analogue signals, which are first digitized at the 40 MHz LHC bunch-crossing frequency, before being passed to a digital Finite Impulse Re- sponse (FIR) filter. Due to latency and chip real-estate constraints, only a simple 5-element filter with limited precision can be used. Nevertheless, this filter achieves a significant reduction in noise, along with improving the bunch-crossing assignment and energy resolution for small signals. The context in which digital filters are used for the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger is presented, before descr...

High performance Si nanowire field-effect-transistors based on a CMOS inverter with tunable threshold voltage.

Science.gov (United States)

Van, Ngoc Huynh; Lee, Jae-Hyun; Sohn, Jung Inn; Cha, Seung Nam; Whang, Dongmok; Kim, Jong Min; Kang, Dae Joon

2014-05-21

We successfully fabricated nanowire-based complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (NWCMOS) inverter devices by utilizing n- and p-type Si nanowire field-effect-transistors (NWFETs) via a low-temperature fabrication processing technique. We demonstrate that NWCMOS inverter devices can be operated at less than 1 V, a significantly lower voltage than that of typical thin-film based complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) inverter devices. This low-voltage operation was accomplished by controlling the threshold voltage of the n-type Si NWFETs through effective management of the nanowire (NW) doping concentration, while realizing high voltage gain (>10) and ultra-low static power dissipation (≤3 pW) for high-performance digital inverter devices. This result offers a viable means of fabricating high-performance, low-operation voltage, and high-density digital logic circuits using a low-temperature fabrication processing technique suitable for next-generation flexible electronics.

Ultra-high-speed digital in-line holography system applied to particle-laden supersonic underexpanded jet flows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ingvorsen, Kristian Mark; Buchmann, Nicolas A.; Soria, Julio

2012-01-01

-fluid interactions in these high-speed flows special high performance techniques are required. The present work is an investigation into the applicability of magnified digital in-line holography with ultra-high-speed recording for the study of three-dimensional supersonic particle-laden flows. An optical setup...... × 10mm calibration grid and 120 μm particles on a glass plate. In the case with the calibration grid it is found that accurate determination of the depthwise position is possible. However, when applying the same technique to the particle target, significant problems are encountered. © 2012...

A digital calibration technique for an ultra high-speed wide-bandwidth folding and interpolating analog-to-digital converter in 0.18-{mu}m CMOS technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu Jinshan; Zhang Ruitao; Zhang Zhengping; Wang Yonglu; Zhu Can; Zhang Lei; Yu Zhou; Han Yong, E-mail: yujinshan@yeah.net [National Laboratory of Analog IC' s, Chongqing 400060 (China)

2011-01-15

A digital calibration technique for an ultra high-speed folding and interpolating analog-to-digital converter in 0.18-{mu}m CMOS technology is presented. The similar digital calibration techniques are taken for high 3-bit flash converter and low 5-bit folding and interpolating converter, which are based on well-designed calibration reference, calibration DAC and comparators. The spice simulation and the measured results show the ADC produces 5.9 ENOB with calibration disabled and 7.2 ENOB with calibration enabled for high-frequency wide-bandwidth analog input. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Relation between Academic Performance and Students' Engagement in Digital Learning Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Bertheussen, Bernt Arne; Myrland, Øystein

2016-01-01

This study reports on the effect of student engagement in digital learning activities on academic performance for 120 students enrolled in an undergraduate finance course. Interactive practice and exam problem files were available to each student, and individual download activity was automatically recorded during the first 50 days of the course.…

High accuracy digital aging monitor based on PLL-VCO circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yuejun; Jiang Zhidi; Wang Pengjun; Zhang Xuelong

2015-01-01

As the manufacturing process is scaled down to the nanoscale, the aging phenomenon significantly affects the reliability and lifetime of integrated circuits. Consequently, the precise measurement of digital CMOS aging is a key aspect of nanoscale aging tolerant circuit design. This paper proposes a high accuracy digital aging monitor using phase-locked loop and voltage-controlled oscillator (PLL-VCO) circuit. The proposed monitor eliminates the circuit self-aging effect for the characteristic of PLL, whose frequency has no relationship with circuit aging phenomenon. The PLL-VCO monitor is implemented in TSMC low power 65 nm CMOS technology, and its area occupies 303.28 × 298.94 μm 2 . After accelerating aging tests, the experimental results show that PLL-VCO monitor improves accuracy about high temperature by 2.4% and high voltage by 18.7%. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Distal digital replantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jazayeri, Leila; Klausner, Jill Q; Chang, James

2013-11-01

Hand surgeons have been hesitant to perform distal digital replantation because of the technical challenges and the perception of a high cost-to-benefit ratio. Recent studies, however, have shown high survival rates and excellent functional and aesthetic results, providing renewed enthusiasm for distal replantation. The authors reviewed the literature and summarize key points regarding the surgical treatment, perioperative care, and outcomes of distal digital replantation. They describe specific techniques and considerations for surgical repair in each of four distal zones as described by Sebastin and Chung. Zone 1A replantation involves an artery-only anastomosis of a longitudinal pulp artery. Venous anastomosis first becomes possible in zone 1B. Zone 1C involves periarticular amputations where arthrodesis of the distal interphalangeal joint is usually indicated. Repair of the artery, vein, and nerve is technically optimal in zone 1D, where venous anastomosis should be performed. Overall, survival rates for distal digital replantation are similar to those reported for more proximal replantation. The literature reports good outcomes regarding nail salvage, fingertip sensibility, and range of motion, with restoration of length and aesthetic appearance. Distal replantation performed at institutions that specialize in microsurgery and specifically tailored to the level of injury is associated with good survival, function, and patient satisfaction and superior aesthetic outcome. More prospective data are needed to evaluate the cost of treatment, psychological outcomes, and functional outcomes of distal replantation compared with revision amputation.

The tracking performance of distributed recoverable flight control systems subject to high intensity radiated fields

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Rui

It is known that high intensity radiated fields (HIRF) can produce upsets in digital electronics, and thereby degrade the performance of digital flight control systems. Such upsets, either from natural or man-made sources, can change data values on digital buses and memory and affect CPU instruction execution. HIRF environments are also known to trigger common-mode faults, affecting nearly-simultaneously multiple fault containment regions, and hence reducing the benefits of n-modular redundancy and other fault-tolerant computing techniques. Thus, it is important to develop models which describe the integration of the embedded digital system, where the control law is implemented, as well as the dynamics of the closed-loop system. In this dissertation, theoretical tools are presented to analyze the relationship between the design choices for a class of distributed recoverable computing platforms and the tracking performance degradation of a digital flight control system implemented on such a platform while operating in a HIRF environment. Specifically, a tractable hybrid performance model is developed for a digital flight control system implemented on a computing platform inspired largely by the NASA family of fault-tolerant, reconfigurable computer architectures known as SPIDER (scalable processor-independent design for enhanced reliability). The focus will be on the SPIDER implementation, which uses the computer communication system known as ROBUS-2 (reliable optical bus). A physical HIRF experiment was conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center in order to validate the theoretical tracking performance degradation predictions for a distributed Boeing 747 flight control system subject to a HIRF environment. An extrapolation of these results for scenarios that could not be physically tested is also presented.

The Effects of Degraded Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems on Human-system Interfaces and Operator Performance: HFE Review Guidance and Technical Basis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Hara, J.M.; W. Gunther, G. Martinez-Guridi

2010-02-26

New and advanced reactors will use integrated digital instrumentation and control (I&C) systems to support operators in their monitoring and control functions. Even though digital systems are typically highly reliable, their potential for degradation or failure could significantly affect operator performance and, consequently, impact plant safety. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) supported this research project to investigate the effects of degraded I&C systems on human performance and plant operations. The objective was to develop human factors engineering (HFE) review guidance addressing the detection and management of degraded digital I&C conditions by plant operators. We reviewed pertinent standards and guidelines, empirical studies, and plant operating experience. In addition, we conducted an evaluation of the potential effects of selected failure modes of the digital feedwater system on human-system interfaces (HSIs) and operator performance. The results indicated that I&C degradations are prevalent in plants employing digital systems and the overall effects on plant behavior can be significant, such as causing a reactor trip or causing equipment to operate unexpectedly. I&C degradations can impact the HSIs used by operators to monitor and control the plant. For example, sensor degradations can make displays difficult to interpret and can sometimes mislead operators by making it appear that a process disturbance has occurred. We used the information obtained as the technical basis upon which to develop HFE review guidance. The guidance addresses the treatment of degraded I&C conditions as part of the design process and the HSI features and functions that support operators to monitor I&C performance and manage I&C degradations when they occur. In addition, we identified topics for future research.

Human Computer Confluence in Rehabilitation: Digital Media Plasticity and Human Performance Plasticity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brooks, Anthony Lewis

2013-01-01

Digital media plasticity evocative to embodied interaction is presented as a utilitarian tool when mixed and matched to target human performance potentials specific to nuance of development for those with impairment. A distinct intervention strategy trains via alternative channeling of external s...

High Channel Count Time-to-Digital Converter and Lasercom Processor, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — High-channel-count, high-precision, and high-throughput time-to-digital converters (TDC) are needed to support detector arrays used in deep-space optical...

The effects of sex, sexual orientation, and digit ratio (2D:4D) on mental rotation performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Michael; Manning, John T; Reimers, Stian

2007-04-01

In spite of the reduced level of experimental control, this large scale study brought some clarity into the relation between mental rotation task (MRT) performance and a number of variables where contradictory associations had previously been reported in the literature. Clear sex differences in MRT were observed for a sample of 134,317 men and 120,783 women, with men outperforming women. There were also MRT differences as a function of sexual orientation: heterosexual men performed better than homosexual men and homosexual women performed better than heterosexual women. Although bisexual men performed better than homosexual men but less well than heterosexual men, no significant differences were observed between bisexual and homosexual women. MRT performance in both men and women peaked in the 20-30 year range, and declined significantly and markedly thereafter. Both men and women showed a significant negative correlation between left and right digit finger ratio and MRT scores, such that individuals with smaller digit ratios (relatively longer ring finger than index finger) performed better than individuals with larger digit ratios.

Digital nonlinearity compensation in high-capacity optical communication systems considering signal spectral broadening effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Tianhua; Karanov, Boris; Shevchenko, Nikita A; Lavery, Domaniç; Liga, Gabriele; Killey, Robert I; Bayvel, Polina

2017-10-11

Nyquist-spaced transmission and digital signal processing have proved effective in maximising the spectral efficiency and reach of optical communication systems. In these systems, Kerr nonlinearity determines the performance limits, and leads to spectral broadening of the signals propagating in the fibre. Although digital nonlinearity compensation was validated to be promising for mitigating Kerr nonlinearities, the impact of spectral broadening on nonlinearity compensation has never been quantified. In this paper, the performance of multi-channel digital back-propagation (MC-DBP) for compensating fibre nonlinearities in Nyquist-spaced optical communication systems is investigated, when the effect of signal spectral broadening is considered. It is found that accounting for the spectral broadening effect is crucial for achieving the best performance of DBP in both single-channel and multi-channel communication systems, independent of modulation formats used. For multi-channel systems, the degradation of DBP performance due to neglecting the spectral broadening effect in the compensation is more significant for outer channels. Our work also quantified the minimum bandwidths of optical receivers and signal processing devices to ensure the optimal compensation of deterministic nonlinear distortions.

Digital gaming expertise

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toft-Nielsen, Claus

In a digitally saturated environment digital media users of all kinds, engaged in different areas of activity, are increasingly categorized in terms of their ability to appropriate and use digital media – they are regarded as non-users, experts, natives, or literates for instance. Within communic......In a digitally saturated environment digital media users of all kinds, engaged in different areas of activity, are increasingly categorized in terms of their ability to appropriate and use digital media – they are regarded as non-users, experts, natives, or literates for instance. Within...... communication and game studies there are multiple understandings of how digital expertise is expressed and performed, and subsequently how these expressions and performances can be valued, understood and theorized within the research community. Among other things expertise with and within digital games has......-of-game (Schrøder, 2003) in a three-year-long study of men and women (couples and singles) playing the largest Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game to date, World of Warcraft. In focusing on how different aspects of gaming expertise are articulated, negotiated, and performed, I aim to illustrate how...

Digital Game-Based Learning Supports Student Motivation, Cognitive Success, and Performance Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, Jeng-Chung

2014-01-01

Traditional multimedia learning is primarily based on the cognitive load concept of information processing theory. Recent digital game-based learning (DGBL) studies have focused on exploring content support for learning motivation and related game characteristics. Motivation, volition, and performance (MVP) theory indicates that cognitive load and…

Understanding the Implementation of Knowledge Management in High-Performance Schools in Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahmad Sukor Ab. Samad

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study intends to assess the implementation of policies in high-performance schools (HPS. One hundred fifty-two administrators in 52 HPS were selected using full sampling. Only two factors serve as contributors in knowledge management model for high-performing schools in Malaysia, which were school culture and school strategy. Whereas the correlation indicated that all 10 factors, namely, mission and vision, school strategy, school culture, intellectual modal, learning organization, leadership management, teamwork and learning community, knowledge sharing, new knowledge generation, and digital advancement, have significant relationships with the understanding of knowledge management, at different levels.

Overview of Parallel Platforms for Common High Performance Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Fryza

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with various parallel platforms used for high performance computing in the signal processing domain. More precisely, the methods exploiting the multicores central processing units such as message passing interface and OpenMP are taken into account. The properties of the programming methods are experimentally proved in the application of a fast Fourier transform and a discrete cosine transform and they are compared with the possibilities of MATLAB's built-in functions and Texas Instruments digital signal processors with very long instruction word architectures. New FFT and DCT implementations were proposed and tested. The implementation phase was compared with CPU based computing methods and with possibilities of the Texas Instruments digital signal processing library on C6747 floating-point DSPs. The optimal combination of computing methods in the signal processing domain and new, fast routines' implementation is proposed as well.

The ESPRIT project CAFE : high security digital payment systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boly, J.P.; Bosselaers, A.; Cramer, R.; Michelsen, R.; Mjølsnes, S.F.; Muller, F.; Pedersen, T.P.; Pfitzmann, B.; Rooij, de P.; Schoenmakers, B.; Schunter, M.; Vallée, L.; Waidner, M.; Gollmann, D.

1994-01-01

CAFE (“Conditional Access for Europe”) is an ongoing project in the European Community's ESPRIT program. The goal of CAFE is to develop innovative systems for conditional access, and in particular, digital payment systems. An important aspect of CAFE is high security of all parties concerned, with

High-performance indium gallium phosphide/gallium arsenide heterojunction bipolar transistors

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmari, David Abbas

Heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) have demonstrated the high-frequency characteristics as well as the high linearity, gain, and power efficiency necessary to make them attractive for a variety of applications. Specific applications for which HBTs are well suited include amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters, current sources, and optoelectronic integrated circuits. Currently, most commercially available HBT-based integrated circuits employ the AlGaAs/GaAs material system in applications such as a 4-GHz gain block used in wireless phones. As modern systems require higher-performance and lower-cost devices, HBTs utilizing the newer, InGaP/GaAs and InP/InGaAs material systems will begin to dominate the HBT market. To enable the widespread use of InGaP/GaAs HBTs, much research on the fabrication, performance, and characterization of these devices is required. This dissertation will discuss the design and implementation of high-performance InGaP/GaAs HBTs as well as study HBT device physics and characterization.

High speed digital holographic interferometry for hypersonic flow visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Hegde, G. M.; Jagdeesh, G.; Reddy, K. P. J.

2013-06-01

Optical imaging techniques have played a major role in understanding the flow dynamics of varieties of fluid flows, particularly in the study of hypersonic flows. Schlieren and shadowgraph techniques have been the flow diagnostic tools for the investigation of compressible flows since more than a century. However these techniques provide only the qualitative information about the flow field. Other optical techniques such as holographic interferometry and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) have been used extensively for extracting quantitative information about the high speed flows. In this paper we present the application of digital holographic interferometry (DHI) technique integrated with short duration hypersonic shock tunnel facility having 1 ms test time, for quantitative flow visualization. Dynamics of the flow fields in hypersonic/supersonic speeds around different test models is visualized with DHI using a high-speed digital camera (0.2 million fps). These visualization results are compared with schlieren visualization and CFD simulation results. Fringe analysis is carried out to estimate the density of the flow field.

Imaging performance of an amorphous selenium digital mammography detector in a breast tomosynthesis system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Bo; Zhao Wei

2008-01-01

In breast tomosynthesis a rapid sequence of N images is acquired when the x-ray tube sweeps through different angular views with respect to the breast. Since the total dose to the breast is kept the same as that in regular mammography, the exposure used for each image of tomosynthesis is 1/N. The low dose and high frame rate pose a tremendous challenge to the imaging performance of digital mammography detectors. The purpose of the present work is to investigate the detector performance in different operational modes designed for tomosynthesis acquisition, e.g., binning or full resolution readout, the range of view angles, and the number of views N. A prototype breast tomosynthesis system with a nominal angular range of ±25 deg. was used in our investigation. The system was equipped with an amorphous selenium (a-Se) full field digital mammography detector with pixel size of 85 μm. The detector can be read out in full resolution or 2x1 binning (binning in the tube travel direction). The focal spot blur due to continuous tube travel was measured for different acquisition geometries, and it was found that pixel binning, instead of focal spot blur, dominates the detector modulation transfer function (MTF). The noise power spectrum (NPS) and detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of the detector were measured with the exposure range of 0.4-6 mR, which is relevant to the low dose used in tomosynthesis. It was found that DQE at 0.4 mR is only 20% less than that at highest exposure for both detector readout modes. The detector temporal performance was categorized as lag and ghosting, both of which were measured as a function of x-ray exposure. The first frame lags were 8% and 4%, respectively, for binning and full resolution mode. Ghosting is negligible and independent of the frame rate. The results showed that the detector performance is x-ray quantum noise limited at the low exposures used in each view of tomosynthesis, and the temporal performance at high frame rate (up to

The Effects of Degraded Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems on Human-system Interfaces and Operator Performance: HFE Review Guidance and Technical Basis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Hara, J.M.; Gunther, W.; Martinez-Guridi, G.

2010-01-01

New and advanced reactors will use integrated digital instrumentation and control (I and C) systems to support operators in their monitoring and control functions. Even though digital systems are typically highly reliable, their potential for degradation or failure could significantly affect operator performance and, consequently, impact plant safety. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) supported this research project to investigate the effects of degraded I and C systems on human performance and plant operations. The objective was to develop human factors engineering (HFE) review guidance addressing the detection and management of degraded digital I and C conditions by plant operators. We reviewed pertinent standards and guidelines, empirical studies, and plant operating experience. In addition, we conducted an evaluation of the potential effects of selected failure modes of the digital feedwater system on human-system interfaces (HSIs) and operator performance. The results indicated that I and C degradations are prevalent in plants employing digital systems and the overall effects on plant behavior can be significant, such as causing a reactor trip or causing equipment to operate unexpectedly. I and C degradations can impact the HSIs used by operators to monitor and control the plant. For example, sensor degradations can make displays difficult to interpret and can sometimes mislead operators by making it appear that a process disturbance has occurred. We used the information obtained as the technical basis upon which to develop HFE review guidance. The guidance addresses the treatment of degraded I and C conditions as part of the design process and the HSI features and functions that support operators to monitor I and C performance and manage I and C degradations when they occur. In addition, we identified topics for future research.

Digital stereoscopic imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, A. Ravishankar; Jaimes, Alejandro

1999-05-01

The convergence of inexpensive digital cameras and cheap hardware for displaying stereoscopic images has created the right conditions for the proliferation of stereoscopic imagin applications. One application, which is of growing importance to museums and cultural institutions, consists of capturing and displaying 3D images of objects at multiple orientations. In this paper, we present our stereoscopic imaging system and methodology for semi-automatically capturing multiple orientation stereo views of objects in a studio setting, and demonstrate the superiority of using a high resolution, high fidelity digital color camera for stereoscopic object photography. We show the superior performance achieved with the IBM TDI-Pro 3000 digital camera developed at IBM Research. We examine various choices related to the camera parameters, image capture geometry, and suggest a range of optimum values that work well in practice. We also examine the effect of scene composition and background selection on the quality of the stereoscopic image display. We will demonstrate our technique with turntable views of objects from the IBM Corporate Archive.

Comparison of the quality of the chest film between digital radiography and conventional high kV radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeng Qingsi; Cen Renli; Chen Ling; He Jianxun; Lin Hanfei

2003-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the quality and usefulness of direct digital radiography system in roentgenogram of chest in clinical practice. Methods: 1000 cases of chest roentgenograms with digital radiography and high kV conventional radiography were selected for analysis by 3 senior radiologists. Results: 1. With digital radiography system, the quality of chest film was assessed as grade A in 50.6%, grade B in 38.5%, grade C in 10.9%, and no waste film. 2. With conventional high kV radiography, the quality of chest film was assessed as grade A in 41.1%, grade B in 44.1%, grade C in 13.3%, and waste film in 1.5%. The direct digital radiography was statistically superior to the conventional high kV radiography. 3. The fine structure of the lungs could be revealed in 100.0% of chest roentgenogram with direct digital radiograph system, which was significantly higher than that acquired with the conventional high KV radiography (78.6%, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Direct digital radiography could provide the chest film with better quality than that with the conventional high kV radiography. The direct digital radiography system is easy to operate, fast in capturing imaging and could provide post-processing techniques, which will facilitate the accurate diagnosis of chest radiography

Analysis of the performance and usefulness of a new digital gamma camera and short-lived radionuclide Au-195m for cardiac studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mena, I.; Amaral, H.; Adams, R.; Garcia, E.; de Jong, R.

1983-01-01

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate at LAC Harbor-UCLA Medical Center dead time characteristics of the digital camera Elscint (Apex 415), designed by the manufacturer to improve the count rate performance, its resolution and clinical applications in first pass ventriculography. The Hg-195m/Au-195m generator is evaluated for Hg-195 leakage, dosimetry and clinical usefulness. The high count rate capability of the digital camera is maximally utilized in biplane ventriculography which may become the optimal modality for dynamic cardiovascular nuclear medicine studies. The resolution achieved in this high count rate modality appears perfectly adequate for high quality studies. The imaging and radiation exposure characteristics of the 30.5 sec half life Au 195m are promising of a significant clinical contribution in the field of adult and pediatric cardiology

Ultra-high-speed digital in-line holography system applied to particle-laden supersonic underexpanded jet flows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ingvorsen, Kristian Mark; Buchmann, Nicolas A.; Soria, Julio

2012-01-01

-fluid interactions in these high-speed flows special high performance techniques are required. The present work is an investigation into the applicability of magnified digital in-line holography with ultra-high-speed recording for the study of three-dimensional supersonic particle-laden flows. An optical setup...... × 10mm calibration grid and 120 μm particles on a glass plate. In the case with the calibration grid it is found that accurate determination of the depthwise position is possible. However, when applying the same technique to the particle target, significant problems are encountered....

Youth behaviour about digital piracy: Research with public high school students

OpenAIRE

Grohmann, Márcia Zampieri; Rosa, Ana Claudia da; Nunes, Jankel Dal’osto; Piveta, Maíra Nunes

2014-01-01

This paper aims to identify the profile of younger who download more software pirates; understand young people's behavior in relation to digital piracy; verify if this profile impact in young justice perception and attitude toward digital piracy . The research is characterized by quantitative and descriptive, using Suki, Suki and Ramayah (2011) model in a 397 student sample. The results showed that: the using of software pirates is more high among men and who made less use of software pirates...

Design and evaluation of a high-performance charge coupled device camera for astronomical imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shang, Yuanyuan; Guan, Yong; Zhang, Weigong; Pan, Wei; Liu, Hui; Zhang, Jie

2009-01-01

The Space Solar Telescope (SST) is the first Chinese space astronomy mission. This paper introduces the design of a high-performance 2K × 2K charge coupled device (CCD) camera that is an important payload in the Space Solar Telescope. The camera is composed of an analogue system and a digital embedded system. The analogue system is first discussed in detail, including the power and bias voltage supply circuit, power protection unit, CCD clock driver circuit, 16 bit A/D converter and low-noise amplifier circuit. The digital embedded system integrated with an NIOS II soft-core processor serves as the control and data acquisition system of the camera. In addition, research on evaluation methods for CCDs was carried out to evaluate the performance of the TH7899 CCD camera in relation to the requirements of the SST project. We present the evaluation results, including readout noise, linearity, quantum efficiency, dark current, full-well capacity, charge transfer efficiency and gain. The results show that this high-performance CCD camera can satisfy the specifications of the SST project

The Effect of Degraded Digital Instrumentation and Control systems on Human-system Interfaces and Operator Performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Hara, J.M.; Gunther, B.; Martinez-Guridi, G.; Xing, J.; Barnes, V.

2010-01-01

Integrated digital instrumentation and control (I and C) systems in new and advanced nuclear power plants (NPPs) will support operators in monitoring and controlling the plants. Even though digital systems typically are expected to be reliable, their potential for degradation or failure significantly could affect the operators performance and, consequently, jeopardize plant safety. This U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) research investigated the effects of degraded I and C systems on human performance and on plant operations. The objective was to develop technical basis and guidance for human factors engineering (HFE) reviews addressing the operator's ability to detect and manage degraded digital I and C conditions. We reviewed pertinent standards and guidelines, empirical studies, and plant operating experience. In addition, we evaluated the potential effects of selected failure modes of the digital feedwater control system of a currently operating pressurized water reactor (PWR) on human-system interfaces (HSIs) and the operators performance. Our findings indicated that I and C degradations are prevalent in plants employing digital systems, and the overall effects on the plant's behavior can be significant, such as causing a reactor trip or equipment to operate unexpectedly. I and C degradations may affect the HSIs used by operators to monitor and control the plant. For example, deterioration of the sensors can complicate the operators interpretation of displays, and sometimes may mislead them by making it appear that a process disturbance has occurred. We used the findings as the technical basis upon which to develop HFE review guidance.

Performance characteristics of digital vs film screen mammography in community practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Dabbous, Firas; Dolecek, Therese A; Friedewald, Sarah M; Tossas-Milligan, Katherine Y; Macarol, Tere; Summerfelt, Wm Thomas; Rauscher, Garth H

2018-05-01

We compared the performance characteristics of 297 629 full field digital (FFDM) and 416 791 screen film mammograms (SFM). Sensitivity increased with age, decreased with breast density, and was lower for more aggressive and lobular tumors. While sensitivity did not differ significantly by modality, specificity was generally 1%-2% points higher for FFDM than for SFM across age and breast density categories. The lower recall rate for FFDM vs SFM in our study may partially explain performance differences by modality. In this large health care organization, modest gains in performance were achieved with the introduction of FFDM as a replacement for SFM. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An objective protocol for comparing the noise performance of silver halide film and digital sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Frédéric; Guichard, Frédéric; Hornung, Hervé; Tessière, Régis

2012-01-01

Digital sensors have obviously invaded the photography mass market. However, some photographers with very high expectancy still use silver halide film. Are they only nostalgic reluctant to technology or is there more than meets the eye? The answer is not so easy if we remark that, at the end of the golden age, films were actually scanned before development. Nowadays film users have adopted digital technology and scan their film to take advantage from digital processing afterwards. Therefore, it is legitimate to evaluate silver halide film "with a digital eye", with the assumption that processing can be applied as for a digital camera. The article will describe in details the operations we need to consider the film as a RAW digital sensor. In particular, we have to account for the film characteristic curve, the autocorrelation of the noise (related to film grain) and the sampling of the digital sensor (related to Bayer filter array). We also describe the protocol that was set, from shooting to scanning. We then present and interpret the results of sensor response, signal to noise ratio and dynamic range.

Discrepancies between bilinguals' performance on the Spanish and English versions of the WAIS Digit Span task: Cross-cultural implications.

Science.gov (United States)

López, Enrique; Steiner, Alexander J; Hardy, David J; IsHak, Waguih W; Anderson, W Brantley

2016-01-01

This study explored within-subjects differences in the performance of 40 bilingual participants on the English and Spanish versions of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Digit Span task. To test the linguistic hypothesis that individuals would perform worse in Spanish because of its syllabic demand, we compared the number of syllables correctly recalled by each participant for every correct trial. Our analysis of the correct number of syllables remembered per trial showed that participants performed significantly better (i.e., recalling more syllables) in Spanish than in English on the total score. Findings suggest the Spanish version of the Digit Span (total score) was significantly more difficult than the English version utilizing traditional scoring methods. Moreover, the Forward Trial, rather than the Backward Trial, was more likely to show group differences between both language versions. Additionally, the Spanish trials of the Digit Span were correlated with language comprehension and verbal episodic memory measures, whereas the English trials of the Digit Span were correlated with confrontational naming and verbal fluency tasks. The results suggest that more research is necessary to further investigate other cognitive factors, rather than just syllabic demand, that might contribute to performance and outcome differences on the WAIS Digit Span in Spanish-English bilinguals.

High-Resolution Digital-to-Time Converter Implemented in an FPGA Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the design and implementation of a new digital-to-time converter (DTC. The obtained resolution is 1.02 ps, and the dynamic range is about 590 ns. The experimental results indicate that the measured differential nonlinearity (DNL and integral nonlinearity (INL are −0.17~+0.13 LSB and −0.35~+0.62 LSB, respectively. This DTC builds coarse and fine Vernier delay lines constructed by programmable delay lines (PDLs to ensure high performance delay. Benefited by the close-loop feedback mechanism of the PDLs’ control module, the presented DTC has excellent voltage and temperature stability. What is more, the proposed DTC can be implemented in a single field programmable gate array (FPGA chip.

Nanometer-scale patterning of high-Tc superconductors for Josephson junction-based digital circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wendt, J.R.; Plut, T.A.; Corless, R.F.; Martens, J.S.; Berkowitz, S.; Char, K.; Johansson, M.; Hou, S.Y.; Phillips, J.M.

1994-01-01

A straightforward method for nanometer-scale patterning of high-T c superconductor thin films is discussed. The technique combines direct-write electron beam lithography with well-controlled aqueous etches and is applied to the fabrication of Josephson junction nanobridges in high-quality, epitaxial thin-film YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 . We present the results of our studies of the dimensions, yield, uniformity, and mechanism of the junctions along with the performance of a representative digital circuit based on these junctions. Direct current junction parameter statistics measured at 77 K show critical currents of 27.5 μA±13% for a sample set of 220 junctions. The Josephson behavior of the nanobridge is believed to arise from the aggregation of oxygen vacancies in the nanometer-scale bridge

High performance current generator with one-picoampere resolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grillo, L.; Manfredi, P.F.; Marchesini, R.

1975-01-01

A high-performance current generator for the picoampere region is presented. Although it was primarily developed as a part of an automatic test system to calibrate charge integrators for accelerating machines. It can suit a wide range of applications. It consists basically of a positive feedback loop of controlled gain which includes a varactor bridge operational amplifier. The essential features of the instrument are a 1 pA resolution and a 10 15 Ω output impedance. The output is guarded and floating between - 120 V and + 120 V, and the voltage across the external loads is measured without affecting the delivered current by a digital panel meter on the front panel. The unit can therefore operate as a high-accuracy dc impedance meter. (Auth.)

High-Speed 3D Printing of High-Performance Thermosetting Polymers via Two-Stage Curing.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuang, Xiao; Zhao, Zeang; Chen, Kaijuan; Fang, Daining; Kang, Guozheng; Qi, Hang Jerry

2018-04-01

Design and direct fabrication of high-performance thermosets and composites via 3D printing are highly desirable in engineering applications. Most 3D printed thermosetting polymers to date suffer from poor mechanical properties and low printing speed. Here, a novel ink for high-speed 3D printing of high-performance epoxy thermosets via a two-stage curing approach is presented. The ink containing photocurable resin and thermally curable epoxy resin is used for the digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing. After printing, the part is thermally cured at elevated temperature to yield an interpenetrating polymer network epoxy composite, whose mechanical properties are comparable to engineering epoxy. The printing speed is accelerated by the continuous liquid interface production assisted DLP 3D printing method, achieving a printing speed as high as 216 mm h -1 . It is also demonstrated that 3D printing structural electronics can be achieved by combining the 3D printed epoxy composites with infilled silver ink in the hollow channels. The new 3D printing method via two-stage curing combines the attributes of outstanding printing speed, high resolution, low volume shrinkage, and excellent mechanical properties, and provides a new avenue to fabricate 3D thermosetting composites with excellent mechanical properties and high efficiency toward high-performance and functional applications. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Digit Symbol Performance in Mild Dementia and Depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, Robert P.; And Others

1987-01-01

Patients with mild dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT), patients with major depression, and normal control subjects completed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Digit Symbol test of incidental memory. Though mild DAT and depressed patients had equivalent deficits in psychomotor speed, DAT patients recalled fewer digit-symbol items.…

Decontamination of digital image sensors and assessment of electron microscope performance in a BSL-3 containment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael B. Sherman

2015-05-01

Full Text Available A unique biological safety level (BSL-3 cryo-electron microscopy facility with a 200 keV high-end cryo-electron microscope has been commissioned at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB to study the structure of viruses and bacteria classified as select agents. We developed a microscope decontamination protocol based on chlorine dioxide gas with a continuous flow system. In this paper we report on testing digital camera sensors (both CCD and CMOS direct detector in a BSL-3 environment, and microscope performance after chlorine dioxide (ClO2 decontamination cycles.

Digital Hadron Calorimetry

Science.gov (United States)

Bilki, Burak

2018-03-01

The Particle Flow Algorithms attempt to measure each particle in a hadronic jet individually, using the detector providing the best energy/momentum resolution. Therefore, the spatial segmentation of the calorimeter plays a crucial role. In this context, the CALICE Collaboration developed the Digital Hadron Calorimeter. The Digital Hadron Calorimeter uses Resistive Plate Chambers as active media and has a 1-bit resolution (digital) readout of 1 × 1 cm2 pads. The calorimeter was tested with steel and tungsten absorber structures, as well as with no absorber structure, at the Fermilab and CERN test beam facilities over several years. In addition to conventional calorimetric measurements, the Digital Hadron Calorimeter offers detailed measurements of event shapes, rigorous tests of simulation models and various tools for improved performance due to its very high spatial granularity. Here we report on the results from the analysis of pion and positron events. Results of comparisons with the Monte Carlo simulations are also discussed. The analysis demonstrates the unique utilization of detailed event topologies.

Superconductor Digital-RF Receiver Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mukhanov, Oleg A.; Kirichenko, Dmitri; Vernik, Igor V.; Filippov, Timur V.; Kirichenko, Alexander; Webber, Robert; Dotsenko, Vladimir; Talalaevskii, Andrei; Tang, Jia Cao; Sahu, Anubhav; Shevchenko, Pavel; Miller, Robert; Kaplan, Steven B.; Sarwana, Saad; Gupta, Deepnarayan

Digital superconductor electronics has been experiencing rapid maturation with the emergence of smaller-scale, lower-cost communications applications which became the major technology drivers. These applications are primarily in the area of wireless communications, radar, and surveillance as well as in imaging and sensor systems. In these areas, the fundamental advantages of superconductivity translate into system benefits through novel Digital-RF architectures with direct digitization of wide band, high frequency radio frequency (RF) signals. At the same time the availability of relatively small 4K cryocoolers has lowered the foremost market barrier for cryogenically-cooled digital electronic systems. Recently, we have achieved a major breakthrough in the development, demonstration, and successful delivery of the cryocooled superconductor digital-RF receivers directly digitizing signals in a broad range from kilohertz to gigahertz. These essentially hybrid-technology systems combine a variety of superconductor and semiconductor technologies packaged with two-stage commercial cryocoolers: cryogenic Nb mixed-signal and digital circuits based on Rapid Single Flux Quantum (RSFQ) technology, room-temperature amplifiers, FPGA processing and control circuitry. The demonstrated cryocooled digital-RF systems are the world's first and fastest directly digitizing receivers operating with live satellite signals in X-band and performing signal acquisition in HF to L-band at ˜30GHz clock frequencies.

Supply Responses to Digital Distribution: Recorded Music and Live Performances

OpenAIRE

Julie Holland Mortimer; Chris Nosko; Alan Sorensen

2010-01-01

Changes in technologies for reproducing and redistributing digital goods (e.g., music, movies, software, books) have dramatically affected profitability of these goods, and raised concerns for future development of socially valuable digital products. However, broader illegitimate distribution of digital goods may have offsetting demand implications for legitimate sales of complementary non-digital products. We examine the negative impact of file-sharing on recorded music sales and offsetting ...

High-performance mass storage system for workstations

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, T.; Tang, Y.; Gupta, L.; Cooperman, S.

1993-01-01

Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) workstations and Personnel Computers (PC) are very popular tools for office automation, command and control, scientific analysis, database management, and many other applications. However, when using Input/Output (I/O) intensive applications, the RISC workstations and PC's are often overburdened with the tasks of collecting, staging, storing, and distributing data. Also, by using standard high-performance peripherals and storage devices, the I/O function can still be a common bottleneck process. Therefore, the high-performance mass storage system, developed by Loral AeroSys' Independent Research and Development (IR&D) engineers, can offload a RISC workstation of I/O related functions and provide high-performance I/O functions and external interfaces. The high-performance mass storage system has the capabilities to ingest high-speed real-time data, perform signal or image processing, and stage, archive, and distribute the data. This mass storage system uses a hierarchical storage structure, thus reducing the total data storage cost, while maintaining high-I/O performance. The high-performance mass storage system is a network of low-cost parallel processors and storage devices. The nodes in the network have special I/O functions such as: SCSI controller, Ethernet controller, gateway controller, RS232 controller, IEEE488 controller, and digital/analog converter. The nodes are interconnected through high-speed direct memory access links to form a network. The topology of the network is easily reconfigurable to maximize system throughput for various applications. This high-performance mass storage system takes advantage of a 'busless' architecture for maximum expandability. The mass storage system consists of magnetic disks, a WORM optical disk jukebox, and an 8mm helical scan tape to form a hierarchical storage structure. Commonly used files are kept in the magnetic disk for fast retrieval. The optical disks are used as archive

A digital silicon photomultiplier with multiple time-to-digital converters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garutti, Erika [University Hamburg (Germany); Silenzi, Alessandro [DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Xu, Chen [DESY, Hamburg (Germany); University Hamburg (Germany)

2013-07-01

A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) with pixel level signal digitization and column-wise connected time-to-digital converters (TDCs) has been developed for an endoscopic Positron Emission Tomography (PET) detector. A digital SiPM has pixels consist of a single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) and circuit elements to optimize overall dark counts and temporal response. Compared with conventional analog SiPM, digital SiPM's direct signal route from SPAD to TDC improves single photon time resolution. In addition, using multiple TDCs can perform the statistical estimation of the time-of-arrival in multiple photon detection case such as readout of scintillation crystals. Characterization measurements of the prototype digital SiPM and a Monte-Carlo simulation to predict the timing performance of the PET detector are shown.

Digital switched hydraulics

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Min; Plummer, Andrew

2018-06-01

This paper reviews recent developments in digital switched hydraulics particularly the switched inertance hydraulic systems (SIHSs). The performance of SIHSs is presented in brief with a discussion of several possible configurations and control strategies. The soft switching technology and high-speed switching valve design techniques are discussed. Challenges and recommendations are given based on the current research achievements.

Enabling Digital Literacy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryberg, Thomas; Georgsen, Marianne

2010-01-01

There are some tensions between high-level policy definitions of “digital literacy” and actual teaching practice. We need to find workable definitions of digital literacy; obtain a better understanding of what digital literacy might look like in practice; and identify pedagogical approaches, which...... support teachers in designing digital literacy learning. We suggest that frameworks such as Problem Based Learning (PBL) are approaches that enable digital literacy learning because they provide good settings for engaging with digital literacy. We illustrate this through analysis of a case. Furthermore......, these operate on a meso-level mediating between high-level concepts of digital literacy and classroom practice....

A high performance DAC/DDS daughter module for the RHIC LLRF platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayes, T.; Harvey, M.; Narayan, G.; Severino, F.; Smith, K.S.; Yuan, S.

2011-01-01

The RHIC LLRF upgrade is a flexible, modular system. Output signals are generated by a custom designed XMC card with 4 high speed digital to analog (DAC) converters interfaced to a high performance field programmable gate array (FPGA). This paper discusses the hardware details of the XMC DAC board as well as the implementation of a low noise rf synthesizer with digital IQ modulation. This synthesizer also provides injection phase cogging and frequency hop rebucketing capabilities. A new modular RHIC LLRF system was recently designed and commissioned based on custom designed XMC cards. As part of that effort a high speed, four channel DAC board was designed. The board uses Maxim MAX5891 16 bit DACs with a maximum update rate of 600 Msps. Since this module is intended to be used for many different systems throughout the Collider Accelerator complex, it was designed to be as generic as possible. One major application of this DAC card is to implement digital synthesizers to provide drive signals to the various cavities at RHIC. Since RHIC is a storage ring with stores that typically last many hours, extremely low RF noise is a critical requirement. Synchrotron frequencies at RHIC range from a few hertz to several hundred hertz depending on the species and point in the acceleration cycle so close in phase noise is a major concern. The RHIC LLRF system uses the Update Link, a deterministic, high speed data link that broadcasts the revolution frequency and the synchronous phase angle. The digital synthesizers use this data to generate a properly phased analog drive signal. The synthesizers must also provide smooth phase shifts for cogging and support frequency shift rebucketing. One additional feature implemented in the FPGA is a digital waveform generator (WFG) that generates I and Q data pairs based on a user selected amplitude and phase profile as a function of time.

Digital Learning As Enhanced Learning Processing? Cognitive Evidence for New insight of Smart Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Giacomo, Dina; Ranieri, Jessica; Lacasa, Pilar

2017-01-01

Large use of technology improved quality of life across aging and favoring the development of digital skills. Digital skills can be considered an enhancing to human cognitive activities. New research trend is about the impact of the technology in the elaboration information processing of the children. We wanted to analyze the influence of technology in early age evaluating the impact on cognition. We investigated the performance of a sample composed of n. 191 children in school age distributed in two groups as users: high digital users and low digital users. We measured the verbal and visuoperceptual cognitive performance of children by n. 8 standardized psychological tests and ad hoc self-report questionnaire. Results have evidenced the influence of digital exposition on cognitive development: the cognitive performance is looked enhanced and better developed: high digital users performed better in naming, semantic, visual memory and logical reasoning tasks. Our finding confirms the data present in literature and suggests the strong impact of the technology using not only in the social, educational and quality of life of the people, but also it outlines the functionality and the effect of the digital exposition in early age; increased cognitive abilities of the children tailor digital skilled generation with enhanced cognitive processing toward to smart learning.

The European FAZIA initiative: a high-performance digital telescope array for heavy-ion studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casini, G.; Barlini, S.; Pasquali, G.; Pastore, G.; Bini, M.; Carboni, S.; Olmi, A.; Piantelli, S.; Poggi, G.; Stefanini, A.; Valdre, S.; Bonnet, E.; Chbihi, A.; Frankland, J.D.; Gruyer, D.; Marini, P.; Borderie, B.; Edelbruck, P.; Rivet, M.F.; Salomon, F.; Bougault, R.; Le Neindre, N.; Lopez, O.; Parlog, M.; Vient, E.; Bruno, M.; Guerzoni, M.; Morelli, L.; Cinausero, M.; Gramegna, F.; Degerlier, M.; Kordjasz, A.; Twarog, T.; Kozik, T.; Marchi, T.; Ordine, A.; Rosato, E.; Spadaccini, G.; Vigilante, M.

2014-01-01

A modular array of 192 Si-Si-CsI(Tl) telescopes is under construction by the european FAZIA collaboration for charged product identification in heavy-ion studies. Thanks to an intense development phase, the ion identification capability of such modules has been improved both adopting specific solutions for the detectors and using fast digital electronics channels featuring high resolution. The silicons have been cut to present almost random orientation and have uniform doping homogeneity. To improve pulse shape analysis (PSA), they are reverse mounted in the telescopes. Full charge separation has been obtained up to over Z=54 also for ions stopping in the first silicon layer via PSA, with a threshold of 2.5 MeV/u for Carbon (Tin) ions. Isotopes are separated up to the iron region by the ΔE - E method for ions stopped in second silicon or in the CsI crystal. For slower particles, the PSA allows for isotopic resolution up to Z ∼ 14 with thresholds corresponding to ∼ 50 μm of (fully depleted) silicon detector. Preliminary results for partially depleted detectors indicate a strong improvement of mass separation with respect to the full depletion case at the cost of somewhat higher thresholds

Two-step digit-set-restricted modified signed-digit addition-subtraction algorithm and its optoelectronic implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, F; Li, G; Ruan, H; Jing, H; Liu, L

1999-09-10

A novel, to our knowledge, two-step digit-set-restricted modified signed-digit (MSD) addition-subtraction algorithm is proposed. With the introduction of the reference digits, the operand words are mapped into an intermediate carry word with all digits restricted to the set {1, 0} and an intermediate sum word with all digits restricted to the set {0, 1}, which can be summed to form the final result without carry generation. The operation can be performed in parallel by use of binary logic. An optical system that utilizes an electron-trapping device is suggested for accomplishing the required binary logic operations. By programming of the illumination of data arrays, any complex logic operations of multiple variables can be realized without additional temporal latency of the intermediate results. This technique has a high space-bandwidth product and signal-to-noise ratio. The main structure can be stacked to construct a compact optoelectronic MSD adder-subtracter.

A high speed digital noise generator

Science.gov (United States)

Obrien, J.; Gaffney, B.; Liu, B.

In testing of digital signal processing hardware, a high speed pseudo-random noise generator is often required to simulate an input noise source to the hardware. This allows the hardware to be exercised in a manner analogous to actual operating conditions. In certain radar and communication environments, a noise generator operating at speeds in excess of 60 MHz may be required. In this paper, a method of generating high speed pseudo-random numbers from an arbitrarily specified distribution (Gaussian, Log-Normal, etc.) using a transformation from a uniform noise source is described. A noise generator operating at 80 MHz has been constructed. Different distributions can be readily obtained by simply changing the ROM set. The hardware and test results will be described. Using this approach, the generation of pseudo-random sequences with arbitrary distributions at word rates in excess of 200 MHz can be readily achieved.

Design of full digital 50 kV electronic gun high voltage power supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ge Lei; Shang Lei

2014-01-01

The design of full digital electronic gun high voltage power supply based on DSP was introduced in this paper. This power supply has innovations of full digital feedback circuit and PID closed-loop control mode. The application of high frequency resonant converter circuit reduces the size of the resonant element and transformer. The current-coupling distributed high voltage transformer and rectifier circuit were employed in this power supply. By this way, the power supply efficiency is improved and the number of distributed parameters is reduced, and the rectifier circuit could work under the oil-free environment. This power supply has been used in electronic grid-control high voltage system of the irradiation accelerator. (authors)

Broadband analog to digital conversion with spatial-spectral holography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babbitt, W. Randall; Neifeld, Mark A.; Merkel, Kristian D.

2007-01-01

A new approach to broadband photonic-assisted analog-to-digital converter (ADC) technology is proposed and analyzed. The core of the device is a spatial spectral holographic (SSH) material, which can directly record the signals of interest in the frequency domain. An SSH-ADC acts as a frequency-domain stretch processor, which leverages the high performance of conventional ADCs by converting high bandwidth input signals to low bandwidth output signals without loss of information. Analysis of a 10 GHz bandwidth SSH-ADC predicts that 10-bit performance can be achieved with currently available materials and components. SSH-ADC technology is scalable to bandwidths over 100 GHz with recently developed SSH materials. While the SSH-ADC is a transient digitizer, the spatial parallelism of SSH materials can be utilized to enable continuous digitization

Broadband analog to digital conversion with spatial-spectral holography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Babbitt, W. Randall [Spectrum Lab, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3510 (United States)]. E-mail: babbitt@physics.montana.edu; Neifeld, Mark A. [Spectrum Lab, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3510 (United States); Merkel, Kristian D. [Spectrum Lab, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3510 (United States)

2007-11-15

A new approach to broadband photonic-assisted analog-to-digital converter (ADC) technology is proposed and analyzed. The core of the device is a spatial spectral holographic (SSH) material, which can directly record the signals of interest in the frequency domain. An SSH-ADC acts as a frequency-domain stretch processor, which leverages the high performance of conventional ADCs by converting high bandwidth input signals to low bandwidth output signals without loss of information. Analysis of a 10 GHz bandwidth SSH-ADC predicts that 10-bit performance can be achieved with currently available materials and components. SSH-ADC technology is scalable to bandwidths over 100 GHz with recently developed SSH materials. While the SSH-ADC is a transient digitizer, the spatial parallelism of SSH materials can be utilized to enable continuous digitization.

A High Performance Pocket-Size System for Evaluations in Acoustic Signal Processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steeger Gerhard H

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Custom-made hardware is attractive for sophisticated signal processing in wearable electroacoustic devices, but has a high initial cost overhead. Thus, signal processing algorithms should be tested thoroughly in real application environments by potential end users prior to the hardware implementation. In addition, the algorithms should be easily alterable during this test phase. A wearable system which meets these requirements has been developed and built. The system is based on the high performance signal processor Motorola DSP56309. This device also includes high quality stereo analog-to-digital-(ADC- and digital-to-analog-(DAC-converters with 20 bit word length each. The available dynamic range exceeds 88 dB. The input and output gains can be adjusted by digitally controlled potentiometers. The housing of the unit is small enough to carry it in a pocket (dimensions 150 × 80 × 25 mm. Software tools have been developed to ease the development of new algorithms. A set of configurable Assembler code modules implements all hardware dependent software routines and gives easy access to the peripherals and interfaces. A comfortable fitting interface allows easy control of the signal processing unit from a PC, even by assistant personnel. The device has proven to be a helpful means for development and field evaluations of advanced new hearing aid algorithms, within interdisciplinary research projects. Now it is offered to the scientific community.

Digital passages. Moroccan-Dutch youths performing diaspora, gender and youth cultural identities across digital space

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leurs, K.H.A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/343295334

2012-01-01

Digital Passages considers how the relations between gender, diaspora and youth culture are digitally articulated by Moroccan-Dutch youths between the age of 12 and 18 years old. Combining new media, gender and postcolonial theory, a transdisciplinary analysis is carried out of a young

The Role of Online Reader Experience in Explaining Students' Performance in Digital Reading

Science.gov (United States)

Gil-Flores, Javier; Torres-Gordillo, Juan-Jesus; Perera-Rodriguez, Victor-Hugo

2012-01-01

This study explores the relationship between students' extracurricular experiences online and their performance on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), focusing specifically on students' competence in digital reading. The study uses a descriptive, correlational, ex post facto design. The data are taken from Spanish students'…

The 3D Digital Story-telling Media on Batik Learning in Vocational High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Widiaty, I.; Achdiani, Y.; Kuntadi, I.; Mubaroq, S. R.; Zakaria, D.

2018-02-01

The aim of this research is to make 3D digital Story-telling Media on Batik Learning in Vocational High School. The digital story-telling developed in this research is focused on 3D-based story-telling. In contrast to the digital story-telling that has been developed in existing learning, this research is expected to be able to improve understanding of vocational students about the value of local wisdom batik more meaningful and “live”. The process of making 3D digital story-telling media consists of two processes, namely the creation of 3D objects and the creation of 3D object viewer.

Sports Digitalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xiao, Xiao; Hedman, Jonas; Tan, Felix Ter Chian

2017-01-01

evolution, as digital technologies are increasingly entrenched in a wide range of sporting activities and for applications beyond mere performance enhancement. Despite such trends, research on sports digitalization in the IS discipline is surprisingly still nascent. This paper aims at establishing...... a discourse on sports digitalization within the discipline. Toward this, we first provide an understanding of the institutional characteristics of the sports industry, establishing its theoretical importance and relevance in our discipline; second, we reveal the latest trends of digitalization in the sports...

Does Performance in Digital Reading Relate to Computer Game Playing? A Study of Factor Structure and Gender Patterns in 15-Year-Olds' Reading Literacy Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmusson, Maria; Åberg-Bengtsson, Lisbeth

2015-01-01

Data from a Swedish PISA-sample were used (1) to identify a digital reading factor, (2) to investigate gender differences in this factor (if found), and (3) to explore how computer game playing might relate to digital reading performance and gender. The analyses were conducted with structural equation modeling techniques. In addition to an overall…

Architectural Optimization of Digital Libraries

Science.gov (United States)

Biser, Aileen O.

1998-01-01

This work investigates performance and scaling issues relevant to large scale distributed digital libraries. Presently, performance and scaling studies focus on specific implementations of production or prototype digital libraries. Although useful information is gained to aid these designers and other researchers with insights to performance and scaling issues, the broader issues relevant to very large scale distributed libraries are not addressed. Specifically, no current studies look at the extreme or worst case possibilities in digital library implementations. A survey of digital library research issues is presented. Scaling and performance issues are mentioned frequently in the digital library literature but are generally not the focus of much of the current research. In this thesis a model for a Generic Distributed Digital Library (GDDL) and nine cases of typical user activities are defined. This model is used to facilitate some basic analysis of scaling issues. Specifically, the calculation of Internet traffic generated for different configurations of the study parameters and an estimate of the future bandwidth needed for a large scale distributed digital library implementation. This analysis demonstrates the potential impact a future distributed digital library implementation would have on the Internet traffic load and raises questions concerning the architecture decisions being made for future distributed digital library designs.

Digital radiology and digitally formatted image management systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cox, G.G.; Dwyer, S.J. III; Templeton, A.W.

1987-01-01

The number of diagnostic examinations performed with digitally formatted imaging equipment is increasing. Digital general-purpose and fluoroscopic radiology systems are being clinically evaluated. Digitizing conventional x-ray films, such as mammograms, frequently improves the diagnostic quality of the images. The digitizing process with laser has also afforded the opportunity to document required spatial resolution for digital imaging and network systems. The use of digitally formatted image instrumentation imposes new requirements on the acquisition, display and manipulation, transmission, hard copy image recording, and archiving of diagnostic data. Networking of digitally formatted image data offers many advantages for managing digital information. This paper identifies and describes digital radiographic systems. Parameters required for designing and implementing a digital image management system are outlined. Spatial and contrast resolution requirements are identified. The key parameters include the amount of image data generated each working day, the retrieval rate of the generated data, the display hardware and software needed for interactive diagnosis display stations, the requirements for analog hard copy generation, and on-line and long-term archiving requirements. These image management systems are often called PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems)

Design Optimization of Moving Magnet Actuated Valves for Digital Displacement Machines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Esben Lundø; Jørgensen, Janus Martin Thastum; Nørgård, Christian

2017-01-01

High-efficiency hydraulic machines using digital valves are presently a topic of great focus. Digital valve performance with respect to pressure loss, closing time as well as electrical power consumption, is key to obtaining high efficiency. A recent digital seat valve design developed at Aalborg...... optimized design closes in 2.1 ms, has a pressure drop of 0.8 bar at 150 l/min and yields a digital displacement machine average chamber efficiency of 98.9%. The design is simple in construction and uses a single coil, positioned outside the pressure chamber, eliminating the need for an electrical interface...

Stability and performance analysis of a jump linear control system subject to digital upsets

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Rui; Sun, Hui; Ma, Zhen-Yang

2015-04-01

This paper focuses on the methodology analysis for the stability and the corresponding tracking performance of a closed-loop digital jump linear control system with a stochastic switching signal. The method is applied to a flight control system. A distributed recoverable platform is implemented on the flight control system and subject to independent digital upsets. The upset processes are used to stimulate electromagnetic environments. Specifically, the paper presents the scenarios that the upset process is directly injected into the distributed flight control system, which is modeled by independent Markov upset processes and independent and identically distributed (IID) processes. A theoretical performance analysis and simulation modelling are both presented in detail for a more complete independent digital upset injection. The specific examples are proposed to verify the methodology of tracking performance analysis. The general analyses for different configurations are also proposed. Comparisons among different configurations are conducted to demonstrate the availability and the characteristics of the design. Project supported by the Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61403395), the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin, China (Grant No. 13JCYBJC39000), the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry, China, the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Civil Aircraft Airworthiness and Maintenance in Civil Aviation of China (Grant No. 104003020106), and the Fund for Scholars of Civil Aviation University of China (Grant No. 2012QD21x).

High Res at High Speed: Automated Delivery of High-Resolution Images from Digital Library Collections

Science.gov (United States)

Westbrook, R. Niccole; Watkins, Sean

2012-01-01

As primary source materials in the library are digitized and made available online, the focus of related library services is shifting to include new and innovative methods of digital delivery via social media, digital storytelling, and community-based and consortial image repositories. Most images on the Web are not of sufficient quality for most…

The effect of pitch, rhythm, and familiarity on working memory and anxiety as measured by digit recall performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Silverman, Michael J

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to isolate and quantitatively evaluate the effects of pitch and rhythm of unfamiliar and familiar melodies on working memory and anxiety as measured by sequential digit recall performance. Participants (N = 60) listened to 6 treatment conditions each consisting of 9 randomized monosyllabic digits. The digits were paired with (a) a familiar melody and pitch only, (b) a familiar melody and rhythm only, (c) a familiar melody with both pitch and rhythm, (d) an unfamiliar melody with pitch only, (e) an unfamiliar melody with rhythm only, and (f) an unfamiliar melody with both pitch and rhythm. The 6 different treatments were counterbalanced using a Latin square design in an attempt to control for order effects. Participants rated their state anxiety on a Likert-type scale before, midway through, and after the digits test. No statistically significant order, learning, or practice effects were found. A 3-way repeated-measures ANOVA indicated a statistically significant difference in digit recall performance across musical element conditions and groups. Results indicated that music majors outperformed nonmusic majors on the digit recall task. Participants were able to recall digits from the rhythm condition most accurately while recalling digits from pitch only and both pitch and rhythm conditions the least accurately. Graphic analysis of treatment as a function of sequential position indicated digit recall was best during conditions of primacy and recency. No main effects were found for the familiarity condition. Additionally, no main effects or interactions were found for the anxiety variable. The results of this study are congruent with existing working memory and music literature suggesting that pairing information with rhythm can facilitate recall, music majors outperform non-music majors, and recall accuracy is best in positions of primacy and recency. Implications for practice in therapy and education are made as well as suggestions for

Digital control card based on digital signal processor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hou Shigang; Yin Zhiguo; Xia Le

2008-01-01

A digital control card based on digital signal processor was developed. Two Freescale DSP-56303 processors were utilized to achieve 3 channels proportional- integral-differential regulations. The card offers high flexibility for 100 MeV cyclotron RF system development. It was used as feedback controller in low level radio frequency control prototype, with the feedback gain parameters continuously adjustable. By using high precision analog to digital converter with 500 kHz sampling rate, a regulation bandwidth of 20 kHz was achieved. (authors)

High performance gel imaging with a commercial single lens reflex camera

Science.gov (United States)

Slobodan, J.; Corbett, R.; Wye, N.; Schein, J. E.; Marra, M. A.; Coope, R. J. N.

2011-03-01

A high performance gel imaging system was constructed using a digital single lens reflex camera with epi-illumination to image 19 × 23 cm agarose gels with up to 10,000 DNA bands each. It was found to give equivalent performance to a laser scanner in this high throughput DNA fingerprinting application using the fluorophore SYBR Green®. The specificity and sensitivity of the imager and scanner were within 1% using the same band identification software. Low and high cost color filters were also compared and it was found that with care, good results could be obtained with inexpensive dyed acrylic filters in combination with more costly dielectric interference filters, but that very poor combinations were also possible. Methods for determining resolution, dynamic range, and optical efficiency for imagers are also proposed to facilitate comparison between systems.

Use of prior mammograms in the transition to digital mammography: A performance and cost analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor-Phillips, S.; Wallis, M.G.; Duncan, A.; Gale, A.G.

2012-01-01

Breast screening in Europe is gradually changing from film to digital imaging and reporting of cases. In the transition period prior mammograms (from the preceding screening round) are films thereby potentially causing difficulties in comparison to current digital mammograms. To examine this breast screening performance was measured at a digital mammography workstation with prior mammograms displayed in different formats, and the associated costs calculated. 160 selected difficult cases (41% malignant) were read by eight UK qualified mammography readers in three conditions: with film prior mammograms; with digitised prior mammograms; or without prior mammograms. Lesion location and probability of malignancy were recorded, alongside a decision of whether to recall each case for further tests. JAFROC analysis showed a difference between conditions (p = .006); performance with prior mammograms in either film or digitised formats was superior to that without prior mammograms (p < .05). There was no difference in the performance when the prior mammograms were presented in film or digitised form. The number of benign or normal cases recalled was 26% higher without prior mammograms than with digitised or film prior mammograms (p < .05). This would correspond to an increase in recall rate at the study hospital from 4.3% to 5.5% with no associated increase in cancer detection rate. The cost of this increase was estimated to be £11,581 (€13,666) per 10,000 women screened, which is higher than the cost of digitised (£11,114/€13,115), or film display (£6451/€7612) of the prior mammograms. It is recommended that, where available, prior mammograms are used in the transition to digital breast screening.

Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants: Teaching with Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Ellen Marie Peterson

2011-01-01

Education is witnessing an increasing demand for technology use in the classroom. At the same time, new teachers are entering the profession in high numbers, some being labeled as "Digital Natives" while others are labeled "Digital Immigrants". This qualitative case study investigated the technology practices of Digital Native and Digital…

Large-scale digitizer system (LSD) for charge and time digitization in high-energy physics experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Althaus, R.F.; Kirsten, F.A.; Lee, K.L.; Olson, S.R.; Wagner, L.J.; Wolverton, J.M.

1976-10-01

A large-scale digitizer (LSD) system for acquiring charge and time-of-arrival particle data from high-energy-physics experiments has been developed at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. The objective in this development was to significantly reduce the cost of instrumenting large-detector arrays which, for the 4π-geometry of colliding-beam experiments, are proposed with an order of magnitude increase in channel count over previous detectors. In order to achieve the desired economy (approximately $65 per channel), a system was designed in which a number of control signals for conversion, for digitization, and for readout are shared in common by all the channels in each 128-channel bin. The overall-system concept and the distribution of control signals that are critical to the 10-bit charge resolution and to the 12-bit time resolution are described. Also described is the bit-serial transfer scheme, chosen for its low component and cabling costs

Study on HRA-based method for assessing digital man-machine interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Pengcheng; Dai Licao; Zhang Li; Zhao Ming; Hu Hong

2014-01-01

In order to identify the design flaws of digital man-machine interface (MMI) that may trigger human errors or weaken the performance of operators, a HRA-based method (namely HCR + CREAM + HEC) for assessing digital MMI was established. Firstly, the HCR method was used to identify the risk scenarios of high human error probability from the overall event as a whole perspective. Then, for the identified high-risk scenarios, the CREAM was adopted to determine the various error modes and its error probability, and the failure probability was ranked. Finally, the human factors engineering checklist of digital MMI was established according to the characteristics of digital MMI, it was used to check the digital MMI with high error probability in order to identify the design flaws of digital MMI, and the suggestions of optimization were provided. The results show that the provided assessment method can quickly and efficiently identify the design flaws of digital MMI which easily trigger human errors, and the safety of operation of the digital control system for nuclear power plants can be enhanced by optimization of design. (authors)

Digital Biomass Accumulation Using High-Throughput Plant Phenotype Data Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahaman, Md Matiur; Ahsan, Md Asif; Gillani, Zeeshan; Chen, Ming

2017-09-01

Biomass is an important phenotypic trait in functional ecology and growth analysis. The typical methods for measuring biomass are destructive, and they require numerous individuals to be cultivated for repeated measurements. With the advent of image-based high-throughput plant phenotyping facilities, non-destructive biomass measuring methods have attempted to overcome this problem. Thus, the estimation of plant biomass of individual plants from their digital images is becoming more important. In this paper, we propose an approach to biomass estimation based on image derived phenotypic traits. Several image-based biomass studies state that the estimation of plant biomass is only a linear function of the projected plant area in images. However, we modeled the plant volume as a function of plant area, plant compactness, and plant age to generalize the linear biomass model. The obtained results confirm the proposed model and can explain most of the observed variance during image-derived biomass estimation. Moreover, a small difference was observed between actual and estimated digital biomass, which indicates that our proposed approach can be used to estimate digital biomass accurately.

PROCESSING OF MULTI-DIGIT ADDITIONS IN HIGH MATH-ANXIOUS INDIVIDUALS: PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MARIA ISABEL eNÚÑEZ-PEÑA

2015-08-01

Full Text Available We investigated the time course of neural processing of multi-digit additions in high- (HMA and low-math anxious (LMA individuals. Seventeen HMA and 17 LMA individuals were presented with two-digit additions and were asked to perform a verification task. Behavioral data showed that HMA were slower and more error prone than their LMA peers, and that incorrect solutions were solved more slowly and less accurately than correct ones. Moreover, HMA individuals tended to need more time and commit more errors when having to verify incorrect solutions than correct ones. They also took longer and made more errors than their LMA peers. ERPs time-locked to the presentation of the addends (calculation phase and to the presentation of the proposed solution (verification phase were also analyzed. In both phases, a P2 component of larger amplitude was found for HMA individuals than for their LMA peers. Moreover, in the verification phase, LMA individuals showed a larger late positive component (LPC for incorrect solutions at parietal electrodes than their HMA counterparts. Because the P2 component is considered to be a biomarker of the mobilization of attentional resources towards emotionally negative stimuli, these results suggest that HMA individuals may invest more attentional resources during the arithmetical

An Electronic Workshop on the Performance Seeking Control and Propulsion Controlled Aircraft Results of the F-15 Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control Flight Research Program

Science.gov (United States)

Powers, Sheryll Goecke (Compiler)

1995-01-01

Flight research for the F-15 HIDEC (Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control) program was completed at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in the fall of 1993. The flight research conducted during the last two years of the HIDEC program included two principal experiments: (1) performance seeking control (PSC), an adaptive, real-time, on-board optimization of engine, inlet, and horizontal tail position on the F-15; and (2) propulsion controlled aircraft (PCA), an augmented flight control system developed for landings as well as up-and-away flight that used only engine thrust (flight controls locked) for flight control. In September 1994, the background details and results of the PSC and PCA experiments were presented in an electronic workshop, accessible through the Dryden World Wide Web (http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/dryden.html) and as a compact disk.

Role of digital tomosynthesis and dual energy subtraction digital radiography in detecting pulmonary nodules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Sarvana G. [Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Sector 12, Chandigarh 160012 (India); Garg, Mandeep Kumar, E-mail: gargmandeep01@gmail.com [Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Sector 12, Chandigarh 160012 (India); Khandelwal, Niranjan; Gupta, Pankaj [Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Sector 12, Chandigarh 160012 (India); Gupta, Dheeraj; Aggarwal, Ashutosh Nath [Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Sector 12, Chandigarh 160012 (India); Bansal, Subash Chand [Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Sector 12, Chandigarh 160012 (India)

2015-07-15

Highlights: • Accuracy of digital tomosynthesis for nodule detection is substantially higher. • Improvement in diagnostic accuracy is most pronounced for nodules <10 mm. • There is five times increase in radiation dose compared to DR. - Abstract: Objective: Digital tomosynthesis (DT) and dual-energy subtraction digital radiography (DES-DR) are known to perform better than conventional radiography in the detection of pulmonary nodules. Yet the comparative diagnostic performances of DT, DES-DR and digital radiography (DR) is not known. The present study compares the diagnostic performances of DT, DES-DR and DR in detecting pulmonary nodules. Subjects and methods: The institutional Review Board approved the study and informed written consent was obtained. Fifty-five patients (30 with pulmonary nodules, 25 with non-nodular focal chest pathology) were included in the study. DT and DES-DR were performed within14 days of MDCT. Composite images acquired at high kVp as part of DES-DR were used as DR images. Images were analyzed for presence of nodules and calcification in nodules. Interpretations were assigned confidence levels from 1 to 5 according to Five-Point rating scale. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were compared using Z test. Results: A total of 110 (88 non-calcified, 22 calcified) nodules were identified on MDCT. For detection of nodules, DR showed cumulative sensitivity and specificity of 25.45% and 67.97%, respectively. DT showed a cumulative sensitivity and specificity of 60.9% and 85.07%, respectively. The performance was significantly better than DR (p < 0.003). DES-DR showed sensitivity and specificity of 27.75% and 82.64%, not statistically different from those of DR (p—0.92). In detection of calcification, there was no statistically significant difference between DT, DES-DR and DR. Conclusions: DT performs significantly better than DES-DR and DR at the cost of moderate increase in radiation dose.

Digital angiography in pulmonary embolism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjoerk, L.

1986-01-01

Pulmonary digital subtraction angiography was diagnostic in 98.3% of patients with possible acute pulmonary embolism. The procedure was well tolerated even in severely ill patients. A large image intensifier made simultaneous imaging of both lungs possible reducing the number of contrast injections necessary. Small volumes of low iso-osmolar concentration of modern contrast media were used. There was no need for catherization of the pulmonary artery. Theoretical considerations and our limited experience indicate that this will reduce the number of complications compared with conventional pulmonary angiography. The procedure is rapidly performed and the diagnostic accuracy high. This makes digital subtraction angiography cost effective. Digital pulmonary angiography can be recommended as the primary diagnostic method in most patients with possible pulmonary embolism. (orig.)

High Performance Ultra Low-Power ADCs and DACs, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The objective of the Phase-I research is to design a multi-GHz high bandwidth Delta Sigma Analog-to-Digital and Digital-to-Analog converter using a deep sub-micron...

Digital Actuator Technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ken Thomas; Ted Quinn; Jerry Mauck; Richard Bockhorst

2014-09-01

There are significant developments underway in new types of actuators for power plant active components. Many of these make use of digital technology to provide a wide array of benefits in performance of the actuators and in reduced burden to maintain them. These new product offerings have gained considerable acceptance in use in process plants. In addition, they have been used in conventional power generation very successfully. This technology has been proven to deliver the benefits promised and substantiate the claims of improved performance. The nuclear industry has been reluctant to incorporate digital actuator technology into nuclear plant designs due to concerns due to a number of concerns. These could be summarized as cost, regulatory uncertainty, and a certain comfort factor with legacy analog technology. The replacement opportunity for these types of components represents a decision point for whether to invest in more modern technology that would provide superior operational and maintenance benefits. Yet, the application of digital technology has been problematic for the nuclear industry, due to qualification and regulatory issues. With some notable exceptions, the result has been a continuing reluctance to undertake the risks and uncertainties of implementing digital actuator technology when replacement opportunities present themselves. Rather, utilities would typically prefer to accept the performance limitations of the legacy analog actuator technologies to avoid impacts to project costs and schedules. The purpose of this report is to demonstrate that the benefits of digital actuator technology can be significant in terms of plant performance and that it is worthwhile to address the barriers currently holding back the widespread development and use of this technology. It addresses two important objectives in pursuit of the beneficial use of digital actuator technology for nuclear power plants: 1. To demonstrate the benefits of digital actuator

Amorphous Zinc Oxide Integrated Wavy Channel Thin Film Transistor Based High Performance Digital Circuits

KAUST Repository

Hanna, Amir; Hussain, Aftab M.; Omran, Hesham; Alshareef, Sarah; Salama, Khaled N.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2015-01-01

High performance thin film transistor (TFT) can be a great driving force for display, sensor/actuator, integrated electronics, and distributed computation for Internet of Everything applications. While semiconducting oxides like zinc oxide (Zn

Effective Use of Digital Technologies of High School Teachers as Digital Immigrants in Six Rural Public Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Pattee, Andy

2012-01-01

Problem: A widening experiential gap of effective use of technology in K-12 schools between "digital immigrants" and "digital natives" (Prensky, 2001) is becoming more evident as digital natives become classroom teachers and showcase pedagogical strategies with digital technologies. There is a dearth of research on digital…

High-Speed Data Acquisition and Digital Signal Processing System for PET Imaging Techniques Applied to Mammography

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, J. D.; Benlloch, J. M.; Cerda, J.; Lerche, Ch. W.; Pavon, N.; Sebastia, A.

2004-06-01

This paper is framed into the Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) project, whose aim is to develop an innovative gamma ray sensor for early breast cancer diagnosis. Currently, breast cancer is detected using low-energy X-ray screening. However, functional imaging techniques such as PET/FDG could be employed to detect breast cancer and track disease changes with greater sensitivity. Furthermore, a small and less expensive PET camera can be utilized minimizing main problems of whole body PET. To accomplish these objectives, we are developing a new gamma ray sensor based on a newly released photodetector. However, a dedicated PEM detector requires an adequate data acquisition (DAQ) and processing system. The characterization of gamma events needs a free-running analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with sampling rates of more than 50 Ms/s and must achieve event count rates up to 10 MHz. Moreover, comprehensive data processing must be carried out to obtain event parameters necessary for performing the image reconstruction. A new generation digital signal processor (DSP) has been used to comply with these requirements. This device enables us to manage the DAQ system at up to 80 Ms/s and to execute intensive calculi over the detector signals. This paper describes our designed DAQ and processing architecture whose main features are: very high-speed data conversion, multichannel synchronized acquisition with zero dead time, a digital triggering scheme, and high throughput of data with an extensive optimization of the signal processing algorithms.

High-performance polymer photovoltaic cells and photodetectors

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Gang; Srdanov, Gordana; Wang, Hailiang; Cao, Yong; Heeger, Alan J.

2001-02-01

Polymer photovoltaic cells and photodetectors have passed their infancy and become mature technologies. The energy conversion efficiency of polymer photovoltaic cells have been improved to over 4.1% (500 nm, 10 mW/cm2). Such high efficiency polymer photovoltaic cells are promising for many applications including e-papers, e-books and smart- windows. The development of polymer photodetectors is even faster. The performance parameters have been improved to the level meeting all specifications for practical applications. The polymer photodetectors are of high photosensitivity (approximately 0.2 - 0.3 A/Watt in visible and UV), low dark current (0.1 - 1 nA/cm2), large dynamic range (> 8 orders of magnitude), linear intensity dependence, low noise level and fast response time (to nanosecond time domain). These devices show long shelf and operation lives. The advantages of low manufacturing cost, large detection area, and easy hybridization and integration with other electronic or optical components make the polymer photodetectors promising for a variety of applications including chemical/biomedical analysis, full-color digital image sensing and high energy radiation detection.

High-performance green flexible electronics based on biodegradable cellulose nanofibril paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Yei Hwan; Chang, Tzu-Hsuan; Zhang, Huilong; Yao, Chunhua; Zheng, Qifeng; Yang, Vina W; Mi, Hongyi; Kim, Munho; Cho, Sang June; Park, Dong-Wook; Jiang, Hao; Lee, Juhwan; Qiu, Yijie; Zhou, Weidong; Cai, Zhiyong; Gong, Shaoqin; Ma, Zhenqiang

2015-05-26

Today's consumer electronics, such as cell phones, tablets and other portable electronic devices, are typically made of non-renewable, non-biodegradable, and sometimes potentially toxic (for example, gallium arsenide) materials. These consumer electronics are frequently upgraded or discarded, leading to serious environmental contamination. Thus, electronic systems consisting of renewable and biodegradable materials and minimal amount of potentially toxic materials are desirable. Here we report high-performance flexible microwave and digital electronics that consume the smallest amount of potentially toxic materials on biobased, biodegradable and flexible cellulose nanofibril papers. Furthermore, we demonstrate gallium arsenide microwave devices, the consumer wireless workhorse, in a transferrable thin-film form. Successful fabrication of key electrical components on the flexible cellulose nanofibril paper with comparable performance to their rigid counterparts and clear demonstration of fungal biodegradation of the cellulose-nanofibril-based electronics suggest that it is feasible to fabricate high-performance flexible electronics using ecofriendly materials.

Digital Game Playing Motives among Adolescents: Relations to Parent-Child Communication, School Performance, Sleeping Habits, and Perceived Health

Science.gov (United States)

Wallenius, Marjut; Rimpela, Arja; Punamaki, Raija-Leena; Lintonen, Tomi

2008-01-01

The aims of this research were to describe Finnish adolescents' different motives for digital game playing, and to examine relations between digital game playing and parent-child communication, school performance, sleeping habits, and perceived health. A questionnaire was used to assess a nationwide postal sample of 12-18-year-old Finns (6761…

An integrated framework for high level design of high performance signal processing circuits on FPGAs

Science.gov (United States)

Benkrid, K.; Belkacemi, S.; Sukhsawas, S.

2005-06-01

This paper proposes an integrated framework for the high level design of high performance signal processing algorithms' implementations on FPGAs. The framework emerged from a constant need to rapidly implement increasingly complicated algorithms on FPGAs while maintaining the high performance needed in many real time digital signal processing applications. This is particularly important for application developers who often rely on iterative and interactive development methodologies. The central idea behind the proposed framework is to dynamically integrate high performance structural hardware description languages with higher level hardware languages in other to help satisfy the dual requirement of high level design and high performance implementation. The paper illustrates this by integrating two environments: Celoxica's Handel-C language, and HIDE, a structural hardware environment developed at the Queen's University of Belfast. On the one hand, Handel-C has been proven to be very useful in the rapid design and prototyping of FPGA circuits, especially control intensive ones. On the other hand, HIDE, has been used extensively, and successfully, in the generation of highly optimised parameterisable FPGA cores. In this paper, this is illustrated in the construction of a scalable and fully parameterisable core for image algebra's five core neighbourhood operations, where fully floorplanned efficient FPGA configurations, in the form of EDIF netlists, are generated automatically for instances of the core. In the proposed combined framework, highly optimised data paths are invoked dynamically from within Handel-C, and are synthesized using HIDE. Although the idea might seem simple prima facie, it could have serious implications on the design of future generations of hardware description languages.

Performance study of Philips digital silicon photomultiplier coupled to scintillating crystals

CERN Document Server

Liu, Z.; Auffray, E.; Lecoq, P.; Paganoni, M.

2016-01-01

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) and scintillators are often arranged in the shape of arrays in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) systems. Digital SiPMs provide signal readout in single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) level. From the photon count rate measurement of each SPAD cell of digital SiPM, we found that the output scintillating photons distribute in an area larger than the scintillator physical coupling area. Taking advantage of the possibility to enable/disable individual cells of the digital SiPM, a group of Lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO) crystals with different dimensions coupled to a digital SiPM was used to study the influence of using different SiPM active area on the number of photons detected, energy resolution and coincidence time resolution (CTR). For the same crystal coupled to the digital SiPM, the larger the active area of digital SiPM, the higher the number of photons detected. The larger active area of the digital SiPM also results in a better energy resolution after saturation...

High-energy x-ray CT and its application for digital engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamimura, H.; Sadaoka, N.

2005-01-01

A high-energy x-ray computed tomography system and x-ray CT data handling software have been developed for digital engineering; internal dimension measurement, density analysis, actual and designed shape comparison, STL file generation, and support for reverse engineering and rapid prototyping. The system is designed to collect accurate images in short scanning time (10 s per section) using a MeV-energy electron linear accelerator and highly sensitive semiconductor detectors in order to scan large objects made of aluminum and/or iron. An excellent environment in digital engineering is provided by the software products; 'StereoCooker' for 3D bitmap CAD (rendering, feature extraction, dimensional measurement, and shape comparison, etc.), 'FeatureMaker' for translating bitmap CT data to CAD data including feature information, and 'Wingware' for realizing an Windows PC cluster system 'WINGluster' to apply CT data analysis. (author)

Experience with digital mammography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. P. Korzhenkova

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The use of digital techniques in mammography has become a last step for completing the process of digitization in diagnostic imaging. It is assumed that such a spatial decision will be required for digital mammography, as well as for high-resolution intensifying screen-film systems used in conventional mammography and that the digital techniques will be limited by the digitizer pixel size on detecting minor structures, such as microcalcifications. The introduction of digital technologies in mammography involves a tight control over an image and assures its high quality.

Digitization errors using digital charge division positionsensitive detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berliner, R.; Mildner, D.F.R.; Pringle, O.A.

1981-01-01

The data acquisition speed and electronic stability of a charge division position-sensitive detector may be improved by using digital signal processing with a table look-up high speed multiply to form the charge division quotient. This digitization process introduces a positional quantization difficulty which reduces the detector position sensitivity. The degree of the digitization error is dependent on the pulse height spectrum of the detector and on the resolution or dynamic range of the system analog-to-digital converters. The effects have been investigated analytically and by computer simulation. The optimum algorithm for position sensing determination using 8-bit digitization and arithmetic has a digitization error of less than 1%. (orig.)

Digital marketing strategies, online reviews and hotel performance

OpenAIRE

Pelsmacker, De, Patrick; Tilburgh, van, Sophie; Holthof, Christian

2018-01-01

Abstract: We investigate to what extent digital marketing strategies (such as having a digital marketing plan, responsiveness to guest reviews, and monitoring and tracking online review information) influence hotel room occupancy and RevPar directly, and indirectly through the mediating effect of the volume and valence of online reviews they lead to, and to what extent this mechanism is different for different types of hotels in terms of star rating and independent versus chain hotels. The re...

Comparison of two different high performance mixed signal controllers for DC/DC converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakobsen, Lars Tønnes; Andersen, Michael Andreas E.

2006-01-01

This paper describes how mixed signal controllers combining a cheap microcontroller with a simple analogue circuit can offer high performance digital control for DC/DC converters. Mixed signal controllers have the same versatility and performance as DSP based controllers. It is important to have...... an engineer experienced in microcontroller programming write the software algorithms to achieve optimal performance. Two mixed signal controller designs based on the same 8-bit microcontroller are compared both theoretically and experimentally. A 16-bit PID compensator with a sampling frequency of 200 k......Hz implemented in the 16 MIPS, 8-bit ATTiny26 microcontroller is demonstrated....

Preliminary design of an advanced programmable digital filter network for large passive acoustic ASW systems. [Parallel processor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McWilliams, T.; Widdoes, Jr., L. C.; Wood, L.

1976-09-30

The design of an extremely high performance programmable digital filter of novel architecture, the LLL Programmable Digital Filter, is described. The digital filter is a high-performance multiprocessor having general purpose applicability and high programmability; it is extremely cost effective either in a uniprocessor or a multiprocessor configuration. The architecture and instruction set of the individual processor was optimized with regard to the multiple processor configuration. The optimal structure of a parallel processing system was determined for addressing the specific Navy application centering on the advanced digital filtering of passive acoustic ASW data of the type obtained from the SOSUS net. 148 figures. (RWR)

37 CFR 382.2 - Royalty fees for the digital performance of sound recordings and the making of ephemeral...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

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Development of Digital Control for High Power Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Motor Drives

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Ming-Hung Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the development of digital control system for high power permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM to yield good speed regulation, low current harmonic, and stable output speed. The design of controller is conducted by digitizing the mathematical model of PMSM using impulse invariance technique. The predicted current estimator, which is insensitive to motor feedback currents, is proposed to function under stationary frame for harmonic current suppression. In the AC/DC power converter, mathematical model and dc-link voltage limit of the three-phase switch-mode rectifier are derived. In addition, a current controller under synchronous frame is introduced to reduce the current harmonics and increase the power factor on the input side. A digital control system for 75 kW PMSM is realized with digital signal processor (R5F5630EDDFP. Experimental results indicate that the total harmonic distortion of current is reduced from 4.1% to 2.8% for 50 kW output power by the proposed predicted current estimator technique.

PERSEPSI GURU TENTANG DIGITAL NATIVES, SUMBER BELAJAR DIGITAL DAN MOTIVASI MEMANFAATKAN SUMBER BELAJAR DIGITAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferdinandus Bate Dopo

2016-06-01

TEACHER’S PERCEPTION OF DIGITAL NATIVES, DIGITAL LEARNING RESOURCES AND MOTIVATION TO UTILIZE DIGITAL LEARNING RESOURCES Abstract This study aims to reveal (1 the influence of teacher's perception of digital natives toward teacher’s motivation to utilize digital learning resources. (2 the influence of teacher's perception of digital learning resources toward teacher’s motivation to utilize digital learning resources and (3 the influence both of teacher's perception of digital natives and digital learning resources toward teacher’s motivation to utilize digital learning resources. This study used the descriptive-correlational quantitative approach. The Population and sample were high school teachers of Regina Pacis Bajawa, SMA Seminari Mataloko and SMA Negeri 1 Golewa. Sampling technique in this research was proportional random sampling. A questionnaire was used to obtain the data. The data were analyzed using the Likert scale. The instrument was developed based on lattice theory of assessment instruments relevant to the study variables. The analysis technique used is a regression followed by statistic technique of t test and F test with the significance level of 0.05. The results are as follows. (1 There is a positive and significant influence of teacher's perception of digital natives toward teacher’s motivation to utilize digital learning resources. (2 There is a positive and significant influence of teacher's perception of digital learning resources and teacher’s motivation to utilize digital learning resources. (3 There is a positive and significant influence both of teacher's perception of digital learning resources and teacher’s motivation to utilize digital learning resources. Keywords: perception, digital natives, digital learning resources, motivation

Development of digital shade guides for color assessment using a digital camera with ring flashes.

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Tung, Oi-Hong; Lai, Yu-Lin; Ho, Yi-Ching; Chou, I-Chiang; Lee, Shyh-Yuan

2011-02-01

Digital photographs taken with cameras and ring flashes are commonly used for dental documentation. We hypothesized that different illuminants and camera's white balance setups shall influence color rendering of digital images and affect the effectiveness of color matching using digital images. Fifteen ceramic disks of different shades were fabricated and photographed with a digital camera in both automatic white balance (AWB) and custom white balance (CWB) under either light-emitting diode (LED) or electronic ring flash. The Commission Internationale d'Éclairage L*a*b* parameters of the captured images were derived from Photoshop software and served as digital shade guides. We found significantly high correlation coefficients (r² > 0.96) between the respective spectrophotometer standards and those shade guides generated in CWB setups. Moreover, the accuracy of color matching of another set of ceramic disks using digital shade guides, which was verified by ten operators, improved from 67% in AWB to 93% in CWB under LED illuminants. Probably, because of the inconsistent performance of the flashlight and specular reflection, the digital images captured under electronic ring flash in both white balance setups revealed less reliable and relative low-matching ability. In conclusion, the reliability of color matching with digital images is much influenced by the illuminants and camera's white balance setups, while digital shade guides derived under LED illuminants with CWB demonstrate applicable potential in the fields of color assessments.

Matrix-vector multiplication using digital partitioning for more accurate optical computing

Science.gov (United States)

Gary, C. K.

1992-01-01

Digital partitioning offers a flexible means of increasing the accuracy of an optical matrix-vector processor. This algorithm can be implemented with the same architecture required for a purely analog processor, which gives optical matrix-vector processors the ability to perform high-accuracy calculations at speeds comparable with or greater than electronic computers as well as the ability to perform analog operations at a much greater speed. Digital partitioning is compared with digital multiplication by analog convolution, residue number systems, and redundant number representation in terms of the size and the speed required for an equivalent throughput as well as in terms of the hardware requirements. Digital partitioning and digital multiplication by analog convolution are found to be the most efficient alogrithms if coding time and hardware are considered, and the architecture for digital partitioning permits the use of analog computations to provide the greatest throughput for a single processor.

Efficiency Optimization Methods in Low-Power High-Frequency Digitally Controlled SMPS

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Aleksandar Prodić

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This paper gives a review of several power efficiency optimization techniques that are utilizing advantages of emerging digital control in high frequency switch-mode power supplies (SMPS, processing power from a fraction of watt to several hundreds of watts. Loss mechanisms in semiconductor components are briefly reviewed and the related principles of online efficiency optimization through power stage segmentation and gate voltage variation presented. Practical implementations of such methods utilizing load prediction or data extraction from a digital control loop are shown. The benefits of the presented efficiency methods are verified through experimental results, showing efficiency improvements, ranging from 2% to 30%,depending on the load conditions.

Constructing a LabVIEW-Controlled High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) System: An Undergraduate Instrumental Methods Exercise

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Eugene T.; Hill, Marc

2011-01-01

In this laboratory exercise, students develop a LabVIEW-controlled high-performance liquid chromatography system utilizing a data acquisition device, two pumps, a detector, and fraction collector. The programming experience involves a variety of methods for interface communication, including serial control, analog-to-digital conversion, and…

Digital Conically Scanned L-Band Radar, Phase II

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The proposed effort seeks to develop a digitally steered polarimetric phased array L-Band radar utilizing a novel, high performance architecture leveraging recent...

FIPSER: Performance study of a readout concept with few digitization levels for fast signals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Limyansky, B., E-mail: brent.limyansky@gatech.edu [School of Physics and Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta (United States); Reese, R., E-mail: bobbeyreese@gmail.com [School of Physics and Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta (United States); Cressler, J.D. [School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta (United States); Otte, A.N.; Taboada, I. [School of Physics and Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta (United States); Ulusoy, C. [Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing (United States)

2016-11-21

We discuss the performance of a readout system, Fixed Pulse Shape Efficient Readout (FIPSER), to digitize signals from detectors with a fixed pulse shape. In this study we are mainly interested in the readout of fast photon detectors like photomultipliers or Silicon photomultipliers. But the concept can be equally applied to the digitization of other detector signals. FIPSER is based on the flash analog to digital converter (FADC) concept, but has the potential to lower costs and power consumption by using an order of magnitude fewer discrete voltage levels. Performance is bolstered by combining the discretized signal with the knowledge of the underlying pulse shape. Simulated FIPSER data was reconstructed with two independent methods. One using a maximum likelihood method and the other using a modified χ{sup 2} test. Both methods show that utilizing 12 discrete voltage levels with a sampling rate of 4 samples per full width half maximum (FWHM) of the pulse achieves an amplitude resolution that is better than the Poisson limit for photon-counting experiments. The time resolution achieved in this configuration ranges between 0.02 and 0.16 FWHM and depends on the pulse amplitude. In a situation where the waveform is composed of two consecutive pulses the pulses can be separated if they are at least 0.05–0.30 FWHM apart with an amplitude resolution that is better than 20%.

The New Digital Divide For Digital BioMarkers.

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Torous, John; Rodriguez, Jorge; Powell, Adam

2017-09-01

As smartphone and sensors continue to become more ubiquitous across the world, digital biomarkers have emerged as a scalable and practical tool to explore disease states and advance health. But as the digital divide of access and ownership begins to fade, a new digital divide is emerging. Who are the types of people that own smartphones or smart watches, who are the types of people that download health apps or partake in digital biomarker studies, and who are the types of people that are actually active with digital biomarkers apps and sensors - the people providing the high quality and longitudinal data that this field is being founded upon? Understanding the people behind digital biomarkers, the very people this emerging field aims to help, may actually be the real challenge as well as opportunity for digital biomarkers.

A highly sensitive CMOS digital Hall sensor for low magnetic field applications.

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Xu, Yue; Pan, Hong-Bin; He, Shu-Zhuan; Li, Li

2012-01-01

Integrated CMOS Hall sensors have been widely used to measure magnetic fields. However, they are difficult to work with in a low magnetic field environment due to their low sensitivity and large offset. This paper describes a highly sensitive digital Hall sensor fabricated in 0.18 μm high voltage CMOS technology for low field applications. The sensor consists of a switched cross-shaped Hall plate and a novel signal conditioner. It effectively eliminates offset and low frequency 1/f noise by applying a dynamic quadrature offset cancellation technique. The measured results show the optimal Hall plate achieves a high current related sensitivity of about 310 V/AT. The whole sensor has a remarkable ability to measure a minimum ± 2 mT magnetic field and output a digital Hall signal in a wide temperature range from -40 °C to 120 °C.

The effects of gray scale image processing on digital mammography interpretation performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Elodia B; Pisano, Etta D; Zeng, Donglin; Muller, Keith; Aylward, Stephen R; Park, Sungwook; Kuzmiak, Cherie; Koomen, Marcia; Pavic, Dag; Walsh, Ruth; Baker, Jay; Gimenez, Edgardo I; Freimanis, Rita

2005-05-01

To determine the effects of three image-processing algorithms on diagnostic accuracy of digital mammography in comparison with conventional screen-film mammography. A total of 201 cases consisting of nonprocessed soft copy versions of the digital mammograms acquired from GE, Fischer, and Trex digital mammography systems (1997-1999) and conventional screen-film mammograms of the same patients were interpreted by nine radiologists. The raw digital data were processed with each of three different image-processing algorithms creating three presentations-manufacturer's default (applied and laser printed to film by each of the manufacturers), MUSICA, and PLAHE-were presented in soft copy display. There were three radiologists per presentation. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for GE digital mass cases was worse than screen-film for all digital presentations. The area under the receiver operating characteristic for Trex digital mass cases was better, but only with images processed with the manufacturer's default algorithm. Sensitivity for GE digital mass cases was worse than screen film for all digital presentations. Specificity for Fischer digital calcifications cases was worse than screen film for images processed in default and PLAHE algorithms. Specificity for Trex digital calcifications cases was worse than screen film for images processed with MUSICA. Specific image-processing algorithms may be necessary for optimal presentation for interpretation based on machine and lesion type.

Fully integrated digital GAMMA camera-computer system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, H.J.; Eisner, R.L.; Gober, A.; Plankey, M.; Fajman, W.

1985-01-01

Although most of the new non-nuclear imaging techniques are fully digital, there has been a reluctance in nuclear medicine to abandon traditional analog planar imaging in favor of digital acquisition and display. The authors evaluated a prototype digital camera system (GE STARCAM) in which all of the analog acquisition components are replaced by microprocessor controls and digital circuitry. To compare the relative effects of acquisition matrix size on image quality and to ascertain whether digital techniques could be used in place of analog imaging, Tc-99m bone scans were obtained on this digital system and on a comparable analog camera in 10 patients. The dedicated computer is used for camera setup including definition of the energy window, spatial energy correction, and spatial distortion correction. The display monitor, which is used for patient positioning and image analysis, is 512/sup 2/ non-interlaced, allowing high resolution imaging. Data acquisition and processing can be performed simultaneously. Thus, the development of a fully integrated digital camera-computer system with optimized display should allow routine utilization of non-analog studies in nuclear medicine and the ultimate establishment of fully digital nuclear imaging laboratories

A review on high-resolution CMOS delay lines: towards sub-picosecond jitter performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulrazzaq, Bilal I; Abdul Halin, Izhal; Kawahito, Shoji; Sidek, Roslina M; Shafie, Suhaidi; Yunus, Nurul Amziah Md

2016-01-01

A review on CMOS delay lines with a focus on the most frequently used techniques for high-resolution delay step is presented. The primary types, specifications, delay circuits, and operating principles are presented. The delay circuits reported in this paper are used for delaying digital inputs and clock signals. The most common analog and digitally-controlled delay elements topologies are presented, focusing on the main delay-tuning strategies. IC variables, namely, process, supply voltage, temperature, and noise sources that affect delay resolution through timing jitter are discussed. The design specifications of these delay elements are also discussed and compared for the common delay line circuits. As a result, the main findings of this paper are highlighting and discussing the followings: the most efficient high-resolution delay line techniques, the trade-off challenge found between CMOS delay lines designed using either analog or digitally-controlled delay elements, the trade-off challenge between delay resolution and delay range and the proposed solutions for this challenge, and how CMOS technology scaling can affect the performance of CMOS delay lines. Moreover, the current trends and efforts used in order to generate output delayed signal with low jitter in the sub-picosecond range are presented.

Dynamic functional coupling of high resolution EEG potentials related to unilateral internally triggered one-digit movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Urbano, A; Babiloni, C; Onorati, P; Babiloni, F

1998-06-01

Between-electrode cross-covariances of delta (0-3 Hz)- and theta (4-7 Hz)-filtered high resolution EEG potentials related to preparation, initiation. and execution of human unilateral internally triggered one-digit movements were computed to investigate statistical dynamic coupling between these potentials. Significant (P planning, starting, and performance of unilateral movement. The involvement of these cortical areas is supported by the observation that averaged spatially enhanced delta- and theta-bandpassed potentials were computed from the scalp regions where task-related electrical activation of primary sensorimotor areas and supplementary motor area was roughly represented.

Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives: Learning Business Informatics at Higher Educational Level

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Suša Dalia

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background: The term digital natives refer to those born since the 1980s and have been growing up surrounded by technology. On the other hand, digital immigrants are born before 1980s and learned how to use technology later in life. Objectives: Goal of the paper is to explore attitudes of digital native students on the course of Business Informatics at higher educational institutions (HEIs, and to compare them with attitudes of digital immigrants. Methods/Approach: The survey was conducted in 2014 using the sample of first-year Business Informatics students from the Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb, Croatia. Results were compared with a research conducted in 1998. Results: In comparison to an earlier research, digital natives perceive their level of competency in the subject of Business Informatics before teaching practices much higher compared to digital immigrants. However, there is still an increase in digital native students’ level of competency in the subject before and after teaching practices. Conclusions: The research confirms a shift from digital immigrants to digital natives who show high level of interest for Business Informatics course topics and find its utility very high. However, constant improvement of delivering knowledge is needed in order to keep these high levels.

Digital setup for Doppler broadening spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cizek, J; Vlcek, M; Prochazka, I

2011-01-01

New digital spectrometer for measurement of the Doppler shift of annihilation photons was developed and tested in this work. Digital spectrometer uses a fast 12-bit digitizer for direct sampling of signals from HPGe detectors. Analysis of sampled waveforms is performed off-line in software. Performance of the new digital setup was compared with its traditional analogue counterpart. Superior energy resolution was achieved in the digital setup. Moreover, the digital setup allows for a better control of the shape of detector signals. This enables to eliminate undesired signals damaged by pile-up effects or by ballistic deficit.

ERPs and oscillations during encoding predict retrieval of digit memory in superior mnemonists.

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Pan, Yafeng; Li, Xianchun; Chen, Xi; Ku, Yixuan; Dong, Yujie; Dou, Zheng; He, Lin; Hu, Yi; Li, Weidong; Zhou, Xiaolin

2017-10-01

Previous studies have consistently demonstrated that superior mnemonists (SMs) outperform normal individuals in domain-specific memory tasks. However, the neural correlates of memory-related processes remain unclear. In the current EEG study, SMs and control participants performed a digit memory task during which their brain activity was recorded. Chinese SMs used a digit-image mnemonic for encoding digits, in which they associated 2-digit groups with images immediately after the presentation of each even-position digit in sequences. Behaviorally, SMs' memory of digit sequences was better than the controls'. During encoding in the study phase, SMs showed an increased right central P2 (150-250ms post onset) and a larger right posterior high-alpha (10-14Hz, 500-1720ms) oscillation on digits at even-positions compared with digits at odd-positions. Both P2 and high-alpha oscillations in the study phase co-varied with performance in the recall phase, but only in SMs, indicating that neural dynamics during encoding could predict successful retrieval of digit memory in SMs. Our findings suggest that representation of a digit sequence in SMs using mnemonics may recruit both the early-stage attention allocation process and the sustained information preservation process. This study provides evidence for the role of dynamic and efficient neural encoding processes in mnemonists. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Digital mammography screening: average glandular dose and first performance parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weigel, S.; Girnus, R.; Czwoydzinski, J.; Heindel, W.; Decker, T.; Spital, S.

2007-01-01

Purpose: The Radiation Protection Commission demanded structured implementation of digital mammography screening in Germany. The main requirements were the installation of digital reference centers and separate evaluation of the fully digitized screening units. Digital mammography screening must meet the quality standards of the European guidelines and must be compared to analog screening results. We analyzed early surrogate indicators of effective screening and dosage levels for the first German digital screening unit in a routine setting after the first half of the initial screening round. Materials and Methods: We used three digital mammography screening units (one full-field digital scanner [DR] and two computed radiography systems [CR]). Each system has been proven to fulfill the requirements of the National and European guidelines. The radiation exposure levels, the medical workflow and the histological results were documented in a central electronic screening record. Results: In the first year 11,413 women were screened (participation rate 57.5 %). The parenchymal dosages for the three mammographic X-ray systems, averaged for the different breast sizes, were 0.7 (DR), 1.3 (CR), 1.5 (CR) mGy. 7 % of the screened women needed to undergo further examinations. The total number of screen-detected cancers was 129 (detection rate 1.1 %). 21 % of the carcinomas were classified as ductal carcinomas in situ, 40 % of the invasive carcinomas had a histological size ≤ 10 mm and 61 % < 15 mm. The frequency distribution of pT-categories of screen-detected cancer was as follows: pTis 20.9 %, pT1 61.2 %, pT2 14.7 %, pT3 2.3 %, pT4 0.8 %. 73 % of the invasive carcinomas were node-negative. (orig.)

Digital radiography detectors - A technical overview: Part 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lanca, Luis; Silva, Augusto

2009-01-01

During the last two decades screen-film (SF) systems have been replaced by digital X-ray systems. The advent of digital technologies brought a number of digital solutions based on different detector and readout technologies. Improvements in technology allowed the development of new digital technologies for projection radiography such as computed radiography (CR) and digital radiography (DR). The large number of scientific papers concerning digital X-ray systems that have been published over the last 25 years indicates the relevance of these technologies in healthcare. There are important differences among different detector technologies that may affect system performance and image quality for diagnostic purposes. Radiographers are expected to have an effective understanding of digital X-ray technologies and a high level of knowledge and awareness concerning the capabilities of these systems. Patient safety and reliable diagnostic information are intrinsically linked to these factors. In this review article - which is the first of two parts - a global overview of the digital radiography systems (both CR and DR) currently available for clinical practice is provided

Evaluation of entrance skin air kerma in digital and conventional pediatric chest examinations performed in Parana-Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, Ana L.R.; Schelin, Hugo R.; Lunelli, Neuri; Paschuk, Sergei; Tilly Jr, Joao G.; Rogacheski, Enio; Khoury, Helen J.; Ferreira, Jose R.L.

2008-01-01

Full text: In pediatric radiology it is important to evaluate patient exposure due to the high sensitivity of his/her tissue and his/her relatively longer life expectancy, which may increase the chance of radiogenic cancer development. Special attention is necessary when digital systems are used since a high dosage level for the patient may go unnoticed because the resulting image is not overexposed. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the Entrance Skin Air Kerma (ESAK) in pediatric patients submitted to digital and conventional chest examinations performed in the State of Parana, located in the Southern region of Brazil. The survey was performed in two hospitals, one located in Curitiba, the Capital of the State (A) and the other in the city of Cascavel (B). Hospital A uses a conventional image system and Hospital B uses a CR digital system. The study group consisted of 50 patients (from 2 days to six years of age) undergoing chest PA/AP examinations. At the time of the examination, the exposure parameters (kV, mAs, focal-film distance, etc) and the gender, height, weight and age of the patient were recorded. To evaluate the Entrance Skin Air Kerma (ESAK), two TLD-100 dosimeters were packaged in a polyethylene case, heat sealed and placed on the surface of each patient. The TLDs were calibrated the Metrology Laboratory of Ionizing Radiation of the Federal University of Pernambuco. The TLDs were processed on a Victoreen readout system model 2800M. The results showed that the kilovoltage values used in Hospital A are in the range of 46 to 65 kV with the average value of 51,7 kV, while the ones in Hospital B are in the range of 65 to 80 kV. On the other hand, even though hospital B uses the CR system, the mAs used for the chest exams are 4 times higher than the ones used in Hospital A. For Hospital A, the mean ESAK value was 0.044 mGy (min: 0.08 and max 0.146 mGy), and for Hospital B the mean ESAK value was 0.368 mGy (min: 0.021 and max 1.21mGy). The results made

Superconductor Digital Electronics: -- Current Status, Future Prospects

Science.gov (United States)

Mukhanov, Oleg

2011-03-01

Two major applications of superconductor electronics: communications and supercomputing will be presented. These areas hold a significant promise of a large impact on electronics state-of-the-art for the defense and commercial markets stemming from the fundamental advantages of superconductivity: simultaneous high speed and low power, lossless interconnect, natural quantization, and high sensitivity. The availability of relatively small cryocoolers lowered the foremost market barrier for cryogenically-cooled superconductor electronic systems. These fundamental advantages enabled a novel Digital-RF architecture - a disruptive technological approach changing wireless communications, radar, and surveillance system architectures dramatically. Practical results were achieved for Digital-RF systems in which wide-band, multi-band radio frequency signals are directly digitized and digital domain is expanded throughout the entire system. Digital-RF systems combine digital and mixed signal integrated circuits based on Rapid Single Flux Quantum (RSFQ) technology, superconductor analog filter circuits, and semiconductor post-processing circuits. The demonstrated cryocooled Digital-RF systems are the world's first and fastest directly digitizing receivers operating with live satellite signals, enabling multi-net data links, and performing signal acquisition from HF to L-band with 30 GHz clock frequencies. In supercomputing, superconductivity leads to the highest energy efficiencies per operation. Superconductor technology based on manipulation and ballistic transfer of magnetic flux quanta provides a superior low-power alternative to CMOS and other charge-transfer based device technologies. The fundamental energy consumption in SFQ circuits defined by flux quanta energy 2 x 10-19 J. Recently, a novel energy-efficient zero-static-power SFQ technology, eSFQ/ERSFQ was invented, which retains all advantages of standard RSFQ circuits: high-speed, dc power, internal memory. The

High-performers use the phonological loop less to process mental arithmetic during working memory tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Otsuka, Yuki; Osaka, Naoyuki

2015-01-01

This study investigated the effects of three working memory components-the central executive, phonological loop, and visuospatial sketchpad-on performance differences in complex mental arithmetic between individuals. Using the dual-task method, we examined how performance during two-digit addition was affected by load on the central executive (random tapping condition), phonological loop (articulatory suppression condition), and visuospatial sketchpad (spatial tapping condition) compared to that under no load (control condition) in high- and low-performers of complex mental arithmetic in Experiment 1. Low-performers showed an increase in errors under the random tapping and articulatory suppression conditions, whereas high-performers showed an increase of errors only under the random tapping condition. In Experiment 2, we conducted similar experiments on only the high-performers but used a shorter presentation time of each number. We found the same pattern for performing complex mental arithmetic as seen in Experiment 1. These results indicate that high-performers might reduce their dependence on the phonological loop, because the central executive enables them to choose a strategy in which they use less working memory capacity.

Measuring digit lengths with 3D digital stereophotogrammetry: A comparison across methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Gremba, Allison; Weinberg, Seth M

2018-05-09

We compared digital 3D stereophotogrammetry to more traditional measurement methods (direct anthropometry and 2D scanning) to capture digit lengths and ratios. The length of the second and fourth digits was measured by each method and the second-to-fourth ratio was calculated. For each digit measurement, intraobserver agreement was calculated for each of the three collection methods. Further, measurements from the three methods were compared directly to one another. Agreement statistics included the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and technical error of measurement (TEM). Intraobserver agreement statistics for the digit length measurements were high for all three methods; ICC values exceeded 0.97 and TEM values were below 1 mm. For digit ratio, intraobserver agreement was also acceptable for all methods, with direct anthropometry exhibiting lower agreement (ICC = 0.87) compared to indirect methods. For the comparison across methods, the overall agreement was high for digit length measurements (ICC values ranging from 0.93 to 0.98; TEM values below 2 mm). For digit ratios, high agreement was observed between the two indirect methods (ICC = 0.93), whereas indirect methods showed lower agreement when compared to direct anthropometry (ICC < 0.75). Digit measurements and derived ratios from 3D stereophotogrammetry showed high intraobserver agreement (similar to more traditional methods) suggesting that landmarks could be placed reliably on 3D hand surface images. While digit length measurements were found to be comparable across all three methods, ratios derived from direct anthropometry tended to be higher than those calculated indirectly from 2D or 3D images. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Digital fluxgate magnetometer: design notes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belyayev, Serhiy; Ivchenko, Nickolay

2015-01-01

We presented an approach to understanding the performance of a fully digital fluxgate magnetometer. All elements of the design are important for the performance of the instrument, and the presence of the digital feed-back loop introduces certain peculiarities affecting the noise and dynamic performance of the instrument. Ultimately, the quantisation noise of the digital to analogue converter is found to dominate the noise of the current design, although noise shaping alleviates its effect to some extent. An example of magnetometer measurements on board a sounding rocket is presented, and ways to further improve the performance of the instrument are discussed. (paper)

Digital fluxgate magnetometer: design notes

Science.gov (United States)

Belyayev, Serhiy; Ivchenko, Nickolay

2015-12-01

We presented an approach to understanding the performance of a fully digital fluxgate magnetometer. All elements of the design are important for the performance of the instrument, and the presence of the digital feed-back loop introduces certain peculiarities affecting the noise and dynamic performance of the instrument. Ultimately, the quantisation noise of the digital to analogue converter is found to dominate the noise of the current design, although noise shaping alleviates its effect to some extent. An example of magnetometer measurements on board a sounding rocket is presented, and ways to further improve the performance of the instrument are discussed.

Foreword in "RF imperfections in high-rate wireless systems: impact and digital compensation"

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Linnartz, J.P.M.G.; Schenk, Tim

2008-01-01

Foreword This book takes a modern, multidisciplinary view on radio system design: the advantages of digital signal processing are exploited to satisfy the ever increasing demands on better performing, flexible radio frequency (RF) circuits. By accepting that analog circuits are inherently imperfect,

A low-cost, scalable, current-sensing digital headstage for high channel count μECoG

Science.gov (United States)

Trumpis, Michael; Insanally, Michele; Zou, Jialin; Elsharif, Ashraf; Ghomashchi, Ali; Sertac Artan, N.; Froemke, Robert C.; Viventi, Jonathan

2017-04-01

Objective. High channel count electrode arrays allow for the monitoring of large-scale neural activity at high spatial resolution. Implantable arrays featuring many recording sites require compact, high bandwidth front-end electronics. In the present study, we investigated the use of a small, light weight, and low cost digital current-sensing integrated circuit for acquiring cortical surface signals from a 61-channel micro-electrocorticographic (μECoG) array. Approach. We recorded both acute and chronic μECoG signal from rat auditory cortex using our novel digital current-sensing headstage. For direct comparison, separate recordings were made in the same anesthetized preparations using an analog voltage headstage. A model of electrode impedance explained the transformation between current- and voltage-sensed signals, and was used to reconstruct cortical potential. We evaluated the digital headstage using several metrics of the baseline and response signals. Main results. The digital current headstage recorded neural signal with similar spatiotemporal statistics and auditory frequency tuning compared to the voltage signal. The signal-to-noise ratio of auditory evoked responses (AERs) was significantly stronger in the current signal. Stimulus decoding based on true and reconstructed voltage signals were not significantly different. Recordings from an implanted system showed AERs that were detectable and decodable for 52 d. The reconstruction filter mitigated the thermal current noise of the electrode impedance and enhanced overall SNR. Significance. We developed and validated a novel approach to headstage acquisition that used current-input circuits to independently digitize 61 channels of μECoG measurements of the cortical field. These low-cost circuits, intended to measure photo-currents in digital imaging, not only provided a signal representing the local cortical field with virtually the same sensitivity and specificity as a traditional voltage headstage but

SHDAS Production Digitizer Evaluation.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merchant, Bion J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-07-01

The Seismo-Hydroacoustic Data Acquisition System (SHDAS) is undergoing evaluation in preparation for its engineering, development, and deployment by the U.S Navy as an ocean bottom seismic monitoring system. At the current stage of development, the production digitizers are being evaluated to confirm their performance prior to packaging and assembly for deployment. The testing of the digitizers is being conducted at Delta Group Electronics, the digitizer fabricator, in San Diego, California, performed by Sandia National Laboratories with the assistance of Leidos and Delta Group Electronics.

Photon-counting digital radiography using high-pressure xenon filled detectors

CERN Document Server

Li, Maozhen; Johns, P C

2001-01-01

Digital radiography overcomes many of the limitations of the traditional screen/film system. Further enhancements in the digital radiography image are possible if the X-ray image receptor could measure the energy of individual photons instead of simply integrating their energy, as is the case at present. A prototype photon counting scanned projection radiography system has been constructed, which combines a Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) and a Gas Microstrip Detector (GMD) using Xe : CH sub 4 (90 : 10) at high pressure. With the gain contribution from the GEM, the GMD can be operated at lower and safer voltages making the imaging system more reliable. Good energy resolution, and spatial resolution comparable to that of screen/film, have been demonstrated for the GEM/GMD hybrid imaging system in photon counting mode for X-ray spectra up to 50 kV.

Lecture note on digital circuit design for high energy physics experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikeda, Hirokazu.

1993-08-01

This lecture gives basic ideas and practice of the digital circuit design for high energy physics experiment. The lecture has a special emphasis on a simulation study with a hardware description language. The student could complete a design of a simple RISC based computer after finishing this course. (author)

Analysis of high resolution satellite digital data for land use studies ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

High-resolution satellite data can give vital information about land cover, which can lead to better interpretation and classification of land resources. This study examined the relationship between Systeme Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) digital data and land use types in the derived savanna ecosystem of ...

A comparison of digital and screen-film mammography using quality control phantoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Undrill, Peter E.; O'Kane, Arlene D.; Gilbert, Fiona J.

2000-01-01

AIM: To compare the performance of a direct digital mammography system with normal-view and magnified-view conventional screen-film methods using quality control phantoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a Siemens Mammomat [reg] 3000 and an Opdima [reg] digital spot imaging and biopsy attachment, film and direct digital images of two phantoms [DuPont and TOR (MAM)] were obtained under normal operating conditions. These were assessed by three groups of observers with differing expertise -- radiologists, radiographers and medical physicists. Each observer was asked to compare the direct digital image with films taken in standard view and magnified view, providing scores for object visibility and confidence. For the digital images, observers were allowed to vary the image presentation parameters. RESULTS: Both phantoms showed that overall the direct digital view and the magnified view film performed significantly better (P < 0.05) than standard view film. For certain small or low contrast objects the differences became very highly significant (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Only the TOR (MAM) phantom showed any significant difference between digital and magnified modalities, with magnified views performing better for fine, faint filaments and digital acquisition better for low contrast objects. Almost no difference existed between the three observer groups. Undrill, P.E. (2000). Clinical Radiology 53, 782-790

Characterization of microcalcification: can digital monitor zooming replace magnification mammography in full-field digital mammography?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Min Jung; Kim, Eun-Kyung; Kwak, Jin Young; Son, Eun Ju; Youk, Ji Hyun; Choi, Seon Hyeong; Oh, Ki Keun; Han, Mooyoung

2009-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy and image quality of microcalcifications in zoomed digital contact mammography with digital magnification mammography. Three radiologists with different levels of experience in mammography reviewed 120 microcalcification clusters in 111 patients with a full-field digital mammography system relying on digital magnification mammogram (MAG) images and zoomed images from contact mammography (ZOOM) using commercially available zooming systems on monitors. Each radiologist estimated the probability of malignancy and rated the image quality and confidence rate. Performance was evaluated by sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. All three radiologists rated MAG images higher than ZOOM images for sensitivity with statistical significance (average value, 92% vs. 87%, P<0.05) and performance by ROC analysis improved with MAG imaging. The confidence rate for diagnosis decision and the assessment of lesion characteristics were also better in MAG images than in ZOOM images with statistical significance (P<0.0001). Digital magnification mammography can enhance diagnostic performance when characterizing microcalcifications. Images zoomed from digital contact mammography cannot serve as an alternative to direct magnification digital mammography. (orig.)

A High Density Low Cost Digital Signal Processing Module for Large Scale Radiation Detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, Hui; Hennig, Wolfgang; Walby, Mark D.; Breus, Dimitry; Harris, Jackson T.; Grudberg, Peter M.; Warburton, William K.

2013-06-01

A 32-channel digital spectrometer PIXIE-32 is being developed for nuclear physics or other radiation detection applications requiring digital signal processing with large number of channels at relatively low cost. A single PIXIE-32 provides spectrometry and waveform acquisition for 32 input signals per module whereas multiple modules can be combined into larger systems. It is based on the PCI Express standard which allows data transfer rates to the host computer of up to 800 MB/s. Each of the 32 channels in a PIXIE-32 module accepts signals directly from a detector preamplifier or photomultiplier. Digitally controlled offsets can be individually adjusted for each channel. Signals are digitized in 12-bit, 50 MHz multi-channel ADCs. Triggering, pile-up inspection and filtering of the data stream are performed in real time, and pulse heights and other event data are calculated on an event-by event basis. The hardware architecture, internal and external triggering features, and the spectrometry and waveform acquisition capability of the PIXIE- 32 as well as its capability to distribute clock and triggers among multiple modules, are presented. (authors)

Digital Devices, Distraction, and Student Performance: Does In-Class Cell Phone Use Reduce Learning?

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Douglas K.; Hoekstra, Angel R.; Wilcox, Bethany R.

2012-01-01

The recent increase in use of digital devices such as laptop computers, iPads, and web-enabled cell phones has generated concern about how technologies affect student performance. Combining observation, survey, and interview data, this research assesses the effects of technology use on student attitudes and learning. Data were gathered in eight…

Digital spectrometer for coincidence measurement of Doppler broadening of positron annihilation radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cizek, J.; Vlcek, M.; Prochazka, I.

2010-01-01

High-resolution digital coincidence Doppler broadening spectrometer equipped with two high-purity Ge detectors and two-channel 12-bit fast digitizer was developed and tested in this work. Two configurations were compared: (i) semi-digital setup which uses active analogue shaping of detector pulses prior to digitization to improve signal-to-noise ratio, and (ii) pure-digital setup which samples detector pulses directly. Software procedure developed for analysis of sampled waveforms, i.e. precise determination of energy of detected photon and rejection of distorted pulses, is described. Performance of digital coincidence spectrometer was compared with traditional analogue setup connected to the same detectors. It was found that digital spectrometer enables to achieve better energy resolution than in traditional analogue setup. Moreover, in digital configuration one has better control over shape of the signal. This allows efficient elimination of undesired distorted or damaged waveforms and to obtain spectrum of better clarity. The superior parameters of new digital coincidence Doppler broadening spectrometer are demonstrated by benchmark measurements of well defined Fe and Al specimens and also by the detection of rare annihilation in flight events.

Digitally controlled high-performance dc SQUID readout electronics for a 304-channel vector magnetometer

Science.gov (United States)

Bechstein, S.; Petsche, F.; Scheiner, M.; Drung, D.; Thiel, F.; Schnabel, A.; Schurig, Th

2006-06-01

Recently, we have developed a family of dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) readout electronics for several applications. These electronics comprise a low-noise preamplifier followed by an integrator, and an analog SQUID bias circuit. A highly-compact low-power version with a flux-locked loop bandwidth of 0.3 MHz and a white noise level of 1 nV/√Hz was specially designed for a 304-channel low-Tc dc SQUID vector magnetometer, intended to operate in the new Berlin Magnetically Shielded Room (BMSR-2). In order to minimize the space needed to mount the electronics on top of the dewar and to minimize the power consumption, we have integrated four electronics channels on one 3 cm × 10 cm sized board. Furthermore we embedded the analog components of these four channels into a digitally controlled system including an in-system programmable microcontroller. Four of these integrated boards were combined to one module with a size of 4 cm × 4 cm × 16 cm. 19 of these modules were implemented, resulting in a total power consumption of about 61 W. To initialize the 304 channels and to service the system we have developed software tools running on a laptop computer. By means of these software tools the microcontrollers are fed with all required data such as the working points, the characteristic parameters of the sensors (noise, voltage swing), or the sensor position inside of the vector magnetometer system. In this paper, the developed electronics including the software tools are described, and first results are presented.

Digitally controlled high-performance dc SQUID readout electronics for a 304-channel vector magnetometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bechstein, S; Petsche, F; Scheiner, M; Drung, D; Thiel, F; Schnabel, A; Schurig, Th

2006-01-01

Recently, we have developed a family of dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) readout electronics for several applications. These electronics comprise a low-noise preamplifier followed by an integrator, and an analog SQUID bias circuit. A highly-compact low-power version with a flux-locked loop bandwidth of 0.3 MHz and a white noise level of 1 nV/√Hz was specially designed for a 304-channel low-T c dc SQUID vector magnetometer, intended to operate in the new Berlin Magnetically Shielded Room (BMSR-2). In order to minimize the space needed to mount the electronics on top of the dewar and to minimize the power consumption, we have integrated four electronics channels on one 3 cm x 10 cm sized board. Furthermore we embedded the analog components of these four channels into a digitally controlled system including an in-system programmable microcontroller. Four of these integrated boards were combined to one module with a size of 4 cm x 4 cm x 16 cm. 19 of these modules were implemented, resulting in a total power consumption of about 61 W. To initialize the 304 channels and to service the system we have developed software tools running on a laptop computer. By means of these software tools the microcontrollers are fed with all required data such as the working points, the characteristic parameters of the sensors (noise, voltage swing), or the sensor position inside of the vector magnetometer system. In this paper, the developed electronics including the software tools are described, and first results are presented

Digitally controlled high-performance dc SQUID readout electronics for a 304-channel vector magnetometer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bechstein, S [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin (Germany); Petsche, F [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin (Germany); Scheiner, M [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin (Germany); Drung, D [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin (Germany); Thiel, F [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin (Germany); Schnabel, A [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin (Germany); Schurig, Th [Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestr. 2-12, 10587 Berlin (Germany)

2006-06-01

Recently, we have developed a family of dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) readout electronics for several applications. These electronics comprise a low-noise preamplifier followed by an integrator, and an analog SQUID bias circuit. A highly-compact low-power version with a flux-locked loop bandwidth of 0.3 MHz and a white noise level of 1 nV/{radical}Hz was specially designed for a 304-channel low-T{sub c} dc SQUID vector magnetometer, intended to operate in the new Berlin Magnetically Shielded Room (BMSR-2). In order to minimize the space needed to mount the electronics on top of the dewar and to minimize the power consumption, we have integrated four electronics channels on one 3 cm x 10 cm sized board. Furthermore we embedded the analog components of these four channels into a digitally controlled system including an in-system programmable microcontroller. Four of these integrated boards were combined to one module with a size of 4 cm x 4 cm x 16 cm. 19 of these modules were implemented, resulting in a total power consumption of about 61 W. To initialize the 304 channels and to service the system we have developed software tools running on a laptop computer. By means of these software tools the microcontrollers are fed with all required data such as the working points, the characteristic parameters of the sensors (noise, voltage swing), or the sensor position inside of the vector magnetometer system. In this paper, the developed electronics including the software tools are described, and first results are presented.

Functions of the digital image in Education: A methodological proposal for reading and writing the digital image on instructional screens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariella Milagros Azzato

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This research goes through the instructional possibilities that reading and writing the digital image have in Education. Along these lines, we are presenting this research that looks for, on one hand, to develop a methodological proposal for reading and writing the digital image, and on the other, to implement these methodologies in a course used as a study case and whose objective was to evaluate students' performance when writing screens for a learning object using the methodologies for reading and writing the digital image. The process for compiling date was based on the questionnaire technique, individual interviews and the analysis of course proposed activities. The application of the first questionnaire allowed us to determine students' knowledge level about the digital image before starting the course. The individual interview allowed us to determine the students' reading criteria gained after using the reading methodology for the digital image to analyse educational materials (Galavis, 2008; Azzato, 2009. The proposed activities for the course permitted us to value students' performance when reading and writing the digital image of a learning object. Finally, after course completion, the second questionnaire was applied in order to determine the students' acquired knowledge level about reading and writing an image on digital screens. The results obtained in each of the analysis allowed us to establish that the proposed methodologies were highly useful to write the educational image for the screens of each one of the learning objects created in the course.

Innovative SAR/MTI Concepts for Digital Radar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wit, J.J.M. de

2008-01-01

Contemporary military operations make high demands on the capabilities of sensors. Modern sensors must have the capability to perform different tasks, such as ground surveillance and target tracking, simultaneously. Multifunction digital radar may provide the required capabilities and meet the

National Performance Benchmarks for Modern Screening Digital Mammography: Update from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehman, Constance D; Arao, Robert F; Sprague, Brian L; Lee, Janie M; Buist, Diana S M; Kerlikowske, Karla; Henderson, Louise M; Onega, Tracy; Tosteson, Anna N A; Rauscher, Garth H; Miglioretti, Diana L

2017-04-01

Purpose To establish performance benchmarks for modern screening digital mammography and assess performance trends over time in U.S. community practice. Materials and Methods This HIPAA-compliant, institutional review board-approved study measured the performance of digital screening mammography interpreted by 359 radiologists across 95 facilities in six Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) registries. The study included 1 682 504 digital screening mammograms performed between 2007 and 2013 in 792 808 women. Performance measures were calculated according to the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System, 5th edition, and were compared with published benchmarks by the BCSC, the National Mammography Database, and performance recommendations by expert opinion. Benchmarks were derived from the distribution of performance metrics across radiologists and were presented as 50th (median), 10th, 25th, 75th, and 90th percentiles, with graphic presentations using smoothed curves. Results Mean screening performance measures were as follows: abnormal interpretation rate (AIR), 11.6 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 11.5, 11.6); cancers detected per 1000 screens, or cancer detection rate (CDR), 5.1 (95% CI: 5.0, 5.2); sensitivity, 86.9% (95% CI: 86.3%, 87.6%); specificity, 88.9% (95% CI: 88.8%, 88.9%); false-negative rate per 1000 screens, 0.8 (95% CI: 0.7, 0.8); positive predictive value (PPV) 1, 4.4% (95% CI: 4.3%, 4.5%); PPV2, 25.6% (95% CI: 25.1%, 26.1%); PPV3, 28.6% (95% CI: 28.0%, 29.3%); cancers stage 0 or 1, 76.9%; minimal cancers, 57.7%; and node-negative invasive cancers, 79.4%. Recommended CDRs were achieved by 92.1% of radiologists in community practice, and 97.1% achieved recommended ranges for sensitivity. Only 59.0% of radiologists achieved recommended AIRs, and only 63.0% achieved recommended levels of specificity. Conclusion The majority of radiologists in the BCSC surpass cancer detection recommendations for screening

Derivation and Cross-Validation of Cutoff Scores for Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders on WAIS-IV Digit Span-Based Performance Validity Measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Glassmire, David M; Toofanian Ross, Parnian; Kinney, Dominique I; Nitch, Stephen R

2016-06-01

Two studies were conducted to identify and cross-validate cutoff scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition Digit Span-based embedded performance validity (PV) measures for individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In Study 1, normative scores were identified on Digit Span-embedded PV measures among a sample of patients (n = 84) with schizophrenia spectrum diagnoses who had no known incentive to perform poorly and who put forth valid effort on external PV tests. Previously identified cutoff scores resulted in unacceptable false positive rates and lower cutoff scores were adopted to maintain specificity levels ≥90%. In Study 2, the revised cutoff scores were cross-validated within a sample of schizophrenia spectrum patients (n = 96) committed as incompetent to stand trial. Performance on Digit Span PV measures was significantly related to Full Scale IQ in both studies, indicating the need to consider the intellectual functioning of examinees with psychotic spectrum disorders when interpreting scores on Digit Span PV measures. © The Author(s) 2015.

SEU tests performed on the digital communication system for LHC cryogenic instrumentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casas-Cubillos, J.; Faccio, F.; Gomes, P.; Martin, M.A.; Rodriguez-Ruiz, M.A.

2002-01-01

The future LHC particle accelerator will use a large number of cryogenic sensors and actuators, most of which are located inside the machine tunnel and therefore in a radiation environment. These elements will communicate through a fieldbus. This paper reports the irradiation study carried out on WorldFIP fieldbus communication system. A digital communication system based on WorldFIP fieldbus protocol has been implemented and single event effects and total ionizing dose radiation tests have been performed on it

Oxide thickness measurement for monitoring fuel performance at high burnup

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaeger, M.A.; Van Swam, L.F.P.; Brueck-Neufeld, K.

1991-01-01

For on-site monitoring of the fuel performance at high burnup, Advanced Nuclear Fuels uses the linear scan eddy current method to determine the oxide thickness of irradiated Zircaloy fuel cans. Direct digital data acquisition methods are employed to collect the data on magnetic storage media. This field-proven methodology allows oxide thickness measurements and rapid interpretation of the data during the reactor outages and makes it possible to immediately reinsert the assemblies for the next operating cycle. The accuracy of the poolside measurements and data acquisition/interpretation techniques have been verified through hot cell metallographic measurements of rods previously measured in the fuel pool. The accumulated data provide a valuable database against which oxide growth models have been benchmarked and allow for effective monitoring of fuel performance. (orig.) [de

The Digital Microscope and Its Image Processing Utility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tri Wahyu Supardi

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Many institutions, including high schools, own a large number of analog or ordinary microscopes. These microscopes are used to observe small objects. Unfortunately, object observations on the ordinary microscope require precision and visual acuity of the user. This paper discusses the development of a high-resolution digital microscope from an analog microscope, including the image processing utility, which allows the digital microscope users to capture, store and process the digital images of the object being observed. The proposed microscope is constructed from hardware components that can be easily found in Indonesia. The image processing software is capable of performing brightness adjustment, contrast enhancement, histogram equalization, scaling and cropping. The proposed digital microscope has a maximum magnification of 1600x, and image resolution can be varied from 320x240 pixels up to 2592x1944 pixels. The microscope was tested with various objects with a variety of magnification, and image processing was carried out on the image of the object. The results showed that the digital microscope and its image processing system were capable of enhancing the observed object and other operations in accordance with the user need. The digital microscope has eliminated the need for direct observation by human eye as with the traditional microscope.

Flow visualization of bubble behavior under two-phase natural circulation flow conditions using high speed digital camera

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lemos, Wanderley F.; Su, Jian, E-mail: wlemos@con.ufrj.br, E-mail: sujian@lasme.coppe.ufrj.br [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao em Engenharia (COPPE/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Programa de Engenharia Nuclear; Faccini, Jose L.H., E-mail: faccini@ien.gov.br [Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN/CNEN-RJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Lab. de Termo-Hidraulica Experimental

2013-07-01

The The present work aims at identifying flow patterns and measuring interfacial parameters in two-phase natural circulation by using visualization technique with high-speed digital camera. The experiments were conducted in the Natural Circulation Circuit (CCN), installed at Nuclear Engineering Institute/CNEN. The thermo-hydraulic circuit comprises heater, heat exchanger, expansion tank, the pressure relief valve and pipes to interconnect the components. A glass tube is installed at the midpoint of the riser connected to the heater outlet. The natural circulation circuit is complemented by acquisition system of values of temperatures, flow and graphic interface. The instrumentation has thermocouples, volumetric flow meter, rotameter and high-speed digital camera. The experimental study is performed through analysis of information from measurements of temperatures at strategic points along the hydraulic circuit, besides natural circulation flow rates. The comparisons between analytical and experimental values are validated by viewing, recording and processing of the images for the flows patterns. Variables involved in the process of identification of flow regimes, dimensionless parameters, the phase velocity of the flow, initial boiling point, the phenomenon of 'flashing' pre-slug flow type were obtained experimentally. (author)

Flow visualization of bubble behavior under two-phase natural circulation flow conditions using high speed digital camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemos, Wanderley F.; Su, Jian; Faccini, Jose L.H.

2013-01-01

The The present work aims at identifying flow patterns and measuring interfacial parameters in two-phase natural circulation by using visualization technique with high-speed digital camera. The experiments were conducted in the Natural Circulation Circuit (CCN), installed at Nuclear Engineering Institute/CNEN. The thermo-hydraulic circuit comprises heater, heat exchanger, expansion tank, the pressure relief valve and pipes to interconnect the components. A glass tube is installed at the midpoint of the riser connected to the heater outlet. The natural circulation circuit is complemented by acquisition system of values of temperatures, flow and graphic interface. The instrumentation has thermocouples, volumetric flow meter, rotameter and high-speed digital camera. The experimental study is performed through analysis of information from measurements of temperatures at strategic points along the hydraulic circuit, besides natural circulation flow rates. The comparisons between analytical and experimental values are validated by viewing, recording and processing of the images for the flows patterns. Variables involved in the process of identification of flow regimes, dimensionless parameters, the phase velocity of the flow, initial boiling point, the phenomenon of 'flashing' pre-slug flow type were obtained experimentally. (author)

Theoretical Feasibility of Digital Communication Over Ocean Areas by High Frequency Radio

Science.gov (United States)

1979-11-01

The theoretical reliability of digital data transmission via high frequency radio is examined for typical air traffic routes in the Atlantic and Pacific areas to assist the U.S. Department of Transportation in the evaluation of a system for improving...

Digital voltage discriminator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Zhicheng

1992-01-01

A digital voltage discriminator is described, which is synthesized by digital comparator and ADC. The threshold is program controllable with high stability. Digital region of confusion is approximately equal to 1.5 LSB. This discriminator has a single channel analyzer function model with channel width of 1.5 LSB

Digital Light Processing update: status and future applications

Science.gov (United States)

Hornbeck, Larry J.

1999-05-01

Digital Light Processing (DLP) projection displays based on the Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) were introduced to the market in 1996. Less than 3 years later, DLP-based projectors are found in such diverse applications as mobile, conference room, video wall, home theater, and large-venue. They provide high-quality, seamless, all-digital images that have exceptional stability as well as freedom from both flicker and image lag. Marked improvements have been made in the image quality of DLP-based projection display, including brightness, resolution, contrast ratio, and border image. DLP-based mobile projectors that weighted about 27 pounds in 1996 now weight only about 7 pounds. This weight reduction has been responsible for the definition of an entirely new projector class, the ultraportable. New applications are being developed for this important new projection display technology; these include digital photofinishing for high process speed minilab and maxilab applications and DLP Cinema for the digital delivery of films to audiences around the world. This paper describes the status of DLP-based projection display technology, including its manufacturing, performance improvements, and new applications, with emphasis on DLP Cinema.

Math for the digital factory

CERN Document Server

Hömberg, Dietmar; Landry, Chantal

2017-01-01

This volume provides a unique collection of mathematical tools and industrial case studies in digital manufacturing. It addresses various topics, ranging from models of single production technologies, production lines, logistics and workflows to models and optimization strategies for energy consumption in production. The digital factory represents a network of digital models and simulation and 3D visualization methods for the holistic planning, realization, control and ongoing improvement of all factory processes related to a specific product. In the past ten years, all industrialized countries have launched initiatives to realize this vision, sometimes also referred to as Industry 4.0 (in Europe) or Smart Manufacturing (in the United States). Its main goals are • reconfigurable, adaptive and evolving factories capable of small-scale production • high-performance production, combining flexibility, productivity, precision and zero defects • energy and resource efficiency in manufacturing None of these...

Chaotic digital communication by encoding initial conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiaofeng, Gong; Xingang, Wang; Meng, Zhan; Lai, C H

2004-06-01

We investigate the possibility to improve the noise performance of a chaotic digital communication scheme by utilizing further dynamical information. We show that by encoding the initial information of the chaotic carrier according to the transmitting bits, extra redundance can be introduced into the segments of chaotic signals corresponding to the consecutive bits. Such redundant information can be exploited effectively at the receiver end to improve the noise performance of the system. Compared to other methods (e.g., differential chaos shift keying), straightforward application of the proposed modulation/demodulation scheme already provides significant performance gain in the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region. Furthermore, maximum likelihood precleaning procedure based on the Viterbi algorithm can be applied before the demodulation step to overcome the performance degradation in the high SNR region. The study indicates that it is possible to improve the noise performance of the chaotic digital communication scheme if further dynamics information is added to the system. (c) 2004 American Institute of Physics

Modelling the imaging performance and low contrast detectability in digital mammography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spyropoulou, V; Kalyvas, N; Gaitanis, A; Michail, C; Panayiotakis, G; Kandarakis, I

2009-01-01

A digital x-ray mammography is a modern method for the early detection of breast cancer. The quality of a mammography image depends on various factors, the detector structure and performance being of primary importance. The aim of this work was to develop an analytical model simulating the imaging performance of a new commercially available digital mammography detector. This was achieved within the framework of the linear cascaded systems (LCS) theory. System analysis has allowed the estimation of important image quality metrics such as the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), the Noise Power Spectrum (NPS) and the Detective Quantum Efficiency (DQE). The detector was an indirect detection system consisting of a large area, 100μm thick, CsI:TI scintillator coupled to an active matrix array of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) photodiodes combined with thin film transistors (TFT). Pixel size was 100μm, while the active pixel dimension was 70μm. MTF and DQE data were calculated for air kerma conditions of 25, 53, 67 μGy using a 28 kVp Mo-Mo x-ray spectrum. The theoretical results were compared with published experimental data. The deviation between the theoretical and experimental MTF curves was less than 4%, while the DQE differences were found at an acceptable level. The model was also used to estimate system's capability to detect low contrast objects in the breast. It was estimated that, in the breast gland, low contrast structures larger than 1.4mm can be adequately identified by the above system.

DIGITAL FILTERS IMPLEMENTATION IN MICROPROCESSOR-BASED RELAY PROTECTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. V. Rumiantsev

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This article presents the implementation of digital filters used in digital relay protection current measuring elements. Mathematical descriptions of the considered digital filters as well as the computer programs for their coefficients calculation are described. It has been shown that in order to reliable estimate the digital filter performance its input signals waveforms must be close to the actual secondary current waveform of the current transformer to which the digital protection with the estimated digital filter is connected. For these purposes in MatLab–Simulink dynamic simulation environment the power system and the current measuring element models were developed. Performed calculations allowed to reveal that the exponentially decaying DC component which in some cases contains in primary fault current drives the current transformer core into saturation even when its nominal parameters are not exceeded. This results in distortion of the current transformer secondary current which in this case contains higher and inter-harmonics. Moreover, such harmonic content is not completely taking into account during coefficients calculation of the considered digital filters what results in signal magnitude estimation inaccuracy. Comparison of the digital filters response to the above-mentioned input signals allowed to find out such digital filter implementations which enable signal magnitude estimation with a minimum error. Ways of filtering quality improvement concerned with the window functions are proposed. Thus, the joint usage of digital filter and Hamming window allows to achieve the zero value of the signal magnitude gain factor in high-frequency range and substantially suppress all spectral components above 100 Hz. The increasing of the signal magnitude settling time in this case can be reduced by choosing the most optimal parameters of the all components of the current measuring element.

Influence of discretization method on the digital control system performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Futás József

2003-12-01

Full Text Available The design of control system can be divided into two steps. First the process or plant have to be convert into mathematical model form, so that its behavior can be analyzed. Then an appropriate controller have to be design in order to get the desired response of the controlled system. In the continuous time domain the system is represented by differential equations. Replacing a continuous system into discrete time form is always an approximation of the continuous system. The different discretization methods give different digital controller performance. The methods presented on the paper are Step Invariant or Zero Order Hold (ZOH Method, Matched Pole-Zero Method, Backward difference Method and Bilinear transformation. The above mentioned discretization methods are used in developing PI position controller of a dc motor. The motor model was converted by the ZOH method. The performances of the different methods are compared and the results are presented.

Digital Relationships

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ledborg Hansen, Richard

-­rich information and highly interesting communication are sky-­high and rising. With a continuous increase in digitized communication follows a decrease in face-­to-­face encounters and our ability to engage in inter-­personal relationships are suffering for it (Davis, 2013). The behavior described in this paper......-­‐Jones, 2011) for increases in effectiveness and efficiency we indiscriminately embrace digital communication and digitized information dissemination with enthusiasm – at the risk of ignoring the potentially dark side of technology. However, technology also holds a promise for better understanding precisely...... for the same reasons – that the growing amount of digitized communication “out there” represents data waiting to be sifted, analyzed and decoded. In this paper “Facebook behavior” refers to a particular behavior characterized by presenting your self and representations of selected self in the hope of getting...

Modified signed-digit trinary addition using synthetic wavelet filter

Science.gov (United States)

Iftekharuddin, K. M.; Razzaque, M. A.

2000-09-01

The modified signed-digit (MSD) number system has been a topic of interest as it allows for parallel carry-free addition of two numbers for digital optical computing. In this paper, harmonic wavelet joint transform (HWJT)-based correlation technique is introduced for optical implementation of MSD trinary adder implementation. The realization of the carry-propagation-free addition of MSD trinary numerals is demonstrated using synthetic HWJT correlator model. It is also shown that the proposed synthetic wavelet filter-based correlator shows high performance in logic processing. Simulation results are presented to validate the performance of the proposed technique.

Modems for emerging digital cellular-mobile radio system

Science.gov (United States)

Feher, Kamilo

1991-01-01

Digital modem techniques for emerging digital cellular telecommunications-mobile radio system applications are described and analyzed. In particular, theoretical performance, experimental results, principles of operation, and various architectures of pi/4-QPSK (pi/4-shifted coherent or differential QPSK) modems for second-generation US digital cellular radio system applications are presented. The spectral/power efficiency and performance of the pi/4-QPSK modems (American and Japanese digital cellular emerging standards) are studied and briefly compared to GMSK (Gaussian minimum-shift keying) modems (proposed for European DECT and GSM cellular standards). Improved filtering strategies and digital pilot-aided (digital channel sounding) techniques are also considered for pi/4-QPSK and other digital modems. These techniques could significantly improve the performance of digital cellular and other digital land mobile and satellite mobile radio systems. More spectrally efficient modem trends for future cellular/mobile (land mobile) and satellite communication systems applications are also highlighted.

Ciberpunk y arte de los nuevos medios: performance y arte digital

OpenAIRE

Psarra, Afroditi

2016-01-01

La tesis doctoral Ciberpunk y Arte de los Nuevos Medios: Performance y Arte Digital consiste en la aproximación del fenómeno ciberpunk como expresión literaria y cinematográfica, en el estudio del arte de los nuevos medios, y en la reflexión artística que surge de la amalgama de estos conceptos. Su objetivo es comentar a un nivel multidisciplinario la influencia de la teoría y la estética ciberpunk en la construcción de mecanismos creativos, y estudiar la integración de las ideas del ciberpun...

Description and Performance of an L-Band Radiometer with Digital Beamforming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan F. Marchan-Hernandez

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the description and performance tests of an L-band microwave radiometer with Digital Beamforming (DBF, developed for the Passive Advanced Unit (PAU for ocean monitoring project. PAU is an instrument that combines, in a single receiver and without time multiplexing, a microwave radiometer at L-band (PAU-RAD and a GPS-reflectometer (PAU-GNSS-R. This paper focuses on the PAU‑RAD beamformer’s first results, analyzing the hardware and software required for the developed prototype. Finally, it discusses the first results measured in the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC anechoic chamber.

Digital Living at Home

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Pernille Viktoria Kathja; Christiansen, Ellen Tove

2013-01-01

of these user voices has directed us towards a ‘home-keeping’ design discourse, which opens new horizons for design of digital home control systems by allowing users to perform as self-determined controllers and groomers of their habitat. The paper concludes by outlining the implications of a ‘home......Does living with digital technology inevitably lead to digital living? Users talking about a digital home control system, they have had in their homes for eight years, indicate that there is more to living with digital technology than a functional-operational grip on regulation. Our analysis......-keeping’ design discourse....

The Use of Digital Radiography in the Evaluation of Radioactive Materials. Packaging Performance Testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

May, C; Lawrence Gelder, L; Boyd Howard, B

2007-01-01

New designs of radioactive material shipping packages are required to be evaluated in accordance with 10 CFR Part 71, ''Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material''. This paper will discuss the use of digital radiography to evaluate the effects of the tests required by 10 CFR 71.71, Normal Conditions of Transport (NCT), and 10 CFR 71.73, Hypothetical Accident Conditions (HAC). One acceptable means of evaluating packaging performance is to subject packagings to the series of NCT and HAC tests. The evaluation includes a determination of the effect on the packaging by the conditions and tests. That determination has required that packagings be cut and sectioned to learn the actual effects on internal components. Digital radiography permits the examination of internal packaging components without sectioning a package. This allows a single package to be subjected to a series of tests. After each test, the package is digitally radiographed and the effects of particular tests evaluated. Radiography reduces the number of packages required for testing and also reduces labor and materials required to section and evaluate numerous packages. This paper will include a description of the digital radiography equipment used in the testing and evaluation of the 9977 and 9978 packages at SRNL. The equipment is capable of making a single radiograph of a full-sized package in one exposure. Radiographs will be compared to sectioned packages that show actual conditions compared to radiographic images

Digital Multi Channel Analyzer Enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonen, E.; Marcus, E.; Wengrowicz, U.; Beck, A.; Nir, J.; Sheinfeld, M.; Broide, A.; Tirosh, D.

2002-01-01

A cement analyzing system based on radiation spectroscopy had been developed [1], using novel digital approach for real-time, high-throughput and low-cost Multi Channel Analyzer. The performance of the developed system had a severe problem: the resulted spectrum suffered from lack of smoothness, it was very noisy and full of spikes and surges, therefore it was impossible to use this spectrum for analyzing the cement substance. This paper describes the work carried out to improve the system performance

Digital chest radiography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Debess, Jeanne Elisabeth; Johnsen, Karen Kirstine; Thomsen, Henrik

on collimation and dose reduction in digital chest radiography Methods and Materials A retrospective study of digital chest radiography is performed to evaluate the primary x-ray tube collimation of the PA and lateral radiographs. Data from one hundred fifty self-reliant female patients between 15 and 55 years...

Development of low-cost high-performance multispectral camera system at Banpil

Science.gov (United States)

Oduor, Patrick; Mizuno, Genki; Olah, Robert; Dutta, Achyut K.

2014-05-01

Banpil Photonics (Banpil) has developed a low-cost high-performance multispectral camera system for Visible to Short- Wave Infrared (VIS-SWIR) imaging for the most demanding high-sensitivity and high-speed military, commercial and industrial applications. The 640x512 pixel InGaAs uncooled camera system is designed to provide a compact, smallform factor to within a cubic inch, high sensitivity needing less than 100 electrons, high dynamic range exceeding 190 dB, high-frame rates greater than 1000 frames per second (FPS) at full resolution, and low power consumption below 1W. This is practically all the feature benefits highly desirable in military imaging applications to expand deployment to every warfighter, while also maintaining a low-cost structure demanded for scaling into commercial markets. This paper describes Banpil's development of the camera system including the features of the image sensor with an innovation integrating advanced digital electronics functionality, which has made the confluence of high-performance capabilities on the same imaging platform practical at low cost. It discusses the strategies employed including innovations of the key components (e.g. focal plane array (FPA) and Read-Out Integrated Circuitry (ROIC)) within our control while maintaining a fabless model, and strategic collaboration with partners to attain additional cost reductions on optics, electronics, and packaging. We highlight the challenges and potential opportunities for further cost reductions to achieve a goal of a sub-$1000 uncooled high-performance camera system. Finally, a brief overview of emerging military, commercial and industrial applications that will benefit from this high performance imaging system and their forecast cost structure is presented.

Performance of waveform digitizers as a compact data acquisition system for the ISMRAN experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitra, A.; Netrakanti, P.K.; Kashyap, V.K.S.; Behera, S.P.; Jha, V.; Mishra, D.K.; Pant, L.M.

2016-01-01

The Indian Scintillator Matrix for Reactor Anti-Neutrino (ISMRAN) detector is proposed at the Dhruva reactor, BARC, to measure the anti-neutrinos (υ-bar ) for the purpose of reactor monitoring and sterile neutrino search. A one ton detector, consisting of 100 plastic scintillator bars (10cm x 10cm x 100cm), wrapped with the Gadolinium (Gd) coated mylar foils and coupled with photomultiplier tubes (PMT) at both ends, is planned for this purpose. One of the key components for such an experiment is the development of a dedicated and economical data acquisition system (DAQ) for the detector setup. The FPGA based waveform digitizers are suitable for this purpose, where data from a large number of detectors need to be read out simultaneously. This effectively reduces the burden of the intermediate conventional pulse processing electronics between the detectors and the DAQ. We have procured the CAEN made 16 channel, model V1730, 14bit, 500 MS/s VME based waveform digitizers for this purpose. A series of measurements have been carried out to evaluate the performance of the digitizers. We are also working on the related auxiliary software and data format to be used extensively for ISMRAN DAQ

Highly sensitive digital optical sensor with large measurement range based on the dual-microring resonator with waveguide-coupled feedback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiang Xing-Ye; Wang Kui-Ru; Yuan Jin-Hui; Jin Bo-Yuan; Sang Xin-Zhu; Yu Chong-Xiu

2014-01-01

We propose a novel high-performance digital optical sensor based on the Mach—Zehnder interferential effect and the dual-microring resonators with the waveguide-coupled feedback. The simulation results show that the sensitivity of the sensor can be orders of magnitude higher than that of a conventional sensor, and high quality factor is not critical in it. Moreover, by optimizing the length of the feedback waveguide to be equal to the perimeter of the ring, the measurement range of the proposed sensor is twice as much as that of the conventional sensor in the weak coupling case

Integrated High Resolution Digital Color Light Sensor in 130 nm CMOS Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Drago Strle

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This article presents a color light detection system integrated in 130 nm CMOS technology. The sensors and corresponding electronics detect light in a CIE XYZ color luminosity space using on-chip integrated sensors without any additional process steps, high-resolution analog-to-digital converter, and dedicated DSP algorithm. The sensor consists of a set of laterally arranged integrated photodiodes that are partly covered by metal, where color separation between the photodiodes is achieved by lateral carrier diffusion together with wavelength-dependent absorption. A high resolution, hybrid, ∑∆ ADC converts each photo diode’s current into a 22-bit digital result, canceling the dark current of the photo diodes. The digital results are further processed by the DSP, which calculates normalized XYZ or RGB color and intensity parameters using linear transformations of the three photo diode responses by multiplication of the data with a transformation matrix, where the coefficients are extracted by training in combination with a pseudo-inverse operation and the least-mean square approximation. The sensor system detects the color light parameters with 22-bit accuracy, consumes less than 60 μA on average at 10 readings per second, and occupies approx. 0.8 mm2 of silicon area (including three photodiodes and the analog part of the ADC. The DSP is currently implemented on FPGA.

Integrated High Resolution Digital Color Light Sensor in 130 nm CMOS Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Strle, Drago; Nahtigal, Uroš; Batistell, Graciele; Zhang, Vincent Chi; Ofner, Erwin; Fant, Andrea; Sturm, Johannes

2015-07-22

This article presents a color light detection system integrated in 130 nm CMOS technology. The sensors and corresponding electronics detect light in a CIE XYZ color luminosity space using on-chip integrated sensors without any additional process steps, high-resolution analog-to-digital converter, and dedicated DSP algorithm. The sensor consists of a set of laterally arranged integrated photodiodes that are partly covered by metal, where color separation between the photodiodes is achieved by lateral carrier diffusion together with wavelength-dependent absorption. A high resolution, hybrid, ∑∆ ADC converts each photo diode's current into a 22-bit digital result, canceling the dark current of the photo diodes. The digital results are further processed by the DSP, which calculates normalized XYZ or RGB color and intensity parameters using linear transformations of the three photo diode responses by multiplication of the data with a transformation matrix, where the coefficients are extracted by training in combination with a pseudo-inverse operation and the least-mean square approximation. The sensor system detects the color light parameters with 22-bit accuracy, consumes less than 60 μA on average at 10 readings per second, and occupies approx. 0.8 mm(2) of silicon area (including three photodiodes and the analog part of the ADC). The DSP is currently implemented on FPGA.

Exploration of a digital audio processing platform using a compositional system level performance estimation framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tranberg-Hansen, Anders Sejer; Madsen, Jan

2009-01-01

This paper presents the application of a compositional simulation based system-level performance estimation framework on a non-trivial industrial case study. The case study is provided by the Danish company Bang & Olufsen ICEpower a/s and focuses on the exploration of a digital mobile audio...... processing platform. A short overview of the compositional performance estimation framework used is given followed by a presentation of how it is used for performance estimation using an iterative refinement process towards the final implementation. Finally, an evaluation in terms of accuracy and speed...

Medical image digital archive: a comparison of storage technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Chunn, Timothy; Hutchings, Matt

1998-07-01

A cost effective, high capacity digital archive system is one of the remaining key factors that will enable a radiology department to eliminate film as an archive medium. The ever increasing amount of digital image data is creating the need for huge archive systems that can reliably store and retrieve millions of images and hold from a few terabytes of data to possibly hundreds of terabytes. Selecting the right archive solution depends on a number of factors: capacity requirements, write and retrieval performance requirements, scaleability in capacity and performance, conformance to open standards, archive availability and reliability, security, cost, achievable benefits and cost savings, investment protection, and more. This paper addresses many of these issues. It compares and positions optical disk and magnetic tape technologies, which are the predominant archive mediums today. New technologies will be discussed, such as DVD and high performance tape. Price and performance comparisons will be made at different archive capacities, plus the effect of file size on random and pre-fetch retrieval time will be analyzed. The concept of automated migration of images from high performance, RAID disk storage devices to high capacity, NearlineR storage devices will be introduced as a viable way to minimize overall storage costs for an archive.

Review of The SIAM 100-Digit Challenge: A Study in High-Accuracy Numerical Computing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailey, David

2005-01-01

In the January 2002 edition of SIAM News, Nick Trefethen announced the '$100, 100-Digit Challenge'. In this note he presented ten easy-to-state but hard-to-solve problems of numerical analysis, and challenged readers to find each answer to ten-digit accuracy. Trefethen closed with the enticing comment: 'Hint: They're hard. If anyone gets 50 digits in total, I will be impressed.' This challenge obviously struck a chord in hundreds of numerical mathematicians worldwide, as 94 teams from 25 nations later submitted entries. Many of these submissions exceeded the target of 50 correct digits; in fact, 20 teams achieved a perfect score of 100 correct digits. Trefethen had offered $100 for the best submission. Given the overwhelming response, a generous donor (William Browning, founder of Applied Mathematics, Inc.) provided additional funds to provide a $100 award to each of the 20 winning teams. Soon after the results were out, four participants, each from a winning team, got together and agreed to write a book about the problems and their solutions. The team is truly international: Bornemann is from Germany, Laurie is from South Africa, Wagon is from the USA, and Waldvogel is from Switzerland. This book provides some mathematical background for each problem, and then shows in detail how each of them can be solved. In fact, multiple solution techniques are mentioned in each case. The book describes how to extend these solutions to much larger problems and much higher numeric precision (hundreds or thousands of digit accuracy). The authors also show how to compute error bounds for the results, so that one can say with confidence that one's results are accurate to the level stated. Numerous numerical software tools are demonstrated in the process, including the commercial products Mathematica, Maple and Matlab. Computer programs that perform many of the algorithms mentioned in the book are provided, both in an appendix to the book and on a website. In the process, the

Digital mammography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bick, Ulrich; Diekmann, Felix

2010-01-01

This state-of-the-art reference book provides in-depth coverage of all aspects of digital mammography, including detector technology, image processing, computer-aided diagnosis, soft-copy reading, digital workflow, and PACS. Specific advantages and disadvantages of digital mammography in comparison to screen-film mammography are thoroughly discussed. By including authors from both North America and Europe, the book is able to outline variations in the use, acceptance, and quality assurance of digital mammography between the different countries and screening programs. Advanced imaging techniques and future developments such as contrast mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis are also covered in detail. All of the chapters are written by internationally recognized experts and contain numerous high-quality illustrations. This book will be of great interest both to clinicians who already use or are transitioning to digital mammography and to basic scientists working in the field. (orig.)

Fast transient digitizer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Villa, F.

1982-01-01

Method and apparatus for sequentially scanning a plurality of target elements with an electron scanning beam modulated in accordance with variations in a high-frequency analog signal to provide discrete analog signal samples representative of successive portions of the analog signal; coupling the discrete analog signal samples from each of the target elements to a different one of a plurality of high speed storage devices; converting the discrete analog signal samples to equivalent digital signals; and storing the digital signals in a digital memory unit for subsequent measurement or display

Digital Signage

OpenAIRE

Fischer, Karl Peter

2011-01-01

Digital Signage for in-store advertising at gas stations/retail stores in Germany: A field study Digital Signage networks provide a novel means of advertising with the advantage of easily changeable and highly customizable animated content. Despite the potential and increasing use of these media empirical research is scarce. In a field study at 8 gas stations (with integrated convenience stores) we studied the effect of digital signage advertising on sales for different products and servi...

Examining Unusual Digit Span Performance in a Population of Postsecondary Students Assessed for Academic Difficulties

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Allyson G.; Rosenblum, Yoni; Currie, Shannon

2010-01-01

Methods of identifying poor test-related motivation using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Digit Span subtest are based on identification of performance patterns that are implausible if the test taker is investing full effort. No studies to date, however, have examined the specificity of such measures, particularly when evaluating persons…

You'll Be Surprised - Digital Business Strategy as Driver of Organizational Innovativeness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wunderlich, Nico; Beck, Roman

2018-01-01

The presence of digital infrastructures fundamentally changes market conditions, business and IT strategy, and consequently organizational structures. This research investigates how the concept of a digital business strategy leads to increased organizational innovativeness and firm performance. We...... significantly higher influenced by the IT knowledge of business employees in organizations giving the digital business strategy high importance, whereas the top management team IT knowledge plays a greater role when digital business strategy is given low priority. By this research, we deliver first results...... of consequences for organizations conducting a digital business strategy and contribute to the discussion on IT-enabled innovation, CIO leadership, and the increasing relevance of organization-wide IT capabilities....

A new kind high-reliability digital reactivity meter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen Feng; Jiang Zongbing

2001-01-01

The paper introduces a new kind of high-reliability Digital Reactivity Meter developed by the DRM developing group in designing department of Nuclear Power Institute of China. The meter has two independent measure channels, which can be set as either master-slave structure or working independently. This structure will ensure that the meter can continually fulfill its online measure task under the condition of single failure with it. It provides a solution for the conflict between nuclear station's extreme demand in DRM's reliability and instability of computer's business software platform. The instrument reaches both advance and reliability by covering a lot of kinds of complex functions in data process and display

Scanning negatives and slides digitizing your photographic archive

CERN Document Server

Steinhoff, Sascha

2009-01-01

Many photographers have either moved into digital photography exclusively or use both analog and digital media in their work. In either case, there is sure to be an archive of slides and negatives that cannot be directly integrated into the new digital workflow, nor can it be archived in a digital format. Increasingly, photographers are trying to bridge this gap with the use of high-performance film scanners. In this 2nd edition, you will learn how to achieve the best possible digital image from a negative or a slide, and how to build a workflow to make this process efficient, repeatable, and reliable. The author uses Nikon's film scanners, but all steps can easily be accomplished while using a different scanner. The most common software tools for scanning (SilverFast, VueScan, NikonScan) are not only covered extensively in the book, but trial versions are also provided on a DVD, which also contains other useful tools for image editing, as well as numerous sample scans.

High-frame-rate digital radiographic videography

Science.gov (United States)

King, Nicholas S. P.; Cverna, Frank H.; Albright, Kevin L.; Jaramillo, Steven A.; Yates, George J.; McDonald, Thomas E.; Flynn, Michael J.; Tashman, Scott

1994-10-01

High speed x-ray imaging can be an important tool for observing internal processes in a wide range of applications. In this paper we describe preliminary implementation of a system having the eventual goal of observing the internal dynamics of bone and joint reactions during loading. Two Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) gated and image intensified camera systems were used to record images from an x-ray image convertor tube to demonstrate the potential of high frame-rate digital radiographic videography in the analysis of bone and joint dynamics of the human body. Preliminary experiments were done at LANL to test the systems. Initial high frame-rate imaging (from 500 to 1000 frames/s) of a swinging pendulum mounted to the face of an X-ray image convertor tube demonstrated high contrast response and baseline sensitivity. The systems were then evaluated at the Motion Analysis Laboratory of Henry Ford Health Systems Bone and Joint Center. Imaging of a 9 inch acrylic disk with embedded lead markers rotating at approximately 1000 RPM, demonstrated the system response to a high velocity/high contrast target. By gating the P-20 phosphor image from the X-ray image convertor with a second image intensifier (II) and using a 100 microsecond wide optical gate through the second II, enough prompt light decay from the x-ray image convertor phosphor had taken place to achieve reduction of most of the motion blurring. Measurement of the marker velocity was made by using video frames acquired at 500 frames/s. The data obtained from both experiments successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the technique. Several key areas for improvement are discussed along with salient test results and experiment details.

A high-resolution, multi-stop, time-to-digital converter for nuclear time-of-flight measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, D.F.; Cole, J.; Drigert, M.; Aryaeinejad, R.

2006-01-01

A high-resolution, multi-stop, time-to-digital converter (TDC) was designed and developed to precisely measure the times-of-flight (TOF) of incident neutrons responsible for induced fission and capture reactions on actinide targets. The minimum time resolution is ±1 ns. The TDC design was implemented into a single, dual-wide CAMAC module. The CAMAC bus is used for command and control as well as an alternative data output. A high-speed ECL interface, compatible with LeCroy FERA modules, was also provided for the principle data output path. An Actel high-speed field programmable gate array (FPGA) chip was incorporated with an external oscillator and an internal multiple clock phasing system. This device implemented the majority of the high-speed register functions, the state machine for the FERA interface, and the high-speed counting circuit used for the TDC conversion. An external microcontroller was used to monitor and control system-level changes. In this work we discuss the performance of this TDC module as well as its application

Customizable Digital Receivers for Radar

Science.gov (United States)

Moller, Delwyn; Heavey, Brandon; Sadowy, Gregory

2008-01-01

Compact, highly customizable digital receivers are being developed for the system described in 'Radar Interferometer for Topographic Mapping of Glaciers and Ice Sheets' (NPO-43962), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 31, No. 7 (August 2007), page 72. The receivers are required to operate in unison, sampling radar returns received by the antenna elements in a digital beam-forming (DBF) mode. The design of these receivers could also be adapted to commercial radar systems. At the time of reporting the information for this article, there were no commercially available digital receivers capable of satisfying all of the operational requirements and compact enough to be mounted directly on the antenna elements. A provided figure depicts the overall system of which the digital receivers are parts. Each digital receiver includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a demultiplexer (DMUX), and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The ADC effects 10-bit band-pass sampling of input signals having frequencies up to 3.5 GHz. The input samples are demultiplexed at a user-selectable rate of 1:2 or 1:4, then buffered in part of the FPGA that functions as a first-in/first-out (FIFO) memory. Another part of the FPGA serves as a controller for the ADC, DMUX, and FIFO memory and as an interface between (1) the rest of the receiver and (2) a front-panel data port (FPDP) bus, which is an industry-standard parallel data bus that has a high data-rate capability and multichannel configuration suitable for DBF. Still other parts of the FPGA in each receiver perform signal-processing functions. The digital receivers can be configured to operate in a stand-alone mode, or in a multichannel mode as needed for DBF. The customizability of the receiver makes it applicable to a broad range of system architectures. The capability for operation of receivers in either a stand-alone or a DBF mode enables the use of the receivers in an unprecedentedly wide variety of radar systems.

Mathematics Achievement with Digital Game-Based Learning in High School Algebra 1 Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Ferguson, Terri Lynn Kurley

2014-01-01

This study examined the impact of digital game-based learning (DGBL) on mathematics achievement in a rural high school setting in North Carolina. A causal comparative research design was used in this study to collect data to determine the effectiveness of DGBL in high school Algebra 1 classes. Data were collected from the North Carolina…

MiniDSS: a low-power and high-precision miniaturized digital sun sensor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boer, B.M. de; Durkut, M.; Laan, E.; Hakkesteegt, H.; Theuwissen, A.; Xie, N.; Leijtens, J.L.; Urquijo, E.; Bruins, P.

2012-01-01

A high-precision and low-power miniaturized digital sun sensor has been developed at TNO. The single-chip sun sensor comprises an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) on which an active pixel sensor (APS), read-out and processing circuitry as well as communication circuitry are combined.

Experimental demonstration of a real-time high-throughput digital DC blocker for compensating ADC imperfections in optical fast-OFDM receivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lu; Ouyang, Xing; Shao, Xiaopeng; Zhao, Jian

2016-06-27

Performance degradation induced by the DC components at the output of real-time analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) is experimentally investigated for optical fast-OFDM receiver. To compensate this degradation, register transfer level (RTL) circuits for real-time digital DC blocker with 20GS/s throughput are proposed and implemented in field programmable gate array (FPGA). The performance of the proposed real-time digital DC blocker is experimentally investigated in a 15Gb/s optical fast-OFDM system with intensity modulation and direct detection over 40 km standard single-mode fibre. The results show that the fixed-point DC blocker has negligible performance penalty compared to the offline floating point one, and can overcome the error floor of the fast OFDM receiver caused by the DC components from the real-time ADC output.

High prevalence of self-reported symptoms of digital ischemia in elite male volleyball players in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

van de Pol, Daan; Kuijer, P Paul F M; Langenhorst, Ton; Maas, Mario

2012-10-01

In the past 3 years, 6 volleyball players with ischemic digits and small microemboli in the digital arteries of the dominant hand presented themselves in our hospital. These complaints were caused by an aneurysmatic dilation of the posterior circumflex humeral artery (PCHA) with distal occlusion and digital emboli in the isolateral limb. All were elite male volleyball players active in the national top league. Little is known about the exact symptoms associated with PCHA pathological lesions with digital emboli (PCHAP with DE) and its prevalence in elite volleyball players. If vascular injury can be identified at an early stage, thromboembolic complications and irreversible damage to the digits might be prevented. To assess the prevalence of symptoms that are consistent with digital ischemia and may be caused by PCHAP with DE in elite male volleyball players in the Netherlands. Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. A questionnaire survey was performed among elite volleyball players in the Dutch national top league and the Dutch beach volleyball team. The questionnaire was constructed using literature-based data on symptoms associated with PCHAP with DE, together with data retrieved from medical files. A total of 99 of the 107 athletes participated, with a response rate of 93%. The most frequently reported symptoms associated with PCHAP with DE were cold, blue, or pale digits in the dominant hand during or immediately after practice or competition. The prevalence of these symptoms ranged from 11% to 27%. The prevalence of cold digits during practice and competition was 27%. The prevalence of cold, blue, and pale digits during or immediately after practice and competition was 12%. An unexpectedly high percentage of elite volleyball players reported symptoms that are associated with PCHAP with DE in the dominant hand. Because these athletes are considered potentially at risk for developing critical digital ischemia, further analysis of the presence of digital

Digital simulation of a commercial scale high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) steam power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ray, A.; Bowman, H.F.

1978-01-01

A nonlinear dynamic model of a commercial scale high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) steam power plant was derived in state-space form from fundamental principles. The plant model is 40th order, time-invariant, deterministic and continuous-time. Numerical results were obtained by digital simulation. Steady-state performance of the nonlinear model was verified with plant heat balance data at 100, 75 and 50 percent load levels. Local stability, controllability and observability were examined in this range using standard linear algorithms. Transfer function matrices for the linearized models were also obtained. Transient response characteristics of 6 system variables for independent step distrubances in 2 different input variables are presented as typical results

CEA SMAD 2016 Digitizer Evaluation.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merchant, Bion J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-08-01

Sandia National Laboratories has tested and evaluated an updated SMAD digitizer, developed by the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). The SMAD digitizers are intended to record sensor output for seismic and infrasound monitoring applications. The purpose of this digitizer evaluation is to measure the performance characteristics in such areas as power consumption, input impedance, sensitivity, full scale, self-noise, dynamic range, system noise, response, passband, and timing. The SMAD digitizers have been updated since their last evaluation by Sandia to improve their performance when recording at a sample rate of 20 Hz for infrasound applications and 100 Hz for hydro-acoustic seismic stations. This evaluation focuses primarily on the 20 Hz and 100 Hz sample rates. The SMAD digitizers are being evaluated for potential use in the International Monitoring System (IMS) of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test- Ban-Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

Recent Advances in Digital Coincidence Counting for Radionuclide Metrology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keightley, John; Bobin, Christophe; Bouchard, Jacques; Capogni, Marco; Loreti, Stefano; Roteta, Miguel

2013-06-01

The radioactivity measurement techniques developed within the EURAMET EMRP 'MetroFission' Joint Research Project, were aimed at performing on-site activity measurements at the primary standard level (4πβ-γ coincidence counting) for a wide range of radionuclides utilizing recent advances in high-speed digital sampling and digital signal processing. The state-of-the-art technology employed within this project provides up to 14-bit digitizer systems operating with sampling rates in the order of 10 8 to 10 9 samples-per-second, incorporating on-board FPGA devices, which greatly enhances the application of digital signal processing for the implementation of digital coincidence counting. These devices when coupled to suitable analysis software, demonstrate a significant improvement in the provision of primary standards of radioactivity. This manuscript provides a description of the systems employed, along with recommendations regarding optimization of the digital sampling of signals from photo-multiplier tubes and pre-amplifiers and compare the benefits of 'off-line' versus 'on-line' 4πβ-γ digital coincidence counting systems. (authors)

An automated, open-source pipeline for mass production of digital elevation models (DEMs) from very-high-resolution commercial stereo satellite imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Shean, David E.; Alexandrov, Oleg; Moratto, Zachary M.; Smith, Benjamin E.; Joughin, Ian R.; Porter, Claire; Morin, Paul

2016-06-01

We adapted the automated, open source NASA Ames Stereo Pipeline (ASP) to generate digital elevation models (DEMs) and orthoimages from very-high-resolution (VHR) commercial imagery of the Earth. These modifications include support for rigorous and rational polynomial coefficient (RPC) sensor models, sensor geometry correction, bundle adjustment, point cloud co-registration, and significant improvements to the ASP code base. We outline a processing workflow for ˜0.5 m ground sample distance (GSD) DigitalGlobe WorldView-1 and WorldView-2 along-track stereo image data, with an overview of ASP capabilities, an evaluation of ASP correlator options, benchmark test results, and two case studies of DEM accuracy. Output DEM products are posted at ˜2 m with direct geolocation accuracy of process individual stereo pairs on a local workstation, the methods presented here were developed for large-scale batch processing in a high-performance computing environment. We are leveraging these resources to produce dense time series and regional mosaics for the Earth's polar regions.

Digital mapping in extreme and remote environments

Science.gov (United States)

Andersson, Joel; Bauer, Tobias; Sarlus, Zimer; Zainy, Maher; Brethes, Anais

2017-04-01

During the last few years, Luleå University of Technology has performed a series of research projects in remote areas with extreme climatic conditions using digital mapping technologies. The majority of past and ongoing research projects focus on the arctic regions of the Fennoscandian Shield and Greenland but also on the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt in northern Iraq. Currently, we use the Midland Valley application FieldMove on iPad mini devices with ruggedized casings. As all projects have a strong focus on geological field work, harsh climatic conditions are a challenge not only for the geologists but also for the digital mapping hardware. In the arctic regions especially cold temperatures affect battery lifetime and performance of the screens. But also high temperatures are restricting digital mapping. From experience, a typical temperature range where digital mapping, using iPad tablets, is possible lies between -20 and +40 degrees. Furthermore, the remote character of field areas complicates access but also availability of electricity. By a combination of robust solar chargers and ruggedized batteries we are able to work entirely autarkical. Additionally, we are currently installing a drone system that allows us to map outcrops normally inaccessible because of safety reasons or time deficiency. The produced data will subsequently be taken into our Virtual Reality studio for interpretation and processing. There we will be able to work also with high resolution DEM data from Lidar scanning allowing us to interpret structural features such as post-glacial faults in areas that are otherwise only accessible by helicopter. By combining digital field mapping with drone technique and a Virtual Reality studio we are able to work in hardly accessible areas, improve safety during field work and increase efficiency substantially.

Performance analysis of the closed digital control circuit of reactor A-1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karpeta, C.; Volf, K.; Stirsky, P.; Roubal, S.; Muellerova, H.

A computer-aided analysis is presented of the optimum digital control of the A-1 nuclear power plant reactor. The effect of index weighting matrices on the quality of control processes was studied for a deterministic case using the Separation Theorem for a linear time-discrete regulator problem with a quadratic performance index. Some properties were also investigated of the Kalman filter serving the process state estimation. An analysis is reported for a stochastic case, this for both time-invariant and time-variant Kalman filter gain matrix. (author)

FPGA based high-performance multi-channel analyzer with local histogram memory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkarni, C.P.; Vaidya, P.P.; Paulson, M.

2004-01-01

Modern nuclear spectroscopy systems demand for a Multi-Channel Analyzer (MCA) with higher resolution, faster speed and other advanced features. The MCA described here is targeted for such demanding applications. The MCA has an in-built local histogram memory and a memory management unit integrated in an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) chip. In addition to the integrated low power digital circuitry, the system utilizes state of the art advanced analog circuits like low power, high speed and high precision comparators, op-amps, ADC and DAC. The operating resolution is selectable from 256 channels to 16384 channels for pulse height analysis. It supports high count rate applications (typically 100 KHz) without significant dead time penalty. It can have an USB bus interface with simple changes. In general, the MCA gives a high performance, compact and low power alternative for portable and battery operated systems as well as for high end laboratory instruments. (author)

Detection of rib fractures in an abused infant using digital radiography: a laboratory study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleinman, Paul K.; O'Connor, Brian; Nimkin, Katherine; Rayder, Shawn M.; Spevak, Melissa R.; Belanger, Patricia L.; Getty, David J.; Karellas, Andrew

2002-01-01

To assess the diagnostic performance of digital radiography using charge-coupled device (CCD) technology in the detection of rib fracture in infant abuse.Materials and methods. Four fractured posterior rib arcs and eight normal ribs removed at autopsy from a 10-month-old abused infant were radiographed using a CCD prototype, four clinical film-screen systems, and direct-exposure film. Each rib was viewed with these six systems in nine different projections. The resultant 648 images were assessed for probability of fracture (0-100%) by four pediatric radiologists. The calculated area under the resultant ROC curves (A z ) for the CCD was compared with those obtained with direct-exposure, high-detail, medium and fast film-screen radiographic systems. The mean A z for the CCD (0.937) fell within the range of the high-detail systems (0.934-0.940) and was significantly higher (p 20 line pairs per millimeter) the CCD performance was comparable (A z =0.944 vs. 0.937). The similar performance can be explained by the higher contrast resolution of the digital technology. This study indicates that in the ex vivo setting, digital radiology can perform comparably to high-detail film-screen imaging. The findings suggest that digital radiography has the potential to replace film-screen imaging in the evaluation of inflicted skeletal injury in infants. (orig.)

CMOS cassette for digital upgrade of film-based mammography systems

Science.gov (United States)

Baysal, Mehmet A.; Toker, Emre

2006-03-01

While full-field digital mammography (FFDM) technology is gaining clinical acceptance, the overwhelming majority (96%) of the installed base of mammography systems are conventional film-screen (FSM) systems. A high performance, and economical digital cassette based product to conveniently upgrade FSM systems to FFDM would accelerate the adoption of FFDM, and make the clinical and technical advantages of FFDM available to a larger population of women. The planned FFDM cassette is based on our commercial Digital Radiography (DR) cassette for 10 cm x 10 cm field-of-view spot imaging and specimen radiography, utilizing a 150 micron columnar CsI(Tl) scintillator and 48 micron active-pixel CMOS sensor modules. Unlike a Computer Radiography (CR) cassette, which requires an external digitizer, our DR cassette transfers acquired images to a display workstation within approximately 5 seconds of exposure, greatly enhancing patient flow. We will present the physical performance of our prototype system against other FFDM systems in clinical use today, using established objective criteria such as the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), Detective Quantum Efficiency (DQE), and subjective criteria, such as a contrast-detail (CD-MAM) observer performance study. Driven by the strong demand from the computer industry, CMOS technology is one of the lowest cost, and the most readily accessible technologies available for FFDM today. Recent popular use of CMOS imagers in high-end consumer cameras have also resulted in significant advances in the imaging performance of CMOS sensors against rivaling CCD sensors. This study promises to take advantage of these unique features to develop the first CMOS based FFDM upgrade cassette.

Digital image analysis of NDT radiographs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graeme, W.A. Jr.; Eizember, A.C.; Douglass, J.

1989-01-01

Prior to the introduction of Charge Coupled Device (CCD) detectors the majority of image analysis performed on NDT radiographic images was done visually in the analog domain. While some film digitization was being performed, the process was often unable to capture all the usable information on the radiograph or was too time consuming. CCD technology now provides a method to digitize radiographic film images without losing the useful information captured in the original radiograph in a timely process. Incorporating that technology into a complete digital radiographic workstation allows analog radiographic information to be processed, providing additional information to the radiographer. Once in the digital domain, that data can be stored, and fused with radioscopic and other forms of digital data. The result is more productive analysis and management of radiographic inspection data. The principal function of the NDT Scan IV digital radiography system is the digitization, enhancement and storage of radiographic images

Analog-to-digital conversion

CERN Document Server

Pelgrom, Marcel J M

2010-01-01

The design of an analog-to-digital converter or digital-to-analog converter is one of the most fascinating tasks in micro-electronics. In a converter the analog world with all its intricacies meets the realm of the formal digital abstraction. Both disciplines must be understood for an optimum conversion solution. In a converter also system challenges meet technology opportunities. Modern systems rely on analog-to-digital converters as an essential part of the complex chain to access the physical world. And processors need the ultimate performance of digital-to-analog converters to present the results of their complex algorithms. The same progress in CMOS technology that enables these VLSI digital systems creates new challenges for analog-to-digital converters: lower signal swings, less power and variability issues. Last but not least, the analog-to-digital converter must follow the cost reduction trend. These changing boundary conditions require micro-electronics engineers to consider their design choices for...

Digital Image Quantitative Evaluations for Low Cost Film Digitizers Height Determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khairul Anuar Mohd Salleh; Arshad Yassin; Ahmad Nasir Yusof; Noorhazleena Azaman

2016-01-01

Non Destructive Testing (NDT) technology contributes significant improvement to the quality of industrial products, and the integrity of equipment and plants. Introduction of powerful computers and reliable imaging technology has had significant impact on the traditional nuclear based NDT technology. Demand for faster, reliable, low cost, and flexible technology is rapidly increased. With the growing demand for more efficient digital archiving, digital image analysis, and reporting results with a low cost technology, one cannot deny the importance of having another cheaper solution. This project will apply fundamental principle of image digitization to be used in building up a low cost film digitization solution. The height of the film digitization was carefully determined by examining each digital images produced. Three (3) repetitive quantitative evaluations (Modulation Transfer Function [MTF], Characteristic Transfer Curve [CTC], and Contrast to Noise Ratio [CNR]) were performed at different condition to assist with the determination of the low cost film digitizers height. All 3 evaluations were successfully applied and the most appropriate height was successfully determined. (author)

Recurso didático digital: complexidade da performance docente na produção (hipertextual

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Sales Jacques

2015-12-01

O recurso didático digital, no âmbito do ensino-aprendizagem mediado por tecnologias em rede, constitui-se como mediador não humano que estabelece a relação entre o professor, o estudante e o saber a ser ensinado. A complexidade da performance docente no processo de transposição didática é elemento catalisador da complexidade da produção (hipertextual mediada por tecnologias em rede. Neste artigo, a partir de revisão de literatura, argumentamos sobre a produção de recurso didático digital à luz da concepção interacionista da linguagem. Nesse viés, dado que a linguagem é dotada de intencionalidade, o propósito de um recurso didático digital é, como ação inerente ao processo ensino-aprendizagem, transformar através da palavra escrita (linguagem verbal atrelada a todas as formas (sonora, visual, audiovisual, etc. que perpassam o universo da linguagem. Inferimos, como considerações finais, que a transformação pressupõe, na produção do texto digital (recurso didático, inovação no design pedagógico. E, diante disso, defendemos como inovação, além da integração hipermidiática, a produção aberta em rede através da autoria e coautoria. Tudo isso para que, dentro de uma vertente linguística interacionista, as diferentes formas de leitura potencializem além da produção, a negociação de sentidos do (hipertexto como recurso didático digital.

Do pre-trained deep learning models improve computer-aided classification of digital mammograms?

Science.gov (United States)

Aboutalib, Sarah S.; Mohamed, Aly A.; Zuley, Margarita L.; Berg, Wendie A.; Luo, Yahong; Wu, Shandong

2018-02-01

Digital mammography screening is an important exam for the early detection of breast cancer and reduction in mortality. False positives leading to high recall rates, however, results in unnecessary negative consequences to patients and health care systems. In order to better aid radiologists, computer-aided tools can be utilized to improve distinction between image classifications and thus potentially reduce false recalls. The emergence of deep learning has shown promising results in the area of biomedical imaging data analysis. This study aimed to investigate deep learning and transfer learning methods that can improve digital mammography classification performance. In particular, we evaluated the effect of pre-training deep learning models with other imaging datasets in order to boost classification performance on a digital mammography dataset. Two types of datasets were used for pre-training: (1) a digitized film mammography dataset, and (2) a very large non-medical imaging dataset. By using either of these datasets to pre-train the network initially, and then fine-tuning with the digital mammography dataset, we found an increase in overall classification performance in comparison to a model without pre-training, with the very large non-medical dataset performing the best in improving the classification accuracy.

Adaptive suppression of passive intermodulation in digital satellite transceivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu TIAN

2017-06-01

Full Text Available For the performance issues of satellite transceivers suffering passive intermodulation interference, a novel and effective digital suppression algorithm is presented in this paper. In contrast to analog approaches, digital passive intermodulation (PIM suppression approaches can be easily reconfigured and therefore are highly attractive for future satellite communication systems. A simplified model of nonlinear distortion from passive microwave devices is established in consideration of the memory effect. The multiple high-order PIM products falling into the receiving band can be described as a bilinear predictor function. A suppression algorithm based on a bilinear polynomial decorrelated adaptive filter is proposed for baseband digital signal processing. In consideration of the time-varying characteristics of passive intermodulation, this algorithm can achieve the rapidness of online interference estimation and low complexity with less consumption of resources. Numerical simulation results show that the algorithm can effectively compensate the passive intermodulation interference, and achieve a high signal-to-interference ratio gain.

Digital Cellular Solid Pressure Vessels: A Novel Approach for Human Habitation in Space

Science.gov (United States)

Cellucci, Daniel; Jenett, Benjamin; Cheung, Kenneth C.

2017-01-01

It is widely assumed that human exploration beyond Earth's orbit will require vehicles capable of providing long duration habitats that simulate an Earth-like environment - consistent artificial gravity, breathable atmosphere, and sufficient living space- while requiring the minimum possible launch mass. This paper examines how the qualities of digital cellular solids - high-performance, repairability, reconfigurability, tunable mechanical response - allow the accomplishment of long-duration habitat objectives at a fraction of the mass required for traditional structural technologies. To illustrate the impact digital cellular solids could make as a replacement to conventional habitat subsystems, we compare recent proposed deep space habitat structural systems with a digital cellular solids pressure vessel design that consists of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) digital cellular solid cylindrical framework that is lined with an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) skin. We use the analytical treatment of a linear specific modulus scaling cellular solid to find the minimum mass pressure vessel for a structure and find that, for equivalent habitable volume and appropriate safety factors, the use of digital cellular solids provides clear methods for producing structures that are not only repairable and reconfigurable, but also higher performance than their conventionally manufactured counterparts.

In search of design principles for developing digital learning & performance support for a student design task

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bollen, Lars; Van der Meij, Hans; Leemkuil, Henny; McKenney, Susan

2016-01-01

A digital learning and performance support environment for university student design tasks was developed. This paper describes on the design rationale, process, and the usage results to arrive at a core set of design principles for the construction of such an environment. We present a collection of

In search of design principles for developing digital learning & performance support for a student design task

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bollen, Lars; van der Meij, Hans; Leemkuil, Hendrik H.; McKenney, Susan

2015-01-01

A digital learning and performance support environment for university student design tasks was developed. This paper describes on the design rationale, process, and the usage results to arrive at a core set of design principles for the construction of such an environment. We present a collection of

Analogue to Digital and Digital to Analogue Converters (ADCs and DACs): A Review Update

CERN Document Server

Pickering, J.

2015-06-15

This is a review paper updated from that presented for CAS 2004. Essentially, since then, commercial components have continued to extend their performance boundaries but the basic building blocks and the techniques for choosing the best device and implementing it in a design have not changed. Analogue to digital and digital to analogue converters are crucial components in the continued drive to replace analogue circuitry with more controllable and less costly digital processing. This paper discusses the technologies available to perform in the likely measurement and control applications that arise within accelerators. It covers much of the terminology and 'specmanship' together with an application-oriented analysis of the realisable performance of the various types. Finally, some hints and warnings on system integration problems are given.

Performance simulation in high altitude platforms (HAPs) communications systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ulloa-Vásquez, Fernando; Delgado-Penin, J. A.

2002-07-01

This paper considers the analysis by simulation of a digital narrowband communication system for an scenario which consists of a High-Altitude aeronautical Platform (HAP) and fixed/mobile terrestrial transceivers. The aeronautical channel is modelled considering geometrical (angle of elevation vs. horizontal distance of the terrestrial reflectors) and statistical arguments and under these circumstances a serial concatenated coded digital transmission is analysed for several hypothesis related to radio-electric coverage areas. The results indicate a good feasibility for the communication system proposed and analysed.

Case base classification on digital mammograms: improving the performance of case base classifier

Science.gov (United States)

Raman, Valliappan; Then, H. H.; Sumari, Putra; Venkatesa Mohan, N.

2011-10-01

Breast cancer continues to be a significant public health problem in the world. Early detection is the key for improving breast cancer prognosis. The aim of the research presented here is in twofold. First stage of research involves machine learning techniques, which segments and extracts features from the mass of digital mammograms. Second level is on problem solving approach which includes classification of mass by performance based case base classifier. In this paper we build a case-based Classifier in order to diagnose mammographic images. We explain different methods and behaviors that have been added to the classifier to improve the performance of the classifier. Currently the initial Performance base Classifier with Bagging is proposed in the paper and it's been implemented and it shows an improvement in specificity and sensitivity.

Fine Metal Mask 3-Dimensional Measurement by using Scanning Digital Holographic Microscope

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Sanghoon; Yu, Younghun

2018-04-01

For three-dimensional microscopy, fast and high axial resolution are very important. Extending the depth of field for digital holographic is necessary for three-dimensional measurements of thick samples. We propose an optical sectioning method for optical scanning digital holography that is performed in the frequency domain by spatial filtering of a reconstructed amplitude image. We established a scanning dual-wavelength off-axis digital holographic microscope to measure samples that exhibit a large amount of coherent noise and a thickness larger than the depth of focus of the objective lens. As a demonstration, we performed a three-dimensional measurement of a fine metal mask with a reconstructed sectional phase image and filtering with a reconstructed amplitude image.

Effects of optimization and image processing in digital chest radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kheddache, S.; Maansson, L.G.; Angelhed, J.E.; Denbratt, L.; Gottfridsson, B.; Schlossman, D.

1991-01-01

A digital system for chest radiography based on a large image intensifier was compared to a conventional film-screen system. The digital system was optimized with regard to spatial and contrast resolution and dose. The images were digitally processed for contrast and edge enhancement. A simulated pneumothorax and two and two simulated nodules were positioned over the lungs and the mediastinum of an anthro-pomorphic phantom. Observer performance was evaluated with Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Five observers assessed the processed digital images and the conventional full-size radiographs. The time spent viewing the full-size radiographs and the digital images was recorded. For the simulated pneumothorax, the results showed perfect performance for the full-size radiographs and detectability was high also for the processed digital images. No significant differences in the detectability of the simulated nodules was seen between the two imaging systems. The results for the digital images showed a significantly improved detectability for the nodules in the mediastinum as compared to a previous ROC study where no optimization and image processing was available. No significant difference in detectability was seen between the former and the present ROC study for small nodules in the lung. No difference was seen in the time spent assessing the conventional full-size radiographs and the digital images. The study indicates that processed digital images produced by a large image intensifier are equal in image quality to conventional full-size radiographs for low-contrast objects such as nodules. (author). 38 refs.; 4 figs.; 1 tab

High-frequency, three-phase current controller implementation in an FPGA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hartmann, M.; Round, S. D.; Kolar, J. W.

2008-07-01

Three phase rectifiers with switching frequencies of 500 kHz or more require high speed current controllers. At such high switching frequencies analog controllers as well as high speed digital signal processing (DSP) systems have limited performance. In this paper, two high speed current controller implementations using two different field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) - one for switching frequencies up to 1 MHz and one for switching frequencies beyond 1 MHz - are presented to overcome this performance limitation. Starting with the digital system design all the blocks of the signal chain, containing analog-to-digital (A/D) interface, digital controller implementation using HW-multipliers and implementation of a novel high speed, high resolution pulse width modulation (PWM) are discussed and compared. Final measurements verify the performance of the controllers. (author)

HIGH RESOLUTION ANALOG / DIGITAL POWER SUPPLY CONTROLLER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medvedko, Evgeny A

2003-01-01

Corrector magnets for the SPEAR-3 synchrotron radiation source require precision, high-speed control for use with beam-based orbit feedback. A new Controller Analog/Digital Interface card (CANDI) has been developed for these purposes. The CANDI has a 24-bit DAC for current control and three 24-bit Δ-Σ ADCs to monitor current and voltages. The ADCs can be read and the DAC updated at the 4 kHz rate needed for feedback control. A precision 16-bit DAC provides on-board calibration. Programmable multiplexers control internal signal routing for calibration, testing, and measurement. Feedback can be closed internally on current setpoint, externally on supply current, or beam position. Prototype and production tests are reported in this paper. Noise is better than 17 effective bits in a 10 mHz to 2 kHz bandwidth. Linearity and temperature stability are excellent

Development of prototype digital LLRF system at RRCAT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tiwari, Nitesh; Bagduwal, Pritam S.; Sharma, Dheeraj; Chakraborty, Shoubhik; Lad, Mahendra; Hannurkar, P.R.

2013-01-01

RF field is used in accelerator to accelerate the charge particles. The beam parameters depend highly on the stability of the RF field. Due to dynamic beam loading conditions the variations in RF parameters of accelerating structures needs to be controlled precisely, hence low level RF feedback control system plays vital role. Considering revolutionary development in the field of digital electronics and inherent advantages of digital systems, digital LLRF control system work was taken up. The digital LLRF system consists of two major units namely RF processing and digital processing. RF processing unit uses I/Q modulator for amplitude and phase control. This unit provides synchronized clock using ÷16 pre-scalar and also performs up conversion and down conversion for synchronized LO and IF generation respectively, along with required amplification and filtering. Digital processing unit takes down converted IF signal with appropriate sampling rate for I/Q detection. To extract the amplitude and phase information I/Q data is digitally filtered and processed using CORDIC algorithm in FPGA. I/Q modulator is used for controlling the amplitude and phase of RF field. Prototype development of digital LLRF control system for 325 MHz, 650 MHz is in progress. Digital LLRF system at 505 MHz has been installed in one RF station of Indus-2 RF system. In this paper development of prototype Digital LLRF system at RFSD, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology and results are presented. (author)

Generation and performance assessment of the global TanDEM-X digital elevation model

Science.gov (United States)

Rizzoli, Paola; Martone, Michele; Gonzalez, Carolina; Wecklich, Christopher; Borla Tridon, Daniela; Bräutigam, Benjamin; Bachmann, Markus; Schulze, Daniel; Fritz, Thomas; Huber, Martin; Wessel, Birgit; Krieger, Gerhard; Zink, Manfred; Moreira, Alberto

2017-10-01

The primary objective of the TanDEM-X mission is the generation of a global, consistent, and high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) with unprecedented global accuracy. The goal is achieved by exploiting the interferometric capabilities of the two twin SAR satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X, which fly in a close orbit formation, acting as an X-band single-pass interferometer. Between December 2010 and early 2015 all land surfaces have been acquired at least twice, difficult terrain up to seven or eight times. The acquisition strategy, data processing, and DEM calibration and mosaicking have been systematically monitored and optimized throughout the entire mission duration, in order to fulfill the specification. The processing of all data has finally been completed in September 2016 and this paper reports on the final performance of the TanDEM-X global DEM and presents the acquisition and processing strategy which allowed to obtain the final DEM quality. The results confirm the outstanding global accuracy of the delivered product, which can be now utilized for both scientific and commercial applications.

Evaluation of the technical performance of three different commercial digital breast tomosynthesis systems in the clinical environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodriguez Ruiz, A.; Castillo, M.; Garayoa, J.; Chevalier, M.

2016-01-01

The aim of this work was to research and evaluate the performance of three different digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) systems in the clinical environment (Siemens Mammomat Inspiration, Hologic Selenia Dimensions, and Fujifilm Amulet Innovality). The characterization included the study of the

Development of a digital trigger system to identify recoil protons at COMPASS-II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buechele, Maximilian; Fischer, Horst; Gorzellik, Matthias; Grussenmeyer, Tobias; Herrmann, Florian; Joerg, Philipp; Koenigsmann, Kay; Kremser, Paul; Schopferer, Sebastian [Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg (Germany)

2014-07-01

The GANDALF framework has been developed to deliver a high precision, high performance detector readout and trigger system for particle physics experiments such as the COMPASS-II experiment at CERN. Combining the high performance pulse digitization and feature extraction capabilities of twelve GANDALF modules, each comprising a Virtex-5 SX95T, with the strong computation power of a Virtex-6 SX315T FGPA operated on the TIGER module, we present a digital trigger system for a recoil proton detector. The trigger system was setup and commissioned successfully during a data taking period in 2012. It was mainly used for the calibration of the recoil proton detector and in tagging mode to identify proton tracks online.

The ATLAS project: The effects of a constructionist digital laboratory project on undergraduate laboratory performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Shoepe, Todd C; Cavedon, Dana K; Derian, Joseph M; Levy, Celine S; Morales, Amy

2015-01-01

Anatomical education is a dynamic field where developments in the implementation of constructive, situated-learning show promise in improving student achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an individualized, technology heavy project in promoting student performance in a combined anatomy and physiology laboratory course. Mixed-methods research was used to compare two cohorts of anatomy laboratories separated by the adoption of a new laboratory atlas project, which were defined as preceding (PRE) and following the adoption of the Anatomical Teaching and Learning Assessment Study (ATLAS; POST). The ATLAS project required the creation of a student-generated, photographic atlas via acquisition of specimen images taken with tablet technology and digital microscope cameras throughout the semester. Images were transferred to laptops, digitally labeled and photo edited weekly, and compiled into a digital book using Internet publishing freeware for final project submission. An analysis of covariance confirmed that student final examination scores were improved (P project (PRE, n = 75; POST, n = 90; means ± SE; 74.9 ± 0.9 versus 78.1 ± 0.8, respectively) after controlling for cumulative student grade point average. Analysis of questionnaires collected (n = 68) from the post group suggested students identified with atlas objectives, appreciated the comprehensive value in final examination preparation, and the constructionism involved, but recommended alterations in assignment logistics and the format of the final version. Constructionist, comprehensive term-projects utilizing student-preferred technologies could be used to improve performance toward student learning outcomes. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.

Miniaturized digital fluxgate magnetometer for small spacecraft applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forslund, Åke; Ivchenko, Nickolay; Olsson, Göran; Edberg, Terry; Belyayev, Serhiy; Marusenkov, Andriy

2008-01-01

A novel design of an Earth field digital fluxgate magnetometer is presented, the small magnetometer in low-mass experiment (SMILE). The combination of a number of new techniques results in significant miniaturization of both sensor and electronics. The design uses a sensor with volume compensation, combining three dual rod cores in a Macor® cube with the side dimension of 20 mm. Use of volume compensation provides high geometrical stability of the axes and improved performance compared to component compensated sensors. The sensor is operated at an excitation frequency of 8 kHz. Most of the instrument functionality is combined in a digital signal processing core, implemented in a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The pick-up signal is digitized after amplification and filtering, and values of compensation currents for each of the axes are determined by a digital correlation algorithm, equivalent to a matched filter, and are fed to a hybrid pulse-width modulation/delta-sigma digital-to-analogue converter driving the currents through the compensation coils. Using digital design makes the instrument very flexible, reduces power consumption and opens possibilities for the customization of the operation modes. The current implementation of the design is based on commercial off-the-shelf components. A calibration of the SMILE instrument was carried out at the Nurmijärvi Geophysical Observatory, showing high linearity (within 6 nT on the whole ±50 µT scale), good orthogonality (22 arcmin) and very good temperature stability of the axes

Digital beam position monitor for the HAPPEX experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sherlon Kauffman; John Musson; Hai Dong; Lisa Kaufman; Arne Freyberger

2005-01-01

The proposed HAPPEX experiment at CEBAF employs a three cavity monitor system for high precision (1um), high bandwidth (100 kHz) position measurements. This is performed using a cavity triplet consisting of two TM110-mode cavities (one each for X and Y planes) combined with a conventional TM010-mode cavity for a phase and magnitude reference. Traditional systems have used the TM010 cavity output to directly down convert the BPM cavity signals to base band. The multi-channel HAPPEX digital receiver simultaneously I/Q samples each cavity and extracts position using a CORDIC algorithm. The hardware design consists of a RF receiver daughter board and a digital processor motherboard that resides in a VXI crate. The daughter board down converts 1.497 GHz signals from the TM010 cavity and X and Y signals from the TM110 cavities to 3 MHz and extracts the quadrature digital signals. The motherboard processes this data and computes beam intensity and X-Y positions with resolution of 1um, 100 kHz output bandwidth, and overall latency of 1us. The results are available in both the analog and digital format

The research of digital circuit system for high accuracy CCD of portable Raman spectrometer

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Yu; Cui, Yongsheng; Zhang, Xiuda; Yan, Huimin

2013-08-01

The Raman spectrum technology is widely used for it can identify various types of molecular structure and material. The portable Raman spectrometer has become a hot direction of the spectrometer development nowadays for its convenience in handheld operation and real-time detection which is superior to traditional Raman spectrometer with heavy weight and bulky size. But there is still a gap for its measurement sensitivity between portable and traditional devices. However, portable Raman Spectrometer with Shell-Isolated Nanoparticle-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SHINERS) technology can enhance the Raman signal significantly by several orders of magnitude, giving consideration in both measurement sensitivity and mobility. This paper proposed a design and implementation of driver and digital circuit for high accuracy CCD sensor, which is core part of portable spectrometer. The main target of the whole design is to reduce the dark current generation rate and increase signal sensitivity during the long integration time, and in the weak signal environment. In this case, we use back-thinned CCD image sensor from Hamamatsu Corporation with high sensitivity, low noise and large dynamic range. In order to maximize this CCD sensor's performance and minimize the whole size of the device simultaneously to achieve the project indicators, we delicately designed a peripheral circuit for the CCD sensor. The design is mainly composed with multi-voltage circuit, sequential generation circuit, driving circuit and A/D transition parts. As the most important power supply circuit, the multi-voltage circuits with 12 independent voltages are designed with reference power supply IC and set to specified voltage value by the amplifier making up the low-pass filter, which allows the user to obtain a highly stable and accurate voltage with low noise. What's more, to make our design easy to debug, CPLD is selected to generate sequential signal. The A/D converter chip consists of a correlated

Could digital imaging be an alternative for digital colorimeters?

Science.gov (United States)

Caglar, Alper; Yamanel, Kivanc; Gulsahi, Kamran; Bagis, Bora; Ozcan, Mutlu

2010-12-01

This study evaluated the colour parameters of composite and ceramic shade guides determined using a colorimeter and digital imaging method with illuminants at different colour temperatures. Two different resin composite shade guides, namely Charisma (Heraeus Kulzer) and Premise (Kerr Corporation), and two different ceramic shade guides, Vita Lumin Vacuum (VITA Zahnfabrik) and Noritake (Noritake Co.), were evaluated at three different colour temperatures (2,700 K, 2,700-6,500 K, and 6500 K) of illuminants. Ten shade tabs were selected (A1, A2, A3, A3,5, A4, B1, B2, B3, C2 and C3) from each shade guide. CIE Lab values were obtained using digital imaging and a colorimeter (ShadeEye NCC Dental Chroma Meter, Shofu Inc.). The data were analysed using two-way ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation. While mean L* values of both composite and ceramic shade guides were not affected from the colour temperature, L* values obtained with the colorimeter showed significantly lower values than those of the digital imaging (p colorimeter and digital imaging did not show significant differences (p > 0.05). For both composite and ceramic shade guides, L* and b* values obtained from colorimeter and digital imaging method presented a high level of correlation. High-level correlations were also acquired for a* values in all shade guides except for the Charisma composite shade guide. Digital imaging method could be an alternative for the colorimeters unless the proper object-camera distance, digital camera settings and suitable illumination conditions could be supplied. However, variations in shade guides, especially for composites, may affect the correlation.

37 CFR 260.2 - Royalty fees for the digital performance of sound recordings and the making of ephemeral...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Royalty fees for the digital... Licensee's monthly royalty fee for the public performance of sound recordings pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 114(d..., 2007, a Licensee's monthly royalty fee for the public performance of sound recordings pursuant to 17 U...

Technology Knowledge Self-Assessment and Pre-Test Performance among Digital Natives

Science.gov (United States)

Nelms, Keith R.

2015-01-01

According to education pundits, traditional-age college students are "digital natives" inherently savvy in digital technology due to their constant exposure to technology from an early age. This widely held meme is at odds with observation in the college classroom. In this research, college students in an introductory information…

High-resolution digital dosimetric system for spatial characterization of radiation fields using a thermoluminescent CaF2:Dy crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atari, N.A.; Svensson, G.K.

1986-01-01

A high-resolution digital dosimetric system has been developed for the spatial characterization of radiation fields. The system comprises the following: 0.5-mm-thick, 25-mm-diam CaF2:Dy thermoluminescent crystal; intensified charge coupled device video camera; video cassette recorder; and a computerized image processing subsystem. The optically flat single crystal is used as a radiation imaging device and the subsequent thermally stimulated phosphorescence is viewed by the intensified camera for further processing and analysis. Parameters governing the performance characteristics of the system were measured. A spatial resolution limit of 31 +/- 2 microns (1 sigma) corresponding to 16 +/- 1 line pairs/mm measured at the 4% level of the modulation transfer function has been achieved. The full width at half maximum of the line spread function measured independently by the slit method or derived from the edge response function was found to be 69 +/- 4 microns (1 sigma). The high resolving power, speed of readout, good precision, wide dynamic range, and the large image storage capacity make the system suitable for the digital mapping of the relative distribution of absorbed doses for various small radiation fields and the edges of larger fields

High-resolution digital dosimetric system for spatial characterization of radiation fields using a thermoluminescent CaF2:Dy crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atari, N.A.; Svensson, G.K.

1986-01-01

A high-resolution digital dosimetric system has been developed for the spatial characterization of radiation fields. The system comprises the following: 0.5-mm-thick, 25-mm-diam CaF 2 :Dy thermoluminescent crystal; intensified charge coupled device video camera; video cassette recorder; and a computerized image processing subsystem. The optically flat single crystal is used as a radiation imaging device and the subsequent thermally stimulated phosphorescence is viewed by the intensified camera for further processing and analysis. Parameters governing the performance characteristics of the system were measured. A spatial resolution limit of 31 +- 2 μm (1sigma) corresponding to 16 +- 1 line pair/mm measured at the 4% level of the modulation transfer function has been achieved. The full width at half maximum of the line spread function measured independently by the slit method or derived from the edge response function was found to be 69 +- 4 μm (1sigma). The high resolving power, speed of readout, good precision, wide dynamic range, and the large image storage capacity make the system suitable for the digital mapping of the relative distribution of absorbed doses for various small radiation fields and the edges of larger fields

Digital Inkjet Textile Printing

OpenAIRE

Wang, Meichun

2017-01-01

Digital inkjet textile printing is an emerging technology developed with the rise of the digital world. It offers a possibility to print high-resolution images with unlimited color selection on fabrics. Digital inkjet printing brings a revolutionary chance for the textile printing industry. The history of textile printing shows the law how new technology replaces the traditional way of printing. This indicates the future of digital inkjet textile printing is relatively positive. Differen...

Problems and image processing in X-ray film digitization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Syousuke; Yoshita, Hisashi; Kuranishi, Makoto; Itoh, Hajime; Mori, Kouichi; Konishi, Minoru

1992-01-01

Aiming at the realization of PACS, a study was conducted on the present state of, and various problems associated with, X-ray film digitization using a He-Ne laser-type film digitizer. Image quality was evaluated physically and clinically. With regard to the gradation specificity, the linear specificity was shown in a dynamic range of 4 figures. With regard to resolution specificity, visual evaluation was performed using a Hawlet Chart, with almost no difference being found between the CRT and laser printer output images and the decrease in resolution becoming more pronounced as the sampling pitch became greater. Clinical evaluation was performed with reference to the literature. The general evaluation of the clinicians was that although there was some deterioration for all of the shadows, (I have read this many times, but could not understand the last part.) by performing each of the kinds of image-processing enhancement of diagnostic ability was achieved, with a diagnosis being possible. The problem of unhindered diagnosis due to the development of artifacts from optical interference of the grid images projected onto the clinical pictures and digitizer sampling pitch was studied. As countermeasures, the use of a high density grid and adoption of a low-pass filter were useful in impending the development of artifacts. Regarding the operating problems, the inputting of index information requires a considerable number of manhours and a method of automatic recognition from digital data was introduced to overcome this problem. As future-prospects, the concepts of a practical system of X-ray film digitization and a film-screen system adapted to digitization were described. (author)

Problems and image processing in X-ray film digitization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kato, Syousuke; Yoshita, Hisashi; Kuranishi, Makoto; Itoh, Hajime; Mori, Kouichi; Konishi, Minoru (Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical Univ. (Japan). Hospital)

1992-11-01

Aiming at the realization of PACS, a study was conducted on the present state of, and various problems associated with, X-ray film digitization using a He-Ne laser-type film digitizer. Image quality was evaluated physically and clinically. With regard to the gradation specificity, the linear specificity was shown in a dynamic range of 4 figures. With regard to resolution specificity, visual evaluation was performed using a Hawlet Chart, with almost no difference being found between the CRT and laser printer output images and the decrease in resolution becoming more pronounced as the sampling pitch became greater. Clinical evaluation was performed with reference to the literature. The general evaluation of the clinicians was that although there was some deterioration for all of the shadows, (I have read this many times, but could not understand the last part.) by performing each of the kinds of image-processing enhancement of diagnostic ability was achieved, with a diagnosis being possible. The problem of unhindered diagnosis due to the development of artifacts from optical interference of the grid images projected onto the clinical pictures and digitizer sampling pitch was studied. As countermeasures, the use of a high density grid and adoption of a low-pass filter were useful in impending the development of artifacts. Regarding the operating problems, the inputting of index information requires a considerable number of manhours and a method of automatic recognition from digital data was introduced to overcome this problem. As future-prospects, the concepts of a practical system of X-ray film digitization and a film-screen system adapted to digitization were described. (author).

Engaging Digital Natives through Social Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nina Sarkar

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Digital natives account for a substantial portion of the total enrollment in higher education. This calls for significant educational reforms because traditional education systems do not cater to the needs and interests of digital natives. The most effective way that both students and instructors can benefit from this paradigm shift is to integrate technology that is appropriate to the cognitive learning patterns of the digital natives into the curriculum. This paper builds upon previous research in technology/personality theory and specifically attempts to provide examples of technology that will address the instructional needs of digital natives. Further this paper provides empirical evidence of the impact of technology integration on the learning outcomes of digital natives. In this study, the authors explored the impact of targeted technology on academic performance in three businesses courses. Three functional technologies were used by the authors to build engaging course content, efficiently manage course content, and to interact with digital native students. This study found that these technologies can assist digital natives in the learning process and lead to better academic performance.

2017 Guralp Affinity Digitizer Evaluation.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merchant, Bion J.

2018-03-01

Sandia National Laboratories has tested and evaluated two Guralp Affinity digitizers. The Affinity digitizers are intended to record sensor output for seismic and infrasound monitoring applications. The purpose of this digitizer evaluation is to measure the performance characteristics in such areas as power consumption, input impedance, sensitivity, full scale, self- noise, dynamic range, system noise, response, passband, and timing. The Affinity digitizers are being evaluated for potential use in the International Monitoring System (IMS) of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban-Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

Introduction to digital communication systems

CERN Document Server

Wesolowski, Krzysztof

2009-01-01

Combining theoretical knowledge and practical applications, this advanced-level textbook covers the most important aspects of contemporary digital communication systems. Introduction to Digital Communication Systems focuses on the rules of functioning digital communication system blocks, starting with the performance limits set by the information theory. Drawing on information relating to turbo codes and LDPC codes, the text presents the basic methods of error correction and detection, followed by baseband transmission methods, and single- and multi-carrier digital modulations. The basi

RAPPORT: running scientific high-performance computing applications on the cloud.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Jeremy; Filippis, Ioannis; Woodbridge, Mark; Bauer, Daniela; Hong, Neil Chue; Jackson, Mike; Butcher, Sarah; Colling, David; Darlington, John; Fuchs, Brian; Harvey, Matt

2013-01-28

Cloud computing infrastructure is now widely used in many domains, but one area where there has been more limited adoption is research computing, in particular for running scientific high-performance computing (HPC) software. The Robust Application Porting for HPC in the Cloud (RAPPORT) project took advantage of existing links between computing researchers and application scientists in the fields of bioinformatics, high-energy physics (HEP) and digital humanities, to investigate running a set of scientific HPC applications from these domains on cloud infrastructure. In this paper, we focus on the bioinformatics and HEP domains, describing the applications and target cloud platforms. We conclude that, while there are many factors that need consideration, there is no fundamental impediment to the use of cloud infrastructure for running many types of HPC applications and, in some cases, there is potential for researchers to benefit significantly from the flexibility offered by cloud platforms.

Digital LLRF System for RFQ

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agashe, Alok; Motiwala, P.D.; Bharade, S.K.; Mohan, Shyam; Joshi, Gopal; Das, D.

2015-01-01

A Low level RF (LLRF) system based on digital techniques has been developed for RFQ of Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA). The basic LLRF system for RFQ is composed of a Front end analog module housed in a 19 inch bin and a 6U cPCI based Digital board having a high speed and high density FPGA onboard, supporting 32 bit/33MHz PCI ver2.0 protocol and housed in a 19 inch cPCI crate. It also has a cPCI based CPU board with QNX operating system. The cPCI crate is connected to control room via Ethernet. Analog module conditions the input field signals from RF cavity and makes it compatible to digital board. It also amplifies RF Drive signal (Modulator output) from digital board, which goes to high power amplifier. The digital board digitally processes the input RF signals, and generates RF drive signal, which after amplification, used for driving the resonant cavity. The main features of digital board are under-sampling of input RF signals, digital in-phase and quadrature detection, and a proportional- integral (PI) controller algorithm implemented in a FPGA. The LLRF system works in CW as well as in PULSE mode. It also has a DDS implemented in VHDL, used for conditioning and tracking/tuning of the cavity. LLRF system operates under QNX based equipment frontend application and client running from control room. One analog module and one digital board set, supports one resonant cavity. The present paper describes the development of an LLRF system and its results with a test cavity. (author)

Accuracy of five intraoral scanners compared to indirect digitalization.

Science.gov (United States)

Güth, Jan-Frederik; Runkel, Cornelius; Beuer, Florian; Stimmelmayr, Michael; Edelhoff, Daniel; Keul, Christine

2017-06-01

Direct and indirect digitalization offer two options for computer-aided design (CAD)/ computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)-generated restorations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of different intraoral scanners and compare them to the process of indirect digitalization. A titanium testing model was directly digitized 12 times with each intraoral scanner: (1) CS 3500 (CS), (2) Zfx Intrascan (ZFX), (3) CEREC AC Bluecam (BLU), (4) CEREC AC Omnicam (OC) and (5) True Definition (TD). As control, 12 polyether impressions were taken and the referring plaster casts were digitized indirectly with the D-810 laboratory scanner (CON). The accuracy (trueness/precision) of the datasets was evaluated by an analysing software (Geomagic Qualify 12.1) using a "best fit alignment" of the datasets with a highly accurate reference dataset of the testing model, received from industrial computed tomography. Direct digitalization using the TD showed the significant highest overall "trueness", followed by CS. Both performed better than CON. BLU, ZFX and OC showed higher differences from the reference dataset than CON. Regarding the overall "precision", the CS 3500 intraoral scanner and the True Definition showed the best performance. CON, BLU and OC resulted in significantly higher precision than ZFX did. Within the limitations of this in vitro study, the accuracy of the ascertained datasets was dependent on the scanning system. The direct digitalization was not superior to indirect digitalization for all tested systems. Regarding the accuracy, all tested intraoral scanning technologies seem to be able to reproduce a single quadrant within clinical acceptable accuracy. However, differences were detected between the tested systems.

Device and Circuit Design Challenges in the Digital Subthreshold Region for Ultralow-Power Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramesh Vaddi

2009-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, subthreshold operation has gained a lot of attention due to ultra low-power consumption in applications requiring low to medium performance. It has also been shown that by optimizing the device structure, power consumption of digital subthreshold logic can be further minimized while improving its performance. Therefore, subthreshold circuit design is very promising for future ultra low-energy sensor applications as well as high-performance parallel processing. This paper deals with various device and circuit design challenges associated with the state of the art in optimal digital subthreshold circuit design and reviews device design methodologies and circuit topologies for optimal digital subthreshold operation. This paper identifies the suitable candidates for subthreshold operation at device and circuit levels for optimal subthreshold circuit design and provides an effective roadmap for digital designers interested to work with ultra low-power applications.

10 ps resolution, 160 ns full scale range and less than 1.5% differential non-linearity time-to-digital converter module for high performance timing measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Markovic, B.; Tamborini, D.; Villa, F.; Tisa, S.; Tosi, A.; Zappa, F. [Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy)

2012-07-15

We present a compact high performance time-to-digital converter (TDC) module that provides 10 ps timing resolution, 160 ns dynamic range and a differential non-linearity better than 1.5% LSB{sub rms}. The TDC can be operated either as a general-purpose time-interval measurement device, when receiving external START and STOP pulses, or in photon-timing mode, when employing the on-chip SPAD (single photon avalanche diode) detector for detecting photons and time-tagging them. The instrument precision is 15 ps{sub rms} (i.e., 36 ps{sub FWHM}) and in photon timing mode it is still better than 70 ps{sub FWHM}. The USB link to the remote PC allows the easy setting of measurement parameters, the fast download of acquired data, and their visualization and storing via an user-friendly software interface. The module proves to be the best candidate for a wide variety of applications such as: fluorescence lifetime imaging, time-of-flight ranging measurements, time-resolved positron emission tomography, single-molecule spectroscopy, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, diffuse optical tomography, optical time-domain reflectometry, quantum optics, etc.

Exploration of Willis'circle by digital angiography. Its value for the detection of high risk carotid clamping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermand, M.; Melki, J.P.; Chaufour, J.; Riche, M.C.

1988-01-01

Radiological studies of Willis' circle morphology are mainly performed in search of intracerebral aneurysms, and for this purpose digital imaging has not superseded conventional radiology. In contrast, conventional imaging does not seem to have given satisfactory results in the functional study of this substitute vascular network, and it is in this field that digital angiography is of particular value. Between January, 1985 and June, 1986, we performed 300 digital angiographies of the supra-aortic vessels in patients with carotid artery stenosis. Each exploration included a stage of investigation for intracranial substitute vessels by compression of the carotid artery on the side of the lesion. Substitute vessels were found to be adequate in 93 p. 100 of the cases. The test showed that there was no alternative blood flow in 3.7 p. 100 of the cases, which made it imperative to use brain protection measures during clamping of the carotid artery. The substitute network was found to be insufficient in 1 p. 100 of the cases, and the method failed in 2.4 p. 100 [fr

High performance 3D adaptive filtering for DSP based portable medical imaging systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bockenbach, Olivier; Ali, Murtaza; Wainwright, Ian; Nadeski, Mark

2015-03-01

Portable medical imaging devices have proven valuable for emergency medical services both in the field and hospital environments and are becoming more prevalent in clinical settings where the use of larger imaging machines is impractical. Despite their constraints on power, size and cost, portable imaging devices must still deliver high quality images. 3D adaptive filtering is one of the most advanced techniques aimed at noise reduction and feature enhancement, but is computationally very demanding and hence often cannot be run with sufficient performance on a portable platform. In recent years, advanced multicore digital signal processors (DSP) have been developed that attain high processing performance while maintaining low levels of power dissipation. These processors enable the implementation of complex algorithms on a portable platform. In this study, the performance of a 3D adaptive filtering algorithm on a DSP is investigated. The performance is assessed by filtering a volume of size 512x256x128 voxels sampled at a pace of 10 MVoxels/sec with an Ultrasound 3D probe. Relative performance and power is addressed between a reference PC (Quad Core CPU) and a TMS320C6678 DSP from Texas Instruments.

Development of a high-performance image server using ATM technology

Science.gov (United States)

Do Van, Minh; Humphrey, Louis M.; Ravin, Carl E.

1996-05-01

The ability to display digital radiographs to a radiologist in a reasonable time has long been the goal of many PACS. Intelligent routing, or pre-fetching images, has become a solution whereby a system uses a set of rules to route the images to a pre-determined destination. Images would then be stored locally on a workstation for faster display times. Some PACS use a large, centralized storage approach and workstations retrieve images over high bandwidth connections. Another approach to image management is to provide a high performance, clustered storage system. This has the advantage of eliminating the complexity of pre-fetching and allows for rapid image display from anywhere within the hospital. We discuss the development of such a storage device, which provides extremely fast access to images across a local area network. Among the requirements for development of the image server were high performance, DICOM 3.0 compliance, and the use of industry standard components. The completed image server provides performance more than sufficient for use in clinical practice. Setting up modalities to send images to the image server is simple due to the adherence to the DICOM 3.0 specification. Using only off-the-shelf components allows us to keep the cost of the server relatively inexpensive and allows for easy upgrades as technology becomes more advanced. These factors make the image server ideal for use as a clustered storage system in a radiology department.

Applications and Innovations for Use of High Definition and High Resolution Digital Motion Imagery in Space Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Grubbs, Rodney

2016-01-01

The first live High Definition Television (HDTV) from a spacecraft was in November, 2006, nearly ten years before the 2016 SpaceOps Conference. Much has changed since then. Now, live HDTV from the International Space Station (ISS) is routine. HDTV cameras stream live video views of the Earth from the exterior of the ISS every day on UStream, and HDTV has even flown around the Moon on a Japanese Space Agency spacecraft. A great deal has been learned about the operations applicability of HDTV and high resolution imagery since that first live broadcast. This paper will discuss the current state of real-time and file based HDTV and higher resolution video for space operations. A potential roadmap will be provided for further development and innovations of high-resolution digital motion imagery, including gaps in technology enablers, especially for deep space and unmanned missions. Specific topics to be covered in the paper will include: An update on radiation tolerance and performance of various camera types and sensors and ramifications on the future applicability of these types of cameras for space operations; Practical experience with downlinking very large imagery files with breaks in link coverage; Ramifications of larger camera resolutions like Ultra-High Definition, 6,000 [pixels] and 8,000 [pixels] in space applications; Enabling technologies such as the High Efficiency Video Codec, Bundle Streaming Delay Tolerant Networking, Optical Communications and Bayer Pattern Sensors and other similar innovations; Likely future operations scenarios for deep space missions with extreme latency and intermittent communications links.

Characterization of three digital signal processor systems used in gamma ray spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reguigui, N.; Morel, J.; Ben Kraiem, H.; Mahjoub, A.

2002-01-01

Various manufacturers have recently introduced digital signal processing systems that allow data acquisition in gamma spectrometry at high-input counting rates (several thousand pulses per second). In these systems, the signal digitization is performed immediately following the preamplification stage. This allows digital shaping and filtering of the signal which increases the number of possible combinations in signal shaping and as a consequence, optimizes the resolution as a function of the detector characteristics and the counting rate. Basic characteristic parameters of three digital signal processors that were recently introduced in the market have been studied and compared to those of an analog system. This study is carried out using a hyper-pure coaxial type germanium detector and 57 Co, 60 Co and 137 Cs radioactive sources. Performance parameters such as energy resolution, system throughput, and counting losses that are due to dead time and pile-up effects are presented and discussed

High performance homes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beim, Anne; Vibæk, Kasper Sánchez

2014-01-01

Can prefabrication contribute to the development of high performance homes? To answer this question, this chapter defines high performance in more broadly inclusive terms, acknowledging the technical, architectural, social and economic conditions under which energy consumption and production occur....... Consideration of all these factors is a precondition for a truly integrated practice and as this chapter demonstrates, innovative project delivery methods founded on the manufacturing of prefabricated buildings contribute to the production of high performance homes that are cost effective to construct, energy...

Successful replantation in ten-digit amputation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kantarci, Umit; Cepel, Selim; Buldu, Halil

2010-01-01

Amputations involving ten digits are very rare because of different lengths of the digits. A 34-year-old man working in a printing house presented one hour after guillotine amputation involving all ten digits. Surgery was initiated 80 minutes after admission and took seven hours. Under axillary anesthesia, the operation was performed by two teams each consisting of two microsurgeons and two assistants. Replantation was completed without the use of any skin graft or flap. Fingertip examination showed poor arterial circulation in the second, third, and fourth digits of the left hand after 24 hours of replantation and surgical exploration was performed, during which anastomosis of the ulnar digital artery of the second digit was re-established and a Y-shaped vein graft was placed at the level of the third web to restore revascularization of the third and fourth digits. However, these interventions did not prevent the development of necrosis in the distal segment of the fourth digit which resulted in dry gangrene that required amputation. After 38 months of replantation, radiographic examination showed complete union in all fingers without malunion or damage to the joint surface and about 8 degrees of medial angulation in the proximal phalanx of the fourth digit of the right hand. The patient did not have difficulty in performing daily activities and had a considerably good pinching. Losses of active range of motion of the metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joints were within the rage of 10 to 30 degrees in both hands. In the assessment of sensation, static and dynamic two-point discrimination test results were 6.1 mm and 4.0 mm, respectively.

1-Million droplet array with wide-field fluorescence imaging for digital PCR.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatch, Andrew C; Fisher, Jeffrey S; Tovar, Armando R; Hsieh, Albert T; Lin, Robert; Pentoney, Stephen L; Yang, David L; Lee, Abraham P

2011-11-21

Digital droplet reactors are useful as chemical and biological containers to discretize reagents into picolitre or nanolitre volumes for analysis of single cells, organisms, or molecules. However, most DNA based assays require processing of samples on the order of tens of microlitres and contain as few as one to as many as millions of fragments to be detected. Presented in this work is a droplet microfluidic platform and fluorescence imaging setup designed to better meet the needs of the high-throughput and high-dynamic-range by integrating multiple high-throughput droplet processing schemes on the chip. The design is capable of generating over 1-million, monodisperse, 50 picolitre droplets in 2-7 minutes that then self-assemble into high density 3-dimensional sphere packing configurations in a large viewing chamber for visualization and analysis. This device then undergoes on-chip polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and fluorescence detection to digitally quantify the sample's nucleic acid contents. Wide-field fluorescence images are captured using a low cost 21-megapixel digital camera and macro-lens with an 8-12 cm(2) field-of-view at 1× to 0.85× magnification, respectively. We demonstrate both end-point and real-time imaging ability to perform on-chip quantitative digital PCR analysis of the entire droplet array. Compared to previous work, this highly integrated design yields a 100-fold increase in the number of on-chip digitized reactors with simultaneous fluorescence imaging for digital PCR based assays.

Design of High-Voltage Switch-Mode Power Amplifier Based on Digital-Controlled Hybrid Multilevel Converter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanbin Hou

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Compared with conventional Class-A, Class-B, and Class-AB amplifiers, Class-D amplifier, also known as switching amplifier, employs pulse width modulation (PWM technology and solid-state switching devices, capable of achieving much higher efficiency. However, PWM-based switching amplifier is usually designed for low-voltage application, offering a maximum output voltage of several hundred Volts. Therefore, a step-up transformer is indispensably adopted in PWM-based Class-D amplifier to produce high-voltage output. In this paper, a switching amplifier without step-up transformer is developed based on digital pulse step modulation (PSM and hybrid multilevel converter. Under the control of input signal, cascaded power converters with separate DC sources operate in PSM switch mode to directly generate high-voltage and high-power output. The relevant topological structure, operating principle, and design scheme are introduced. Finally, a prototype system is built, which can provide power up to 1400 Watts and peak voltage up to ±1700 Volts. And the performance, including efficiency, linearity, and distortion, is evaluated by experimental tests.

An adaptive toolkit for image quality evaluation in system performance test of digital breast tomosynthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guozhi; Petrov, Dimitar; Marshall, Nicholas; Bosmans, Hilde

2017-03-01

Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is a relatively new diagnostic imaging modality for women. Currently, various models of DBT systems are available on the market and the number of installations is rapidly increasing. EUREF, the European Reference Organization for Quality Assured Breast Screening and Diagnostic Services, has proposed a preliminary Guideline - protocol for the quality control of the physical and technical aspects of digital breast tomosynthesis systems, with an ultimate aim of providing limiting values guaranteeing proper performance for different applications of DBT. In this work, we introduce an adaptive toolkit developed in accordance with this guideline to facilitate the process of image quality evaluation in DBT performance test. This toolkit implements robust algorithms to quantify various technical parameters of DBT images and provides a convenient user interface in practice. Each test is built into a separate module with configurations set corresponding to the European guideline, which can be easily adapted to different settings and extended with additional tests. This toolkit largely improves the efficiency for image quality evaluation of DBT. It is also going to evolve with the development of protocols in quality control of DBT systems.

Digital gastrointestinal imaging: Effect of pixel size of subtle mucosal abnormalities on observer performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kastan, D.J.; Ackerman, L.V.; Feczko, P.J.

1986-01-01

Radiographs from double-contrast colon examinations demonstrating subtle mucosal changes of inflammatory bowel disease and radiographs showing normal colon were digitized (0.1-mm, 0.2-mm, 0.4-mm and 0.8-mm pixel sizes). Ten radiologists interpreted the laser-printed images. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed. The results indicated that (1) the sensitivity of radiography in detecting subtle mucosal abnormalities improved as resolution improved; (2) more experience readers performed remarkably well even at the poorer levels of resolution; (3) the resolution necessary for evaluating the colonic mucosa was less than expected; and (4) at low noise levels, conventional television fluoroscopy may have sufficient resolution for mucosal evaluation

SU-F-I-55: Performance Evaluation of Digital PET/CT: Medical Physics Basis for the Clinical Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, J; Knopp, MV [The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Miller, M [Philips Healthcare, Highland Heights, OH (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: Replacement of conventional PMT-based detector with next generation digital photon counting (DPC) detector is a technology leap for PET imaging. This study evaluated the performance and characteristics of the DPC system and its stability within a 1 year time window following its installation focusing on the medical physics basis for clinical applications. Methods: A digital PET/CT scanner using 1:1 coupling of 23,040 crystal: detector elements was introduced and became operational at OSU. We tested and evaluated system performance and characteristics using NEMA NU2-2012. System stabilities in timing resolution, energy resolution, detector temperature and humidity (T&H) were monitored over 1-yr. Timing, energy and spatial resolution were characterized across clinically relevant count rate range. CQIE uniformity PET and NEMA IEC-Body PET with hot spheres varying with sizes and contrasts were performed. PET reconstructed in standard(4mm), High(2mm) and Ultra-High(1mm) definitions were evaluated. Results: NEMA results showed PET spatial resolution (mm-FWHM) from 4.01&4.14 at 1cm to 5.82&6.17 at 20cm in transverse & axial. 322±3ps timing and 11.0% energy resolution were measured. 5.7kcps/MBq system sensitivity with 24kcps/MBq effective sensitivity was obtained. The peak-NECR was ∼171kcps with the effective peak-NECR >650kcps@50kBq/mL. Scatter fraction was ∼30%, and the maximum trues was >900kcps. NEMA IQ demonstrated hot sphere contrast ranging from ∼62%±2%(10mm) to ∼88%±2%(22mm), cold sphere contrast of ∼86%±2%(28mm) and ∼89%±3%(37mm) and excellent uniformity. Monitoring 1-yr stability, it revealed ∼1% change in timing, ±0.4% change in energy resolution, and <10% variations in T&H. CQIE PET gave <3% SUV variances in axial. 60%–100% recovery coefficients across sphere sizes and contrast levels were achieved. Conclusion: Characteristics and stability of the next generation DPC PET detector system over an 1-yr time window was excellent and

SU-F-I-55: Performance Evaluation of Digital PET/CT: Medical Physics Basis for the Clinical Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, J; Knopp, MV; Miller, M

2016-01-01

Purpose: Replacement of conventional PMT-based detector with next generation digital photon counting (DPC) detector is a technology leap for PET imaging. This study evaluated the performance and characteristics of the DPC system and its stability within a 1 year time window following its installation focusing on the medical physics basis for clinical applications. Methods: A digital PET/CT scanner using 1:1 coupling of 23,040 crystal: detector elements was introduced and became operational at OSU. We tested and evaluated system performance and characteristics using NEMA NU2-2012. System stabilities in timing resolution, energy resolution, detector temperature and humidity (T&H) were monitored over 1-yr. Timing, energy and spatial resolution were characterized across clinically relevant count rate range. CQIE uniformity PET and NEMA IEC-Body PET with hot spheres varying with sizes and contrasts were performed. PET reconstructed in standard(4mm), High(2mm) and Ultra-High(1mm) definitions were evaluated. Results: NEMA results showed PET spatial resolution (mm-FWHM) from 4.01&4.14 at 1cm to 5.82&6.17 at 20cm in transverse & axial. 322±3ps timing and 11.0% energy resolution were measured. 5.7kcps/MBq system sensitivity with 24kcps/MBq effective sensitivity was obtained. The peak-NECR was ∼171kcps with the effective peak-NECR >650kcps@50kBq/mL. Scatter fraction was ∼30%, and the maximum trues was >900kcps. NEMA IQ demonstrated hot sphere contrast ranging from ∼62%±2%(10mm) to ∼88%±2%(22mm), cold sphere contrast of ∼86%±2%(28mm) and ∼89%±3%(37mm) and excellent uniformity. Monitoring 1-yr stability, it revealed ∼1% change in timing, ±0.4% change in energy resolution, and <10% variations in T&H. CQIE PET gave <3% SUV variances in axial. 60%–100% recovery coefficients across sphere sizes and contrast levels were achieved. Conclusion: Characteristics and stability of the next generation DPC PET detector system over an 1-yr time window was excellent and

Digital positron annihilation spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng Bin; Weng Huimin; Han Rongdian; Ye Bangjiao

2010-01-01

With the high speed development of digital signal process, the technique of the digitization and processing of signals was applied in the domain of a broad class of nuclear technique. The development of digital positron lifetime spectrometer (DPLS) is more promising than the conventional positron lifetime spectrometer equipped with nuclear instrument modules. And digital lifetime spectrometer has many advantages, such as low noise, long term stability, flexible online or offline digital processing, simple setup, low expense, easy to setting, and more physical information. Digital constant fraction discrimination is for timing. And a new method of optimizing energy windows setting for digital positron lifetime spectrometer is also developed employing the simulated annealing for the convenient use. The time resolution is 220ps and the count rate is 200cps. (authors)

Performance comparison of digital microRNA profiling technologies applied on human breast cancer cell lines.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik Knutsen

Full Text Available MicroRNA profiling represents an important first-step in deducting individual RNA-based regulatory function in a cell, tissue, or at a specific developmental stage. Currently there are several different platforms to choose from in order to make the initial miRNA profiles. In this study we investigate recently developed digital microRNA high-throughput technologies. Four different platforms were compared including next generation SOLiD ligation sequencing and Illumina HiSeq sequencing, hybridization-based NanoString nCounter, and miRCURY locked nucleic acid RT-qPCR. For all four technologies, full microRNA profiles were generated from human cell lines that represent noninvasive and invasive tumorigenic breast cancer. This study reports the correlation between platforms, as well as a more extensive analysis of the accuracy and sensitivity of data generated when using different platforms and important consideration when verifying results by the use of additional technologies. We found all the platforms to be highly capable for microRNA analysis. Furthermore, the two NGS platforms and RT-qPCR all have equally high sensitivity, and the fold change accuracy is independent of individual miRNA concentration for NGS and RT-qPCR. Based on these findings we propose new guidelines and considerations when performing microRNA profiling.

Automatic analysis of digitized TV-images by a computer-driven optical microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosa, G.; Di Bartolomeo, A.; Grella, G.; Romano, G.

1997-01-01

New methods of image analysis and three-dimensional pattern recognition were developed in order to perform the automatic scan of nuclear emulsion pellicles. An optical microscope, with a motorized stage, was equipped with a CCD camera and an image digitizer, and interfaced to a personal computer. Selected software routines inspired the design of a dedicated hardware processor. Fast operation, high efficiency and accuracy were achieved. First applications to high-energy physics experiments are reported. Further improvements are in progress, based on a high-resolution fast CCD camera and on programmable digital signal processors. Applications to other research fields are envisaged. (orig.)

Integrated High-Speed Digital Optical True-Time-Delay Modules for Synthetic Aperture Radars, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Crystal Research, Inc. proposes an integrated high-speed digital optical true-time-delay module for advanced synthetic aperture radars. The unique feature of this...

Simulation of Wireless Digital Communication Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Mohammed

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Due to the explosive demands for high speed wireless services, suchas wireless Internet, email and cellular video conferencing, digitalwireless communications has become one of the most exciting researchtopics in electrical and electronic engineering field. The never-endingdemand for such personal and multimedia services, however, demandstechnologies operating at higher data rates and broader bandwidths. Inaddition, the complexity of wireless communication and signalprocessing systems has grown considerably during the past decade.Therefore, powerful computer­aided techniques are required for theprocess of modeling, designing, analyzing and evaluating theperformance of digital wireless communication systems. In this paper wediscuss the basic propagation mechanisms affecting the performance ofwireless communication systems, and present a simple, powerful andefficient way to simulate digital wireless communication systems usingMatlab. The simulated results are compared with the theoreticalanalysis to validate the simulator. The simulator is useful inevaluating the performance of wireless multimedia services and theassociated signal processing structures and algorithms for current andnext generation wireless mobile communication systems.

Digital reactivity meter construction based on PC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yusi-Eko-Yulianto; Kristedjo-Kurnianto

2003-01-01

The reactivitymeter is a core reactivity measuring equipment, which inform the reactor operator the neutron flux development in the core. This digital reactivitymeter is needed to replace analog reactivitymeter, whenever it fails in the future. The replacement of thus reactivitymeter can keep the continuation of reactor operation. The digital reactivitymeter is constructed by using the digital signal processing and computer. Thus real time signal processing is displayed on the monitor graphically. This reactivitymeter has been tested in RSG-GAS and perform a good work. This performance is worthy to use this digital reactivitymeter for RSG-GAS operation

Digital control of plasma position in Damavand tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Emami, M.; Babazadeh, A.R.; Roshan, M.V.; Memarzadeh, M.; Habibi, H. [Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Nuclear Fusion Research Center. Plasma Physics Lab.

2002-03-01

Plasma position control is one of the important issues in the design and operation of tokamak fusion research device. Since a tokamak is basically an electrical system consisting of power supplies, coils, plasma and eddy currents, a model in which these components are treated as an electrical circuits is used in designing Damavand plasma position control system. This model is used for the simulation of the digital control system and its parameters have been verified experimentally. In this paper, the performance of a high-speed digital controller as well as a simulation study and its application to the Damavand tokamak is discussed. (author)

Digital information management: a progress report on the National Digital Mammography Archive

Science.gov (United States)

Beckerman, Barbara G.; Schnall, Mitchell D.

2002-05-01

Digital mammography creates very large images, which require new approaches to storage, retrieval, management, and security. The National Digital Mammography Archive (NDMA) project, funded by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), is developing a limited testbed that demonstrates the feasibility of a national breast imaging archive, with access to prior exams; patient information; computer aids for image processing, teaching, and testing tools; and security components to ensure confidentiality of patient information. There will be significant benefits to patients and clinicians in terms of accessible data with which to make a diagnosis and to researchers performing studies on breast cancer. Mammography was chosen for the project, because standards were already available for digital images, report formats, and structures. New standards have been created for communications protocols between devices, front- end portal and archive. NDMA is a distributed computing concept that provides for sharing and access across corporate entities. Privacy, auditing, and patient consent are all integrated into the system. Five sites, Universities of Pennsylvania, Chicago, North Carolina and Toronto, and BWXT Y12, are connected through high-speed networks to demonstrate functionality. We will review progress, including technical challenges, innovative research and development activities, standards and protocols being implemented, and potential benefits to healthcare systems.

High-throughput characterization of film thickness in thin film materials libraries by digital holographic microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lai Yiuwai; Hofmann, Martin R; Ludwig, Alfred; Krause, Michael; Savan, Alan; Thienhaus, Sigurd; Koukourakis, Nektarios

2011-01-01

A high-throughput characterization technique based on digital holography for mapping film thickness in thin-film materials libraries was developed. Digital holographic microscopy is used for fully automatic measurements of the thickness of patterned films with nanometer resolution. The method has several significant advantages over conventional stylus profilometry: it is contactless and fast, substrate bending is compensated, and the experimental setup is simple. Patterned films prepared by different combinatorial thin-film approaches were characterized to investigate and demonstrate this method. The results show that this technique is valuable for the quick, reliable and high-throughput determination of the film thickness distribution in combinatorial materials research. Importantly, it can also be applied to thin films that have been structured by shadow masking.

High-throughput characterization of film thickness in thin film materials libraries by digital holographic microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Yiu Wai; Krause, Michael; Savan, Alan; Thienhaus, Sigurd; Koukourakis, Nektarios; Hofmann, Martin R; Ludwig, Alfred

2011-10-01

A high-throughput characterization technique based on digital holography for mapping film thickness in thin-film materials libraries was developed. Digital holographic microscopy is used for fully automatic measurements of the thickness of patterned films with nanometer resolution. The method has several significant advantages over conventional stylus profilometry: it is contactless and fast, substrate bending is compensated, and the experimental setup is simple. Patterned films prepared by different combinatorial thin-film approaches were characterized to investigate and demonstrate this method. The results show that this technique is valuable for the quick, reliable and high-throughput determination of the film thickness distribution in combinatorial materials research. Importantly, it can also be applied to thin films that have been structured by shadow masking.

Games-to-teach or games-to-learn unlocking the power of digital game-based learning through performance

CERN Document Server

Chee, Yam San

2016-01-01

The book presents a critical evaluation of current approaches related to the use of digital games in education. The author identifies two competing paradigms: that of games-to-teach and games-to-learn. Arguing in favor of the latter, the author advances the case for approaching game-based learning through the theoretical lens of performance, rooted in play and dialog, to unlock the power of digital games for 21st century learning. Drawing upon the author’s research, three concrete exemplars of game-based learning curricula are described and discussed. The challenge of advancing game-based learning in education is addressed in the context of school reform. Finally, future prospects of and educational opportunities for game-based learning are articulated. Readers of the book will find the explication of performance theory applied to game-based learning especially interesting. This work constitutes the author’s original theorization. Readers will derive four main benefits: (1) an explication of the differenc...

Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Performance and Lessons Learned from the First Two Years of Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Boroski, William N.; Gunn, James E.; Kron, Richard G.; Peoples, John, Jr.

2002-12-01

Over a 5-year observing period, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) will acquire data to construct a digital 5-color photometric map of the Northern Galactic sky to about 23rd magnitude, and a correspondingly large and homogeneous spectroscopic survey. The SDSS is in a unique class of projects, in that all aspects of the SDSS infrastructure, from the telescopes and instruments, to software and operations staffing, were designed and assembled specifically to conduct this Survey. To ensure success, observing operations are run in production mode and performance metrics are used to measure progress over time. The methodology of preparing the performance baseline plan, and an assessment of Survey progress after two full years of operation, are reviewed and some lessons learned discussed. In particular, the SDSS has benefited greatly by asking peers in the field to participate in external reviews that periodically assess performance and offer independent, fresh views of potential areas of concerns. Additionally, difficulties caused by the absence of an experienced systems-engineering staff during the final phase of construction and commissioning are reviewed. The challenges of building a production machine out of complex and state-of-the-art sub-systems cannot be overstated. In the case of the SDSS, insufficient systems engineering led to problems meeting initial image quality requirements, primarily because of problems with the thermal performance of the telescope and its environment. A concerted campaign to deal with these issues was successful, but that success came rather later than we would have liked. The improvements made to address the situation, and the resulting increase in operational performance, are discussed.

Digital Culture and Digital Library

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yalçın Yalçınkaya

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In this study; digital culture and digital library which have a vital connection with each other are examined together. The content of the research consists of the interaction of culture, information, digital culture, intellectual technologies, and digital library concepts. The study is an entry work to integrity of digital culture and digital library theories and aims to expand the symmetry. The purpose of the study is to emphasize the relation between the digital culture and digital library theories acting intersection of the subjects that are examined. Also the perspective of the study is based on examining the literature and analytical evaluation in both studies (digital culture and digital library. Within this context, the methodology of the study is essentially descriptive and has an attribute for the transmission and synthesis of distributed findings produced in the field of the research. According to the findings of the study results, digital culture is an inclusive term that describes the effects of intellectual technologies in the field of information and communication. Information becomes energy and the spectrum of the information is expanding in the vertical rise through the digital culture. In this context, the digital library appears as a new living space of a new environment. In essence, the digital library is information-oriented; has intellectual technology support and digital platform; is in a digital format; combines information resources and tools in relationship/communication/cooperation by connectedness, and also it is the dynamic face of the digital culture in time and space independence. Resolved with the study is that the digital libraries are active and effective in the formation of global knowing and/or mass wisdom in the process of digital culture.

High resolution distributed time-to-digital converter (TDC) in a White Rabbit network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan, Weibin; Gong, Guanghua; Du, Qiang; Li, Hongming; Li, Jianmin

2014-01-01

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) project consists of a complex detector array with over 6000 detector nodes spreading over 1.2 km 2 areas. The arrival times of shower particles are captured by time-to-digital converters (TDCs) in the detectors' frontend electronics, the arrival direction of the high energy cosmic ray are then to be reconstructed from the space-time information of all detector nodes. To guarantee the angular resolution of 0.5°, a time synchronization of 500 ps (RMS) accuracy and 100 ps precision must be achieved among all TDC nodes. A technology enhancing Gigabit Ethernet, called the White Rabbit (WR), has shown the capability of delivering sub-nanosecond accuracy and picoseconds precision of synchronization over the standard data packet transfer. In this paper we demonstrate a distributed TDC prototype system combining the FPGA based TDC and the WR technology. With the time synchronization and data transfer services from a compact WR node, separate FPGA-TDC nodes can be combined to provide uniform time measurement information for correlated events. The design detail and test performance will be described in the paper

High resolution distributed time-to-digital converter (TDC) in a White Rabbit network

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pan, Weibin, E-mail: pwb.thu@gmail.com; Gong, Guanghua; Du, Qiang; Li, Hongming; Li, Jianmin

2014-02-21

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) project consists of a complex detector array with over 6000 detector nodes spreading over 1.2 km{sup 2} areas. The arrival times of shower particles are captured by time-to-digital converters (TDCs) in the detectors' frontend electronics, the arrival direction of the high energy cosmic ray are then to be reconstructed from the space-time information of all detector nodes. To guarantee the angular resolution of 0.5°, a time synchronization of 500 ps (RMS) accuracy and 100 ps precision must be achieved among all TDC nodes. A technology enhancing Gigabit Ethernet, called the White Rabbit (WR), has shown the capability of delivering sub-nanosecond accuracy and picoseconds precision of synchronization over the standard data packet transfer. In this paper we demonstrate a distributed TDC prototype system combining the FPGA based TDC and the WR technology. With the time synchronization and data transfer services from a compact WR node, separate FPGA-TDC nodes can be combined to provide uniform time measurement information for correlated events. The design detail and test performance will be described in the paper.

Performance of low-cost X-ray area detectors with consumer digital cameras

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panna, A.; Gomella, A.A.; Harmon, K.J.; Chen, P.; Miao, H.; Bennett, E.E.; Wen, H.

2015-01-01

We constructed X-ray detectors using consumer-grade digital cameras coupled to commercial X-ray phosphors. Several detector configurations were tested against the Varian PaxScan 3024M (Varian 3024M) digital flat panel detector. These include consumer cameras (Nikon D800, Nikon D700, and Nikon D3X) coupled to a green emission phosphor in a back-lit, normal incidence geometry, and in a front-lit, oblique incidence geometry. We used the photon transfer method to evaluate detector sensitivity and dark noise, and the edge test method to evaluate their spatial resolution. The essential specifications provided by our evaluation include discrete charge events captured per mm 2 per unit exposure surface dose, dark noise in equivalents of charge events per pixel, and spatial resolution in terms of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the detector's line spread function (LSF). Measurements were performed using a tungsten anode X-ray tube at 50 kVp. The results show that the home-built detectors provide better sensitivity and lower noise than the commercial flat panel detector, and some have better spatial resolution. The trade-off is substantially smaller imaging areas. Given their much lower costs, these home-built detectors are attractive options for prototype development of low-dose imaging applications

Digital Story Creation: Its Impact towards Academic Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Ong, Charito G.

2017-01-01

When students are engaged in the process of creating a digital story, they synthesize a variety of literacy skills for the authentic product: researching, writing, organizing, presenting, interviewing, problem-solving, assessing, as well as employing interpersonal and technology skills (Baggett, 2007). With all these skills to be developed among…

Low energy mammogram obtained in contrast-enhanced digital mammography (CEDM) is comparable to routine full-field digital mammography (FFDM)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Francescone, Mark A., E-mail: maf2184@columbia.edu [Columbia University Medical Center, ColumbiaDoctors Midtown, 51 West 51st Street, Suite 300, New York, NY 10019 (United States); Jochelson, Maxine S., E-mail: jochelsm@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Dershaw, D. David, E-mail: dershawd@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Sung, Janice S., E-mail: sungj@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Hughes, Mary C., E-mail: hughesm@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Zheng, Junting, E-mail: zhengj@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Moskowitz, Chaya, E-mail: moskowc1@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 (United States); Morris, Elizabeth A., E-mail: morrise@mskcc.org [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065 (United States)

2014-08-15

Purpose: Contrast enhanced digital mammography (CEDM) uses low energy and high energy exposures to produce a subtracted contrast image. It is currently performed with a standard full-field digital mammogram (FFDM). The purpose is to determine if the low energy image performed after intravenous iodine injection can replace the standard FFDM. Methods: And Materials: In an IRB approved HIPAA compatible study, low-energy CEDM images of 170 breasts in 88 women (ages 26–75; mean 50.3) undergoing evaluation for elevated risk or newly diagnosed breast cancer were compared to standard digital mammograms performed within 6 months. Technical parameters including posterior nipple line (PNL) distance, compression thickness, and compression force on the MLO projection were compared. Mammographic findings were compared qualitatively and quantitatively. Mixed linear regression using generalized estimating equation (GEE) method was performed. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were estimated to assess agreement. Results: No statistical difference was found in the technical parameters compression thickness, PNL distance, compression force (p-values: 0.767, 0.947, 0.089). No difference was found in the measured size of mammographic findings (p-values 0.982–0.988). Grouped calcifications had a mean size/extent of 2.1 cm (SD 0.6) in the low-energy contrast images, and a mean size/extent of 2.2 cm (SD 0.6) in the standard digital mammogram images. Masses had a mean size of 1.8 cm (SD 0.2) in both groups. Calcifications were equally visible on both CEDM and FFDM. Conclusion: Low energy CEDM images are equivalent to standard FFDM despite the presence of intravenous iodinated contrast. Low energy CEDM images may be used for interpretation in place of the FFDM, thereby reducing patient dose.

Low energy mammogram obtained in contrast-enhanced digital mammography (CEDM) is comparable to routine full-field digital mammography (FFDM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Francescone, Mark A.; Jochelson, Maxine S.; Dershaw, D. David; Sung, Janice S.; Hughes, Mary C.; Zheng, Junting; Moskowitz, Chaya; Morris, Elizabeth A.

2014-01-01

Purpose: Contrast enhanced digital mammography (CEDM) uses low energy and high energy exposures to produce a subtracted contrast image. It is currently performed with a standard full-field digital mammogram (FFDM). The purpose is to determine if the low energy image performed after intravenous iodine injection can replace the standard FFDM. Methods: And Materials: In an IRB approved HIPAA compatible study, low-energy CEDM images of 170 breasts in 88 women (ages 26–75; mean 50.3) undergoing evaluation for elevated risk or newly diagnosed breast cancer were compared to standard digital mammograms performed within 6 months. Technical parameters including posterior nipple line (PNL) distance, compression thickness, and compression force on the MLO projection were compared. Mammographic findings were compared qualitatively and quantitatively. Mixed linear regression using generalized estimating equation (GEE) method was performed. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were estimated to assess agreement. Results: No statistical difference was found in the technical parameters compression thickness, PNL distance, compression force (p-values: 0.767, 0.947, 0.089). No difference was found in the measured size of mammographic findings (p-values 0.982–0.988). Grouped calcifications had a mean size/extent of 2.1 cm (SD 0.6) in the low-energy contrast images, and a mean size/extent of 2.2 cm (SD 0.6) in the standard digital mammogram images. Masses had a mean size of 1.8 cm (SD 0.2) in both groups. Calcifications were equally visible on both CEDM and FFDM. Conclusion: Low energy CEDM images are equivalent to standard FFDM despite the presence of intravenous iodinated contrast. Low energy CEDM images may be used for interpretation in place of the FFDM, thereby reducing patient dose

System for objective assessment of image differences in digital cinema

Science.gov (United States)

Fliegel, Karel; Krasula, Lukáš; Páta, Petr; Myslík, Jiří; Pecák, Josef; Jícha, Marek

2014-09-01

There is high demand for quick digitization and subsequent image restoration of archived film records. Digitization is very urgent in many cases because various invaluable pieces of cultural heritage are stored on aging media. Only selected records can be reconstructed perfectly using painstaking manual or semi-automatic procedures. This paper aims to answer the question what are the quality requirements on the restoration process in order to obtain acceptably close visual perception of the digitally restored film in comparison to the original analog film copy. This knowledge is very important to preserve the original artistic intention of the movie producers. Subjective experiment with artificially distorted images has been conducted in order to answer the question what is the visual impact of common image distortions in digital cinema. Typical color and contrast distortions were introduced and test images were presented to viewers using digital projector. Based on the outcome of this subjective evaluation a system for objective assessment of image distortions has been developed and its performance tested. The system utilizes calibrated digital single-lens reflex camera and subsequent analysis of suitable features of images captured from the projection screen. The evaluation of captured image data has been optimized in order to obtain predicted differences between the reference and distorted images while achieving high correlation with the results of subjective assessment. The system can be used to objectively determine the difference between analog film and digital cinema images on the projection screen.

Simulation and Measurement of the Transmission Distortions of the Digital Television DVB-T/H Part 2: Hierarchical Modulation Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Stukavec

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the second part of results of the Czech Science Foundation research project that was aimed into the simulation and measurement of the transmission distortions of the digital terrestrial television according to DVB-T/H standards. In this part the hierarchical modulation performance characteristics and its simulation and laboratory measurements are presented. The paper deals with the hierarchical oriented COFDM modulator for the digital terrestrial television transmission and DVB-T/H standards and possible utilization of this technique in real broadcasting scenarios – fixed, portable and mobile digital TV, all in one TV channel. Impact of the hierarchical modulation on Modulation Error Rate from I/Q constellations and Bit Error Rates before and after Viterbi decoding in DVB-T/H signal decoding are evaluated and discussed.

The Impact of Digital Financial Services on Firm's Performance : A Literature Review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abbasi, Tariq; Weigand, Hans

Digital Financial Services continue to expand and replace the delivery of traditional banking services to the customers through innovative technologies to meet the growing complex needs and globalization challenges. These diversified digital products help the organizations (service providers) to

Environmental testing of an experimental digital safety channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korsah, K.; Tanaka, T.J.; Wilson, T.L. Jr.; Wood, R.T.

1996-09-01

This document presents the results of environmental stress tests performed on an experimental digital safety channel (EDSC) assembled at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as part of the NRC-sponsored Qualification of Advanced Instrumentation and Controls (W) System program. The objective of this study is to investigate failure modes and vulnerabilities of microprocessor-based technologies when subjected to environmental stressors. The study contributes to the technical basis for environmental qualification of safety-related digital I ampersand C systems. The EDSC employs technologies and digital subsystems representative of those proposed for use in advanced light-water reactors (ALWRs) or for retrofits in existing plants. Subsystems include computers, electrical and optical serial communication links, fiber-optic network links, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, and multiplexers. The EDSC was subjected to selected stressors that are a potential risk to digital equipment in a mild environment. The selected stressors were electromagnetic and radio-frequency interference (EMYRFI), temperature, humidity, and smoke exposure. The stressors were applied over ranges that were considerably higher than what the channel is likely to experience in a normal nuclear power plant environment. Ranges of stress were selected at a sufficiently high level to induce errors so that failure modes that are characteristic of the technologies employed could be identified

Sonographic evaluation of digital annular pulley tears

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinoli, C.; Derchi, L.E.; Bianchi, S.; Garcia, J.F.; Nebiolo, M.

2000-01-01

Objective. To evaluate the sonographic (US) appearance of digital annular pulley (DAP) tears in high-level rock climbers. Design and patients. We performed a retrospective analysis of the US examinations of 16 high-level rock climbers with clinical signs of DAP lesions. MRI and surgical evaluation were performed in five and three patients respectively. The normal US and MRI appearances of DAP were evaluated in 40 and three normal fingers respectively. Results. Nine of 16 patients presented a DAP tear. In eight subjects (seven with complete tears involving the fourth finger and one the fifth finger), US diagnosis was based on the indirect sign of volar bowstringing of the flexor tendons. Injured pulleys were not appreciated by US. Tears concerned the A2 and A3 in six patients and the A3 and A4 in two patients. A2 pulley thickening and hypoechogenicity compatible with a partial tear was demonstrated in one patient. MRI and surgical data correlated well with the US findings. Four patients had tenosynovitis of the flexor tendons but no evidence of pulley disruption. US examinations of three patients were normal. In the healthy subjects US demonstrated DAP in 16 of 40 digits. Conclusion. US can diagnose DAP tears and correlates with the MRI and surgical data. Because of its low cost and non-invasiveness we suggest US as the first imaging modality in the evaluation of injuries of the digital pulley. (orig.)

Sonographic evaluation of digital annular pulley tears

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinoli, C.; Derchi, L.E. [Istituto di Radiologia, Universita di Genova, Genoa (Italy); Bianchi, S.; Garcia, J.F. [Dept. de Radiologie, Hopital Cantonal Universitaire de Geneve (Switzerland); Nebiolo, M. [Reparto Pronto Soccorso Medico, Pietra Ligure (Italy)

2000-07-01

Objective. To evaluate the sonographic (US) appearance of digital annular pulley (DAP) tears in high-level rock climbers. Design and patients. We performed a retrospective analysis of the US examinations of 16 high-level rock climbers with clinical signs of DAP lesions. MRI and surgical evaluation were performed in five and three patients respectively. The normal US and MRI appearances of DAP were evaluated in 40 and three normal fingers respectively. Results. Nine of 16 patients presented a DAP tear. In eight subjects (seven with complete tears involving the fourth finger and one the fifth finger), US diagnosis was based on the indirect sign of volar bowstringing of the flexor tendons. Injured pulleys were not appreciated by US. Tears concerned the A2 and A3 in six patients and the A3 and A4 in two patients. A2 pulley thickening and hypoechogenicity compatible with a partial tear was demonstrated in one patient. MRI and surgical data correlated well with the US findings. Four patients had tenosynovitis of the flexor tendons but no evidence of pulley disruption. US examinations of three patients were normal. In the healthy subjects US demonstrated DAP in 16 of 40 digits. Conclusion. US can diagnose DAP tears and correlates with the MRI and surgical data. Because of its low cost and non-invasiveness we suggest US as the first imaging modality in the evaluation of injuries of the digital pulley. (orig.)

An overview of digital radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aweligiba, S. A.

2013-04-01

The medical application of radiography has gained wider study since diagnostic radiology plays a very important role in modern medicine for fast diagnosis and therapy. Digital radiography is a relatively new technology that promises greater accuracy, lesser dose and better manipulation of patient radiology images in hospitals. In this study, a general discussion on digital radiography has been presented. The presentation focuses on the optimisation of doses to patients in the medical application of digital radiography, quality control and quality assurance. A brief presentation on performance indicators in digital radiography has also been presented. The advantages of digital radiography over the conventional film/screen system have been elaborated and its limitations are also outlined. (author)

A simple method of digitizing analog scintigrams for quantification and digital archiving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schramm, M.; Kaempfer, B.; Wolf, H.; Clausen, M.; Wendhausen, H.; Henze, E.

1993-01-01

This study was undertaken to evaluate a quick, reliable and cheap method of digitizing analog scintigrams. 40 whole-body bone scintigrams were obtained simultaneously in analog and genuine digital format. The analog scans on X-ray film were then digitized seecondarily by three different methods: 300 dpi flatbed scanning, high-resolution camera scanning and camcorder recording. A simple exposure approach using a light box, a cheap camcorder, a PC and image grabber hard- and software proved to be optimal. Visual interpretation showed no differences in clinical findings when comparing the analog images with their secondarily digitized counterparts. To test the possibility of quantification, 126 equivalent ROIs were drawn both in the genuine digital and the secondarily digitized images. Comparing the ROI count to whole-body count percentage of the corresponding ROIs showed the correlation to be linear. The evaluation of phantom studies showed the linear correlation to be true within a wide activity range. Thus, secondary digitalization of analog scintigrams is an easy, cheap and reliable method of archiving images and allows secondary digital quantification. (orig.) [de

[A simple method of digitizing analog scintigrams for quantification and digital archiving].

Science.gov (United States)

Schramm, M; Kämpfer, B; Wolf, H; Clausen, M; Wendhausen, H; Henze, E

1993-02-01

This study was undertaken to evaluate a quick, reliable and cheap method of digitizing analog scintigrams. 40 whole-body bone scintigrams were obtained simultaneously in analog and genuine digital format. The analog scans on x-ray film were then digitized secondarily by three different methods: 300 dpi flat-bed scanning, high-resolution camera scanning and camcorder recording. A simple exposure approach using a light box, a cheap camcorder, a PC and image grabber hard- and software proved to be optimal. Visual interpretation showed no differences in clinical findings when comparing the analog images with their secondarily digitized counterparts. To test the possibility of quantification, 126 equivalent ROIs were drawn both in the genuine digital and the secondarily digitized images. Comparing the ROI count to whole-body count percentage of the corresponding ROIs showed the correlation to be linear. The evaluation of phantom studies showed the linear correlation to be true within a wide activity range. Thus, secondary digitalization of analog scintigrams is an easy, cheap and reliable method of archiving images and allows secondary digital quantification.

Digital Marketing and the Pillars of Shopper Experience

OpenAIRE

NEGRICEA, Costel Iliuta; PURCAREA, Ioan Matei

2014-01-01

We already live in a world of digital empowered intelligent customers, of digital products, of digital business operations and digital competitors. The fierce competition forces firms to exploit digital technologies, to have profound knowledge, to focus on market imperatives and to demonstrate a deep commitment to these digital empowered intelligent customers that disrupts every industry. Advantaged are the companies that master relevant data flow and improve the performance of employees who ...

New directions in pediatric digital imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fletcher, B.D.; Adams, R.B.; Blackham, W.C.

1985-01-01

In this chapter the authors describe several simple experiments performed utilizing digital equipment which apply to clinical situations in pediatrics and which suggest future directions for research in digital imaging. They also discuss experimental systems which they believe will overcome certain limitations of current equipment and might be applicable to pediatric digital imaging in the future

Digital frequency offset-locked He–Ne laser system with high beat frequency stability, narrow optical linewidth and optical fibre output

Science.gov (United States)

Sternkopf, Christian; Manske, Eberhard

2018-06-01

We report on the enhancement of a previously-presented heterodyne laser source on the basis of two phase-locked loop (PLL) frequency coupled internal-mirror He–Ne lasers. Our new system consists of two digitally controlled He–Ne lasers with slightly different wavelengths, and offers high-frequency stability and very narrow optical linewidth. The digitally controlled system has been realized by using a FPGA controller and transconductance amplifiers. The light of both lasers was coupled into separate fibres for heterodyne interferometer applications. To enhance the laser performance we observed the sensitivity of both laser tubes to electromagnetic noise from various laser power supplies and frequency control systems. Furthermore, we describe how the linewidth of a frequency-controlled He–Ne laser can be reduced during precise frequency stabilisation. The digitally controlled laser source reaches a standard beat frequency deviation of less than 20 Hz (with 1 s gate time) and a spectral full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the beat signal less than 3 kHz. The laser source has enough optical output power to serve a fibre-coupled multi axis heterodyne interferometer. The system can be adjusted to output beat frequencies in the range of 0.1 MHz–20 MHz.

A digital variable persistence oscilloscope for gamma cameras

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fenwick, J.D.; Thompson, A.

1981-01-01

The system briefly described is intended as a direct replacement for the analogue persistence oscilloscope, particularly in systems without a computer processor. It uses digital and video techniques to produce an image quality suitable for use in positioning patients under the camera at a low cost (total cost of materials used, Pound500). The performance is superior to the analogue oscilloscope in that the image is displayed with 16 shades of grey. It incorporates an automatic brightness control which ensures that the image does not saturate at high count density, and the saturation can be changed manually allowing areas of low counts to be examined in the presence of high counts. The digital inability to store each single event as a dot which fades exponentially with time has been solved by adding each event into the appropriate cell of a digital display matrix, and then periodically dividing the contents of each image cell by two. The cells are addressed and divided in a pseudo-random pattern so that, to the observer, the whole image appears to fade smoothly and evenly. (U.K.)

High-Performance Data Converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steensgaard-Madsen, Jesper

-resolution internal D/A converters are required. Unit-element mismatch-shaping D/A converters are analyzed, and the concept of mismatch-shaping is generalized to include scaled-element D/A converters. Several types of scaled-element mismatch-shaping D/A converters are proposed. Simulations show that, when implemented...... in a standard CMOS technology, they can be designed to yield 100 dB performance at 10 times oversampling. The proposed scaled-element mismatch-shaping D/A converters are well suited for use as the feedback stage in oversampled delta-sigma quantizers. It is, however, not easy to make full use of their potential......-order difference of the output signal from the loop filter's first integrator stage. This technique avoids the need for accurate matching of analog and digital filters that characterizes the MASH topology, and it preserves the signal-band suppression of quantization errors. Simulations show that quantizers...