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Sample records for synthetic low-frequency mammalian

  1. Mammalian synthetic biology: emerging medical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kis, Zoltán; Pereira, Hugo Sant'Ana; Homma, Takayuki; Pedrigi, Ryan M; Krams, Rob

    2015-05-06

    In this review, we discuss new emerging medical applications of the rapidly evolving field of mammalian synthetic biology. We start with simple mammalian synthetic biological components and move towards more complex and therapy-oriented gene circuits. A comprehensive list of ON-OFF switches, categorized into transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational and post-translational, is presented in the first sections. Subsequently, Boolean logic gates, synthetic mammalian oscillators and toggle switches will be described. Several synthetic gene networks are further reviewed in the medical applications section, including cancer therapy gene circuits, immuno-regulatory networks, among others. The final sections focus on the applicability of synthetic gene networks to drug discovery, drug delivery, receptor-activating gene circuits and mammalian biomanufacturing processes. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  2. Synthetic RNA Controllers for Programming Mammalian Cell Fate and Function

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-11-04

    Final report for “Synthetic RNA controllers for programming mammalian cell fate and function” Principal Investigator: Christina D. Smolke...SUBTITLE Synthetic RNA controllers for programming mammalian cell fate and function 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER...Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18   2 Synthetic RNA controllers for programming mammalian cell fate and function Task 1

  3. Mammalian Synthetic Biology: Engineering Biological Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Black, Joshua B; Perez-Pinera, Pablo; Gersbach, Charles A

    2017-06-21

    The programming of new functions into mammalian cells has tremendous application in research and medicine. Continued improvements in the capacity to sequence and synthesize DNA have rapidly increased our understanding of mechanisms of gene function and regulation on a genome-wide scale and have expanded the set of genetic components available for programming cell biology. The invention of new research tools, including targetable DNA-binding systems such as CRISPR/Cas9 and sensor-actuator devices that can recognize and respond to diverse chemical, mechanical, and optical inputs, has enabled precise control of complex cellular behaviors at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. These tools have been critical for the expansion of synthetic biology techniques from prokaryotic and lower eukaryotic hosts to mammalian systems. Recent progress in the development of genome and epigenome editing tools and in the engineering of designer cells with programmable genetic circuits is expanding approaches to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease and to establish personalized theranostic strategies for next-generation medicines. This review summarizes the development of these enabling technologies and their application to transforming mammalian synthetic biology into a distinct field in research and medicine.

  4. Mammalian Synthetic Biology: Time for Big MACs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martella, Andrea; Pollard, Steven M; Dai, Junbiao; Cai, Yizhi

    2016-10-21

    The enabling technologies of synthetic biology are opening up new opportunities for engineering and enhancement of mammalian cells. This will stimulate diverse applications in many life science sectors such as regenerative medicine, development of biosensing cell lines, therapeutic protein production, and generation of new synthetic genetic regulatory circuits. Harnessing the full potential of these new engineering-based approaches requires the design and assembly of large DNA constructs-potentially up to chromosome scale-and the effective delivery of these large DNA payloads to the host cell. Random integration of large transgenes, encoding therapeutic proteins or genetic circuits into host chromosomes, has several drawbacks such as risks of insertional mutagenesis, lack of control over transgene copy-number and position-specific effects; these can compromise the intended functioning of genetic circuits. The development of a system orthogonal to the endogenous genome is therefore beneficial. Mammalian artificial chromosomes (MACs) are functional, add-on chromosomal elements, which behave as normal chromosomes-being replicating and portioned to daughter cells at each cell division. They are deployed as useful gene expression vectors as they remain independent from the host genome. MACs are maintained as a single-copy and can accommodate multiple gene expression cassettes of, in theory, unlimited DNA size (MACs up to 10 megabases have been constructed). MACs therefore enabled control over ectopic gene expression and represent an excellent platform to rapidly prototype and characterize novel synthetic gene circuits without recourse to engineering the host genome. This review describes the obstacles synthetic biologists face when working with mammalian systems and how the development of improved MACs can overcome these-particularly given the spectacular advances in DNA synthesis and assembly that are fuelling this research area.

  5. [Research progress of mammalian synthetic biology in biomedical field].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Linfeng; Yin, Jianli; Wang, Meiyan; Ye, Haifeng

    2017-03-25

    Although still in its infant stage, synthetic biology has achieved remarkable development and progress during the past decade. Synthetic biology applies engineering principles to design and construct gene circuits uploaded into living cells or organisms to perform novel or improved functions, and it has been widely used in many fields. In this review, we describe the recent advances of mammalian synthetic biology for the treatment of diseases. We introduce common tools and design principles of synthetic gene circuits, and then we demonstrate open-loop gene circuits induced by different trigger molecules used in disease diagnosis and close-loop gene circuits used for biomedical applications. Finally, we discuss the perspectives and potential challenges of synthetic biology for clinical applications.

  6. A mammalianized synthetic nitroreductase gene for high-level expression

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grohmann, Maik; Paulmann, Nils; Fleischhauer, Sebastian; Vowinckel, Jakob; Priller, Josef; Walther, Diego J

    2009-01-01

    The nitroreductase/5-(azaridin-1-yl)-2,4-dinitrobenzamide (NTR/CB1954) enzyme/prodrug system is considered as a promising candidate for anti-cancer strategies by gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT) and has recently entered clinical trials. It requires the genetic modification of tumor cells to express the E. coli enzyme nitroreductase that bioactivates the prodrug CB1954 to a powerful cytotoxin. This metabolite causes apoptotic cell death by DNA interstrand crosslinking. Enhancing the enzymatic NTR activity for CB1954 should improve the therapeutical potential of this enzyme-prodrug combination in cancer gene therapy. We performed de novo synthesis of the bacterial nitroreductase gene adapting codon usage to mammalian preferences. The synthetic gene was investigated for its expression efficacy and ability to sensitize mammalian cells to CB1954 using western blotting analysis and cytotoxicity assays. In our study, we detected cytoplasmic protein aggregates by expressing GFP-tagged NTR in COS-7 cells, suggesting an impaired translation by divergent codon usage between prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Therefore, we generated a synthetic variant of the nitroreductase gene, called ntro, adapted for high-level expression in mammalian cells. A total of 144 silent base substitutions were made within the bacterial ntr gene to change its codon usage to mammalian preferences. The codon-optimized ntro either tagged to gfp or c-myc showed higher expression levels in mammalian cell lines. Furthermore, the ntro rendered several cell lines ten times more sensitive to the prodrug CB1954 and also resulted in an improved bystander effect. Our results show that codon optimization overcomes expression limitations of the bacterial ntr gene in mammalian cells, thereby improving the NTR/CB1954 system at translational level for cancer gene therapy in humans

  7. Mammalian synthetic biology for studying the cell.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathur, Melina; Xiang, Joy S; Smolke, Christina D

    2017-01-02

    Synthetic biology is advancing the design of genetic devices that enable the study of cellular and molecular biology in mammalian cells. These genetic devices use diverse regulatory mechanisms to both examine cellular processes and achieve precise and dynamic control of cellular phenotype. Synthetic biology tools provide novel functionality to complement the examination of natural cell systems, including engineered molecules with specific activities and model systems that mimic complex regulatory processes. Continued development of quantitative standards and computational tools will expand capacities to probe cellular mechanisms with genetic devices to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the cell. In this study, we review synthetic biology tools that are being applied to effectively investigate diverse cellular processes, regulatory networks, and multicellular interactions. We also discuss current challenges and future developments in the field that may transform the types of investigation possible in cell biology. © 2017 Mathur et al.

  8. Synthetic Biology Platform for Sensing and Integrating Endogenous Transcriptional Inputs in Mammalian Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angelici, Bartolomeo; Mailand, Erik; Haefliger, Benjamin; Benenson, Yaakov

    2016-08-30

    One of the goals of synthetic biology is to develop programmable artificial gene networks that can transduce multiple endogenous molecular cues to precisely control cell behavior. Realizing this vision requires interfacing natural molecular inputs with synthetic components that generate functional molecular outputs. Interfacing synthetic circuits with endogenous mammalian transcription factors has been particularly difficult. Here, we describe a systematic approach that enables integration and transduction of multiple mammalian transcription factor inputs by a synthetic network. The approach is facilitated by a proportional amplifier sensor based on synergistic positive autoregulation. The circuits efficiently transduce endogenous transcription factor levels into RNAi, transcriptional transactivation, and site-specific recombination. They also enable AND logic between pairs of arbitrary transcription factors. The results establish a framework for developing synthetic gene networks that interface with cellular processes through transcriptional regulators. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Frequency Stability Enhancement for Low Inertia Systems using Synthetic Inertia of Wind Power

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nguyen, Ha Thi; Yang, Guangya; Nielsen, Arne Hejde

    2017-01-01

    stability, this paper proposes supplementary control methods to implement synthetic inertia for doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind energy system during frequency excursions. Different control strategies and activation schemes are analyzed and implemented on the Western Danish renewable......-based system using-real time digital simulator (RTDS) to propose the best one for the synthetic inertia controller. From the comparative simulation results, it can be concluded that the method using a combination of both the frequency deviation and derivative as input signals, and the under-frequency trigger...

  10. A second, low-frequency mode of vibration in the intact mammalian cochlea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lukashkin, Andrei N; Russell, Ian J

    2003-03-01

    The mammalian cochlea is a structure comprising a number of components connected by elastic elements. A mechanical system of this kind is expected to have multiple normal modes of oscillation and associated resonances. The guinea pig cochlear mechanics was probed using distortion components generated in the cochlea close to the place of overlap between two tones presented simultaneously. Otoacoustic emissions at frequencies of the distortion components were recorded in the ear canal. The phase behavior of the emissions reveals the presence of a nonlinear resonance at a frequency about a half octave below that of the high-frequency primary tone. The location of the resonance is level dependent and the resonance shifts to lower frequencies with increasing stimulus intensity. This resonance is thought to be associated with the tectorial membrane. The resonance tends to minimize input to the cochlear receptor cells at frequencies below the high-frequency primary and increases the dynamic load to the stereocilia of the receptor cells at the primary frequency when the tectorial membrane and reticular lamina move in counterphase.

  11. A platform for rapid prototyping of synthetic gene networks in mammalian cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duportet, Xavier; Wroblewska, Liliana; Guye, Patrick; Li, Yinqing; Eyquem, Justin; Rieders, Julianne; Rimchala, Tharathorn; Batt, Gregory; Weiss, Ron

    2014-01-01

    Mammalian synthetic biology may provide novel therapeutic strategies, help decipher new paths for drug discovery and facilitate synthesis of valuable molecules. Yet, our capacity to genetically program cells is currently hampered by the lack of efficient approaches to streamline the design, construction and screening of synthetic gene networks. To address this problem, here we present a framework for modular and combinatorial assembly of functional (multi)gene expression vectors and their efficient and specific targeted integration into a well-defined chromosomal context in mammalian cells. We demonstrate the potential of this framework by assembling and integrating different functional mammalian regulatory networks including the largest gene circuit built and chromosomally integrated to date (6 transcription units, 27kb) encoding an inducible memory device. Using a library of 18 different circuits as a proof of concept, we also demonstrate that our method enables one-pot/single-flask chromosomal integration and screening of circuit libraries. This rapid and powerful prototyping platform is well suited for comparative studies of genetic regulatory elements, genes and multi-gene circuits as well as facile development of libraries of isogenic engineered cell lines. PMID:25378321

  12. Synthetic biology in mammalian cells: Next generation research tools and therapeutics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lienert, Florian; Lohmueller, Jason J; Garg, Abhishek; Silver, Pamela A

    2014-01-01

    Recent progress in DNA manipulation and gene circuit engineering has greatly improved our ability to programme and probe mammalian cell behaviour. These advances have led to a new generation of synthetic biology research tools and potential therapeutic applications. Programmable DNA-binding domains and RNA regulators are leading to unprecedented control of gene expression and elucidation of gene function. Rebuilding complex biological circuits such as T cell receptor signalling in isolation from their natural context has deepened our understanding of network motifs and signalling pathways. Synthetic biology is also leading to innovative therapeutic interventions based on cell-based therapies, protein drugs, vaccines and gene therapies. PMID:24434884

  13. Generation of a synthetic mammalian promoter library by modification of sequences spacing transcription factor binding sites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tornøe, Jens; Kusk, P.; Johansen, T.E.

    2002-01-01

    The development of a set of synthetic mammalian promoters with different specific activities is described. The library is based on a synthetic promoter, JeT, constructed as a 200 bp chimeric promoter built from fragments of the viral SV40 early promoter and the human beta-actin and ubiquitin C...

  14. Genetic control of mammalian T-cell proliferation with synthetic RNA regulatory systems

    OpenAIRE

    Chen, Yvonne Y.; Jensen, Michael C.; Smolke, Christina D.

    2010-01-01

    RNA molecules perform diverse regulatory functions in natural biological systems, and numerous synthetic RNA-based control devices that integrate sensing and gene-regulatory functions have been demonstrated, predominantly in bacteria and yeast. Despite potential advantages of RNA-based genetic control strategies in clinical applications, there has been limited success in extending engineered RNA devices to mammalian gene-expression control and no example of their application to functional res...

  15. Time-frequency analysis of submerged synthetic jet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Abhay; Saha, Arun K.; Panigrahi, P. K.

    2017-12-01

    The coherent structures transport the finite body of fluid mass through rolling which plays an important role in heat transfer, boundary layer control, mixing, cooling, propulsion and other engineering applications. A synthetic jet in the form of a train of vortex rings having coherent structures of different length scales is expected to be useful in these applications. The propagation and sustainability of these coherent structures (vortex rings) in downstream direction characterize the performance of synthetic jet. In the present study, the velocity signal acquired using the S-type hot-film probe along the synthetic jet centerline has been taken for the spectral analysis. One circular and three rectangular orifices of aspect ratio 1, 2 and 4 actuating at 1, 6 and 18 Hz frequency have been used for creating different synthetic jets. The laser induced fluorescence images are used to study the flow structures qualitatively and help in explaining the velocity signal for detection of coherent structures. The study depicts four regions as vortex rollup and suction region (X/D h ≤ 3), steadily translating region (X/D h ≤ 3-8), vortex breakup region (X/Dh ≤ 4-8) and dissipation of small-scale vortices (X/D h ≤ 8-15). The presence of coherent structures localized in physical and temporal domain is analyzed for the characterization of synthetic jet. Due to pulsatile nature of synthetic jet, analysis of velocity time trace or signal in time, frequency and combined time-frequency domain assist in characterizing the signatures of coherent structures. It has been observed that the maximum energy is in the first harmonic of actuation frequency, which decreases slowly in downstream direction at 6 Hz compared to 1 and 18 Hz of actuation.

  16. Generation of a synthetic mammalian promoter library by modification of sequences spacing transcription factor binding sites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tornøe, Jens; Kusk, P.; Johansen, T.E.

    2002-01-01

    The development of a set of synthetic mammalian promoters with different specific activities is described. The library is based on a synthetic promoter, JeT, constructed as a 200 bp chimeric promoter built from fragments of the viral SV40 early promoter and the human beta-actin and ubiquitin C......, was obtained. The measured activity of each promoter in the library was highly specific and reproducible when tested in HiB5 and ARPE-19 cell culture....

  17. Synthetic mRNA devices that detect endogenous proteins and distinguish mammalian cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawasaki, Shunsuke; Fujita, Yoshihiko; Nagaike, Takashi; Tomita, Kozo; Saito, Hirohide

    2017-07-07

    Synthetic biology has great potential for future therapeutic applications including autonomous cell programming through the detection of protein signals and the production of desired outputs. Synthetic RNA devices are promising for this purpose. However, the number of available devices is limited due to the difficulty in the detection of endogenous proteins within a cell. Here, we show a strategy to construct synthetic mRNA devices that detect endogenous proteins in living cells, control translation and distinguish cell types. We engineered protein-binding aptamers that have increased stability in the secondary structures of their active conformation. The designed devices can efficiently respond to target proteins including human LIN28A and U1A proteins, while the original aptamers failed to do so. Moreover, mRNA delivery of an LIN28A-responsive device into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) revealed that we can distinguish living hiPSCs and differentiated cells by quantifying endogenous LIN28A protein expression level. Thus, our endogenous protein-driven RNA devices determine live-cell states and program mammalian cells based on intracellular protein information. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  18. Multi element synthetic aperture transmission using a frequency division approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gran, Fredrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2003-01-01

    transmitted into the tissue is low. This paper describes a novel method in which the available spectrum is divided into 2N overlapping subbands. This will assure a smooth broadband high resolution spectrum when combined. The signals are grouped into two subsets in which all signals are fully orthogonal...... can therefore be used for flow imaging, unlike with Hadamard and Golay coding. The frequency division approach increases the SNR by a factor of N2 compared to conventional pulsed synthetic aperture imaging, provided that N transmission centers are used. Simulations and phantom measurements...

  19. Prediction of broadband ground-motion time histories: Hybrid low/high-frequency method with correlated random source parameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, P.; Archuleta, R.J.; Hartzell, S.H.

    2006-01-01

    We present a new method for calculating broadband time histories of ground motion based on a hybrid low-frequency/high-frequency approach with correlated source parameters. Using a finite-difference method we calculate low- frequency synthetics (structure. We also compute broadband synthetics in a 1D velocity model using a frequency-wavenumber method. The low frequencies from the 3D calculation are combined with the high frequencies from the 1D calculation by using matched filtering at a crossover frequency of 1 Hz. The source description, common to both the 1D and 3D synthetics, is based on correlated random distributions for the slip amplitude, rupture velocity, and rise time on the fault. This source description allows for the specification of source parameters independent of any a priori inversion results. In our broadband modeling we include correlation between slip amplitude, rupture velocity, and rise time, as suggested by dynamic fault modeling. The method of using correlated random source parameters is flexible and can be easily modified to adjust to our changing understanding of earthquake ruptures. A realistic attenuation model is common to both the 3D and 1D calculations that form the low- and high-frequency components of the broadband synthetics. The value of Q is a function of the local shear-wave velocity. To produce more accurate high-frequency amplitudes and durations, the 1D synthetics are corrected with a randomized, frequency-dependent radiation pattern. The 1D synthetics are further corrected for local site and nonlinear soil effects by using a 1D nonlinear propagation code and generic velocity structure appropriate for the site’s National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) site classification. The entire procedure is validated by comparison with the 1994 Northridge, California, strong ground motion data set. The bias and error found here for response spectral acceleration are similar to the best results that have been published by

  20. Fringe counting method for synthetic phase with frequency-modulated laser diodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Onodera, Ribun; Sakuyama, Munechika; Ishii, Yukihiro

    2007-01-01

    Fringe counting method with laser diodes (LDs) for displacement measurement has been constructed. Two LDs are frequency modulated by mutually inverted sawtooth currents on an unbalanced two-beam interferometer. The mutually inverted sawtooth-current modulation of LDs produces interference fringe signals with opposite signs for respective wavelengths. The two fringe signals are fed to an electronic mixer to produce a synthetic fringe signal with a reduced sensitivity to the synthetic wavelength. Synthetic fringe pulses derived from the synthetic fringe signal make a fringe counting system possible for faster movement of the tested mirror

  1. Towards a synthetic chloroplast.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christina M Agapakis

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The evolution of eukaryotic cells is widely agreed to have proceeded through a series of endosymbiotic events between larger cells and proteobacteria or cyanobacteria, leading to the formation of mitochondria or chloroplasts, respectively. Engineered endosymbiotic relationships between different species of cells are a valuable tool for synthetic biology, where engineered pathways based on two species could take advantage of the unique abilities of each mutualistic partner.We explored the possibility of using the photosynthetic bacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 as a platform for studying evolutionary dynamics and for designing two-species synthetic biological systems. We observed that the cyanobacteria were relatively harmless to eukaryotic host cells compared to Escherichia coli when injected into the embryos of zebrafish, Danio rerio, or taken up by mammalian macrophages. In addition, when engineered with invasin from Yersinia pestis and listeriolysin O from Listeria monocytogenes, S. elongatus was able to invade cultured mammalian cells and divide inside macrophages.Our results show that it is possible to engineer photosynthetic bacteria to invade the cytoplasm of mammalian cells for further engineering and applications in synthetic biology. Engineered invasive but non-pathogenic or immunogenic photosynthetic bacteria have great potential as synthetic biological devices.

  2. YSAR: a compact low-cost synthetic aperture radar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Douglas G.; Arnold, David V.; Long, David G.; Miner, Gayle F.; Karlinsey, Thomas W.; Robertson, Adam E.

    1997-09-01

    The Brigham Young University Synthetic Aperture Radar (YSAR) is a compact, inexpensive SAR system which can be flown on a small aircraft. The system has exhibited a resolution of approximately 0.8 m by 0.8 m in test flights in calm conditions. YSAR has been used to collect data over archeological sites in Israel. Using a relatively low frequency (2.1 GHz), we hope to be able to identify walls or other archeological features to assist in excavation. A large data set of radar and photographic data have been collected over sites at Tel Safi, Qumran, Tel Micnah, and the Zippori National Forest in Israel. We show sample images from the archeological data. We are currently working on improved autofocus algorithms for this data and are developing a small, low-cost interferometric SAR system (YINSAR) for operation from a small aircraft.

  3. Experimental Investigation on Frequency Characteristics of Plasma Synthetic Jets

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zong, H.; Kotsonis, M.

    2017-01-01

    The performance of a two–electrode plasma synthetic jet actuator (PSJA) is investigated for a wide range of dimensionless actuation frequencies (f*) using high-speed phase-locked Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) measurements. The jet-induced velocity fields in the

  4. Low-frequency sound exposure causes reversible long-term changes of cochlear transfer characteristics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drexl, Markus; Otto, Larissa; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Marquardt, Torsten; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike

    2016-02-01

    Intense, low-frequency sound presented to the mammalian cochlea induces temporary changes of cochlear sensitivity, for which the term 'Bounce' phenomenon has been coined. Typical manifestations are slow oscillations of hearing thresholds or the level of otoacoustic emissions. It has been suggested that these alterations are caused by changes of the mechano-electrical transducer transfer function of outer hair cells (OHCs). Shape estimates of this transfer function can be derived from low-frequency-biased distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE). Here, we tracked the transfer function estimates before and after triggering a cochlear Bounce. Specifically, cubic DPOAEs, modulated by a low-frequency biasing tone, were followed over time before and after induction of the cochlear Bounce. Most subjects showed slow, biphasic changes of the transfer function estimates after low-frequency sound exposure relative to the preceding control period. Our data show that the operating point changes biphasically on the transfer function with an initial shift away from the inflection point followed by a shift towards the inflection point before returning to baseline values. Changes in transfer function and operating point lasted for about 180 s. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that intense, low-frequency sound disturbs regulatory mechanisms in OHCs. The homeostatic readjustment of these mechanisms after low-frequency offset is reflected in slow oscillations of the estimated transfer functions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Isoflurane Impairs Low-Frequency Feedback but Leaves High-Frequency Feedforward Connectivity Intact in the Fly Brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Dror; van Swinderen, Bruno; Tsuchiya, Naotsugu

    2018-01-01

    Hierarchically organized brains communicate through feedforward (FF) and feedback (FB) pathways. In mammals, FF and FB are mediated by higher and lower frequencies during wakefulness. FB is preferentially impaired by general anesthetics in multiple mammalian species. This suggests FB serves critical functions in waking brains. The brain of Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) is also hierarchically organized, but the presence of FB in these brains is not established. Here, we studied FB in the fly brain, by simultaneously recording local field potentials (LFPs) from low-order peripheral structures and higher-order central structures. We analyzed the data using Granger causality (GC), the first application of this analysis technique to recordings from the insect brain. Our analysis revealed that low frequencies (0.1-5 Hz) mediated FB from the center to the periphery, while higher frequencies (10-45 Hz) mediated FF in the opposite direction. Further, isoflurane anesthesia preferentially reduced FB. Our results imply that the spectral characteristics of FF and FB may be a signature of hierarchically organized brains that is conserved from insects to mammals. We speculate that general anesthetics may induce unresponsiveness across species by targeting the mechanisms that support FB.

  6. Quantitative Analyses of Core Promoters Enable Precise Engineering of Regulated Gene Expression in Mammalian Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ede, Christopher; Chen, Ximin; Lin, Meng-Yin; Chen, Yvonne Y.

    2016-01-01

    Inducible transcription systems play a crucial role in a wide array of synthetic biology circuits. However, the majority of inducible promoters are constructed from a limited set of tried-and-true promoter parts, which are susceptible to common shortcomings such as high basal expression levels (i.e., leakiness). To expand the toolbox for regulated mammalian gene expression and facilitate the construction of mammalian genetic circuits with precise functionality, we quantitatively characterized a panel of eight core promoters, including sequences with mammalian, viral, and synthetic origins. We demonstrate that this selection of core promoters can provide a wide range of basal gene expression levels and achieve a gradient of fold-inductions spanning two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, commonly used parts such as minimal CMV and minimal SV40 promoters were shown to achieve robust gene expression upon induction, but also suffer from high levels of leakiness. In contrast, a synthetic promoter, YB_TATA, was shown to combine low basal expression with high transcription rate in the induced state to achieve significantly higher fold-induction ratios compared to all other promoters tested. These behaviors remain consistent when the promoters are coupled to different genetic outputs and different response elements, as well as across different host-cell types and DNA copy numbers. We apply this quantitative understanding of core promoter properties to the successful engineering of human T cells that respond to antigen stimulation via chimeric antigen receptor signaling specifically under hypoxic environments. Results presented in this study can facilitate the design and calibration of future mammalian synthetic biology systems capable of precisely programmed functionality. PMID:26883397

  7. Low-frequency noise characterization of single CuO nanowire gas sensor devices

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steinhauer, S.; Köck, A.; Gspan, C.; Grogger, W.; Vandamme, L.K.J.; Pogany, D.

    2015-01-01

    Low-frequency noise properties of single CuO nanowire devices were investigated under gas sensor operation conditions in dry and humid synthetic air at 350¿°C. A 1/f noise spectrum was found with the normalized power spectral density of current fluctuations typically a factor of 2 higher for humid

  8. LOW FREQUENCY DAMPER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radu BOGATEANU

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available The low frequency damper is an autonomous equipment for damping vibrations with the 1-20Hz range.Its autonomy enables the equipment to be located in various mechanical systems, without requiring special hydraulic installations.The low frequency damper was designed for damping the low frequency oscillations occurring in the circuit controls of the upgraded IAR-99 Aircraft.The low frequency damper is a novelty in the aerospace field ,with applicability in several areas as it can be built up in an appropriate range of dimensions meeting the requirements of different beneficiaries. On this line an equipment able to damp an extended frequency range was performed for damping oscillations in the pipes of the nuclear power plants.This damper, tested in INCAS laboratories matched the requirements of the beneficiary.The low frequency damper is patented – the patent no. 114583C1/2000 is held by INCAS.

  9. Hybrid Broadband Ground-Motion Simulations: Combining Long-Period Deterministic Synthetics with High-Frequency Multiple S-to-S Backscattering

    KAUST Repository

    Mai, Paul Martin; Imperatori, W.; Olsen, K. B.

    2010-01-01

    We present a new approach for computing broadband (0-10 Hz) synthetic seismograms by combining high-frequency (HF) scattering with low-frequency (LF) deterministic seismograms, considering finite-fault earthquake rupture models embedded in 3D earth structure. Site-specific HF-scattering Green's functions for a heterogeneous medium with uniformly distributed random isotropic scatterers are convolved with a source-time function that characterizes the temporal evolution of the rupture process. These scatterograms are then reconciled with the LF-deterministic waveforms using a frequency-domain optimization to match both amplitude and phase spectra around the target intersection frequency. The scattering parameters of the medium, scattering attenuation ηs, intrinsic attenuation ηi, and site-kappa, as well as frequency-dependent attenuation, determine waveform and spectral character of the HF-synthetics and thus affect the hybrid broadband seismograms. Applying our methodology to the 1994 Northridge earthquake and validating against near-field recordings at 24 sites, we find that our technique provides realistic broadband waveforms and consistently reproduces LF ground-motion intensities for two independent source descriptions. The least biased results, compared to recorded strong-motion data, are obtained after applying a frequency-dependent site-amplification factor to the broadband simulations. This innovative hybrid ground-motion simulation approach, applicable to any arbitrarily complex earthquake source model, is well suited for seismic hazard analysis and ground-motion estimation.

  10. Hybrid Broadband Ground-Motion Simulations: Combining Long-Period Deterministic Synthetics with High-Frequency Multiple S-to-S Backscattering

    KAUST Repository

    Mai, Paul Martin

    2010-09-20

    We present a new approach for computing broadband (0-10 Hz) synthetic seismograms by combining high-frequency (HF) scattering with low-frequency (LF) deterministic seismograms, considering finite-fault earthquake rupture models embedded in 3D earth structure. Site-specific HF-scattering Green\\'s functions for a heterogeneous medium with uniformly distributed random isotropic scatterers are convolved with a source-time function that characterizes the temporal evolution of the rupture process. These scatterograms are then reconciled with the LF-deterministic waveforms using a frequency-domain optimization to match both amplitude and phase spectra around the target intersection frequency. The scattering parameters of the medium, scattering attenuation ηs, intrinsic attenuation ηi, and site-kappa, as well as frequency-dependent attenuation, determine waveform and spectral character of the HF-synthetics and thus affect the hybrid broadband seismograms. Applying our methodology to the 1994 Northridge earthquake and validating against near-field recordings at 24 sites, we find that our technique provides realistic broadband waveforms and consistently reproduces LF ground-motion intensities for two independent source descriptions. The least biased results, compared to recorded strong-motion data, are obtained after applying a frequency-dependent site-amplification factor to the broadband simulations. This innovative hybrid ground-motion simulation approach, applicable to any arbitrarily complex earthquake source model, is well suited for seismic hazard analysis and ground-motion estimation.

  11. A direct numerical simulation investigation of the synthetic jet frequency effects on separation control of low-Re flow past an airfoil

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Wei

    2015-05-05

    We present results of direct numerical simulations of a synthetic jet (SJ) based separation control of flow past a NACA-0018 (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) airfoil, at 10° angle of attack and Reynolds number 104 based on the airfoil chord length C and uniform inflow velocity U 0. The actuator of the SJ is modeled as a spanwise slot on the airfoil leeward surface and is placed just upstream of the leading edge separation position of the uncontrolled flow. The momentum coefficient of the SJ is chosen at a small value 2.13 × 10−4 normalized by that of the inflow. Three forcing frequencies are chosen for the present investigation: the low frequency (LF) F + = feC/U 0 = 0.5, the medium frequency (MF) F + = 1.0, and the high frequency (HF) F + = 4.0. We quantify the effects of forcing frequency for each case on the separation control and related vortex dynamics patterns. The simulations are performed using an energy conservative fourth-order parallel code. Numerical results reveal that the geometric variation introduced by the actuator has negligible effects on the mean flow field and the leading edge separation pattern; thus, the separation control effects are attributed to the SJ. The aerodynamic performances of the airfoil, characterized by lift and lift-to-drag ratio, are improved for all controlled cases, with the F + = 1.0 case being the optimal one. The flow in the shear layer close to the actuator is locked to the jet, while in the wake this lock-in is maintained for the MF case but suppressed by the increasing turbulent fluctuations in the LF and HF cases. The vortex evolution downstream of the actuator presents two modes depending on the frequency: the vortex fragmentation and merging mode in the LF case where the vortex formed due to the SJ breaks up into several vortices and the latter merge as convecting downstream; the discrete vortices mode in the HF case where discrete vortices form and convect downstream without any fragmentation and

  12. A direct numerical simulation investigation of the synthetic jet frequency effects on separation control of low-Re flow past an airfoil

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Wei; Samtaney, Ravi

    2015-01-01

    We present results of direct numerical simulations of a synthetic jet (SJ) based separation control of flow past a NACA-0018 (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) airfoil, at 10° angle of attack and Reynolds number 104 based on the airfoil chord length C and uniform inflow velocity U 0. The actuator of the SJ is modeled as a spanwise slot on the airfoil leeward surface and is placed just upstream of the leading edge separation position of the uncontrolled flow. The momentum coefficient of the SJ is chosen at a small value 2.13 × 10−4 normalized by that of the inflow. Three forcing frequencies are chosen for the present investigation: the low frequency (LF) F + = feC/U 0 = 0.5, the medium frequency (MF) F + = 1.0, and the high frequency (HF) F + = 4.0. We quantify the effects of forcing frequency for each case on the separation control and related vortex dynamics patterns. The simulations are performed using an energy conservative fourth-order parallel code. Numerical results reveal that the geometric variation introduced by the actuator has negligible effects on the mean flow field and the leading edge separation pattern; thus, the separation control effects are attributed to the SJ. The aerodynamic performances of the airfoil, characterized by lift and lift-to-drag ratio, are improved for all controlled cases, with the F + = 1.0 case being the optimal one. The flow in the shear layer close to the actuator is locked to the jet, while in the wake this lock-in is maintained for the MF case but suppressed by the increasing turbulent fluctuations in the LF and HF cases. The vortex evolution downstream of the actuator presents two modes depending on the frequency: the vortex fragmentation and merging mode in the LF case where the vortex formed due to the SJ breaks up into several vortices and the latter merge as convecting downstream; the discrete vortices mode in the HF case where discrete vortices form and convect downstream without any fragmentation and

  13. Low-frequency-noise complaints

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Christian Sejer; Møller, Henrik; Persson-Waye, Kerstin

    2008-01-01

    From 203 cases of low-frequency complaints a random selection of twenty-one cases were investigated. The main aim of the investigation was to answer the question whether the annoyance is caused by an external physical sound or by a physically non-existing sound, i.e. low-frequency tinnitus. Noise...... of the complainants are annoyed by a physical sound (20-180 Hz), while others suffer from low-frequency tinnitus (perceived frequency 40-100 Hz). Physical sound at frequencies below 20 Hz (infrasound) is not responsible for the annoyance - or at all audible - in any of the investigated cases, and none...... of the complainants has extraordinary hearing sensitivity at low frequencies. For comparable cases of low-frequency noise complaints in general, it is anticipated that physical sound is responsible in a substantial part of the cases, while low-frequency tinnitus is responsible in another substantial part of the cases....

  14. Extremely low frequency electromagnetic field exposure does not modulate Toll-like receptor signaling in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kleijn, de S.; Bouwens, M.; Verburg-van Kemenade, B.M.L.; Cuppen, J.J.M.; Ferwerda, G.; Hermans, P.

    2011-01-01

    The effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) on human health remain unclear. It has been reported that ELF-EMF may modulate the innate immune response to microorganisms in animal models and mammalian cell-lines. With the recently gained insight in innate immune signaling

  15. Intraperitoneal Infection of Wild-Type Mice with Synthetically Generated Mammalian Prion.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinhe Wang

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The prion hypothesis postulates that the infectious agent in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs is an unorthodox protein conformation based agent. Recent successes in generating mammalian prions in vitro with bacterially expressed recombinant prion protein provide strong support for the hypothesis. However, whether the pathogenic properties of synthetically generated prion (rec-Prion recapitulate those of naturally occurring prions remains unresolved. Using end-point titration assay, we showed that the in vitro prepared rec-Prions have infectious titers of around 104 LD50/μg. In addition, intraperitoneal (i.p. inoculation of wild-type mice with rec-Prion caused prion disease with an average survival time of 210-220 days post inoculation. Detailed pathological analyses revealed that the nature of rec-Prion induced lesions, including spongiform change, disease specific prion protein accumulation (PrP-d and the PrP-d dissemination amongst lymphoid and peripheral nervous system tissues, the route and mechanisms of neuroinvasion were all typical of classical rodent prions. Our results revealed that, similar to naturally occurring prions, the rec-Prion has a titratable infectivity and is capable of causing prion disease via routes other than direct intra-cerebral challenge. More importantly, our results established that the rec-Prion caused disease is pathogenically and pathologically identical to naturally occurring contagious TSEs, supporting the concept that a conformationally altered protein agent is responsible for the infectivity in TSEs.

  16. Experiments with a Ship-Mounted Low Frequency SAS for the Detection of Buried Objects

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Colin, M.E.G.D.; Quesson, B.A.J.; Hetet, A.; Groen, J.; Sabel, J.C.; Zerr, B.; Brusieux, M.; Legris, M.

    2004-01-01

    In September 2002, GESMA and TNO-FEL carried out a sea trial with a low frequency (20 kHz) sonar mounted on a mine hunter. The objective of the experiments was to collect sonar echoes from proud and buried objects for subsequent synthetic aperture processing. A large data set was collected,

  17. Preparation and Low Temperature Short-term Storage for Synthetic Seeds of Caladium bicolor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehpara MAQSOOD

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available An efficient somatic embryo encapsulation and in vitro plant regeneration technique were established with Caladium bicolor, an important ornamental plant.Tuber derived embryogenic callus (95.50% was obtained on Murashige and Skoog (MS medium amended with 0.5 mg L-1 α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA + 0.5 mg L-1 6-Benzyladenine (BA. The embryogenic callus later differentiated into somatic embryos in the same plant growth regulators (PGRs added medium (NAA and BA. The induced embryos matured and developed into plantlets in NAA and BA added media; maximum plantlets development was observed at 1.0 mg L-1 NAA + 1.0 mg L-1 BA supplemented medium. Synthetic seeds were produced by encapsulating embryos in gel containing 3.0% sucrose + 3.0% sodium alginate and 100 mM of calcium chloride.The highest synthetic seed germination (97.6% was observed on medium supplemented with 1.0 mg L-1 NAA + 1.0 mg L-1 BA. The synthetic seeds were kept at low temperatures for storage; the encapsulated beads were viable and demonstrated good germination even after 12 weeks of storage at 4 °C. The plantlet recovery frequency was however declined with time. The synthetic seed derived plantlets were morphologically similar to the mother plant.

  18. The low-frequency encoding disadvantage: Word frequency affects processing demands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diana, Rachel A; Reder, Lynne M

    2006-07-01

    Low-frequency words produce more hits and fewer false alarms than high-frequency words in a recognition task. The low-frequency hit rate advantage has sometimes been attributed to processes that operate during the recognition test (e.g., L. M. Reder et al., 2000). When tasks other than recognition, such as recall, cued recall, or associative recognition, are used, the effects seem to contradict a low-frequency advantage in memory. Four experiments are presented to support the claim that in addition to the advantage of low-frequency words at retrieval, there is a low-frequency disadvantage during encoding. That is, low-frequency words require more processing resources to be encoded episodically than high-frequency words. Under encoding conditions in which processing resources are limited, low-frequency words show a larger decrement in recognition than high-frequency words. Also, studying items (pictures and words of varying frequencies) along with low-frequency words reduces performance for those stimuli. Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

  19. From noise to synthetic nucleoli: can synthetic biology achieve new insights?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciechonska, Marta; Grob, Alice; Isalan, Mark

    2016-04-18

    Synthetic biology aims to re-organise and control biological components to make functional devices. Along the way, the iterative process of designing and testing gene circuits has the potential to yield many insights into the functioning of the underlying chassis of cells. Thus, synthetic biology is converging with disciplines such as systems biology and even classical cell biology, to give a new level of predictability to gene expression, cell metabolism and cellular signalling networks. This review gives an overview of the contributions that synthetic biology has made in understanding gene expression, in terms of cell heterogeneity (noise), the coupling of growth and energy usage to expression, and spatiotemporal considerations. We mainly compare progress in bacterial and mammalian systems, which have some of the most-developed engineering frameworks. Overall, one view of synthetic biology can be neatly summarised as "creating in order to understand."

  20. Comparison between Synthetic Inertia and Fast Frequency Containment Control Based on Single Phase EVs in a Microgrid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rezkalla, Michel M.N.; Zecchino, Antonio; Martinenas, Sergejus

    2017-01-01

    The increasing share of distributed and inertia-less resources entails an upsurge in balancing and system stabilisation services. In particular, the displacement of conventional generation reduces the available rotational inertia in the power system, leading to high interest in synthetic inertia....... The interdependency between frequency containment and synthetic inertia control on the transient frequency variation is shown analytically. The capabilities and limits of series produced EVs in providing such services are investigated, first on a simulation based approach and subsequently by using real hardware...

  1. Investigation of PVdF active diaphragms for synthetic jets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailo, Kelly C.; Brei, Diann E.; Calkins, Frederick T.

    2000-06-01

    Current research has shown that aircraft can gain significant aerodynamic performance benefits by employing active flow control (AFC). One of the enabling technologies of AFC is the synthetic jet. Synthetic jets, also known as zero-net-mass flux actuators, act as bi-directional pumps injecting high momentum air into the local aerodynamic flow. Previous work has concentrated on high frequency synthetic jets based on piezoelectric active diaphragms such as Thunder actuators. Low frequency synthetic jets present a unique challenge requiring large displacements, which current technology has difficulty meeting. Boeing is investigating novel shaped low frequency synthetic jets that can modify the flow over fixed aircraft wings. This paper present the initial study of two promising active diaphragm concepts: a crescent shape and an opposing bender shape. These active diaphragms were numerically modeled utilizing the general-purpose finite element code ABAQUS. Using the ABAQUS results, the dynamic volume change within each jet was calculated and incorporated into an analytical linear Bernoulli model to predict the velocities and pressures at the nozzle. Simulations were performed to determine trends to assist in selection of prototype configurations. Prototypes of both diaphragm concepts were constructed from polyvinylidene fluoride and experimentally tested at Boeing with promising results.

  2. Low frequency noise study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-04-01

    This report documents a study to investigate human response to the low-frequency : content of aviation noise, or low-frequency noise (LFN). The study comprised field : measurements and laboratory studies. The major findings were: : 1. Start-of-takeof...

  3. [Progress in synthetic biology of "973 Funding Program" in China].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Guoqiang; Wang, Ying

    2015-06-01

    This paper reviews progresses made in China from 2011 in areas of "Synthetic Biology" supported by State Basic Research 973 Program. Till the end of 2014, 9 "synthetic biology" projects have been initiated with emphasis on "microbial manufactures" with the 973 Funding Program. Combined with the very recent launch of one project on "mammalian cell synthetic biology" and another on "plant synthetic biology", Chinese "synthetic biology" research reflects its focus on "manufactures" while not giving up efforts on "synthetic biology" of complex systems.

  4. Numerical study of circular synthetic jets at low Reynolds numbers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xia, Qingfeng; Lei, Shenghui; Ma, Jieyan; Zhong, Shan

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Parameter maps depicting different flow regimes of synthetic jets are produced. • Boundaries separating these regimes are defined using quantitative criteria. • The Reynolds number is most appropriate for classifying different flow regimes. • A use of high suction cycle factors enhances the effectiveness of synthetic jets. - Abstract: In this paper, the flow patterns of circular synthetic jets issuing into a quiescent flow at low Reynolds numbers are studied numerically. The results confirm the presence of the three jet flow regimes, i.e. no jet formation, jet flow without rollup and jet flow with rollup reported in the literature. The boundaries of the different jet flow regimes are determined by tracking the structures produced by the synthetic jets in the near field of the jet orifice over several actuation cycles and examining the cycle-averaged streamwise velocity profiles along the jet central axis. When the Stokes number is above a certain threshold value appropriate for the corresponding flow regime, a good correlation between the flow patterns and the jet Reynolds number defined using the jet orifice diameter, Re Do , is also found. Furthermore, the flow structures of synthetic jets with different suction duty cycle factors are compared. The use of a high suction duty cycle factor strengthens the synthetic jet resulting in a greater penetration depth into the surrounding fluid. Overall, the finding from this study enables the flow regimes, in which a synthetic jet actuator with a circular orifice operates, to be determined. It also provides a way of designing more effective synthetic jet actuators for enhancing mass and momentum transfer at very low Reynolds numbers

  5. Frequency Response of Synthetic Vocal Fold Models with Linear and Nonlinear Material Properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shaw, Stephanie M.; Thomson, Scott L.; Dromey, Christopher; Smith, Simeon

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to create synthetic vocal fold models with nonlinear stress-strain properties and to investigate the effect of linear versus nonlinear material properties on fundamental frequency (F[subscript 0]) during anterior-posterior stretching. Method: Three materially linear and 3 materially nonlinear models were…

  6. Low frequency radioastronomy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zarka, Philippe; Cecconi, Baptiste; Tagger, Michel; Torchinsky, Steve; Picard, Philippe; Pezzani, Jacques; Cognard, Ismael; Boone, Frederic; Woan, Graham; Weber, Rodolphe; Gousset, Thierry; Lautridou, Pascal; Dallier, Richard

    2011-07-01

    Low frequency radioastronomy deals with the direct detection (below 100 MHz) and heterodyne detection (up to few GHz) of electromagnetic waves (phase and amplitude) followed by a time or spectral analysis. The 30. Goutelas school covered several aspects of radioastronomy involving various aspects of physics: non-thermal phenomena in plasmas and physics of magnetized plasmas, atomic and molecular physics, and particle physics. These proceedings comprise 17 lectures dealing with: 1 - Low-Frequency Radioastronomy Basics (P. Zarka); 2 - Radioastronomy Historical Highlights (S. A. Torchinsky); 3 - Antennas (P. Picard, J. Pezzani); 4 - Receptors (P. Picard, J. Pezzani); 5 - Pulsars chronometry: metrology in radioastronomy (I. Cognard); 6 - Interferometry as imaging technique (F. Boone); 7 - Radio propagation and scintillation (G. Woan); 8 - Square Kilometer Array (S. A. Torchinsky); 9 - Techniques against radio-electrical interferences in low-frequency radioastronomy (R. Weber); 10 - Introduction to poly-phase filtering (R. Weber); 11 - Three decades of Jupiter's radio-emission studies: from the Nancay deca-meter network to LOFAR (P. Zarka); 12 - Atmospheric showers and their radio counterpart (T. Gousset); 13 - From cosmic rays radio-detection to pulse radioastronomy (P. Lautridou, R. Dallier); 14 - The CODALEMA project (R. Dallier, P. Lautridou); 15 - Space-based radio measurements: Gonio-polarimetry (B. Cecconi); 16 - Radio astronomy from space (G. Woan); 17 - LOFAR: the Low Frequency Array and the French FLOW consortium (M. Tagger, P. Zarka)

  7. Function and Evolution of Vibrato-like Frequency Modulation in Mammals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charlton, Benjamin D; Taylor, Anna M; Reby, David

    2017-09-11

    Why do distantly related mammals like sheep, giant pandas, and fur seals produce bleats that are characterized by vibrato-like fundamental frequency (F0) modulation? To answer this question, we used psychoacoustic tests and comparative analyses to investigate whether this distinctive vocal feature has evolved to improve the perception of formants, key acoustic components of animal calls that encode important information about the caller's size and identity [1]. Psychoacoustic tests on humans confirmed that vibrato-like F0 modulation improves the ability of listeners to detect differences in the formant patterns of synthetic bleat-like stimuli. Subsequent phylogenetically controlled comparative analyses revealed that vibrato-like F0 modulation has evolved independently in six mammalian orders in vocal signals with relatively high F0 and, therefore, low spectral density (i.e., less harmonic overtones). We also found that mammals modulate the vibrato in these calls over greater frequency extents when the number of harmonic overtones per formant is low, suggesting that this is a mechanism to improve formant perception in calls with low spectral density. Our findings constitute the first evidence that formant perception in non-speech sounds is improved by fundamental frequency modulation and provide a mechanism for the convergent evolution of bleat-like calls in mammals. They also indicate that selection pressures for animals to transmit important information encoded by formant frequencies (on size and identity, for example) are likely to have been a key driver in the evolution of mammal vocal diversity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Low-frequency oscillations in Hall thrusters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei Li-Qiu; Han Liang; Yu Da-Ren; Guo Ning

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we summarize the research development of low-frequency oscillations in the last few decades. The findings of physical mechanism, characteristics and stabilizing methods of low-frequency oscillations are discussed. It shows that it is unreasonable and incomplete to model an ionization region separately to analyze the physical mechanism of low-frequency oscillations. Electro-dynamics as well as the formation conditions of ionization distribution play an important role in characteristics and stabilizing of low-frequency oscillations. Understanding the physical mechanism and characteristics of low- frequency oscillations thoroughly and developing a feasible method stabilizing this instability are still important research subjects. (review)

  9. [Smart therapeutics based on synthetic gene circuits].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Shuguang; Xie, Zhen

    2017-03-25

    Synthetic biology has an important impact on biology research since its birth. Applying the thought and methods that reference from electrical engineering, synthetic biology uncovers many regulatory mechanisms of life systems, transforms and expands a series of biological components. Therefore, it brings a wide range of biomedical applications, including providing new ideas for disease diagnosis and treatment. This review describes the latest advances in the field of disease diagnosis and therapy based on mammalian cell or bacterial synthetic gene circuits, and provides new ideas for future smart therapy design.

  10. The Low-Frequency Encoding Disadvantage: Word Frequency Affects Processing Demands

    OpenAIRE

    Diana, Rachel A.; Reder, Lynne M.

    2006-01-01

    Low-frequency words produce more hits and fewer false alarms than high-frequency words in a recognition task. The low-frequency hit rate advantage has sometimes been attributed to processes that operate during the recognition test (e.g., L. M. Reder et al., 2000). When tasks other than recognition, such as recall, cued recall, or associative recognition, are used, the effects seem to contradict a low-frequency advantage in memory. Four experiments are presented to support the claim that in ad...

  11. Auditory filters at low-frequencies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Orellana, Carlos Andrés Jurado; Pedersen, Christian Sejer; Møller, Henrik

    2009-01-01

    -ear transfer function), the asymmetry of the auditory filter changed from steeper high-frequency slopes at 1000 Hz to steeper low-frequency slopes below 100 Hz. Increasing steepness at low-frequencies of the middle-ear high-pass filter is thought to cause this effect. The dynamic range of the auditory filter...... was found to steadily decrease with decreasing center frequency. Although the observed decrease in filter bandwidth with decreasing center frequency was only approximately monotonic, the preliminary data indicates the filter bandwidth does not stabilize around 100 Hz, e.g. it still decreases below...

  12. Experimental study of cooling performance of pneumatic synthetic jet with singular slot rectangular orifice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Roger Ho Zhen; Ismail, Mohd Azmi bin; Ramdan, Muhammad Iftishah; Mustaffa, Nur Musfirah binti

    2017-03-01

    Synthetic Jet generates turbulence flow in cooling the microelectronic devices. In this paper, the experiment investigation of the cooling performance of pneumatic synthetic jet with single slot rectangular orifices at low frequency motion is presented. The velocity profile at the end of the orifice was measured and used as characteristic performance of synthetic jet in the present study. Frequencies of synthetic jet and the compressed air pressure supplied to the pneumatic cylinder (1bar to 5bar) were the parameters of the flow measurement. The air velocity of the synthetic jet was measured by using anemometer air flow meter. The maximum air velocity was 0.5 m/s and it occurred at frequency motion of 8 Hz. The optimum compressed air supplied pressure of the synthetic jet study was 4 bar. The cooling performance of synthetic jet at several driven frequencies from 0 Hz to 8 Hz and heat dissipation between 2.5W and 9W were also investigate in the present study. The results showed that the Nusselt number increased and thermal resistance decreased with both frequency and Reynolds number. The lowest thermal resistance was 5.25°C/W and the highest Nusselt number was 13.39 at heat dissipation of 9W and driven frequency of 8Hz.

  13. Modulating ectopic gene expression levels by using retroviral vectors equipped with synthetic promoters

    OpenAIRE

    Ferreira, Joshua P.; Peacock, Ryan W. S.; Lawhorn, Ingrid E. B.; Wang, Clifford L.

    2011-01-01

    The human cytomegalovirus and elongation factor 1α promoters are constitutive promoters commonly employed by mammalian expression vectors. These promoters generally produce high levels of expression in many types of cells and tissues. To generate a library of synthetic promoters capable of generating a range of low, intermediate, and high expression levels, the TATA and CAAT box elements of these promoters were mutated. Other promoter variants were also generated by random mutagenesis. Evalua...

  14. Frequency selectivity at very low centre frequencies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Orellana, Carlos Andrés Jurado; Pedersen, Christian Sejer; Marquardt, Torsten

    2010-01-01

    measurements based on OAE suppression techniques and notched-noise masking data psychophysically measured for centre frequencies in the range 50-125 Hz, this study examines how individual differences in frequency selectivity, as well as in masking, may occur at very low CFs due to individual differences...

  15. Low Frequency Space Array

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dennison, B.; Weiler, K.W.; Johnston, K.J.

    1987-01-01

    The Low Frequency Space Array (LFSA) is a conceptual mission to survey the entire sky and to image individual sources at frequencies between 1.5 and 26 MHz, a frequency range over which the earth's ionosphere transmits poorly or not at all. With high resolution, high sensitivity observations, a new window will be opened in the electromagnetic spectrum for astronomical investigation. Also, extending observations down to such low frequencies will bring astronomy to the fundamental limit below which the galaxy becomes optically thick due to free-free absorption. A number of major scientific goals can be pursued with such a mission, including mapping galactic emission and absorption, studies of individual source spectra in a frequency range where a number of important processes may play a role, high resolution imaging of extended sources, localization of the impulsive emission from Jupiter, and a search for coherent emission processes. 19 references

  16. Inhibition of Dengue Virus 3 in Mammalian Cell Culture by Synthetic ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    HP

    Purpose: To evaluate the inhibition of Dengue virus 3 by synthetic siRNAs targeting the untranslated regions UTR and structural regions of DENV3 genome in Vero-81 cell line. Methods: Vero-81 cells transfected with synthetic siRNAs were challenged by DENV3. The effectiveness of siRNAs was confirmed by four ...

  17. Hydrolysis of synthetic mixed-acid phosphatides by phospholipase A from human pancreas

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Deenen, L.L.M. van; Haas, Gerard H. de; Heemskerk, C.H.Th.

    1963-01-01

    An investigation was made into the action of a human pancreatic phospholipase A on various synthetic phosphatides. L-α-Phosphatidyl ethanolamines were readily hydrolysed in an aqueous system by this enzyme. Synthetic lecithins, however, were not attacked in an appreciable rate by the mammalian

  18. The Monitoring Case of Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar with Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, H. Y.; Zhai, Q. P.; Chen, L.; Liu, Y. J.; Zhou, K. Q.; Wang, Y. S.; Dou, Y. D.

    2017-09-01

    The features of the landslide geological disaster are wide distribution, variety, high frequency, high intensity, destructive and so on. It has become a natural disaster with harmful and wide range of influence. The technology of ground-based synthetic aperture radar is a novel deformation monitoring technology developed in recent years. The features of the technology are large monitoring area, high accuracy, long distance without contact and so on. In this paper, fast ground-based synthetic aperture radar (Fast-GBSAR) based on frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) system is used to collect the data of Ma Liuzui landslide in Chongqing. The device can reduce the atmospheric errors caused by rapidly changing environment. The landslide deformation can be monitored in severe weather conditions (for example, fog) by Fast-GBSAR with acquisition speed up to 5 seconds per time. The data of Ma Liuzui landslide in Chongqing are analyzed in this paper. The result verifies that the device can monitor landslide deformation under severe weather conditions.

  19. Low frequency sound field enhancement system for rectangular rooms using multiple low frequency loudspeakers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Celestinos, Adrian; Nielsen, Sofus Birkedal

    2006-01-01

    an enhancement system with extra loudspeakers the sound pressure level distribution along the listening area presents a significant improvement in the subwoofer frequency range. The system is simulated and implemented on the three different rooms and finally verified by measurements on the real rooms.......Rectangular rooms have strong influence on the low frequency performance of loudspeakers. Simulations of three different room sizes have been carried out using finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) in order to predict the behaviour of the sound field at low frequencies. By using...

  20. Low frequency phase signal measurement with high frequency squeezing

    OpenAIRE

    Zhai, Zehui; Gao, Jiangrui

    2011-01-01

    We calculate the utility of high-frequency squeezed-state enhanced two-frequency interferometry for low-frequency phase measurement. To use the high-frequency sidebands of the squeezed light, a two-frequency intense laser is used in the interferometry instead of a single-frequency laser as usual. We find that the readout signal can be contaminated by the high-frequency phase vibration, but this is easy to check and avoid. A proof-of-principle experiment is in the reach of modern quantum optic...

  1. Field Evaluations of Low-Frequency SAFT-UT on Cast Stainless Steel and Dissimilar Metal Weld Components

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Diaz, Aaron A.; Harris, R. V.; Doctor, Steven R.

    2008-11-01

    This report documents work performed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, and at the Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI) Nondestructive Examination (NDE) Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on evalutating a low frequency ultrasonic inspection technique used for examination of cast stainless steel (CSS) and dissimilar metal (DMW) reactor piping components. The technique uses a zone-focused, multi-incident angle, low frequency (250-450 kHz) inspection protocol coupled with the synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT). The primary focus of this work is to provide information to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the utility, effectiveness and reliability of ultrasonic testing (UT) inspection techniques as related to the inservice ultrasonic inspection of coarse grained primary piping components in pressurized water reactors (PWRs).

  2. Fin whale sound reception mechanisms: skull vibration enables low-frequency hearing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ted W Cranford

    Full Text Available Hearing mechanisms in baleen whales (Mysticeti are essentially unknown but their vocalization frequencies overlap with anthropogenic sound sources. Synthetic audiograms were generated for a fin whale by applying finite element modeling tools to X-ray computed tomography (CT scans. We CT scanned the head of a small fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus in a scanner designed for solid-fuel rocket motors. Our computer (finite element modeling toolkit allowed us to visualize what occurs when sounds interact with the anatomic geometry of the whale's head. Simulations reveal two mechanisms that excite both bony ear complexes, (1 the skull-vibration enabled bone conduction mechanism and (2 a pressure mechanism transmitted through soft tissues. Bone conduction is the predominant mechanism. The mass density of the bony ear complexes and their firmly embedded attachments to the skull are universal across the Mysticeti, suggesting that sound reception mechanisms are similar in all baleen whales. Interactions between incident sound waves and the skull cause deformations that induce motion in each bony ear complex, resulting in best hearing sensitivity for low-frequency sounds. This predominant low-frequency sensitivity has significant implications for assessing mysticete exposure levels to anthropogenic sounds. The din of man-made ocean noise has increased steadily over the past half century. Our results provide valuable data for U.S. regulatory agencies and concerned large-scale industrial users of the ocean environment. This study transforms our understanding of baleen whale hearing and provides a means to predict auditory sensitivity across a broad spectrum of sound frequencies.

  3. Low-frequency characteristics extension for vibration sensors

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    杨学山; 高峰; 候兴民

    2004-01-01

    Traditional magneto-electric vibration sensors and servo accelerometers have severe shortcomings when used to measure vibration where low frequency components predominate. A low frequency characteristic extension for velocity vibration sensors is presented in this paper. The passive circuit technology, active compensation technology and the closedcycle pole compensation technology are used to extend the measurable range and to improve low frequency characteristics of sensors. Thses three types of low frequency velocity vibration sensors have been developed and widely adopted in China.

  4. Effect of low velocity impact damage on the natural frequency of composite plates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chok, E. Y. L.; Majid, D. L. A. A.; Harmin, M. Y.

    2017-12-01

    Biodegradable natural fibers have been suggested to replace the hazardous synthetic fibers in many aerospace applications. However, this notion has been limited due to their low mechanical properties, which leads to the idea of hybridizing the two materials. Many aircraft components such as radome, aft body and wing are highly susceptible to low velocity impact damage while in-service. The damages degrade the structural integrity of the components and change their dynamic characteristics. In worst case scenario, the changes can lead to resonance, which is an excessive vibration. This research is conducted to study the dynamic characteristic changes of low velocity impact damaged hybrid composites that is designed for aircraft radome applications. Three materials, which are glass fiber, kenaf fiber and kenaf/glass fiber hybrid composites, have been impacted with 3J, 6J and 9J of energy. Cantilevered and also vertically clamped boundary conditions are used and the natural frequencies are extracted for each of the specimens. The obtained results show that natural frequency decreases with increasing impact level. Cantilevered condition is found to induce lower modes due to the gravitational pull. To eliminate mass and geometrical effects, normalized modes are computed. Among the three materials considered, glass fiber composites have displayed the highest normalized frequency that reflects on its higher stiffness compared to the other two materials. As the damage level is increased, glass fiber composites have shown the highest frequency reduction to a maximum of 35% while kenaf composites have the least frequency reduction in the range of 1 - 18%. Thus, kenaf fiber is taken to be helpful in stalling the damage progression and reducing the effect of damage. This has been proven when the percentage frequency decrement shown by kenaf/glass fiber composite lies between glass fiber and kenaf fiber composites.

  5. Effect of low-frequency power on dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yuan, Q H; Xin, Y; Huang, X J; Sun, K; Ning, Z Y; Yin, G Q

    2008-01-01

    In low-pressure dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasmas driven with 60/13.56 MHz, the effect of low-frequency power on the plasma characteristics was investigated using a compensated Langmuir electrostatic probe. At lower pressures (about 10 mTorr), it was possible to control the plasma density and the ion bombardment energy independently. As the pressure increased, this independent control could not be achieved. As the low-frequency power increased for the fixed high-frequency power, the electron energy probability function (EEPF) changed from Druyvesteyn-like to Maxwellian-like at pressures of 50 mTorr and higher, along with a drop in electron temperature. The plasma parameters were calculated and compared with simulation results.

  6. Chromatin regulation at the frontier of synthetic biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keung, Albert J.; Joung, J. Keith; Khalil, Ahmad S.; Collins, James J.

    2016-01-01

    As synthetic biology approaches are extended to diverse applications throughout medicine, biotechnology and basic biological research, there is an increasing need to engineer yeast, plant and mammalian cells. Eukaryotic genomes are regulated by the diverse biochemical and biophysical states of chromatin, which brings distinct challenges, as well as opportunities, over applications in bacteria. Recent synthetic approaches, including `epigenome editing', have allowed the direct and functional dissection of many aspects of physiological chromatin regulation. These studies lay the foundation for biomedical and biotechnological engineering applications that could take advantage of the unique combinatorial and spatiotemporal layers of chromatin regulation to create synthetic systems of unprecedented sophistication. PMID:25668787

  7. Effects of local high-frequency perturbation on a turbulent boundary layer by synthetic jet injection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Hao; Huang, Qian-Min; Liu, Pei-qing; Qu, Qiu-Lin

    2015-01-01

    An experimental study is performed to investigate the local high-frequency perturbation effects of a synthetic jet injection on a flat-plate turbulent boundary layer. Parameters of the synthetic jet are designed to force a high-frequency perturbation from a thin spanwise slot in the wall. In the test locations downstream of the slot, it is found that skin-friction is reduced by the perturbation, which is languishingly evolved downstream of the slot with corresponding influence on the near-wall regeneration mechanism of turbulent structures. The downstream slot region is divided into two regions due to the influence strength of the movement of spanwise vortices generated by the high-frequency perturbation. Interestingly, the variable interval time average technique is found to be disturbed by the existence of the spanwise vortices’ motion, especially in the region close to the slot. Similar results are obtained from the analysis of the probability density functions of the velocity fluctuation time derivatives, which is another indirect technique for detecting the enhancement or attenuation of streamwise vortices. However, both methods have shown consistent results with the skin-friction reduction mechanism in the far-away slot region. The main purpose of this paper is to remind researchers to be aware of the probable influence of spanwise vortices’ motion in wall-bounded turbulence control. (paper)

  8. Computational Re-design of Synthetic Genetic Oscillators for Independent Amplitude and Frequency Modulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomazou, Marios; Barahona, Mauricio; Polizzi, Karen M; Stan, Guy-Bart

    2018-04-25

    To perform well in biotechnology applications, synthetic genetic oscillators must be engineered to allow independent modulation of amplitude and period. This need is currently unmet. Here, we demonstrate computationally how two classic genetic oscillators, the dual-feedback oscillator and the repressilator, can be re-designed to provide independent control of amplitude and period and improve tunability-that is, a broad dynamic range of periods and amplitudes accessible through the input "dials." Our approach decouples frequency and amplitude modulation by incorporating an orthogonal "sink module" where the key molecular species are channeled for enzymatic degradation. This sink module maintains fast oscillation cycles while alleviating the translational coupling between the oscillator's transcription factors and output. We characterize the behavior of our re-designed oscillators over a broad range of physiologically reasonable parameters, explain why this facilitates broader function and control, and provide general design principles for building synthetic genetic oscillators that are more precisely controllable. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Developmental effects of extremely low frequency electric and magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Juutilainen, J.

    2003-01-01

    Developmental effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) electric and magnetic fields are briefly reviewed in this paper. The results of animal studies on ELF electric fields are rather consistent, and do not suggest adverse effects on development. The results of studies on ELF magnetic fields suggest effects on bird embryo development, but not consistently in all studies. Results from experiments with other non-mammalian species have also suggested effects on developmental stability. In mammals, pre-natal exposure to ELF magnetic fields does not result in strong adverse effects on development. The only finding that shows some consistency is increase of minor skeleton alterations. Epidemiological studies do not establish an association between human adverse pregnancy outcomes and maternal exposure to ELF fields, although a few studies have reported increased risks associated with some characteristics of magnetic field exposure. Taken as a whole, the results do not show strong adverse effects on development. However, additional studies on the suggested subtle effects on developmental stability might increase our understanding of the sensitivity of organisms to weak ELF fields. (author)

  10. Synthetic Nano-Low Density Lipoprotein as Targeted Drug DeliveryVehicle for Glioblastoma Multiforme

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nikanjam, Mina; Blakely, Eleanor A.; Bjornstad, Kathleen A.; Shu,Xiao; Budinger, Thomas F.; Forte, Trudy M.

    2006-06-14

    This paper discribes a synthetic low density lipoprotein(LDL) made by complexing a 29 amino acid that consists of a lipid bindingdomain and the LDL receptor binding domain with a lipid microemulsion.The nano-LDL particles were intermdiate in size between LDL and HDL andbound to LDL receptors on GBM brain tumor cells. Synthetic nano-LDLuptake by GBM cells was LDL receptor specific and dependent on cellreceptor number. It is suggested that these synthetic particles can serveas a delivery vehicle for hydophobic anti-tumor drugs by targeting theLDL receptor.

  11. Mammalian designer cells: Engineering principles and biomedical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Mingqi; Fussenegger, Martin

    2015-07-01

    Biotechnology is a widely interdisciplinary field focusing on the use of living cells or organisms to solve established problems in medicine, food production and agriculture. Synthetic biology, the science of engineering complex biological systems that do not exist in nature, continues to provide the biotechnology industry with tools, technologies and intellectual property leading to improved cellular performance. One key aspect of synthetic biology is the engineering of deliberately reprogrammed designer cells whose behavior can be controlled over time and space. This review discusses the most commonly used techniques to engineer mammalian designer cells; while control elements acting on the transcriptional and translational levels of target gene expression determine the kinetic and dynamic profiles, coupling them to a variety of extracellular stimuli permits their remote control with user-defined trigger signals. Designer mammalian cells with novel or improved biological functions not only directly improve the production efficiency during biopharmaceutical manufacturing but also open the door for cell-based treatment strategies in molecular and translational medicine. In the future, the rational combination of multiple sets of designer cells could permit the construction and regulation of higher-order systems with increased complexity, thereby enabling the molecular reprogramming of tissues, organisms or even populations with highest precision. Copyright © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  12. Very-low-frequency magnetic plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pendry, J.B.; O'Brien, S.

    2002-01-01

    We show that a set of current-carrying wires can exhibit an effective magnetic permeability at very low frequencies of a few hertz. The resonant permeability, which is negative above the resonance frequency, arises from the oscillations of the wires driven by the applied magnetic field. We show that a large, frequency-specific and tunable effective permeability can be realized for a wide range of strengths of the applied field. (author)

  13. Skin friction drag reduction on a flat plate turbulent boundary layer using synthetic jets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belanger, Randy; Boom, Pieter D.; Hanson, Ronald E.; Lavoie, Philippe; Zingg, David W.

    2017-11-01

    In these studies, we investigate the effect of mild synthetic jet actuation on a flat plate turbulent boundary layer with the goal of interacting with the large scales in the log region of the boundary layer and manipulating the overall skin friction. Results will be presented from both large eddy simulations (LES) and wind tunnel experiments. In the experiments, a large parameter space of synthetic jet frequency and amplitude was studied with hot film sensors at select locations behind a pair of synthetic jets to identify the parameters that produce the greatest changes in the skin friction. The LES simulations were performed for a selected set of parameters and provide a more complete evaluation of the interaction between the boundary layer and synthetic jets. Five boundary layer thicknesses downstream, the skin friction between the actuators is generally found to increase, while regions of reduced skin friction persist downstream of the actuators. This pattern is reversed for forcing at low frequency. Overall, the spanwise-averaged skin friction is increased by the forcing, except when forcing at high frequency and low amplitude, for which a net skin friction reduction persists downstream. The physical interpretation of these results will be discussed. The financial support of Airbus is gratefully acknowledged.

  14. Modulating ectopic gene expression levels by using retroviral vectors equipped with synthetic promoters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, Joshua P; Peacock, Ryan W S; Lawhorn, Ingrid E B; Wang, Clifford L

    2011-12-01

    The human cytomegalovirus and elongation factor 1α promoters are constitutive promoters commonly employed by mammalian expression vectors. These promoters generally produce high levels of expression in many types of cells and tissues. To generate a library of synthetic promoters capable of generating a range of low, intermediate, and high expression levels, the TATA and CAAT box elements of these promoters were mutated. Other promoter variants were also generated by random mutagenesis. Evaluation using plasmid vectors integrated at a single site in the genome revealed that these various synthetic promoters were capable of expression levels spanning a 40-fold range. Retroviral vectors were equipped with the synthetic promoters and evaluated for their ability to reproduce the graded expression demonstrated by plasmid integration. A vector with a self-inactivating long terminal repeat could neither reproduce the full range of expression levels nor produce stable expression. Using a second vector design, the different synthetic promoters enabled stable expression over a broad range of expression levels in different cell lines. The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11693-011-9089-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

  15. Low-frequency noise from large wind turbines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Møller, Henrik; Pedersen, Christian Sejer

    2011-06-01

    As wind turbines get larger, worries have emerged that the turbine noise would move down in frequency and that the low-frequency noise would cause annoyance for the neighbors. The noise emission from 48 wind turbines with nominal electric power up to 3.6 MW is analyzed and discussed. The relative amount of low-frequency noise is higher for large turbines (2.3-3.6 MW) than for small turbines (≤ 2 MW), and the difference is statistically significant. The difference can also be expressed as a downward shift of the spectrum of approximately one-third of an octave. A further shift of similar size is suggested for future turbines in the 10-MW range. Due to the air absorption, the higher low-frequency content becomes even more pronounced, when sound pressure levels in relevant neighbor distances are considered. Even when A-weighted levels are considered, a substantial part of the noise is at low frequencies, and for several of the investigated large turbines, the one-third-octave band with the highest level is at or below 250 Hz. It is thus beyond any doubt that the low-frequency part of the spectrum plays an important role in the noise at the neighbors. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

  16. Risk Mitigation in Preventing Adventitious Agent Contamination of Mammalian Cell Cultures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiratori, Masaru; Kiss, Robert

    2017-11-14

    Industrial-scale mammalian cell culture processes have been contaminated by viruses during the culturing phase. Although the historical frequency of such events has been quite low, the impact of contamination can be significant for the manufacturing company and for the supply of the product to patients. This chapter discusses sources of adventitious agent contamination risk in a cell culture process, provides a semiquantitative assessment of such risks, and describes potential process barriers that can be used to reduce contamination risk. High-temperature, short-time (HTST) heat treatment is recommended as the process barrier of choice, when compatible with the process. A case study assessing the compatibility of HTST heat treatment with a cell culture medium is presented, and lessons learned are shared from our experiences over many years of developing and implementing virus barriers in mammalian cell culture processes. Graphical Abstract.

  17. Gravity and low-frequency geodynamics

    CERN Document Server

    Teisseyre, Roman

    1989-01-01

    This fourth volume in the series Physics and Evolution of the Earth's Interior, provides a comprehensive review of the geophysical and geodetical aspects related to gravity and low-frequency geodynamics. Such aspects include the Earth's gravity field, geoid shape theory, and low-frequency phenomena like rotation, oscillations and tides.Global-scale phenomena are treated as a response to source excitation in spherical Earth models consisting of several shells: lithosphere, mantle, core and sometimes also the inner solid core. The effect of gravitation and rotation on the Earth's shape is anal

  18. Low frequency electric and magnetic fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spaniol, Craig

    1989-01-01

    Following preliminary investigations of the low frequency electric and magnetic fields that may exists in the Earth-ionospheric cavity, measurements were taken with state-of-the art spectrum analyzers. As a follow up to this activity, an investigation was initiated to determine sources and values for possible low frequency signal that would appear in the cavity. The lowest cavity resonance is estimated at about 8 Hz, but lower frequencies may be an important component of our electromagnetic environment. The potential field frequencies produced by the electron were investigated by a classical model that included possible cross coupling of the electric and gravitation fields. During this work, an interesting relationship was found that related the high frequency charge field with the extremely low frequency of the gravitation field. The results of numerical calculations were surprisingly accurate and this area of investigation is continuing. The work toward continued development of a standardized monitoring facility is continuing with the potential of installing the prototype at West Virginia State College early in 1990. This installation would be capable of real time monitoring of ELF signals in the Earth-ionoshpere cavity and would provide some directional information. A high gain, low noise, 1/f frequency corrected preamplifier was designed and tested for the ferrite core magnetic sensor. The potential application of a super conducting sensor for the ELF magnetic field detection is under investigation. It is hoped that a fully operational monitoring network could pinpoint the location of ELF signal sources and provide new information on where these signals originate and what causes them, assuming that they are natural in origin.

  19. Prospects for production of synthetic liquid fuel from low-grade coal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shevyrev Sergei

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In the paper, we compare the energy costs of steam and steam-oxygen gasification technologies for production of synthetic liquid fuel. Results of mathematic simulation and experimental studies on gasification of low-grade coal are presented.

  20. Low frequency electromagnetic field sensor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu Min; Zhou Yan; He Yicheng; Zheng Zhenxing; Liu Sunkun

    2000-01-01

    The measurement technique of low frequency electromagnetic field is reported. According to this principle, the authors have designed a sensor, which is used to measure the natural electromagnetic field, SLEMP and electromagnetic signals generated by some explosions. The frequency band of this sensor is from 0.08 Hz to 2 MHz

  1. Preliminary In-vivo Results For Spatially Coded Synthetic Transmit Aperture Ultrasound Based On Frequency Division

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gran, Fredrik; Hansen, Kristoffer Lindskov; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2006-01-01

    This paper investigates the possibility of using spatial coding based on frequency division for in-vivo synthetic transmit aperture (STA) ultrasound imaging. When using spatial encoding for STA, it is possible to use several transmitters simultaneously and separate the signals at the receiver....... This increases the maximum transmit power compared to conventional STA, where only one transmitter can be active. The signal-to-noise-ratio can therefore he increased and better penetration can be obtained. For frequency division, the coding is achieved by designing a number of transmit waveforms with disjoint...... spectral support, spanning the passband of the ultrasound transducer. The signals can therefore he separated at the receiver using matched filtering. The method is tested using a commercial linear array transducer with a center frequency of 9 MHz and 68% fractional bandwidth. In this paper, the transmit...

  2. Scheme for efficient extraction of low-frequency signal beyond the quantum limit by frequency-shift detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, R G; Zhang, J; Zhai, Z H; Zhai, S Q; Liu, K; Gao, J R

    2015-08-10

    Low-frequency (Hz~kHz) squeezing is very important in many schemes of quantum precision measurement. But it is more difficult than that at megahertz-frequency because of the introduction of laser low-frequency technical noise. In this paper, we propose a scheme to obtain a low-frequency signal beyond the quantum limit from the frequency comb in a non-degenerate frequency and degenerate polarization optical parametric amplifier (NOPA) operating below threshold with type I phase matching by frequency-shift detection. Low-frequency squeezing immune to laser technical noise is obtained by a detection system with a local beam of two-frequency intense laser. Furthermore, the low-frequency squeezing can be used for phase measurement in Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be enhanced greatly.

  3. Low-Frequency Pulsed Current Versus Kilohertz-Frequency Alternating Current: A Scoping Literature Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaz, Marco Aurélio; Frasson, Viviane Bortoluzzi

    2018-04-01

    To compare the effectiveness of low-frequency pulsed current versus kilohertz-frequency alternating current in terms of evoked force, discomfort level, current intensity, and muscle fatigability; to discuss the physiological mechanisms of each neuromuscular electrical stimulation type; and to determine if kilohertz-frequency alternating current is better than low-frequency pulsed current for clinical treatment. Articles were obtained from PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and SPORTSDiscus databases using the terms Russian current or kilohertz current or alternating current or pulsed current or Aussie current and torque or discomfort or fatigue or current intensity, and through citation tracking up to July 2017. Two independent reviewers selected studies comparing the use of the 2 neuromuscular electrical stimulation currents. Studies describing maximal current intensity tolerated and the main effects of the 2 different current types on discomfort, muscle force, and fatigability were independently reviewed. Data were systematized according to (1) methodology; (2) electrical current characteristics; and (3) outcomes on discomfort level, evoked force, current intensity, and muscle fatigability. The search revealed 15 articles comparing the 2 current types. Kilohertz-frequency alternated current generated equal or less force, similar discomfort, similar current intensity for maximal tolerated neuromuscular electrical stimulation, and more fatigue compared with low-frequency pulsed current. Similar submaximal levels of evoked force revealed higher discomfort and current intensity for kilohertz-frequency alternated current compared with low-frequency pulsed current. Available evidence does not support the idea that kilohertz-frequency alternated current is better than low-frequency pulsed current for strength training and rehabilitation. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier

  4. Apple derived cellulose scaffolds for 3D mammalian cell culture.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel J Modulevsky

    Full Text Available There are numerous approaches for producing natural and synthetic 3D scaffolds that support the proliferation of mammalian cells. 3D scaffolds better represent the natural cellular microenvironment and have many potential applications in vitro and in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that 3D cellulose scaffolds produced by decellularizing apple hypanthium tissue can be employed for in vitro 3D culture of NIH3T3 fibroblasts, mouse C2C12 muscle myoblasts and human HeLa epithelial cells. We show that these cells can adhere, invade and proliferate in the cellulose scaffolds. In addition, biochemical functionalization or chemical cross-linking can be employed to control the surface biochemistry and/or mechanical properties of the scaffold. The cells retain high viability even after 12 continuous weeks of culture and can achieve cell densities comparable with other natural and synthetic scaffold materials. Apple derived cellulose scaffolds are easily produced, inexpensive and originate from a renewable source. Taken together, these results demonstrate that naturally derived cellulose scaffolds offer a complementary approach to existing techniques for the in vitro culture of mammalian cells in a 3D environment.

  5. Electric and magnetic fields at extremely low frequencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, L.E.; Kaune, W.T.

    1989-01-01

    Whole-body exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF, 30-300 Hz) electric fields may involve effects related to stimulation of the sensory apparatus at the body surface (hair vibration, possible direct neural stimulation) and effects within the body caused by the flow of current. Magnetic fields may interact predominantly by the induction of internal current flow. Biological effects observed in a living organism may depend on the electric fields induced inside the body, possibly on the magnetic fields penetrating into the body, and on the fields acting at the surface of the body. Areas in which effects have been observed often appear to be associated with the nervous system, including altered neuronal excitability and neurochemical changes, altered hormone levels, changes in behavioural responses, and changes in biological rhythms. No studies unequivocably demonstrate deleterious effects of ELF electric or magnetic field exposure on mammalian reproduction and development, but several suggest such effects. Exposure to ELF electric and magnetic fields does produce biological effects. However, except for fields strong enough to induce current densities above the threshold for the stimulation of nerve tissues, there is no consensus as to whether these effects constitute a hazard to human health. Human data from epidemiological studies, including reported effects on cancer promotion, congenital malformations, reproductive performance and general health, though somewhat suggestive of adverse health effects, are not conclusive. 274 refs, 13 figs, 6 tabs

  6. Low-frequency excess flux noise in superconducting devices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kempf, Sebastian; Ferring, Anna; Fleischmann, Andreas; Enss, Christian [Kirchhoff-Institute for Physics, Heidelberg University (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    Low-frequency noise is a rather universal phenomenon and appears in physical, chemical, biological or even economical systems. However, there is often very little known about the underlying processes leading to its occurrence. In particular, the origin of low-frequency excess flux noise in superconducting devices has been an unresolved puzzle for many decades. Its existence limits, for example, the coherence time of superconducting quantum bits or makes high-precision measurements of low-frequency signals using SQUIDs rather challenging. Recent experiments suggest that low-frequency excess flux noise in Josephson junction based devices might be caused by the random reversal of interacting spins in surface layer oxides and in the superconductor-substrate interface. Even if it turns out to be generally correct, the underlying physical processes, i.e. the origin of these spins, their physical nature as well as the interaction mechanisms, have not been resolved so far. In this contribution we discuss recent measurements of low-frequency SQUID noise which we performed to investigate the origin of low-frequency excess flux noise in superconducting devices. Within this context we give an overview of our measurement techniques and link our data with present theoretical models and literature data.

  7. Induction of cytoplasmic rods and rings structures by inhibition of the CTP and GTP synthetic pathway in mammalian cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wendy C Carcamo

    Full Text Available Cytoplasmic filamentous rods and rings (RR structures were identified using human autoantibodies as probes. In the present study, the formation of these conserved structures in mammalian cells and functions linked to these structures were examined.Distinct cytoplasmic rods (∼3-10 µm in length and rings (∼2-5 µm in diameter in HEp-2 cells were initially observed in immunofluorescence using human autoantibodies. Co-localization studies revealed that, although RR had filament-like features, they were not enriched in actin, tubulin, or vimentin, and not associated with centrosomes or other known cytoplasmic structures. Further independent studies revealed that two key enzymes in the nucleotide synthetic pathway cytidine triphosphate synthase 1 (CTPS1 and inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase 2 (IMPDH2 were highly enriched in RR. CTPS1 enzyme inhibitors 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine and Acivicin as well as the IMPDH2 inhibitor Ribavirin exhibited dose-dependent induction of RR in >95% of cells in all cancer cell lines tested as well as mouse primary cells. RR formation by lower concentration of Ribavirin was enhanced in IMPDH2-knockdown HeLa cells whereas it was inhibited in GFP-IMPDH2 overexpressed HeLa cells. Interestingly, RR were detected readily in untreated mouse embryonic stem cells (>95%; upon retinoic acid differentiation, RR disassembled in these cells but reformed when treated with Acivicin.RR formation represented response to disturbances in the CTP or GTP synthetic pathways in cancer cell lines and mouse primary cells and RR are the convergence physical structures in these pathways. The availability of specific markers for these conserved structures and the ability to induce formation in vitro will allow further investigations in structure and function of RR in many biological systems in health and diseases.

  8. A Synthetic Biology Tool Kit for Manned Missions Outside Low Earth Orbit

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Our goal is to make human missions outside low earth orbit safer and better able to handle the unexpected through the use of synthetic biology as an enabling...

  9. Low-frequency noise from large wind turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Henrik; Pedersen, Christian Sejer

    2011-01-01

    As wind turbines get larger, worries have emerged that the turbine noise would move down in frequency and that the low-frequency noise would cause annoyance for the neighbors. The noise emission from 48 wind turbines with nominal electric power up to 3.6 MW is analyzed and discussed. The relative...... amount of low-frequency noise is higher for large turbines (2.3–3.6 MW) than for small turbines (≤ 2 MW), and the difference is statistically significant. The difference can also be expressed as a downward shift of the spectrum of approximately one-third of an octave. A further shift of similar size...... is suggested for future turbines in the 10-MW range. Due to the air absorption, the higher low-frequency content becomes even more pronounced, when sound pressure levels in relevant neighbor distances are considered. Even when A-weighted levels are considered, a substantial part of the noise is at low...

  10. Low-frequency plasmons in metallic carbon nanotubes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, M.F.; Chuu, D.S.; Shung, K.W.

    1997-01-01

    A metallic carbon nanotube could exhibit a low-frequency plasmon, while a semiconducting carbon nanotube or a graphite layer could not. This plasmon is due to the free carriers in the linear subbands intersecting at the Fermi level. The low-frequency plasmon, which corresponds to the vanishing transferred angular momentum, belongs to an acoustic plasmon. For a smaller metallic nanotube, it could exist at larger transferred momenta, and its frequency is higher. Such a plasmon behaves as that in a one-dimensional electron gas (EGS). However, it is very different from the π plasmons in all carbon nanotubes. Intertube Coulomb interactions in a metallic multishell nanotube and a metallic nanotube bundle have been included. They have a strong effect on the low-frequency plasmon. The intertube coupling among coaxial nanotubes markedly modifies the acoustic plasmons in separate metallic nanotubes. When metallic carbon nanotubes are packed in the bundle form, the low-frequency plasmon would change into an optical plasmon, and behave like that in a three-dimensional EGS. Experimental measurements could be used to distinguish metallic and semiconducting carbon nanotubes. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

  11. The Influence of High-Frequency Envelope Information on Low-Frequency Vowel Identification in Noise.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wiebke Schubotz

    Full Text Available Vowel identification in noise using consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC logatomes was used to investigate a possible interplay of speech information from different frequency regions. It was hypothesized that the periodicity conveyed by the temporal envelope of a high frequency stimulus can enhance the use of the information carried by auditory channels in the low-frequency region that share the same periodicity. It was further hypothesized that this acts as a strobe-like mechanism and would increase the signal-to-noise ratio for the voiced parts of the CVCs. In a first experiment, different high-frequency cues were provided to test this hypothesis, whereas a second experiment examined more closely the role of amplitude modulations and intact phase information within the high-frequency region (4-8 kHz. CVCs were either natural or vocoded speech (both limited to a low-pass cutoff-frequency of 2.5 kHz and were presented in stationary 3-kHz low-pass filtered masking noise. The experimental results did not support the hypothesized use of periodicity information for aiding low-frequency perception.

  12. The Influence of High-Frequency Envelope Information on Low-Frequency Vowel Identification in Noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schubotz, Wiebke; Brand, Thomas; Kollmeier, Birger; Ewert, Stephan D

    2016-01-01

    Vowel identification in noise using consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) logatomes was used to investigate a possible interplay of speech information from different frequency regions. It was hypothesized that the periodicity conveyed by the temporal envelope of a high frequency stimulus can enhance the use of the information carried by auditory channels in the low-frequency region that share the same periodicity. It was further hypothesized that this acts as a strobe-like mechanism and would increase the signal-to-noise ratio for the voiced parts of the CVCs. In a first experiment, different high-frequency cues were provided to test this hypothesis, whereas a second experiment examined more closely the role of amplitude modulations and intact phase information within the high-frequency region (4-8 kHz). CVCs were either natural or vocoded speech (both limited to a low-pass cutoff-frequency of 2.5 kHz) and were presented in stationary 3-kHz low-pass filtered masking noise. The experimental results did not support the hypothesized use of periodicity information for aiding low-frequency perception.

  13. High and low spatial frequencies in website evaluations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thielsch, Meinald T; Hirschfeld, Gerrit

    2010-08-01

    Which features of websites are important for users' perceptions regarding aesthetics or usability? This study investigates how evaluations of aesthetic appeal and usability depend on high vs. low spatial frequencies. High spatial frequencies convey information on fine details, whereas low spatial frequencies convey information about the global layout. Participants rated aesthetic appeal and usability of 50 website screenshots from different domains. Screenshots were presented unfiltered, low-pass filtered with blurred targets or high-pass filtered with high-pass filtered targets. The main result is that low spatial frequencies can be seen to have a unique contribution in perceived website aesthetics, thus confirming a central prediction from processing fluency theory. There was no connection between low spatial frequencies and usability evaluations, whereas strong correlations were found between ratings of high-pass filtered websites and those of unfiltered websites in aesthetics and usability. This study thus offers a new perspective on the biological basis of users' website perceptions. This research links ergonomics to neurocognitive models of visual processing. This paper investigates how high and low spatial frequencies, which are neurologically processed in different visual pathways, independently contribute to users' perceptions of websites. This is very relevant for theories of website perceptions and for practitioners of web design.

  14. The Radio And Very Low Frequency (VLF) Electromagnetic ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Radio And Very Low Frequency (VLF) Electromagnetic Response Of A Layered Earth Media With Variable Dielectric Permittivity. ... A radio frequency of 125 KHz and a very low frequency (VLF) of 20 KHz were used in the computations and the field parameters studied over a dimensionless induction number, B. The ...

  15. Integral methods in low-frequency electromagnetics

    CERN Document Server

    Solin, Pavel; Karban, Pavel; Ulrych, Bohus

    2009-01-01

    A modern presentation of integral methods in low-frequency electromagnetics This book provides state-of-the-art knowledge on integral methods in low-frequency electromagnetics. Blending theory with numerous examples, it introduces key aspects of the integral methods used in engineering as a powerful alternative to PDE-based models. Readers will get complete coverage of: The electromagnetic field and its basic characteristics An overview of solution methods Solutions of electromagnetic fields by integral expressions Integral and integrodifferential methods

  16. Direct excitation of a high frequency wave by a low frequency wave in a plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, Takayasu

    1993-01-01

    A new mechanism is presented of an excitation of a high frequency wave by a low frequency wave in a plasma. This mechanism works when the low frequency wave varies in time in a manner deviated from a usual periodic motion with a constant amplitude. The conversion rate is usually not large but the conversion is done without time delay after the variation of the low frequency wave. The Manley Rowe relation in the usual sense does not hold in this mechanism. This mechanism can excite also waves with same or lower frequencies. (author)

  17. LOFAR - low frequency array

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bentum, Marinus Jan; Gunst, André

    Nog een paar maanden en dan wordt de grootste radiotelescoop ter wereld officieel geopend: LOFAR, de ‘Low Frequency Arraÿ'.LOFAR is een nieuwe radiotelescoop die in Nederland gebouwd wordt door ASTRON, de Stichting Astronomisch Onderzoek in Nederland. Met LOFAR heeft Nederland er straks een uniek

  18. A low cost, customizable turbidostat for use in synthetic circuit characterization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Chris N; Miller, Aaron W; Ekness, Felix; Dunham, Maitreya J; Klavins, Eric

    2015-01-16

    Engineered biological circuits are often disturbed by a variety of environmental factors. In batch culture, where the majority of synthetic circuit characterization occurs, environmental conditions vary as the culture matures. Turbidostats are powerful characterization tools that provide static culture environments; however, they are often expensive, especially when purchased in custom configurations, and are difficult to design and construct in a lab. Here, we present a low cost, open source multiplexed turbidostat that can be manufactured and used with minimal experience in electrical or software engineering. We demonstrate the utility of this system to profile synthetic circuit behavior in S. cerevisiae. We also demonstrate the flexibility of the design by showing that a fluorometer can be easily integrated.

  19. Searching for chaos on low frequency

    OpenAIRE

    Nicolas Wesner

    2004-01-01

    A new method for detecting low dimensional chaos in small sample sets is presented. The method is applied to financial data on low frequency (annual and monthly) for which few observations are available.

  20. Low-frequency noise complaints

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Christian Sejer; Møller, Henrik; Persson-Waye, Kerstin

    2006-01-01

    is only heard by a single person in the household. This raises the fundamental question whether the complainants are annoyed by an external physical sound, or if other explanations such as low-frequency tinnitus must be sought. The main aim of this study is to answer this fundamental question...

  1. Low-frequency scaling applied to stochastic finite-fault modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crane, Stephen; Motazedian, Dariush

    2014-01-01

    Stochastic finite-fault modeling is an important tool for simulating moderate to large earthquakes. It has proven to be useful in applications that require a reliable estimation of ground motions, mostly in the spectral frequency range of 1 to 10 Hz, which is the range of most interest to engineers. However, since there can be little resemblance between the low-frequency spectra of large and small earthquakes, this portion can be difficult to simulate using stochastic finite-fault techniques. This paper introduces two different methods to scale low-frequency spectra for stochastic finite-fault modeling. One method multiplies the subfault source spectrum by an empirical function. This function has three parameters to scale the low-frequency spectra: the level of scaling and the start and end frequencies of the taper. This empirical function adjusts the earthquake spectra only between the desired frequencies, conserving seismic moment in the simulated spectra. The other method is an empirical low-frequency coefficient that is added to the subfault corner frequency. This new parameter changes the ratio between high and low frequencies. For each simulation, the entire earthquake spectra is adjusted, which may result in the seismic moment not being conserved for a simulated earthquake. These low-frequency scaling methods were used to reproduce recorded earthquake spectra from several earthquakes recorded in the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) Next Generation Attenuation Models (NGA) database. There were two methods of determining the stochastic parameters of best fit for each earthquake: a general residual analysis and an earthquake-specific residual analysis. Both methods resulted in comparable values for stress drop and the low-frequency scaling parameters; however, the earthquake-specific residual analysis obtained a more accurate distribution of the averaged residuals.

  2. High-frequency counter-flow plasma synthetic jet actuator and its application in suppression of supersonic flow separation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hongyu; Li, Jun; Jin, Di; Tang, Mengxiao; Wu, Yun; Xiao, Lianghua

    2018-01-01

    We come up with a control strategy for suppression of supersonic flow separation based on high-frequency Counter-flow Plasma Synthetic Jet Actuator (CPSJA). The main purpose of this investigation is to verify if its control authority can be enhanced by the jet/shock interaction. We use a blunt nose to generate a bow shock, a step on a flat plate to introduce a massive separation in a Mach 2 wind tunnel, and the CPSJA to generate Plasma Synthetic Jet (PSJ). In this study, pulsed capacitive discharge is provided for an array of CPSJAs, which makes the actuation (discharge) frequency f1 = 1 kHz, f2 = 2 kHz and f3 = 3 kHz. We use the high-speed schlieren imaging and fast response pressure transducers as well as a numerical simulation to investigate the quiescent PSJ properties, the interaction between the jet and bow shock, and its disturbance effect on the downstream separated region. The schlieren images show that PSJ is characterized by a succession of vortex rings; the jet strength weakens with the increase of frequency. A 4.5 mN jet thrust is found for all the frequencies. The simulation results show that jet/shock interaction produces vorticity in the vortex ring of the jet, enhancing turbulent mixing in PSJ so that a great deal of momentum is produced into the flow. We found the downstream flow is significantly disturbed by the enhanced actuation. Actuation with frequency of f2, f3 which is close to the natural frequency fn of the separation bubble suppresses the separation with the upstream laminar boundary layer being periodically attenuated, which has a better control effect than f1. The control effect is sensitive to the position where PSJ interacts with the shear layer, but the amount of energy deposited in one pulse is not crucial in a separation reduction in the experiment.

  3. Distortion-product otoacoustic emission at low frequencies in humans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Anders Tornvig

    -frequency hearing has not yet been characterized by measurement of low-frequency emissions from the cochlea. Low-frequency emissions are expected to be covered in sounds of breathing, blood circulation, and so on, if they exist at all at measurable levels. The present study shows, in essence, that the human ear...... emits distortion at least 1-2 octaves lower in frequency than has previously been shown. The emission is promising for further exploratory and clinical assessment of cochlear activity associated with low-frequency hearing. Anders received his M.Sc. degree in acoustics in 2012 from Aalborg University...

  4. Subjective annoyance caused by indoor low-level and low frequency noise and control method

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    DI Guo-qing; ZHANG Bang-jun; SHANG Qi

    2005-01-01

    The influence of low-level noise has not been widely noticed. This paper discovered that low-level and low frequency noise(Aweighted equivalent level Leq < 45 dB) causes higher probability of subjective annoyance. The fuzzy mathematic principle was applied to deal with the threshold level of subjective annoyance from noise in this study; there is preferable relationship between the indoor noise and noise annoyance at low frequency noise level. Study indicated at the same centered noise level, the change of annoyance probability is mainly caused by the change of the frequency spectrum characteristic of the indoor noise. Under low noise level environment, without change of the medium-low frequency noise, the slight increase of medium-high frequency noise level with the help of noise sheltering effect can significantly reduce the noise annoyance. This discovery brings a new resolution on how to improve the environmental quality of working or living places. A noise control model is given in this study according to the acoustic analysis.

  5. LOFAR, the low frequency array

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vermeulen, R. C.

    2012-09-01

    LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array, is a next-generation radio telescope designed by ASTRON, with antenna stations concentrated in the north of the Netherlands and currently spread into Germany, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom; plans for more LOFAR stations exist in several other countries. Utilizing a novel, phased-array design, LOFAR is optimized for the largely unexplored low frequency range between 30 and 240 MHz. Digital beam-forming techniques make the LOFAR system agile and allow for rapid re-pointing of the telescopes as well as the potential for multiple simultaneous observations. Processing (e.g. cross-correlation) takes place in the LOFAR BlueGene/P supercomputer, and associated post-processing facilities. With its dense core (inner few km) array and long (more than 1000 km) interferometric baselines, LOFAR reaches unparalleled sensitivity and resolution in the low frequency radio regime. The International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) is now issuing its first call for observing projects that will be peer reviewed and selected for observing starting in December. Part of the allocations will be made on the basis of a fully Open Skies policy; there are also reserved fractions assigned by national consortia in return for contributions from their country to the ILT. In this invited talk, the gradually expanding complement of operationally verified observing modes and capabilities are reviewed, and some of the exciting first astronomical results are presented.

  6. Low-frequency waves in magnetized dusty plasmas revisited

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salimullah, M.; Khan, M.I.; Amin, R.; Nitta, H.; Shukla, P.K.

    2005-10-01

    The general dispersion relation of any wave is examined for low-frequency waves in a homogeneous dusty plasma in the presence of an external magnetic field. The low-frequency parallel electromagnetic wave propagates as a dust cyclotron wave or a whistler in the frequency range below the ion cyclotron frequency. In the same frequency regime, the transverse electromagnetic magnetosonic wave is modified with a cutoff frequency at the dust-ion lower-hybrid frequency, which reduces to the usual magnetosonic wave in absence of the dust. Electrostatic dust-lower- hybrid mode is also recovered propagating nearly perpendicular to the magnetic field with finite ion temperature and cold dust particles which for strong ion-Larmor radius effect reduces to the usual dust-acoustic wave driven by the ion pressure. (author)

  7. DEOXYRIBONUCLEASE IV: A NEW EXONUCLEASE FROM MAMMALIAN TISSUES*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindahl, Tomas; Gally, Joseph A.; Edelman, Gerald M.

    1969-01-01

    An exonuclease which specifically degrades double-standard DNA has been isolated from rabbit tissues. The enzyme has an approximate molecular weight of 42,000, requires a divalent metal ion as cofactor, and attacks DNA at the 5′-terminal ends, thereby liberating 5′-mononucleotides. It degrades several synthetic polydeoxynucleotides of single repeating base sequences more rapidly than DNA from natural sources. The specificity of this mammalian enzyme resembles that of several microbial enzymes (phage λ exonuclease and DNA polymerase) which appear to be required for repair and recombination of DNA. PMID:5256235

  8. A synthetic multifunctional mammalian pH sensor and CO2 transgene-control device.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ausländer, David; Ausländer, Simon; Charpin-El Hamri, Ghislaine; Sedlmayer, Ferdinand; Müller, Marius; Frey, Olivier; Hierlemann, Andreas; Stelling, Jörg; Fussenegger, Martin

    2014-08-07

    All metabolic activities operate within a narrow pH range that is controlled by the CO2-bicarbonate buffering system. We hypothesized that pH could serve as surrogate signal to monitor and respond to the physiological state. By functionally rewiring the human proton-activated cell-surface receptor TDAG8 to chimeric promoters, we created a synthetic signaling cascade that precisely monitors extracellular pH within the physiological range. The synthetic pH sensor could be adjusted by organic acids as well as gaseous CO2 that shifts the CO2-bicarbonate balance toward hydrogen ions. This enabled the design of gas-programmable logic gates, provided remote control of cellular behavior inside microfluidic devices, and allowed for CO2-triggered production of biopharmaceuticals in standard bioreactors. When implanting cells containing the synthetic pH sensor linked to production of insulin into type 1 diabetic mice developing diabetic ketoacidosis, the prosthetic network automatically scored acidic pH and coordinated an insulin expression response that corrected ketoacidosis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Annoyance of low frequency noise and traffic noise

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, F.R.; Poulsen, Torben

    2001-01-01

    The annoyance of different low frequency noise sources was determined and compared to the annoyance from traffic noise. Twenty-two subjects participated in laboratory listening tests. The sounds were presented by loudspeakers in a listening room and the spectra of the low frequency noises were...

  10. Extracting Low-Frequency Information from Time Attenuation in Elastic Waveform Inversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Xuebao; Liu, Hong; Shi, Ying; Wang, Weihong

    2017-03-01

    Low-frequency information is crucial for recovering background velocity, but the lack of low-frequency information in field data makes inversion impractical without accurate initial models. Laplace-Fourier domain waveform inversion can recover a smooth model from real data without low-frequency information, which can be used for subsequent inversion as an ideal starting model. In general, it also starts with low frequencies and includes higher frequencies at later inversion stages, while the difference is that its ultralow frequency information comes from the Laplace-Fourier domain. Meanwhile, a direct implementation of the Laplace-transformed wavefield using frequency domain inversion is also very convenient. However, because broad frequency bands are often used in the pure time domain waveform inversion, it is difficult to extract the wavefields dominated by low frequencies in this case. In this paper, low-frequency components are constructed by introducing time attenuation into the recorded residuals, and the rest of the method is identical to the traditional time domain inversion. Time windowing and frequency filtering are also applied to mitigate the ambiguity of the inverse problem. Therefore, we can start at low frequencies and to move to higher frequencies. The experiment shows that the proposed method can achieve a good inversion result in the presence of a linear initial model and records without low-frequency information.

  11. Resonant magnetic pumping at very low frequency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Canobbio, Ernesto

    1978-01-01

    We propose to exploit for plasma heating purposes the very low frequency limit of the Alfven wave resonance condition, which reduces essentially to safety factor q=m/n, a rational number. It is shown that a substantial fraction of the total RF-energy can be absorbed by the plasma. The lowest possible frequency value is determined by the maximum tolerable width of the RF-magnetic islands which develop near the singular surface. The obvious interest of the proposed scheme is the low frequency value (f<=10 KHz) which allows the RF-coils to be protected by stainless steel or even to be put outside the liner

  12. Nonmonotonic low frequency losses in HTSCs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Castro, H; Gerber, A; Milner, A

    2007-01-01

    A calorimetric technique has been used in order to study ac-field dissipation in ceramic BSCCO samples at low frequencies between 0.05 and 250 Hz, at temperatures from 65 to 90 K. In contrast to previous studies, where ac losses have been reported with a linear dependence on magnetic field frequency, we find a nonmonotonic function presenting various maxima. Frequencies corresponding to local maxima of dissipation depend on the temperature and the amplitude of the ac magnetic field. Flux creep is argued to be responsible for this behaviour. A simple model connecting the characteristic vortex relaxation times (flux creep) and the location of dissipation maxima versus frequency is proposed

  13. The subjective effect of low frequency content in road traffic noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torija, Antonio J; Flindell, Ian H

    2015-01-01

    Based on subjective listening trials, Torija and Flindell [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 135, 1-4 (2014)] observed that low frequency content in typical urban main road traffic noise appeared to make a smaller contribution to reported annoyance than might be inferred from its objective or physical dominance. This paper reports a more detailed study which was aimed at (i) identifying the difference in sound levels at which low frequency content becomes subjectively dominant over mid and high frequency content and (ii) investigating the relationship between loudness and annoyance under conditions where low frequency content is relatively more dominant, such as indoors where mid and high frequency content is reduced. The results suggested that differences of at least +30 dB between the low frequency and the mid/high frequency content are needed for changes in low frequency content to have as much subjective effect as equivalent changes in mid and high frequency content. This suggests that common criticisms of the A-frequency weighting based on a hypothesized excessive downweighting of the low frequency content may be relatively unfounded in this application area.

  14. Challenges and limitations in retrofitting facilities for low frequency noise

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wierzba, P. [ATCO Noise Management, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2007-07-01

    The trend to revise and increase environmental regulations regarding low frequency noise emissions from oil and gas facilities was discussed. Noise related complaints can often be traced to low frequency noise, which is the unwanted sound with a frequency range falling within 31.5-Hz, 63-Hz, and 125-Hz octave bands. This paper also discussed the challenges and limitations of field retrofits of the facilities aimed at reducing low frequency noise. The main sources of low frequency noise associated with a compression facility are the radiator cooler, engine exhaust and the building envelope. Regulators are paying close attention not only to the overall noise exposure as measured by the A-weighted levels, but also to the quality of noise emitted by the particular frequency spectrum. The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board recently issued Noise Control Directive 38 and made it a requirement to perform low frequency noise impact assessment for permitting of all new energy facilities. Under Directive 38, the low frequency noise assessment is to be performed using the C-weighted scale as a measure in addition to the previously used A-weighted scale. Directive 38 recommends that in order to avoid low frequency noise problems the difference between the C-weighted and A-weighted levels at the residential locations should be lower than 20 dB. This implies that noise should be limited to 60 dBC for Category 1 residences of low dwelling density. Small upgrades and changes can be made to lower low frequency noise emissions. These may include upgrading building wall insulation, providing wall-to-skid isolation system, upgrading the fan blades, or reducing the rpm of the fans. It was concluded that these upgrades should be considered for facilities in close proximity to residential areas. 3 refs., 2 tabs., 7 figs.

  15. A low frequency RFI monitoring system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amiri, Shahram; Shankar, N. Udaya; Girish, B. S.; Somashekar, R.

    Radio frequency interference (RFI) is a growing problem for research in radio astronomy particularly at wavelengths longer than 2m. For satisfactory operation of a radio telescope, several bands have been protected for radio astronomy observations by the International Telecommunication Union. Since the radiation from cosmic sources are typically 40 to 100 dB below the emission from services operating in unprotected bands, often the out-of-band emission limits the sensitivity of astronomical observations. Moreover, several radio spectral emissions from cosmic sources are present in the frequency range outside the allocated band for radio astronomy. Thus monitoring of RFI is essential before building a receiver system for low frequency radio astronomy. We describe the design and development of an RFI monitoring system operating in the frequency band 30 to 100 MHz. This was designed keeping in view our proposal to extend the frequency of operation of GMRT down to 40 MHz. The monitor is a PC based spectrometer recording the voltage output of a receiver connected to an antenna, capable of digitizing the low frequency RF directly with an 8 bit ADC and sampling bandwidths up to 16 MHz. The system can operate continuously in almost real-time with a loss of only 2% of data. Here we will present the systems design aspects and the results of RFI monitoring carried out at the Raman Research Institute, Bangalore and at the GMRT site in Khodad.

  16. Fluorescence and confocal imaging of mammalian cells using conjugated oligoelectrolytes with phenylenevinylene core

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Milczarek, Justyna; Pawlowska, Roza; Zurawinski, Remigiusz; Lukasik, Beata; Garner, Logan E.; Chworos, Arkadiusz

    2017-05-01

    Over the last few years, considerable efforts are taken, in order to find a molecular fluorescent probe fulfilling their applicability requirements. Due to a good optical properties and affinity to biological structures conjugated oligoelectrolytes (COEs) can be considered as a promising dyes for application in fluorescence-based bioimaging. In this work, we synthetized COEs with phenylenevinylene core (PV-COEs) and applied as fluorescent membranous-specific probes. Cytotoxicity effects of each COE were probed on cancerous and non-cancerous cell types and little to no toxicity effects were observed at the high range of concentrations. The intensity of cell fluorescence following the COE staining was determined by the photoluminescence analysis and fluorescence activated cell sorting method (FACS). Intercalation of tested COEs into mammalian cell membranes was revealed by fluorescent and confocal microscopy colocalization with commercial dyes specific for cellular structures including mitochondria, Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum. The phenylenevinylene conjugated oligoelectrolytes have been found to be suitable for fluorescent bioimaging of mammalian cells and membrane-rich organelles. Due to their water solubility coupled with spontaneous intercalation into cells, favorable photophysical features, ease of cell staining, low cytotoxicity and selectivity for membranous structures, PV-COEs can be applied as markers for fluorescence imaging of a variety of cell types.

  17. Frequency division transmission imaging and synthetic aperture reconstruction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gran, Fredrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2006-01-01

    In synthetic transmit aperture imaging only a few transducer elements are used in every transmission, which limits the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The penetration depth can be increased by using all transmitters in every transmission. In this paper, a method for exciting all transmitters in every...... corresponding to the excitation waveforms, the different transmitters can be decoded at the receiver. The matched filter of a specific waveform will allow information only from this waveform to pass through, thereby separating it from the other waveforms. This means that all transmitters can be used in every...... transmission, and the information from the different transmitters can be separated instantaneously. Compared to traditional synthetic transmit aperture (STA) imaging, in which the different transmitters are excited sequentially, more energy is transmitted in every transmission, and a better signal...

  18. An evaluation of multiple annealing and looping based genome amplification using a synthetic bacterial community

    KAUST Repository

    Wang, Yong; Gao, Zhaoming; Xu, Ying; Li, Guangyu; He, Lisheng; Qian, Peiyuan

    2016-01-01

    -generation-sequencing technology. Using a synthetic bacterial community, the amplification efficiency of the Multiple Annealing and Looping Based Amplification Cycles (MALBAC) kit that is originally developed to amplify the single-cell genomic DNA of mammalian organisms

  19. Frequency- and amplitude-transitioned waveforms mitigate the onset response in high-frequency nerve block

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerges, Meana; Foldes, Emily L.; Ackermann, D. Michael; Bhadra, Narendra; Bhadra, Niloy; Kilgore, Kevin L.

    2010-12-01

    High-frequency alternating currents (HFAC) have proven to be a reversible and rapid method of blocking peripheral nerve conduction, holding promise for treatment of disorders associated with undesirable neuronal activity. The delivery of HFAC is characterized by a transient period of neural firing at its inception, termed the 'onset response'. The onset response is minimized for higher frequencies and higher amplitudes, but requires larger currents. However, the complete block can be maintained at lower frequencies and amplitudes, using lower currents. In this in vivo study on whole mammalian peripheral nerves, we demonstrate a method to minimize the onset response by initiating the block using a stimulation paradigm with a high frequency and large amplitude, and then transitioning to a low-frequency and low-amplitude waveform, reducing the currents required to maintain the conduction block. In five of six animals, it was possible to transition from a 30 kHz to a 10 kHz waveform without inducing any transient neural firing. The minimum transition time was 0.03 s. Transition activity was minimized or eliminated with longer transition times. The results of this study show that this method is feasible for achieving a nerve block with minimal onset responses and current amplitude requirements.

  20. The isolation of low frequency impact sounds in hotel construction

    Science.gov (United States)

    LoVerde, John J.; Dong, David W.

    2002-11-01

    One of the design challenges in the acoustical design of hotels is reducing low frequency sounds from footfalls occurring on both carpeted and hard-surfaced floors. Research on low frequency impact noise [W. Blazier and R. DuPree, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 96, 1521-1532 (1994)] resulted in a conclusion that in wood construction low frequency impact sounds were clearly audible and that feasible control methods were not available. The results of numerous FIIC (Field Impact Insulation Class) measurements performed in accordance with ASTM E1007 indicate the lack of correlation between FIIC ratings and the reaction of occupants in the room below. The measurements presented include FIIC ratings and sound pressure level measurements below the ASTM E1007 low frequency limit of 100 Hertz, and reveal that excessive sound levels in the frequency range of 63 to 100 Hertz correlate with occupant complaints. Based upon this history, a tentative criterion for maximum impact sound level in the low frequency range is presented. The results presented of modifying existing constructions to reduce the transmission of impact sounds at low frequencies indicate that there may be practical solutions to this longstanding problem.

  1. The food additive vanillic acid controls transgene expression in mammalian cells and mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gitzinger, Marc; Kemmer, Christian; Fluri, David A; El-Baba, Marie Daoud; Weber, Wilfried; Fussenegger, Martin

    2012-03-01

    Trigger-inducible transcription-control devices that reversibly fine-tune transgene expression in response to molecular cues have significantly advanced the rational reprogramming of mammalian cells. When designed for use in future gene- and cell-based therapies the trigger molecules have to be carefully chosen in order to provide maximum specificity, minimal side-effects and optimal pharmacokinetics in a mammalian organism. Capitalizing on control components that enable Caulobacter crescentus to metabolize vanillic acid originating from lignin degradation that occurs in its oligotrophic freshwater habitat, we have designed synthetic devices that specifically adjust transgene expression in mammalian cells when exposed to vanillic acid. Even in mice transgene expression was robust, precise and tunable in response to vanillic acid. As a licensed food additive that is regularly consumed by humans via flavoured convenience food and specific fresh vegetable and fruits, vanillic acid can be considered as a safe trigger molecule that could be used for diet-controlled transgene expression in future gene- and cell-based therapies.

  2. Atomic Oxygen Energy in Low Frequency Hyperthermal Plasma Ashers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banks, Bruce A.; Miller, Sharon K R.; Kneubel, Christian A.

    2014-01-01

    Experimental and analytical analysis of the atomic oxygen erosion of pyrolytic graphite as well as Monte Carlo computational modeling of the erosion of Kapton H (DuPont, Wilmington, DE) polyimide was performed to determine the hyperthermal energy of low frequency (30 to 35 kHz) plasma ashers operating on air. It was concluded that hyperthermal energies in the range of 0.3 to 0.9 eV are produced in the low frequency air plasmas which results in texturing similar to that in low Earth orbit (LEO). Monte Carlo computational modeling also indicated that such low energy directed ions are fully capable of producing the experimentally observed textured surfaces in low frequency plasmas.

  3. Indoor measurements of sound at low frequencies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Steffen; Møller, Henrik; Persson-Waye, Kerstin

    2006-01-01

    Due to standing waves, the sound pressure level within a room may vary as much as 20-30 dB with low-frequency tonal noise, somewhat less with noise bands. For assessment of annoyance from low-frequency noise it is relevant to measure a level close to the highest level of the room, rather than a r...

  4. Investigating low-frequency compression using the Grid method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fereczkowski, Michal; Dau, Torsten; MacDonald, Ewen

    2016-01-01

    in literature. Moreover, slopes of the low-level portions of the BM I/O functions estimated at 500 Hz were examined, to determine whether the 500-Hz off-frequency forward masking curves were affected by compression. Overall, the collected data showed a trend confirming the compressive behaviour. However......There is an ongoing discussion about whether the amount of cochlear compression in humans at low frequencies (below 1 kHz) is as high as that at higher frequencies. It is controversial whether the compression affects the slope of the off-frequency forward masking curves at those frequencies. Here......, the Grid method with a 2-interval 1-up 3-down tracking rule was applied to estimate forward masking curves at two characteristic frequencies: 500 Hz and 4000 Hz. The resulting curves and the corresponding basilar membrane input-output (BM I/O) functions were found to be comparable to those reported...

  5. High-precision and low-cost vibration generator for low-frequency calibration system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Rui-Jun; Lei, Ying-Jun; Zhang, Lian-Sheng; Chang, Zhen-Xin; Fan, Kuang-Chao; Cheng, Zhen-Ying; Hu, Peng-Hao

    2018-03-01

    Low-frequency vibration is one of the harmful factors that affect the accuracy of micro-/nano-measuring machines because its amplitude is significantly small and it is very difficult to avoid. In this paper, a low-cost and high-precision vibration generator was developed to calibrate an optical accelerometer, which is self-designed to detect low-frequency vibration. A piezoelectric actuator is used as vibration exciter, a leaf spring made of beryllium copper is used as an elastic component, and a high-resolution, low-thermal-drift eddy current sensor is applied to investigate the vibrator’s performance. Experimental results demonstrate that the vibration generator can achieve steady output displacement with frequency range from 0.6 Hz to 50 Hz, an analytical displacement resolution of 3.1 nm and an acceleration range from 3.72 mm s-2 to 1935.41 mm s-2 with a relative standard deviation less than 1.79%. The effectiveness of the high-precision and low-cost vibration generator was verified by calibrating our optical accelerometer.

  6. Exploring Synthetic and Systems Biology at the University of Edinburgh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fletcher, Liz; Rosser, Susan; Elfick, Alistair

    2016-06-15

    The Centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology ('SynthSys') was originally established in 2007 as the Centre for Integrative Systems Biology, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Today, SynthSys embraces an extensive multidisciplinary community of more than 200 researchers from across the University with a common interest in synthetic and systems biology. Our research is broad and deep, addressing a diversity of scientific questions, with wide ranging impact. We bring together the power of synthetic biology and systems approaches to focus on three core thematic areas: industrial biotechnology, agriculture and the environment, and medicine and healthcare. In October 2015, we opened a newly refurbished building as a physical hub for our new U.K. Centre for Mammalian Synthetic Biology funded by the BBSRC/EPSRC/MRC as part of the U.K. Research Councils' Synthetic Biology for Growth programme. © 2016 The Author(s). published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

  7. OLFAR - Orbiting low frequency antennas for radio astronomy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bentum, Marinus Jan

    2013-01-01

    One of the last unexplored frequency ranges in radio astronomy is the frequency band below 30 MHz. New interesting astronomical science drivers for low frequency radio astronomy have emerged, ranging from studies of the astronomical dark ages, the epoch of reionization, exoplanets, to ultra-high

  8. Rheological characteristics of synthetic road binders

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gordon D. Airey; Musarrat H. Mohammed; Caroline Fichter [University of Nottingham, Nottingham (United Kingdom)

    2008-08-15

    This paper deals with the synthesis of polymer binders from monomers that could in future be derived from renewable resources. These binders consist of polyethyl acrylate (PEA) of different molecular weight, polymethyl acrylate (PMA) and polybutyl acrylate (PBA), which were synthesised from ethyl acrylate, methyl acrylate and butyl acrylate, respectively, by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The fundamental rheological properties of these binders were determined by means of a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) using a combination of temperature and frequency sweeps. The results indicate that PEA has rheological properties similar to that of 100/150 penetration grade bitumen, PMA similar rheological properties to that of 10/20 penetration grade bitumen, while PBA, due to its highly viscous nature and low complex modulus, cannot be used on its own as an asphalt binder. The synthetic binders were also combined with conventional penetration grade bitumen to produce a range of bitumen-synthetic polymer binder blends. These blends were batched by mass in the ratio of 1:1 or 3:1 and subjected to the same DSR rheological testing as the synthetic binders. The blends consisting of a softer bitumen (70/100 pen or 100/150 pen) with a hard synthetic binder (PMA) tended to be more compatible and therefore stable and produced rheological properties that combined the properties of the two components. The synthetic binders and particularly the extended bitumen samples (blends) produced rheological properties that showed similar characteristics to elastomeric SBS PMBs. 30 refs., 12 figs., 2 tabs.

  9. On the low frequency characteristics of head-related transfer function

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    XIE Bosun

    2009-01-01

    A method to correct the measured head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) at low frequency was proposed. By analyzing the HRTFs from the spherical head model at low frequency, it is proved that below the frequency of 400 Hz, magnitude of HRTF is nearly constant and the phase is a linear function of frequency both for the far and near field. Therefore, if the HRTFs above 400 Hz are accurately measured by experiment, it is able to correct the HRTFs at low frequency by the theoretical model. The results of calculation and subjective experiment show that the feasibility of the proposed method.

  10. Low frequency RFQ linacs for heavy ion fusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moretti, A.; Watson, J.M.; Martin, R.L.; Lari, R.J.; Stockley, R.L.

    1982-01-01

    Low frequency, radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) structures are under study at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) as the low-velocity portion of an rf linac driver for heavy ion inertial confinement fusion. Besides offering a direct comparison with the present ANL front end, it would provide a second low-velocity Xe +1 linac for funneling experiments at 22.9 MeV. Heavy ion RFQ accelerators are characterized by their low rf operating frequency of about 10 MHz. The large size of a manifold-fed four-vane, 10 MHz RFQ resonator structure (about 6 m in diameter) makes it unacceptable for heavy ions; therefore, alternate structures are under study at Argonne. The structures under study are: (1) a Wideroe-type structure with external stub lines, (2) a Wideroe-type structure with the stub lines internal to the structure, (3) a split coaxial line resonator with modulated vanes, and (4) a interdigital line resonator with modulated cylindrical rods. The split coaxial line resonator seems best at this low frequency. It is compact and very efficient. About 15.5 m of linac structure excited with 560 kW of rf power is sufficient to accelerate 30 mA of Xe +1 with 97% transmission efficiency from 250 keV to 3 MeV

  11. Designing waveforms for temporal encoding using a frequency sampling method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gran, Fredrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2007-01-01

    was compared to a linear frequency modulated signal with amplitude tapering, previously used in clinical studies for synthetic transmit aperture imaging. The latter had a relatively flat spectrum which implied that the waveform tried to excite all frequencies including ones with low amplification. The proposed......In this paper a method for designing waveforms for temporal encoding in medical ultrasound imaging is described. The method is based on least squares optimization and is used to design nonlinear frequency modulated signals for synthetic transmit aperture imaging. By using the proposed design method...... waveform, on the other hand, was designed so that only frequencies where the transducer had a large amplification were excited. Hereby, unnecessary heating of the transducer could be avoided and the signal-tonoise ratio could be increased. The experimental ultrasound scanner RASMUS was used to evaluate...

  12. Targeted mutations induced by a single acetylaminofluorene DNA adduct in mammalian cells and bacteria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moryia, M.; Takeshita, M.; Johnson, F.; Peden, K.; Will, S.; Grollman, A.P.

    1988-01-01

    Mutagenic specificity of 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF) has been established in mammalian cells and several strains of bacteria by using a shuttle plasmid vector containing a single N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)acetylaminofluorene (C8-dG-AAF) adduct. The nucleotide sequence of the gene conferring tetracycline resistance was modified by conservative codon replacement so as to accommodate the sequence d(CCTTCGCTAC) flanked by two restriction sites, Bsm I and Xho I. The corresponding synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide underwent reaction with 2-(N-acetoxy-N-acetylamino)-fluorene (AAAF), forming a single dG-AAF adduct. This modified oligodeoxynucleotide was hybridized to its complementary strand and ligated between the Bsm I and Xho I sites of the vector. Plasmids containing the C8-dG-AAF adduct were used to transfect simian virus 40-transformed simian kidney (COS-1) cells and to transform several AB strains of Escherichia coli. Colonies containing mutant plasmides were detected by hybridization to 32 P-labeled oligodeoxynucleotides. Presence of the single DNA adduct increased the mutation frequency by 8-fold in both COS cells and E. coli. Over 80% of mutations detected in both systems were targeted and represented G x C → C x G or G x C → T x A transversions or single nucleotide deletions. The authors conclude that modification of a deoxyguanosine residue with AAF preferentially induces mutations targeted at this site when a plasmid containing a single C8-dG-AAF adduct is introduced into mammalian cells or bacteria

  13. Relativistic runaway breakdown in low-frequency radio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Füllekrug, Martin; Roussel-Dupré, Robert; Symbalisty, Eugene M. D.; Chanrion, Olivier; Odzimek, Anna; van der Velde, Oscar; Neubert, Torsten

    2010-01-01

    The electromagnetic radiation emitted by an electron avalanche beam resulting from relativistic runaway breakdown within the Earth's atmosphere is investigated. It is found from theoretical modeling with a computer simulation that the electron beam emits electromagnetic radiation which is characterized by consecutive broadband pulses in the low-frequency radio range from ˜10 to 300 kHz at a distance of ˜800 km. Experimental evidence for the existence of consecutive broadband pulses is provided by low-frequency radio observations of sprite-producing lightning discharges at a distance of ˜550 km. The measured broadband pulses occur ˜4-9 ms after the sprite-producing lightning discharge, they exhibit electromagnetic radiation which mainly spans the frequency range from ˜50 to 350 kHz, and they exhibit complex waveforms without the typical ionospheric reflection of the first hop sky wave. Two consecutive pulses occur ˜4.5 ms and ˜3 ms after the causative lightning discharge and coincide with the sprite luminosity. It is concluded that relativistic runaway breakdown within the Earth's atmosphere can emit broadband electromagnetic pulses and possibly generates sprites. The source location of the broadband pulses can be determined with an interferometric network of wideband low-frequency radio receivers to lend further experimental support to the relativistic runaway breakdown theory.

  14. The use of a cloned bacterial gene to study mutation in mammalian cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thacker, J.; Debenham, P.G.; Stretch, A.; Webb, M.B.T.

    1983-01-01

    The recombinant DNA molecule pSV2-gpt, which contains the bacterial gene coding for xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (XGPRT) activity, was introduced into a hamster cell line lacking the equivalent mammalian enzyme (HGPRT). Hamster cell sublines were found with stable expression of XGPRT activity and were used to study mutation of the integrated pSV2-gpt DNA sequence. Mutants were selected by their resistance to 6-thioguanine (TG) under optimal conditions which were found to be very similar to those for selection of HGPRT-deficient mutants of mammalian cells. The frequency of XGPRT-deficient mutants was increased by treatment with X-rays, ethyl methanesulphonate and ethyl nitrosourea. X-Ray induction of mutants increased approximately linearly with dose up to about 500 rad, but the frequency of mutants per rad was very much higher than that usually found for 'native' mammalian genes. (orig./AJ)

  15. Impact-driven, frequency up-converting coupled vibration energy harvesting device for low frequency operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gu, Lei; Livermore, Carol

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents experiments and models of an energy harvesting device in which a low frequency resonator impacts a high frequency energy harvesting resonator, resulting in energy harvesting predominantly at the system's coupled vibration frequency. Analysis shows that a reduced mechanical damping ratio during coupled vibration enables increased electrical power generation as compared with conventional technology. Experiments demonstrate that the efficiency of electrical power transfer is significantly improved with the coupled vibration approach. An average power output of 0.43 mW is achieved under 0.4g acceleration at 8.2 Hz, corresponding to a power density of 25.5 µW cm −3 . The measured power and power density at the resonant frequency are respectively 4.8 times and 13 times the measured peak values for a conventional harvester created from a low frequency beam alone

  16. Maintenance of extratropical low-frequency variabilities in the atmosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ting, M.

    1994-01-01

    The extratropical low-frequency variability is one of the most important components in extratropical dynamics. While there are some understanding of the high-frequency, synoptic scale storm track eddy development due to baroclinic instability theory, its low-frequency counterpart is poorly understood and the theory for that is slowly evolving. The main difficulty seems to be lying on the fact that the problem is three dimensional in nature

  17. Bendable, low-loss Topas fibers for the terahertz frequency range

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Kristian; Rasmussen, Henrik K.; Adam, Aurèle J.L.

    2009-01-01

    structure proves that the fiber is single-moded over a wide frequency range, and we see the onset of higher-order modes at high frequencies as well as indication of microporous guiding at low frequencies and high porosity of the fiber. Transmission spectroscopy demonstrates low-loss propagation (

  18. A lightweight low-frequency sound insulation membrane-type acoustic metamaterial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuan Lu

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available A novel membrane-type acoustic metamaterial with a high sound transmission loss (STL at low frequencies (⩽500Hz was designed and the mechanisms were investigated by using negative mass density theory. This metamaterial’s structure is like a sandwich with a thin (thickness=0.25mm lightweight flexible rubber material within two layers of honeycomb cell plates. Negative mass density was demonstrated at frequencies below the first natural frequency, which results in the excellent low-frequency sound insulation. The effects of different structural parameters of the membrane on the sound-proofed performance at low frequencies were investigated by using finite element method (FEM. The numerical results show that, the STL can be modulated to higher value by changing the structural parameters, such as the membrane surface density, the unite cell film shape, and the membrane tension. The acoustic metamaterial proposed in this study could provide a potential application in the low-frequency noise insulation.

  19. A lightweight low-frequency sound insulation membrane-type acoustic metamaterial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Kuan; Wu, Jiu Hui; Guan, Dong; Gao, Nansha; Jing, Li

    2016-02-01

    A novel membrane-type acoustic metamaterial with a high sound transmission loss (STL) at low frequencies (⩽500Hz) was designed and the mechanisms were investigated by using negative mass density theory. This metamaterial's structure is like a sandwich with a thin (thickness=0.25mm) lightweight flexible rubber material within two layers of honeycomb cell plates. Negative mass density was demonstrated at frequencies below the first natural frequency, which results in the excellent low-frequency sound insulation. The effects of different structural parameters of the membrane on the sound-proofed performance at low frequencies were investigated by using finite element method (FEM). The numerical results show that, the STL can be modulated to higher value by changing the structural parameters, such as the membrane surface density, the unite cell film shape, and the membrane tension. The acoustic metamaterial proposed in this study could provide a potential application in the low-frequency noise insulation.

  20. An Analytical Study of Mammalian Bite Wounds Requiring Inpatient Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Young-Geun Lee

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundMammalian bite injuries create a public health problem because of their frequency, potential severity, and increasing number. Some researchers have performed fragmentary analyses of bite wounds caused by certain mammalian species. However, little practical information is available concerning serious mammalian bite wounds that require hospitalization and intensive wound management. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to perform a general review of serious mammalian bite wounds.MethodsWe performed a retrospective review of the medical charts of 68 patients who were referred to our plastic surgery department for the treatment of bite wounds between January 2003 and October 2012. The cases were analyzed according to the species, patient demographics, environmental factors, injury characteristics, and clinical course.ResultsAmong the 68 cases of mammalian bite injury, 58 (85% were caused by dogs, 8 by humans, and 2 by cats. Most of those bitten by a human and both of those bitten by cats were male. Only one-third of all the patients were children or adolescents. The most frequent site of injury was the face, with 40 cases, followed by the hand, with 16 cases. Of the 68 patients, 7 were treated with secondary intention healing. Sixty-one patients underwent delayed procedures, including delayed direct closure, skin graft, composite graft, and local flap.ConclusionsBased on overall findings from our review of the 68 cases of mammalian bites, we suggest practical guidelines for the management of mammalian bite injuries, which could be useful in the treatment of serious mammalian bite wounds.

  1. Characterization and comprehension of corona partial discharge in air under power frequency to very low frequency voltage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuanxiang, ZHOU; Zhongliu, ZHOU; Ling, ZHANG; Yunxiao, ZHANG; Yajun, MO; Jiantao, SUN

    2018-05-01

    For the partial discharge test of electrical equipment with large capacitance, the use of low-frequency voltage instead of power frequency voltage can effectively reduce the capacity requirements of test power supply. However, the validity of PD test under low frequency voltage needs to be evaluated. In order to investigate the influence of voltage frequency on corona discharge in the air, the discharge test of the tip-plate electrode under the frequency from 50 to 0.1 Hz is carried out based on the impulse current method. The results show that some of the main features of corona under low frequency do not change. The magnitude of discharge in a positive half cycle is obviously larger than that in a negative cycle. The magnitude of discharge and interval in positive cycle are random, while that in negative cycle are regular. With the decrease of frequency, the inception voltage increases. The variation trend of maximum and average magnitude and repetition rate of the discharge in positive and negative half cycle with the variation of voltage frequency and magnitude is demonstrated, with discussion and interpretation from the aspects of space charge transportation, effective discharge time and transition of discharge modes. There is an obvious difference in the phase resolved pattern of partial discharge and characteristic parameters of discharge patterns between power and low frequency. The experimental results can be the reference for mode identification of partial discharge under low frequency tests. The trend of the measured parameters with the variation of frequency provides more information about the insulation defect than traditional measurements under a single frequency (usually 50 Hz). Also it helps to understand the mechanism of corona discharge with an explanation of the characteristics under different frequencies.

  2. Low-frequency electrostatic dust-modes in a non-uniform

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    A self-consistent and general description of obliquely propagating low-frequency electrostatic dust-modes in a non-uniform magnetized dusty plasma system has been presented. A number of different situations, which correspond to different low-frequency electrostatic dust-modes, namely, dust-acoustic mode, dust-drift ...

  3. Low frequency astronomy - the challenge in a crowded RFI environment

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bentum, Marinus Jan; Boonstra, Albert Jan

    2011-01-01

    Low frequency radio astronomy is a hot topic at the moment. Many large arrays of antennas are built to facilitate the astronomical research on low frequencies. Building an instrument for the frequency band below 30 MHz on Earth will run into some problems. One of the issues is the instable and

  4. LOW-FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS IN XTE J1550-564

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao Fengyun; Belloni, Tomaso; Stella, Luigi; Zhang Shuangnan; Li Tipei

    2010-01-01

    We present the results of a timing analysis of the low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer data of the black hole binary XTE J1550-564 during its 1998 outburst. The QPO frequency is observed to vary on timescales between ∼100 s and days, correlated with the count rate contribution from the optically thick accretion disk: we studied this correlation and discuss its influence on the QPO width. In all observations, the quality factors (ν 0 /FWHM) of the fundamental and second harmonic peaks were observed to be consistent, suggesting that the quasi-periodic nature of the oscillation is due to frequency modulation. In addition to the QPO and its harmonic peaks, a new 1.5ν component was detected in the power spectra. This component is broad, with a quality factor of ∼0.6. From this, we argue that the peak observed at half the QPO frequency, usually referred to as 'sub-harmonic', could be the fundamental frequency, leading to the sequence 1:2:3:4. We also studied the energy dependence of the timing features and conclude that the two continuum components observed in the power spectrum, although both more intense at high energies, show a different dependence on energy. At low energies, the lowest-frequency component dominates, while at high energies the higher-frequency one has a higher fractional rms. An interplay between these two components was also observed as a function of their characteristic frequency. In this source, the transition between the low/hard state and the hard-intermediate state appears to be a smooth process.

  5. Transient eddy feedback and low-frequency variability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, W.A.

    1994-01-01

    Superposed on any externally driven secular climatic change are fluctuations that arise from the internal nonlinear dynamics of the climate system. These internally generated variations may involve interactions between the atmosphere and the ocean, as in the case of El Nino, or they may arise from the dynamics of the atmosphere alone. Here we discuss the dynamics of interactions between transient eddies and lower-frequency motions in the atmosphere. The interactions between more transient and more persistent motions can be divided into two types. Nonlinear interactions among the transient motions can act as an essentially random source of low-frequency motion. The idea that the low-frequencies respond in a linear way to stochastic forcing from higher frequencies has been applied to the generation of planetary waves and to the forcing of changes in global angular momentum. In addition to stochastic coupling, there are systematic interactions, denoted feedbacks, through which the persistent motions modulate their own forcing by the transient eddies. This paper discusses the dynamics of these feedbacks

  6. Climate Informed Low Flow Frequency Analysis Using Nonstationary Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, D.; Guo, S.; Lian, Y.

    2014-12-01

    Stationarity is often assumed for frequency analysis of low flows in water resources management and planning. However, many studies have shown that flow characteristics, particularly the frequency spectrum of extreme hydrologic events,were modified by climate change and human activities and the conventional frequency analysis without considering the non-stationary characteristics may lead to costly design. The analysis presented in this paper was based on the more than 100 years of daily flow data from the Yichang gaging station 44 kilometers downstream of the Three Gorges Dam. The Mann-Kendall trend test under the scaling hypothesis showed that the annual low flows had significant monotonic trend, whereas an abrupt change point was identified in 1936 by the Pettitt test. The climate informed low flow frequency analysis and the divided and combined method are employed to account for the impacts from related climate variables and the nonstationarities in annual low flows. Without prior knowledge of the probability density function for the gaging station, six distribution functions including the Generalized Extreme Values (GEV), Pearson Type III, Gumbel, Gamma, Lognormal, and Weibull distributions have been tested to find the best fit, in which the local likelihood method is used to estimate the parameters. Analyses show that GEV had the best fit for the observed low flows. This study has also shown that the climate informed low flow frequency analysis is able to exploit the link between climate indices and low flows, which would account for the dynamic feature for reservoir management and provide more accurate and reliable designs for infrastructure and water supply.

  7. A study of twenty-one cases of low-frequency noise complaints

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Christian Sejer; Møller, Henrik; Persson-Waye, Kerstin

    2008-01-01

    -frequency tinnitus. Noise recordings were made in the homes of the complainants, and the complainants were exposed to these in blind test listening experiments. Furthermore, the low-frequency hearing function of the complainants was investigated, and characteristics of the annoying sound was matched. The results...... showed that some of the complainants are annoyed by a physical sound (20-180 Hz), while others suffer from low-frequency tinnitus (perceived frequency 40-100 Hz). Physical sound at frequencies below 20 Hz (infrasound) is not responsible for the annoyance - or at all audible - in any of the investigated...... cases, and none of the complainants has extraordinary hearing sensitivity at low frequencies. For comparable cases of low-frequency noise complaints in general, it is anticipated that physical sound is responsible in a substantial part of the cases, while lowfrequency tinnitus is responsible in another...

  8. Vibro-Shock Dynamics Analysis of a Tandem Low Frequency Resonator—High Frequency Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darius Žižys

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Frequency up-conversion is a promising technique for energy harvesting in low frequency environments. In this approach, abundantly available environmental motion energy is absorbed by a Low Frequency Resonator (LFR which transfers it to a high frequency Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester (PVEH via impact or magnetic coupling. As a result, a decaying alternating output signal is produced, that can later be collected using a battery or be transferred directly to the electric load. The paper reports an impact-coupled frequency up-converting tandem setup with different LFR to PVEH natural frequency ratios and varying contact point location along the length of the harvester. RMS power output of different frequency up-converting tandems with optimal resistive values was found from the transient analysis revealing a strong relation between power output and LFR-PVEH natural frequency ratio as well as impact point location. Simulations revealed that higher power output is obtained from a higher natural frequency ratio between LFR and PVEH, an increase of power output by one order of magnitude for a doubled natural frequency ratio and up to 150% difference in power output from different impact point locations. The theoretical results were experimentally verified.

  9. Extreme Low Frequency Acoustic Measurement System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shams, Qamar A. (Inventor); Zuckerwar, Allan J. (Inventor)

    2017-01-01

    The present invention is an extremely low frequency (ELF) microphone and acoustic measurement system capable of infrasound detection in a portable and easily deployable form factor. In one embodiment of the invention, an extremely low frequency electret microphone comprises a membrane, a backplate, and a backchamber. The backchamber is sealed to allow substantially no air exchange between the backchamber and outside the microphone. Compliance of the membrane may be less than ambient air compliance. The backplate may define a plurality of holes and a slot may be defined between an outer diameter of the backplate and an inner wall of the microphone. The locations and sizes of the holes, the size of the slot, and the volume of the backchamber may be selected such that membrane motion is substantially critically damped.

  10. Gender Identification Using High-Frequency Speech Energy: Effects of Increasing the Low-Frequency Limit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donai, Jeremy J; Halbritter, Rachel M

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of normal-hearing listeners to use high-frequency energy for gender identification from naturally produced speech signals. Two experiments were conducted using a repeated-measures design. Experiment 1 investigated the effects of increasing high-pass filter cutoff (i.e., increasing the low-frequency spectral limit) on gender identification from naturally produced vowel segments. Experiment 2 studied the effects of increasing high-pass filter cutoff on gender identification from naturally produced sentences. Confidence ratings for the gender identification task were also obtained for both experiments. Listeners in experiment 1 were capable of extracting talker gender information at levels significantly above chance from vowel segments high-pass filtered up to 8.5 kHz. Listeners in experiment 2 also performed above chance on the gender identification task from sentences high-pass filtered up to 12 kHz. Cumulatively, the results of both experiments provide evidence that normal-hearing listeners can utilize information from the very high-frequency region (above 4 to 5 kHz) of the speech signal for talker gender identification. These findings are at variance with current assumptions regarding the perceptual information regarding talker gender within this frequency region. The current results also corroborate and extend previous studies of the use of high-frequency speech energy for perceptual tasks. These findings have potential implications for the study of information contained within the high-frequency region of the speech spectrum and the role this region may play in navigating the auditory scene, particularly when the low-frequency portion of the spectrum is masked by environmental noise sources or for listeners with substantial hearing loss in the low-frequency region and better hearing sensitivity in the high-frequency region (i.e., reverse slope hearing loss).

  11. A kinetic-MHD model for low frequency phenomena

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheng, C.Z.

    1991-07-01

    A hybrid kinetic-MHD model for describing low-frequency phenomena in high beta anisotropic plasmas that consist of two components: a low energy core component and an energetic component with low density. The kinetic-MHD model treats the low energy core component by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) description, the energetic component by kinetic approach such as the gyrokinetic equation, and the coupling between the dynamics of these two components through plasma pressure in the momentum equation. The kinetic-MHD model optimizes both the physics contents and the theoretical efforts in studying low frequency MHD waves and transport phenomena in general magnetic field geometries, and can be easily modified to include the core plasma kinetic effects if necessary. It is applicable to any magnetized collisionless plasma system where the parallel electric field effects are negligibly small. In the linearized limit two coupled eigenmode equations for describing the coupling between the transverse Alfven type and the compressional Alfven type waves are derived. The eigenmode equations are identical to those derived from the full gyrokinetic equation in the low frequency limit and were previously analyzed both analytically nd numerically to obtain the eigenmode structure of the drift mirror instability which explains successfully the multi-satellite observation of antisymmetric field-aligned structure of the compressional magnetic field of Pc 5 waves in the magnetospheric ring current plasma. Finally, a quadratic form is derived to demonstrate the stability of the low-frequency transverse and compressional Alfven type instabilities in terms of the pressure anisotropy parameter τ and the magnetic field curvature-pressure gradient parameter. A procedure for determining the stability of a marginally stable MHD wave due to wave-particle resonances is also presented

  12. Low frequency oscillatory flow in a rotating curved pipe

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    陈华军; 章本照; 苏霄燕

    2003-01-01

    The low frequency oscillatory flow in a rotating curved pipe was studied by using the method of bi-parameter perturbation. Perturbation solutions up to the second order were obtained and the effects of rotationon the low frequency oscillatory flow were examined in detail, The results indicated that there exists evident difference between the low frequency oscillatory flow in a rotating curved pipe and in a curved pipe without ro-tation. During a period, four secondary vortexes may exist on the circular cross-section and the distribution of axial velocity and wall shear stress are related to the ratio of the Coriolis foree to centrifugal foree and the axial pressure gradient.

  13. Low frequency oscillatory flow in a rotating curved pipe

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    陈华军; 章本照; 苏霄燕

    2003-01-01

    The low frequency oscillatory flow in a rotating curved pipe was studied by using the method of bi-parameter perturbation. Perturbation solutions up to the second order were obtained and the effects of rotation on the low frequency oscillatory flow were examined in detail. The results indicated that there exists evident difference between the low frequency oscillatory flow in a rotating curved pipe and in a curved pipe without rotation. During a period, four secondary vortexes may exist on the circular cross-section and the distribution of axial velocity and wall shear stress are related to the ratio of the Coriolis force to centrifugal force and the axial pressure gradient.

  14. Measuring low-frequency noise indoors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Steffen; Møller, Henrik; Persson-Waye, Kerstin

    2008-01-01

    that is exceeded in 10% of the volume of a room (L10) is proposed as a rational and objective target for a measurement method. In Sweden and Denmark rules exist for measuring low-frequency noise indoors. The performance of these procedures was investigated in three rooms. The results from the Swedish method were...

  15. Comparison of pulse characteristic of low frequency ultrasonic probes for concrete application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amry Amin Abas; Suhairy Sani; Muhammad Pauzi Ismail

    2006-01-01

    Ultrasonic testing of concrete or large volume of composites usually is done in low frequency range. To obtain low frequency pulse, a low frequency pulser/receiver is used attached to a low frequency probe as transmitter/receiver. Concrete is highly attenuative and a high energy pulse is essential to ensure good penetration of test samples. High energy pulse can be obtained by producing low frequency ultrasonic waves.To achieve high penetration in concrete, a low frequency probe is fabricated with the centre frequency lying at around 100 kHz. The probe is fabricated with single crystal of 18 mm thickness without any backing material to obtain wider pulse and higher pulse power. Then, comparison of pulse characteristic is done between the fabricated probe and a commercially available probe to determine the quality of the probe fabricated. (Author)

  16. Frequency pulling in a low-voltage medium-power gyrotron

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Li; Du, Chao-Hai; Huang, Ming-Guang; Liu, Pu-Kun

    2018-04-01

    Many recent biomedical applications use medium-power frequency-tunable terahertz (THz) sources, such as sensitivity-enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance, THz imaging, and biomedical treatment. As a promising candidate, a low-voltage gyrotron can generate watt-level, continuous THz-wave radiation. In particular, the frequency-pulling effect in a gyrotron, namely, the effect of the electron beam parameters on the oscillation frequency, can be used to tune the operating frequency. Most previous investigations used complicated and time-consuming gyrotron nonlinear theory to study the influence of many beam parameters on the interaction performance. While gyrotron linear theory investigation demonstrates the advantages of rapidly and clearly revealing the physical influence of individual key beam parameters on the overall system performance, this paper demonstrates systematically the use of gyrotron linear theory to study the frequency-pulling effect in a low-voltage gyrotron with either a Gaussian or a sinusoidal axial-field profile. Furthermore, simulations of a gyrotron operating in the first axial mode are carried out in the framework of nonlinear theory as a contrast. Close agreement is achieved between the two theories. Besides, some interesting results are obtained. In a low-current sinusoidal-profile cavity, the ranges of frequency variation for different axial modes are isolated from each other, and the frequency tuning bandwidth for each axial mode increases by increasing either the beam voltage or pitch factor. Lowering the voltage, the total tuning ranges are squeezed and become concentrated. However, the isolated frequency regions of each axial mode cannot be linked up unless the beam current is increased, meaning that higher current operation is the key to achieving a wider and continuous tuning frequency range. The results presented in this paper can provide a reference for designing a broadband low-voltage gyrotron.

  17. Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution and Design (SEED) Conference 2014

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Voigt, Christopher [Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    2014-07-01

    SEED2014 focused on advances in the science and technology emerging from the field of synthetic biology. We broadly define this as technologies that accelerate the process of genetic engineering. It highlighted new tool development, as well as the application of these tools to diverse problems in biotechnology, including therapeutics, industrial chemicals and fuels, natural products, and agriculture. Systems spanned from in vitro experiments and viruses, through diverse bacteria, to eukaryotes (yeast, mammalian cells, plants).

  18. Is ultraviolet enhanced reactivation of mammalian virus mutagenic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bockstahler, L.E.; Hellman, K.B.; Cantwell, J.M.; Strickland, A.

    1981-01-01

    Ultraviolet enhanced reactivation consists of an increase in the survival of certain uv-irradiated mammalian viruses when assayed for infectivity in uv-irradiated host mammalian cells, as compared with unirradiated cells. In this report ultraviolet enhanced reactivation is described, and a review is presented of investigations from this and other laboratories to establish whether or not this process is mutagenic. The answer to this question may help establish if error-prone DNA repair is induced in irradiated mammalian cells. We approached the mutagenesis question by examining the phenotypic reversion of a uv-irradiated temperature sensitive mutant of Herpes simplex virus to wild type growth in uv-irradiated monkey kidney cells. Apparent reversion was observed in both irradiated and unirradiated cells. No correlation could be found between the extent of reversion and uv exposure to the cells. The conclusions from studies reported by other investigators using various mammalian virus mutagenesis systems are conflicting. It was generally agreed that viral mutagenesis occurs when irradiated virus is passaged through either irradiated or unexposed cells. However, in some studies it was found that the frequency of mutagenesis in irradiated cells was greater than that in unirradiated cells, while in other studies increased mutagenesis in irradiated cells was not observed

  19. Simple model for low-frequency guitar function

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Ove; Vistisen, Bo B.

    1980-01-01

    - frequency guitar function. The model predicts frequency responce of sound pressure and top plate mobility which are in close quantitative agreement with experimental responses. The absolute sound pressure level and mobility level are predicted to within a few decibels, and the equivalent piston area......The frequency response of sound pressure and top plate mobility is studied around the two first resonances of the guitar. These resonances are shown to result from a coupling between the fundamental top plate mode and the Helmholtz resonance of the cavity. A simple model is proposed for low...

  20. Programming Morphogenesis through Systems and Synthetic Biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velazquez, Jeremy J; Su, Emily; Cahan, Patrick; Ebrahimkhani, Mo R

    2018-04-01

    Mammalian tissue development is an intricate, spatiotemporal process of self-organization that emerges from gene regulatory networks of differentiating stem cells. A major goal in stem cell biology is to gain a sufficient understanding of gene regulatory networks and cell-cell interactions to enable the reliable and robust engineering of morphogenesis. Here, we review advances in synthetic biology, single cell genomics, and multiscale modeling, which, when synthesized, provide a framework to achieve the ambitious goal of programming morphogenesis in complex tissues and organoids. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Low-frequency wideband vibration energy harvesting by using frequency up-conversion and quin-stable nonlinearity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chen; Zhang, Qichang; Wang, Wei

    2017-07-01

    This work presents models and experiments of an impact-driven and frequency up-converted wideband piezoelectric-based vibration energy harvester with a quintuple-well potential induced by the combination effect of magnetic nonlinearity and mechanical piecewise-linearity. Analysis shows that the interwell motions during coupled vibration period enable to increase electrical power output in comparison to conventional frequency up-conversion technology. Besides, the quintuple-well potential with shallower potential wells could extend the harvester's operating bandwidth to lower frequencies. Experiments demonstrate our proposed approach can dramatically boost the measured power of the energy harvester as much as 35 times while its lower cut-off frequency is two times lower than that of a conventional counterpart. These results reveal our proposed approach shows promise for powering portable wireless smart devices from low-intensity, low-frequency vibration sources.

  2. High frame rate synthetic aperture duplex imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stuart, Matthias Bo; Tomov, Borislav Gueorguiev; Pihl, Michael Johannes

    2013-01-01

    aperture flow imaging as demonstrated in this paper. Synthetic aperture, directional beamforming, and cross-correlation are used to produce B-mode and vector velocity images at high frame rates. The frame rate equals the effective pulse repetition frequency of each imaging mode. Emissions for making the B...... estimation is −1.8% and the relative standard deviation 5.4%. The approach can thus estimate both high and low velocities with equal accuracy and thereby makes it possible to present vector flow images with a high dynamic range. Measurements are made using the SARUS research scanner, a linear array......Conventional color flow images are limited in velocity range and can either show the high velocities in systole or be optimized for the lower diastolic velocities. The full dynamics of the flow is, thus, hard to visualize. The dynamic range can be significantly increased by employing synthetic...

  3. Static and low frequency electric and magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thommesen, G.; Tynes, T.

    1994-01-01

    The biological effects of exposure to low frequency electric and magnetic fields are reviewed with the objective of summarizing effects directly relevant to considerations of the health and safety of exposed people. Static and low frequency electric and magnetic fields may elicit biological reactions. Whether exposure to such fields may affect human health at field strengths present in everyday or occupational life is still unsettled. There is unsufficient knowledge to establish any dose concept relevant to health risk. 196 refs., 6 tabs

  4. Low frequency electric and magnetic fields - the topic of cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thommesen, G.

    1988-01-01

    A review is made of the literature about the biological effects of low frequency electric and magnetic fields. It is still an unsettled question whether extremely low frequency magnetic fields may increase the incidence of cancer. Experimental data arise mainly from exposure to field strengths or frequencies seldom or never encountered by people. The results give no clear explanation to the increase in cancer incidence reported in epidemiological works. The spectre of possible mechanisms imply that no simple dose/effect relationship should be expected, as conflicting mechanisms may dominate at different exposure levels. There is therefore no basis at present for giving numerical value to cancer risk from exposure to low frequency electric or magnetic fields

  5. Effect of low-frequency low-intensity ultrasound with microbubbles on prostate cancer hypoxia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Rui; Xu, Yanjun; Lu, Qijie; Zhang, Yang; Hu, Bing

    2017-10-01

    Angiogenesis plays an important role in tumor growth, invasiveness, and metastasis. It is well established that prostate cancer is exposed to fluctuating oxygen tensions and both acute and chronic hypoxia exist, and these conditions can upregulate angiogenesis-associated proteins such as hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha and vascular endothelial growth factor A. Low-frequency low-intensity ultrasound with microbubbles can induce obvious microvessel damage in tumors, cause cell necrosis or apoptosis. However, there is no information about whether the blocking blood effect of low-frequency low-intensity ultrasound with microbubbles has an influence on hypoxia environment of prostate cancer. Therefore, we investigated the impact of different low-frequency low-intensity ultrasound with microbubbles radiation times on prostate tumors, observed the change in the hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha and vascular endothelial growth factor A protein levels, as well as cell proliferation, apoptosis, and tumor volume. The results indicated that as the radiation was repeated four times on each treatment day, the effects of interruption were durable, the cell proliferation was inhibited, and apoptosis was promoted, and the hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha and vascular endothelial growth factor A expression levels were lower in the treatment group than in the control group. When the radiation was carried out once per treatment day, the hypoxia response was stimulated, the hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha and vascular endothelial growth factor A expression levels were higher compared with the control group, and cell proliferation was promoted. In addition, the tumor volume increased obviously in the hypoxia-stimulated group, whereas tumors grew slowly in the hypoxia-suppressed group. The results of this work demonstrated that under the same conditions, different radiation times of low-frequency low-intensity ultrasound with microbubbles affect the hypoxia response differently, and the

  6. Charge density fluctuation of low frequency in a dusty plasma

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    李芳; 吕保维; O.Havnes

    1997-01-01

    The charge density fluctuation of low frequency in a dusty plasma, which is derived from the longitudinal dielectric permittivity of the dusty plasma, has been studied by kinetic theory. The results show that the P value, which describes the relative charge density on the dust in the plasma, and the charging frequency of a dust particle Ωc, which describes the ratio of charge changing of the dust particles, determine the character of the charge density fluctuation of low frequency. For a dusty plasma of P<<1, when the charging frequency Ωc is much smaller than the dusty plasma frequency wd, there is a strong charge density fluctuation which is of character of dust acoustic eigen wave. For a dusty plasma of P>>1, when the frequency Ωc, is much larger than wd there are weaker fluctuations with a wide spectrum. The results have been applied to the ionosphere and the range of radius and density of dust particles is found, where a strong charge density fluctuation of low frequency should exist.

  7. Technology for producing synthetic cast iron for nuclear power station parts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blozhko, N.K.; Kurochkin, V.S.; Narkevich, E.A.; Nikitin, L.A.; Petrov, L.A.

    1984-01-01

    A technology was developed and implemented for producing grades SCh-30 through SCh-40 synthetic cast iron in industrial-frequency induction melting furnaces. Alternative innoculations with ferrosilicon and silicocalcium and alloying with chrome and nickel were studied. The mechanical properties and structure of cast irons produced by various technological methods were studied. The research showed that the sector's plants, equipped with industrial-frequency induction furnaces, can produce high-quality synthetic cast irons containing flake graphite for nuclear-power-station casting, without the use of expensive innoculants. Careful observance of the melting and innoculating technologies makes it possible to produce SCh 40 cast iron, without cementite inclusions, by innoculating with FS 75 ferrosilicon in the amount of 0.7% of the total melt weight. Using an innoculant mixture of 0.2% FS 75 and 0.5% SK 30 and low alloying with nickel and chromium, the cast-iron strength can be increased to 440-450 MPa, although the danger of cementite inclusions increase

  8. Accurate Estimation of Low Fundamental Frequencies from Real-Valued Measurements

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, the difficult problem of estimating low fundamental frequencies from real-valued measurements is addressed. The methods commonly employed do not take the phenomena encountered in this scenario into account and thus fail to deliver accurate estimates. The reason for this is that the......In this paper, the difficult problem of estimating low fundamental frequencies from real-valued measurements is addressed. The methods commonly employed do not take the phenomena encountered in this scenario into account and thus fail to deliver accurate estimates. The reason...... for this is that they employ asymptotic approximations that are violated when the harmonics are not well-separated in frequency, something that happens when the observed signal is real-valued and the fundamental frequency is low. To mitigate this, we analyze the problem and present some exact fundamental frequency estimators...

  9. Frequency Up-Converted Low Frequency Vibration Energy Harvester Using Trampoline Effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ju, S; Chae, S H; Choi, Y; Jun, S; Park, S M; Lee, S; Ji, C-H; Lee, H W

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a non-resonant vibration energy harvester based on magnetoelectric transduction mechanism and mechanical frequency up-conversion using trampoline effect. The harvester utilizes a freely movable spherical permanent magnet which bounces off the aluminum springs integrated at both ends of the cavity, achieving frequency up-conversion from low frequency input vibration. Moreover, bonding method of magnetoelectric laminate composite has been optimized to provide higher strain to piezoelectric material and thus obtain a higher output voltage. A proof-of-concept energy harvesting device has been fabricated and tested. Maximum open-circuit voltage of 11.2V has been obtained and output power of 0.57μW has been achieved for a 50kΩ load, when the fabricated energy harvester was hand-shaken

  10. Frequency Up-Converted Low Frequency Vibration Energy Harvester Using Trampoline Effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ju, S.; Chae, S. H.; Choi, Y.; Jun, S.; Park, S. M.; Lee, S.; Lee, H. W.; Ji, C.-H.

    2013-12-01

    This paper presents a non-resonant vibration energy harvester based on magnetoelectric transduction mechanism and mechanical frequency up-conversion using trampoline effect. The harvester utilizes a freely movable spherical permanent magnet which bounces off the aluminum springs integrated at both ends of the cavity, achieving frequency up-conversion from low frequency input vibration. Moreover, bonding method of magnetoelectric laminate composite has been optimized to provide higher strain to piezoelectric material and thus obtain a higher output voltage. A proof-of-concept energy harvesting device has been fabricated and tested. Maximum open-circuit voltage of 11.2V has been obtained and output power of 0.57μW has been achieved for a 50kΩ load, when the fabricated energy harvester was hand-shaken.

  11. Modulation of cochlear tuning by low-frequency sound

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klis, J.F.L.; Prijs, V.F.; Latour, J.B.; Smoorenburg, G.F.

    1988-01-01

    An intense, low-frequency tone (about 30 Hz) modulates the sensitivity of the inner ear to high-frequency stimulation. This modulation is correlated with the displacement of the basilar membrane. The findings suggest that the modulation may also affect cochlear tuning. We have investigated

  12. Frequency-domain method for separating signal and noise

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2000-01-01

    A new method for separation of signal and noise (SSN) is put forward. Frequency is redefined according to the features of signal and its derivative in the sampl ing time interval, thus double orthogonal basis (DOB) is constructed so that a signal can be precisely signified with a linear combination of low-frequency DOB . Under joint consideration in time domain (TD) and frequency domain (FD), a method on SSN with high accuracy is derived and a matched algorithm is designed and analyzed. This method is applicable to SSN in multiple frequency bands, and convenient in applying signal characteristics in TD and FD synthetically with highe raccuracy.

  13. Frequency-domain method for separating signal and noise

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    王正明; 段晓君

    2000-01-01

    A new method for separation of signal and noise (SSN) is put forward. Frequency is redefined according to the features of signal and its derivative in the sampling time interval, thus double orthogonal basis (DOB) is constructed so that a signal can be precisely signified with a linear combination of low-frequency DOB. Under joint consideration in time domain (TD) and frequency domain (FD), a method on SSN with high accuracy is derived and a matched algorithm is designed and analyzed. This method is applicable to SSN in multiple frequency bands, and convenient in applying signal characteristics in TD and FD synthetically with higher accuracy.

  14. More Insight of Piezoelectric-based Synthetic Jet Actuators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Housley, Kevin; Amitay, Michael

    2016-11-01

    Increased understanding of the internal flow of piezoelectric-based synthetic jet actuators is needed for the development of specialized actuator cavity geometries to increase jet momentum coefficients and tailor acoustic resonant frequencies. Synthetic jet actuators can benefit from tuning of the structural resonant frequency of the piezoelectric diaphragm(s) and the acoustic resonant frequency of the actuator cavity such that they experience constructive coupling. The resulting coupled behavior produces increased jet velocities. The ability to design synthetic jet actuators to operate with this behavior at select driving frequencies allows for them to be better used in flow control applications, which sometimes require specific jet frequencies in order to utilize the natural instabilities of a given flow field. A parametric study of varying actuator diameters was conducted to this end. Phase-locked data were collected on the jet velocity, the cavity pressure at various locations, and the three-dimensional deformation of the surface of the diaphragm. These results were compared to previous analytical work on the interaction between the structural resonance of the diaphragm and the acoustic resonance of the cavity. Funded by the Boeing Company.

  15. Building a good initial model for full-waveform inversion using frequency shift filter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Guanchao; Wang, Shangxu; Yuan, Sanyi; Lian, Shijie

    2018-05-01

    Accurate initial model or available low-frequency data is an important factor in the success of full waveform inversion (FWI). The low-frequency helps determine the kinematical relevant components, low-wavenumber of the velocity model, which are in turn needed to avoid FWI trap in local minima or cycle-skipping. However, in the field, acquiring data that common point of low- and high-frequency signal, then utilize the high-frequency data to obtain the low-wavenumber velocity model. It is well known that the instantaneous amplitude envelope of a wavelet is invariant under frequency shift. This means that resolution is constant for a given frequency bandwidth, and independent of the actual values of the frequencies. Based on this property, we develop a frequency shift filter (FSF) to build the relationship between low- and high-frequency information with a constant frequency bandwidth. After that, we can use the high-frequency information to get a plausible recovery of the low-wavenumber velocity model. Numerical results using synthetic data from the Marmousi and layer model demonstrate that our proposed envelope misfit function based on the frequency shift filter can build an initial model with more accurate long-wavelength components, when low-frequency signals are absent in recorded data.

  16. Low-frequency computational electromagnetics for antenna analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miller, E.K. (Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)); Burke, G.J. (Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA))

    1991-01-01

    An overview of low-frequency, computational methods for modeling the electromagnetic characteristics of antennas is presented here. The article presents a brief analytical background, and summarizes the essential ingredients of the method of moments, for numerically solving low-frequency antenna problems. Some extensions to the basic models of perfectly conducting objects in free space are also summarized, followed by a consideration of some of the same computational issues that affect model accuracy, efficiency and utility. A variety of representative computations are then presented to illustrate various modeling aspects and capabilities that are currently available. A fairly extensive bibliography is included to suggest further reference material to the reader. 90 refs., 27 figs.

  17. Sampling methods for low-frequency electromagnetic imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gebauer, Bastian; Hanke, Martin; Schneider, Christoph

    2008-01-01

    For the detection of hidden objects by low-frequency electromagnetic imaging the linear sampling method works remarkably well despite the fact that the rigorous mathematical justification is still incomplete. In this work, we give an explanation for this good performance by showing that in the low-frequency limit the measurement operator fulfils the assumptions for the fully justified variant of the linear sampling method, the so-called factorization method. We also show how the method has to be modified in the physically relevant case of electromagnetic imaging with divergence-free currents. We present numerical results to illustrate our findings, and to show that similar performance can be expected for the case of conducting objects and layered backgrounds

  18. The effects of selenium on glutathione peroxidase activity and radioprotection in mammalian cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diamond, A.M.; Murray, J.L.; Dale, P.; Tritz, R.; Grdina, D.J.

    1995-01-01

    The media of representative mammalian cell lines were supplemented with low levels of selenium in the form of sodium selenite in order to investigate the effects of selenium on mammalian cells. Following incubation in 30 nM sodium selenite, these cells were assayed for changes in glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. The cells examined included NIH 3T3 mouse fibroblasts, PC12 rat sympathetic precursor cells, SupT-1 human lymphocytes, MCF-7 adr human breast carcinoma cells and AA8 Chinese hamster ovary cells. Selenium supplementation resulted in a marginal increase in GPx activity for the NIH 3T3, MCF-7 adr and Supt-1 cells but stimulated GPx activity approximately 5-fold in PC12 and AA8 cells. AA8 cells were selected to evaluate whether selenium supplementation was radioprotective against 60 cobalt gamma irradiation. Protection against radiation-induced mutation was measured by evaluating mutation frequency at the hprt locus. In this assay, preincubation of AA8 CHO cells significantly protected these cells from exposure to 8 Gy

  19. Low-frequency 1/f noise in graphene devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balandin, Alexander A.

    2013-08-01

    Low-frequency noise with a spectral density that depends inversely on frequency has been observed in a wide variety of systems including current fluctuations in resistors, intensity fluctuations in music and signals in human cognition. In electronics, the phenomenon, which is known as 1/f noise, flicker noise or excess noise, hampers the operation of numerous devices and circuits, and can be a significant impediment to the development of practical applications from new materials. Graphene offers unique opportunities for studying 1/f noise because of its two-dimensional structure and widely tunable two-dimensional carrier concentration. The creation of practical graphene-based devices will also depend on our ability to understand and control the low-frequency noise in this material system. Here, the characteristic features of 1/f noise in graphene and few-layer graphene are reviewed, and the implications of such noise for the development of graphene-based electronics including high-frequency devices and sensors are examined.

  20. Genotoxic effects of synthetic amorphous silica nanoparticles in the mouse lymphoma assay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eşref Demir

    Full Text Available Synthetic amorphous silica nanoparticles (SAS NPs have been used in various industries, such as plastics, glass, paints, electronics, synthetic rubber, in pharmaceutical drug tablets, and a as food additive in many processed foods. There are few studies in the literature on NPs using gene mutation approaches in mammalian cells, which represents an important gap for genotoxic risk estimations. To fill this gap, the mouse lymphoma L5178Y/Tk+/− assay (MLA was used to evaluate the mutagenic effect for five different concentrations (from 0.01 to 150 μg/mL of two different sizes of SAS NPs (7.172 and 7.652 nm and a fine collodial form of silicon dioxide (SiO2. This assay detects a broad spectrum of mutational events, from point mutations to chromosome alterations. The results obtained indicate that the two selected SAS NPs are mutagenic in the MLA assay, showing a concentration-dependent effect. The relative mutagenic potencies according to the induced mutant frequency (IMF are as follows: SAS NPs (7.172 nm (IMF = 705.5 × 10−6, SAS NPs (7.652 nm (IMF = 575.5 × 10−6, and SiO2 (IMF = 57.5 × 10−6. These in vitro results, obtained from mouse lymphoma cells, support the genotoxic potential of NPs as well as focus the discussion of the benefits/risks associated with their use in different areas. Keywords: Synthetic amorphous silica nanoparticles, Mouse lymphoma assay, Mutagenic agents, Thymidine kinase (Tk gene, In vitro mutagenicity

  1. Low-frequency noise in planar Hall effect bridge sensors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Persson, Anders; Bejhedb, R.S.; Bejhed, R.S.

    2011-01-01

    The low-frequency characteristics of planar Hall effect bridge sensors are investigated as function of the sensor bias current and the applied magnetic field. The noise spectra reveal a Johnson-like spectrum at high frequencies, and a 1/f-like excess noise spectrum at lower frequencies, with a kn...

  2. Effects on Performance and Work Quality due to Low Frequency Ventilation Noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Persson Waye, K.; Rylander, R.; Benton, S.; Leventhall, H. G.

    1997-08-01

    A pilot study was carried out to assess method evaluating effects of low frequency noise on performance. Of special interest was to study objective and subjective effects over time. Two ventilation noises were used, one of a predominantly mid frequency character and the other of a predominantly low frequency character. Both had an NC value of 35. For the study, 50 students were recruited and 30 selected on the basis of subjective reports of pressure on the eardrum after exposure to a low frequency noise. Of these, 14 randomly selected subjects aged 21 and 34 took part. The subjects performed three computerized cognitive tests in the mid frequency or the low frequency noise condition alternatively. Tests I and II were performed together with a secondary task.Questionnaires were used to evaluate subjective symptoms, effects on mood and estimated interference with the test results due to temperature, light and noise. The results showed that the subjective estimations of noise interference with performance were higher for the low frequency noise (psocial orientation (pstudied. The results further indicate that the NC curves do not fully assess the negative effects of low frequency noise on work performance.

  3. Synthetic smooth muscle in the outer blood plexus of the rhinarium skin of Lemur catta L.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elofsson, Rolf; Kröger, Ronald H H

    2017-01-01

    The skin of the lemur nose tip (rhinarium) has arterioles in the outer vascular plexus that are endowed with an unusual coat of smooth muscle cells. Comparison with the arterioles of the same area in a number of unrelated mammalians shows that the lemur pattern is unique. The vascular smooth muscle cells belong to the synthetic type. The function of synthetic smooth muscles around the terminal vessels in the lemur rhinarium is unclear but may have additional functions beyond regulation of vessel diameter.

  4. A versatile cis-acting inverter module for synthetic translational switches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Endo, Kei; Hayashi, Karin; Inoue, Tan; Saito, Hirohide

    2013-01-01

    Artificial genetic switches have been designed and tuned individually in living cells. A method to directly invert an existing OFF switch to an ON switch should be highly convenient to construct complex circuits from well-characterized modules, but developing such a technique has remained a challenge. Here we present a cis-acting RNA module to invert the function of a synthetic translational OFF switch to an ON switch in mammalian cells. This inversion maintains the property of the parental switch in response to a particular input signal. In addition, we demonstrate simultaneous and specific expression control of both the OFF and ON switches. The module fits the criteria of universality and expands the versatility of mRNA-based information processing systems developed for artificially controlling mammalian cellular behaviour.

  5. Digital Filters for Low Frequency Equalization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tyril, Marni; Abildgaard, J.; Rubak, Per

    2001-01-01

    Digital filters with high resolution in the low-frequency range are studied. Specifically, for a given computational power, traditional IIR filters are compared with warped FIR filters, warped IIR filters, and modified warped FIR filters termed warped individual z FIR filters (WizFIR). The results...

  6. Low frequency temperature forcing of chemical oscillations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novak, Jan; Thompson, Barnaby W; Wilson, Mark C T; Taylor, Annette F; Britton, Melanie M

    2011-07-14

    The low frequency forcing of chemical oscillations by temperature is investigated experimentally in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction and in simulations of the Oregonator model with Arrhenius temperature dependence of the rate constants. Forcing with temperature leads to modulation of the chemical frequency. The number of response cycles per forcing cycle is given by the ratio of the natural frequency to the forcing frequency and phase locking is only observed in simulations when this ratio is a whole number and the forcing amplitude is small. The global temperature forcing of flow-distributed oscillations in a tubular reactor is also investigated and synchronisation is observed in the variation of band position with the external signal, reflecting the periodic modulation of chemical oscillations by temperature.

  7. Stimulus-dependent modulation of spontaneous low-frequency oscillations in the rat visual cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Liangming; Liu, Yadong; Gui, Jianjun; Li, Ming; Hu, Dewen

    2014-08-06

    Research on spontaneous low-frequency oscillations is important to reveal underlying regulatory mechanisms in the brain. The mechanism for the stimulus modulation of low-frequency oscillations is not known. Here, we used the intrinsic optical imaging technique to examine stimulus-modulated low-frequency oscillation signals in the rat visual cortex. The stimulation was presented monocularly as a flashing light with different frequencies and intensities. The phases of low-frequency oscillations in different regions tended to be synchronized and the rhythms typically accelerated within a 30-s period after stimulation. These phenomena were confined to visual stimuli with specific flashing frequencies (12.5-17.5 Hz) and intensities (5-10 mA). The acceleration and synchronization induced by the flashing frequency were more marked than those induced by the intensity. These results show that spontaneous low-frequency oscillations can be modulated by parameter-dependent flashing lights and indicate the potential utility of the visual stimulus paradigm in exploring the origin and function of low-frequency oscillations.

  8. Assessment of Crack Detection in Heavy-Walled Cast Stainless Steel Piping Welds Using Advanced Low-Frequency Ultrasonic Methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anderson, Michael T.; Crawford, Susan L.; Cumblidge, Stephen E.; Denslow, Kayte M.; Diaz, Aaron A.; Doctor, Steven R.

    2007-03-01

    Studies conducted at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, have focused on assessing the effectiveness and reliability of novel approaches to nondestructive examination (NDE) for inspecting coarse-grained, cast stainless steel reactor components. The primary objective of this work is to provide information to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the effectiveness and reliability of advanced NDE methods as related to the inservice inspection of safety-related components in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). This report provides progress, recent developments, and results from an assessment of low frequency ultrasonic testing (UT) for detection of inside surface-breaking cracks in cast stainless steel reactor piping weldments as applied from the outside surface of the components. Vintage centrifugally cast stainless steel piping segments were examined to assess the capability of low-frequency UT to adequately penetrate challenging microstructures and determine acoustic propagation limitations or conditions that may interfere with reliable flaw detection. In addition, welded specimens containing mechanical and thermal fatigue cracks were examined. The specimens were fabricated using vintage centrifugally cast and statically cast stainless steel materials, which are typical of configurations installed in PWR primary coolant circuits. Ultrasonic studies on the vintage centrifugally cast stainless steel piping segments were conducted with a 400-kHz synthetic aperture focusing technique and phased array technology applied at 500 kHz, 750 kHz, and 1.0 MHz. Flaw detection and characterization on the welded specimens was performed with the phased array method operating at the frequencies stated above. This report documents the methodologies used and provides results from laboratory studies to assess baseline material noise, crack detection, and length-sizing capability for low-frequency UT in cast stainless steel piping.

  9. Flextensional fiber Bragg grating-based accelerometer for low frequency vibration measurement

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Jinghua Zhang; Xueguang Qiao; Manli Hu; Zhongyao Feng; Hong Gao; Yang Yang; Rui Zhou

    2011-01-01

    @@ The intelligent structural health monitoring method,which uses a fiber Bragg grating(FBG)sensor,is a new approach in the field of civil engineering.However,it lacks a reliable FBG-based accelerometer for taking structural low frequency vibration measurements.In this letter,a flextensional FBG-based accelerometer is proposed and demonstrated.The experimental results indicate that the natural frequency of the developed accelerometer is 16.7 Hz,with a high sensitivity of 410.7 pm/g.In addition,it has a broad and flat response over low frequencies ranging from 1 to 10 Hz.The natural frequency and sensitivity of the accelerometer can be tuned by adding mass to tailor the sensor performance to specific applications.Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the good performance of the proposed FBG-based accelerometer.These results show that the proposed accelerometer is satisfactory for low frequency vibration measurements.%The intelligent structural health monitoring method, which uses a fiber Bragg grating {FBG} sensor, ie a new approach in the field of civil engineering. However, it lacks a reliable FBG-based accelerometer for taking structural low frequency vibration measurements. In this letter, a flextensional FBG-based accelerometer is proposed and demonstrated. The experimental results indicate that the natural frequency of the developed accelerometer is 16.7 Hz, with a high sensitivity of 410.7 pm/g. In addition, it has a broad and flat response over low frequencies ranging from 1 to 10 Hz. The natural frequency and sensitivity of the accelerometer can be tuned by adding mass to tailor the sensor performance to specific applications. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the good performance of the proposed FBG-based accelerometer. These results show that the proposed accelerometer is satisfactory for low frequency vibration measurements.

  10. Low frequency vibration tests on a floating slab track in an underground laboratory

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    De-yun DING; Wei-ning LIU; Ke-fei LI; Xiao-jing SUN; Wei-feng LIU

    2011-01-01

    Low frequency vibrations induced by underground railways have attracted increasing attention in recent years. To obtain the characteristics of low frequency vibrations and the low frequency performance of a floating slab track (FST), low frequency vibration tests on an FST in an underground laboratory at Beijing Jiaotong University were carried out. The FST and an unbalanced shaker SBZ30 for dynamic simulation were designed for use in low frequency vibration experiments. Vibration measurements were performed on the bogie of the unbalanced shaker, the rail, the slab, the tunnel invert, the tunnel wall, the tunnel apex, and on the ground surface at distances varying from 0 to 80 m from the track. Measurements were also made on several floors of an adjacent building. Detailed results of low frequency vibration tests were reported. The attenuation of low frequency vibrations with the distance from the track was presented, as well as the responses of different floors of the building. The experimental results could be regarded as a reference for developing methods to control low frequency vibrations and for adopting countermeasures.

  11. Regionalisation of low flow frequency curves for the Peninsular Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mamun, Abdullah A.; Hashim, Alias; Daoud, Jamal I.

    2010-02-01

    SUMMARYRegional maps and equations for the magnitude and frequency of 1, 7 and 30-day low flows were derived and are presented in this paper. The river gauging stations of neighbouring catchments that produced similar low flow frequency curves were grouped together. As such, the Peninsular Malaysia was divided into seven low flow regions. Regional equations were developed using the multivariate regression technique. An empirical relationship was developed for mean annual minimum flow as a function of catchment area, mean annual rainfall and mean annual evaporation. The regional equations exhibited good coefficient of determination ( R2 > 0.90). Three low flow frequency curves showing the low, mean and high limits for each region were proposed based on a graphical best-fit technique. Knowing the catchment area, mean annual rainfall and evaporation in the region, design low flows of different durations can be easily estimated for the ungauged catchments. This procedure is expected to overcome the problem of data unavailability in estimating low flows in the Peninsular Malaysia.

  12. Low frequency electrostatic modes in a magnetized dusty plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salimullah, M.; Hassan, M.H.A.

    1991-09-01

    The dispersion properties of low frequency electrostatic modes in a dusty plasma in the presence of a static homogeneous magnetic field are examined. It is found that the presence of the dust particles and the static magnetic field have significant effects on the dispersion relations. For the parallel propagation the electrostatic mode is slightly modified by the magnetic field for the ion acoustic branch. A new longitudinal mode arises at the extreme low frequency limit, which is unaffected by the magnetic field for the parallel propagation. For the transverse propagation the ion acoustic mode is not affected by the magnetic field. However, the undamped extreme low frequency mode is significantly modified by the presence of the magnetic field for the propagation transverse to the direction of the magnetic field. (author). 23 refs

  13. Radiative cooling and broadband phenomenon in low-frequency waves

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2000-01-01

    In this paper, we analyze the effects of radiative cooling on the pure baroclinic low-frequency waves under the approximation of equatorial -plane and semi-geostrophic condition. The results show that radiative cooling does not, exclusively, provide the damping effects on the development of low-frequency waves. Under the delicate radiative-convective equilibrium, radiative effects will alter the phase speed and wave period, and bring about the broadband of phase velocity and wave period by adjusting the vertical profiles of diabatic heating. when the intensity of diabatic heating is moderate and appropriate, it is conductive to the development and sustaining of the low-frequency waves and their broadband phenomena, not the larger, the better. The radiative cooling cannot be neglected in order to reach the moderate and appropriate intensity of diabatic heating.

  14. Low-frequency radio absorption in Cassiopeia A

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arias, M.; Vink, J.; de Gasperin, F.; Salas, P.; Oonk, J. B. R.; van Weeren, R. J.; van Amesfoort, A. S.; Anderson, J.; Beck, R.; Bell, M. E.; Bentum, M. J.; Best, P.; Blaauw, R.; Breitling, F.; Broderick, J. W.; Brouw, W. N.; Brüggen, M.; Butcher, H. R.; Ciardi, B.; de Geus, E.; Deller, A.; van Dijk, P. C. G.; Duscha, S.; Eislöffel, J.; Garrett, M. A.; Grießmeier, J. M.; Gunst, A. W.; van Haarlem, M. P.; Heald, G.; Hessels, J.; Hörandel, J.; Holties, H. A.; van der Horst, A. J.; Iacobelli, M.; Juette, E.; Krankowski, A.; van Leeuwen, J.; Mann, G.; McKay-Bukowski, D.; McKean, J. P.; Mulder, H.; Nelles, A.; Orru, E.; Paas, H.; Pandey-Pommier, M.; Pandey, V. N.; Pekal, R.; Pizzo, R.; Polatidis, A. G.; Reich, W.; Röttgering, H. J. A.; Rothkaehl, H.; Schwarz, D. J.; Smirnov, O.; Soida, M.; Steinmetz, M.; Tagger, M.; Thoudam, S.; Toribio, M. C.; Vocks, C.; van der Wiel, M. H. D.; Wijers, R. A. M. J.; Wucknitz, O.; Zarka, P.; Zucca, P.

    2018-05-01

    Context. Cassiopeia A is one of the best-studied supernova remnants. Its bright radio and X-ray emission is due to shocked ejecta. Cas A is rather unique in that the unshocked ejecta can also be studied: through emission in the infrared, the radio-active decay of 44Ti, and the low-frequency free-free absorption caused by cold ionised gas, which is the topic of this paper. Aims: Free-free absorption processes are affected by the mass, geometry, temperature, and ionisation conditions in the absorbing gas. Observations at the lowest radio frequencies can constrain a combination of these properties. Methods: We used Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) Low Band Antenna observations at 30-77 MHz and Very Large Array (VLA) L-band observations at 1-2 GHz to fit for internal absorption as parametrised by the emission measure. We simultaneously fit multiple UV-matched images with a common resolution of 17″ (this corresponds to 0.25 pc for a source at the distance of Cas A). The ample frequency coverage allows us separate the relative contributions from the absorbing gas, the unabsorbed front of the shell, and the absorbed back of the shell to the emission spectrum. We explored the effects that a temperature lower than the 100-500 K proposed from infrared observations and a high degree of clumping can have on the derived physical properties of the unshocked material, such as its mass and density. We also compiled integrated radio flux density measurements, fit for the absorption processes that occur in the radio band, and considered their effect on the secular decline of the source. Results: We find a mass in the unshocked ejecta of M = 2.95 ± 0.48 M⊙ for an assumed gas temperatureof T = 100 K. This estimate is reduced for colder gas temperatures and, most significantly, if the ejecta are clumped. We measure the reverse shock to have a radius of 114″± 6″ and be centred at 23:23:26, +58:48:54 (J2000). We also find that a decrease in the amount of mass in the unshocked ejecta

  15. Nitrogen aggregation in Ib type synthetic diamonds at low pressure and high-temperature annealing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kazyuchits, N.M.; Rusetskij, M.S.; Latushko, Ya.I.; Kazyuchits, V.N.; Zajtsev, A.M.

    2015-01-01

    A new technique for annealing of diamonds at low pressure and high temperature (LPHT) is considered. The absorption spectra of synthetic Ib diamonds are given before and after annealing. This is evident from a comparison of the spectra that nitrogen aggregation process takes place at the LPHT annealing diamond. (authors)

  16. Preparation and Low Temperature Short-term Storage for Synthetic Seeds of Caladium bicolor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehpara MAQSOOD

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available An efficient somatic embryo encapsulation and in vitro plant regeneration technique were established with Caladium bicolor, an important ornamental plant.Tuber derived embryogenic callus (95.50% was obtained on Murashige and Skoog (MS medium amended with 0.5 mg L-1 α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA + 0.5 mg L-1 6-Benzyladenine (BA. The embryogenic callus later differentiated into somatic embryos in the same plant growth regulators (PGRs added medium (NAA and BA. The induced embryos matured and developed into plantlets in NAA and BA added media; maximum plantlets development was observed at 1.0 mg L-1 NAA + 1.0 mg L-1 BA supplemented medium. Synthetic seeds were produced by encapsulating embryos in gel containing 3.0% sucrose + 3.0% sodium alginate and 100 mM of calcium chloride.The highest synthetic seed germination (97.6% was observed on medium supplemented with 1.0 mg L-1 NAA + 1.0 mg L-1 BA. The synthetic seeds were kept at low temperatures for storage; the encapsulated beads were viable and demonstrated good germination even after 12 weeks of storage at 4 °C. The plantlet recovery frequency was however declined with time. The synthetic seed derived plantlets were morphologically similar to the mother plant.

  17. The driving frequency effects on the atmospheric pressure corona jet plasmas from low frequency to radio frequency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Dan Bee; Jung, H.; Gweon, B.; Rhee, J. K.; Choe, W.; Moon, S. Y.

    2011-01-01

    Lately, the atmospheric pressure jet type corona plasma, which has been typically driven by dc to low frequency (LF: several tens of kHz), is often generated by using radio frequency of 13.56 MHz. Yet, the relationship between the plasma and its driving frequency has seldom been investigated. Hence, in this study, dependence of the atmospheric pressure corona plasma characteristics on the driving frequency was explored experimentally from LF to rf (5 kHz-13.56 MHz). The plasmas generated by the driving frequency under 2 MHz were cylindrical shape of several tens of millimeters long while the 13.56 MHz plasma is spherical and a few millimeters long. As the driving frequency was increased, the plasma length became shortened. At the lower driving frequencies (below 2 MHz), the plasmas existed as positive streamer and negative glow for each half period of the applied voltage, but the discharge was more continuous in time for the 13.56 MHz plasma. It was inferred from the measured I-V curves that the higher driving frequency induced higher discharge currents, and the gas temperature was increased as the driving frequency was increased.

  18. Low-frequency Periodic Error Identification and Compensation for Star Tracker Attitude Measurement

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WANG Jiongqi; XIONG Kai; ZHOU Haiyin

    2012-01-01

    The low-frequency periodic error of star tracker is one of the most critical problems for high-accuracy satellite attitude determination.In this paper an approach is proposed to identify and compensate the low-frequency periodic error for star tracker in attitude measurement.The analytical expression between the estimated gyro drift and the low-frequency periodic error of star tracker is derived firstly.And then the low-frequency periodic error,which can be expressed by Fourier series,is identified by the frequency spectrum of the estimated gyro drift according to the solution of the first step.Furthermore,the compensated model of the low-frequency periodic error is established based on the identified parameters to improve the attitude determination accuracy.Finally,promising simulated experimental results demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method.The periodic error for attitude determination is eliminated basically and the estimation precision is improved greatly.

  19. EMMA: An Extensible Mammalian Modular Assembly Toolkit for the Rapid Design and Production of Diverse Expression Vectors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martella, Andrea; Matjusaitis, Mantas; Auxillos, Jamie; Pollard, Steven M; Cai, Yizhi

    2017-07-21

    Mammalian plasmid expression vectors are critical reagents underpinning many facets of research across biology, biomedical research, and the biotechnology industry. Traditional cloning methods often require laborious manual design and assembly of plasmids using tailored sequential cloning steps. This process can be protracted, complicated, expensive, and error-prone. New tools and strategies that facilitate the efficient design and production of bespoke vectors would help relieve a current bottleneck for researchers. To address this, we have developed an extensible mammalian modular assembly kit (EMMA). This enables rapid and efficient modular assembly of mammalian expression vectors in a one-tube, one-step golden-gate cloning reaction, using a standardized library of compatible genetic parts. The high modularity, flexibility, and extensibility of EMMA provide a simple method for the production of functionally diverse mammalian expression vectors. We demonstrate the value of this toolkit by constructing and validating a range of representative vectors, such as transient and stable expression vectors (transposon based vectors), targeting vectors, inducible systems, polycistronic expression cassettes, fusion proteins, and fluorescent reporters. The method also supports simple assembly combinatorial libraries and hierarchical assembly for production of larger multigenetic cargos. In summary, EMMA is compatible with automated production, and novel genetic parts can be easily incorporated, providing new opportunities for mammalian synthetic biology.

  20. Nonlinear Modelling of Low Frequency Loudspeakers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Erling Sandermann

    1997-01-01

    In the Danish LoDist project on distortion from dynamic low frequency loudspeakers a detailed nonlinear model of loudspeakers has been developed. The model has been implemented in a PC program so that it can be used to create signals for listening tests and analysis. Also, different methods...

  1. Nonlinear Modelling of Low Frequency Loudspeakers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olsen, Erling Sandermann

    1997-01-01

    In the Danish LoDist project on distortion from dynamic low-frequency loudspeakers, a detailed nonlinear model of loudspeakers has been developed. The model has been implemented in a PC program so that it can be used to create signals for listening tests and analysis. Also, different methods...

  2. Recognition memory for low- and high-frequency-filtered emotional faces: Low spatial frequencies drive emotional memory enhancement, whereas high spatial frequencies drive the emotion-induced recognition bias.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rohr, Michaela; Tröger, Johannes; Michely, Nils; Uhde, Alarith; Wentura, Dirk

    2017-07-01

    This article deals with two well-documented phenomena regarding emotional stimuli: emotional memory enhancement-that is, better long-term memory for emotional than for neutral stimuli-and the emotion-induced recognition bias-that is, a more liberal response criterion for emotional than for neutral stimuli. Studies on visual emotion perception and attention suggest that emotion-related processes can be modulated by means of spatial-frequency filtering of the presented emotional stimuli. Specifically, low spatial frequencies are assumed to play a primary role for the influence of emotion on attention and judgment. Given this theoretical background, we investigated whether spatial-frequency filtering also impacts (1) the memory advantage for emotional faces and (2) the emotion-induced recognition bias, in a series of old/new recognition experiments. Participants completed incidental-learning tasks with high- (HSF) and low- (LSF) spatial-frequency-filtered emotional and neutral faces. The results of the surprise recognition tests showed a clear memory advantage for emotional stimuli. Most importantly, the emotional memory enhancement was significantly larger for face images containing only low-frequency information (LSF faces) than for HSF faces across all experiments, suggesting that LSF information plays a critical role in this effect, whereas the emotion-induced recognition bias was found only for HSF stimuli. We discuss our findings in terms of both the traditional account of different processing pathways for HSF and LSF information and a stimulus features account. The double dissociation in the results favors the latter account-that is, an explanation in terms of differences in the characteristics of HSF and LSF stimuli.

  3. Synthesis of High-Frequency Ground Motion Using Information Extracted from Low-Frequency Ground Motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iwaki, A.; Fujiwara, H.

    2012-12-01

    Broadband ground motion computations of scenario earthquakes are often based on hybrid methods that are the combinations of deterministic approach in lower frequency band and stochastic approach in higher frequency band. Typical computation methods for low-frequency and high-frequency (LF and HF, respectively) ground motions are the numerical simulations, such as finite-difference and finite-element methods based on three-dimensional velocity structure model, and the stochastic Green's function method, respectively. In such hybrid methods, LF and HF wave fields are generated through two different methods that are completely independent of each other, and are combined at the matching frequency. However, LF and HF wave fields are essentially not independent as long as they are from the same event. In this study, we focus on the relation among acceleration envelopes at different frequency bands, and attempt to synthesize HF ground motion using the information extracted from LF ground motion, aiming to propose a new method for broad-band strong motion prediction. Our study area is Kanto area, Japan. We use the K-NET and KiK-net surface acceleration data and compute RMS envelope at four frequency bands: 0.5-1.0 Hz, 1.0-2.0 Hz, 2.0-4.0 Hz, .0-8.0 Hz, and 8.0-16.0 Hz. Taking the ratio of the envelopes of adjacent bands, we find that the envelope ratios have stable shapes at each site. The empirical envelope-ratio characteristics are combined with low-frequency envelope of the target earthquake to synthesize HF ground motion. We have applied the method to M5-class earthquakes and a M7 target earthquake that occurred in the vicinity of Kanto area, and successfully reproduced the observed HF ground motion of the target earthquake. The method can be applied to a broad band ground motion simulation for a scenario earthquake by combining numerically-computed low-frequency (~1 Hz) ground motion with the empirical envelope ratio characteristics to generate broadband ground motion

  4. On low-frequency whistler propagation in ionosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mazur, V.A.

    1988-01-01

    The propagation along the Earth surface of an electromagnetic wave with frequency below the ion gyrofrequency is theoretically investigated. In Hall layer of the ionosphere this wave is the whistler mode. It is shown that - contrary to previous works - Ohmic dissipation makes impossible the long-distance propagation of low-frequency whistlers. A many-layer model of the medium is used. The geomagnetic field is considered inclined. The eigen modes and evolution of the initial perturbation are considered

  5. Low frequency steady-state brain responses modulate large scale functional networks in a frequency-specific means.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yi-Feng; Long, Zhiliang; Cui, Qian; Liu, Feng; Jing, Xiu-Juan; Chen, Heng; Guo, Xiao-Nan; Yan, Jin H; Chen, Hua-Fu

    2016-01-01

    Neural oscillations are essential for brain functions. Research has suggested that the frequency of neural oscillations is lower for more integrative and remote communications. In this vein, some resting-state studies have suggested that large scale networks function in the very low frequency range (frequency characteristics of brain networks because both resting-state studies and conventional frequency tagging approaches cannot simultaneously capture multiple large scale networks in controllable cognitive activities. In this preliminary study, we aimed to examine whether large scale networks can be modulated by task-induced low frequency steady-state brain responses (lfSSBRs) in a frequency-specific pattern. In a revised attention network test, the lfSSBRs were evoked in the triple network system and sensory-motor system, indicating that large scale networks can be modulated in a frequency tagging way. Furthermore, the inter- and intranetwork synchronizations as well as coherence were increased at the fundamental frequency and the first harmonic rather than at other frequency bands, indicating a frequency-specific modulation of information communication. However, there was no difference among attention conditions, indicating that lfSSBRs modulate the general attention state much stronger than distinguishing attention conditions. This study provides insights into the advantage and mechanism of lfSSBRs. More importantly, it paves a new way to investigate frequency-specific large scale brain activities. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Integrating biological redesign: where synthetic biology came from and where it needs to go.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Way, Jeffrey C; Collins, James J; Keasling, Jay D; Silver, Pamela A

    2014-03-27

    Synthetic biology seeks to extend approaches from engineering and computation to redesign of biology, with goals such as generating new chemicals, improving human health, and addressing environmental issues. Early on, several guiding principles of synthetic biology were articulated, including design according to specification, separation of design from fabrication, use of standardized biological parts and organisms, and abstraction. We review the utility of these principles over the past decade in light of the field's accomplishments in building complex systems based on microbial transcription and metabolism and describe the progress in mammalian cell engineering. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Synthetic biology devices and circuits for RNA-based 'smart vaccines': a propositional review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andries, Oliwia; Kitada, Tasuku; Bodner, Katie; Sanders, Niek N; Weiss, Ron

    2015-02-01

    Nucleic acid vaccines have been gaining attention as an alternative to the standard attenuated pathogen or protein based vaccine. However, an unrealized advantage of using such DNA or RNA based vaccination modalities is the ability to program within these nucleic acids regulatory devices that would provide an immunologist with the power to control the production of antigens and adjuvants in a desirable manner by administering small molecule drugs as chemical triggers. Advances in synthetic biology have resulted in the creation of highly predictable and modular genetic parts and devices that can be composed into synthetic gene circuits with complex behaviors. With the recent advent of modified RNA gene delivery methods and developments in the RNA replicon platform, we foresee a future in which mammalian synthetic biologists will create genetic circuits encoded exclusively on RNA. Here, we review the current repertoire of devices used in RNA synthetic biology and propose how programmable 'smart vaccines' will revolutionize the field of RNA vaccination.

  8. Clamped seismic metamaterials: ultra-low frequency stop bands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Achaoui, Y; Enoch, S; Guenneau, S; Antonakakis, T; Brûlé, S; Craster, R V

    2017-01-01

    The regularity of earthquakes, their destructive power, and the nuisance of ground vibration in urban environments, all motivate designs of defence structures to lessen the impact of seismic and ground vibration waves on buildings. Low frequency waves, in the range 1–10 Hz for earthquakes and up to a few tens of Hz for vibrations generated by human activities, cause a large amount of damage, or inconvenience; depending on the geological conditions they can travel considerable distances and may match the resonant fundamental frequency of buildings. The ultimate aim of any seismic metamaterial, or any other seismic shield, is to protect over this entire range of frequencies; the long wavelengths involved, and low frequency, have meant this has been unachievable to date. Notably this is scalable and the effects also hold for smaller devices in ultrasonics. There are three approaches to obtaining shielding effects: bragg scattering, locally resonant sub-wavelength inclusions and zero-frequency stop-band media. The former two have been explored, but the latter has not and is examined here. Elastic flexural waves, applicable in the mechanical vibrations of thin elastic plates, can be designed to have a broad zero-frequency stop-band using a periodic array of very small clamped circles. Inspired by this experimental and theoretical observation, all be it in a situation far removed from seismic waves, we demonstrate that it is possible to achieve elastic surface (Rayleigh) wave reflectors at very large wavelengths in structured soils modelled as a fully elastic layer periodically clamped to bedrock. We identify zero frequency stop-bands that only exist in the limit of columns of concrete clamped at their base to the bedrock. In a realistic configuration of a sedimentary basin 15 m deep we observe a zero frequency stop-band covering a broad frequency range of 0–30 Hz. (paper)

  9. Measurement of low-frequency noise in rooms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Steffen; Møller, Henrik; Persson-Waye, Kerstin

    2006-01-01

    Measurement of low-frequency noise in rooms is problematic due to standing wave patterns. The spatial variation in the sound pressure level can typically be as much as 20-30 dB. For assessment of annoyance from low-frequency noise in dwellings, it is important to measure a level close...... rooms. The sound pressure level was measured 1) in three-dimensional corners and 2) according to current Swedish and Danish measurement methods. Furthermore, the entire sound pressure distributions were measured by scanning. The Swedish and Danish measurement methods include a corner measurement...... to the highest level present in a room, rather than a room average level. In order to ensure representative noise measurements, different positions were investigated based on theoretical considerations and observations from numerical room simulations. In addition measurements were performed in three different...

  10. LOW-FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS IN GLOBAL SIMULATIONS OF BLACK HOLE ACCRETION

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Neill, Sean M.; Reynolds, Christopher S.; Coleman Miller, M.; Sorathia, Kareem A.

    2011-01-01

    We have identified the presence of large-scale, low-frequency dynamo cycles in a long-duration, global, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of black hole accretion. Such cycles have previously been seen in local shearing box simulations, but we discuss their evolution over 1500 inner disk orbits of a global π/4 disk wedge spanning two orders of magnitude in radius and seven scale heights in elevation above/below the disk midplane. The observed cycles manifest themselves as oscillations in azimuthal magnetic field occupying a region that extends into a low-density corona several scale heights above the disk. The cycle frequencies are 10-20 times lower than the local orbital frequency, making them potentially interesting sources of low-frequency variability when scaled to real astrophysical systems. Furthermore, power spectra derived from the full time series reveal that the cycles manifest themselves at discrete, narrowband frequencies that often share power across broad radial ranges. We explore possible connections between these simulated cycles and observed low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (LFQPOs) in galactic black hole binary systems, finding that dynamo cycles have the appropriate frequencies and are located in a spatial region associated with X-ray emission in real systems. Derived observational proxies, however, fail to feature peaks with rms amplitudes comparable to LFQPO observations, suggesting that further theoretical work and more sophisticated simulations will be required to form a complete theory of dynamo-driven LFQPOs. Nonetheless, this work clearly illustrates that global MHD dynamos exhibit quasi-periodic behavior on timescales much longer than those derived from test particle considerations.

  11. Evolvable synthetic neural system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Steven A. (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    An evolvable synthetic neural system includes an evolvable neural interface operably coupled to at least one neural basis function. Each neural basis function includes an evolvable neural interface operably coupled to a heuristic neural system to perform high-level functions and an autonomic neural system to perform low-level functions. In some embodiments, the evolvable synthetic neural system is operably coupled to one or more evolvable synthetic neural systems in a hierarchy.

  12. Bisphenol A Effects on Mammalian Oogenesis and Epigenetic Integrity of Oocytes: A Case Study Exploring Risks of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ursula Eichenlaub-Ritter

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Bisphenol A (BPA, originally developed as a synthetic oestrogen, is nowadays extensively used in the production of polymeric plastics. Under harsh conditions, these plastics may release BPA, which then can leach into the environment. Detectable concentrations of BPA have been measured in most analysed samples of human serum, plasma, or urine, as well as in follicular fluid, foetal serum, and amniotic fluid. Here we summarize the evidence about adverse BPA effects on the genetic and epigenetic integrity of mammalian oocytes. We conclude that increasing evidence supports the notion that low BPA concentrations adversely affect the epigenome of mammalian female germ cells, with functional consequences on gene expression, chromosome dynamics in meiosis, and oocyte development. Specific time windows, during which profound chromatin remodelling occurs and maternal imprints are established or protected, appear particularly vulnerable to epigenetic deregulation by BPA. Transgenerational effects have been also observed in the offspring of BPA-treated rodents, although the epigenetic mechanisms of inheritance still need to be clarified. The relevance of these findings for human health protection still needs to be fully assessed, but they warrant further investigation in both experimental models and humans.

  13. Ambiguity Of Doppler Centroid In Synthetic-Aperture Radar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Chi-Yung; Curlander, John C.

    1991-01-01

    Paper discusses performances of two algorithms for resolution of ambiguity in estimated Doppler centroid frequency of echoes in synthetic-aperture radar. One based on range-cross-correlation technique, other based on multiple-pulse-repetition-frequency technique.

  14. Kinetic Scale Structure of Low-frequency Waves and Fluctuations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    López, Rodrigo A.; Yoon, Peter H. [Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States); Viñas, Adolfo F. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliophysics Science Division, Geospace Physics Laboratory, Mail Code 673, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Araneda, Jaime A., E-mail: rlopezh@umd.edu, E-mail: yoonp@umd.edu [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción (Chile)

    2017-08-10

    The dissipation of solar wind turbulence at kinetic scales is believed to be important for the heating of the corona and for accelerating the wind. The linear Vlasov kinetic theory is a useful tool for identifying various wave modes, including kinetic Alfvén, fast magnetosonic/whistler, and ion-acoustic (or kinetic slow), and their possible roles in the dissipation. However, the kinetic mode structure in the vicinity of ion-cyclotron modes is not clearly understood. The present paper aims to further elucidate the structure of these low-frequency waves by introducing discrete particle effects through hybrid simulations and Klimontovich formalism of spontaneous emission theory. The theory and simulation of spontaneously emitted low-frequency fluctuations are employed to identify and distinguish the detailed mode structures associated with ion-Bernstein modes versus quasi-modes. The spontaneous emission theory and simulation also confirm the findings of the Vlasov theory in that the kinetic Alfvén waves can be defined over a wide range of frequencies, including the proton cyclotron frequency and its harmonics, especially for high-beta plasmas. This implies that these low-frequency modes may play predominant roles even in the fully kinetic description of kinetic scale turbulence and dissipation despite the fact that cyclotron harmonic and Bernstein modes may also play important roles in wave–particle interactions.

  15. Voluntary reduction of force variability via modulation of low-frequency oscillations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Seoung Hoon; Casamento-Moran, Agostina; Yacoubi, Basma; Christou, Evangelos A

    2017-09-01

    Visual feedback can influence the force output by changing the power in frequencies below 1 Hz. However, it remains unknown whether visual guidance can help an individual reduce force variability voluntarily. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to determine whether an individual can voluntarily reduce force variability during constant contractions with visual guidance, and whether this reduction is associated with a decrease in the power of low-frequency oscillations (0-1 Hz) in force and muscle activity. Twenty young adults (27.6 ± 3.4 years) matched a force target of 15% MVC (maximal voluntary contraction) with ankle dorsiflexion. Participants performed six visually unrestricted contractions, from which we selected the trial with the least variability. Following, participants performed six visually guided contractions and were encouraged to reduce their force variability within two guidelines (±1 SD of the least variable unrestricted trial). Participants decreased the SD of force by 45% (P  0.2). The decrease in force variability was associated with decreased low-frequency oscillations (0-1 Hz) in force (R 2  = 0.59), which was associated with decreased low-frequency oscillations in EMG bursts (R 2  = 0.35). The reduction in low-frequency oscillations in EMG burst was positively associated with power in the interference EMG from 35 to 60 Hz (R 2  = 0.47). In conclusion, voluntary reduction of force variability is associated with decreased low-frequency oscillations in EMG bursts and consequently force output. We provide novel evidence that visual guidance allows healthy young adults to reduce force variability voluntarily likely by adjusting the low-frequency oscillations in the neural drive.

  16. Synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Som, Abhigyan; Vemparala, Satyavani; Ivanov, Ivaylo; Tew, Gregory N

    2008-01-01

    Infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance are now considered the most imperative global healthcare problem. In the search for new treatments, host defense, or antimicrobial, peptides have attracted considerable attention due to their various unique properties; however, attempts to develop in vivo therapies have been severely limited. Efforts to develop synthetic mimics of antimicrobial peptides (SMAMPs) have increased significantly in the last decade, and this review will focus primarily on the structural evolution of SMAMPs and their membrane activity. This review will attempt to make a bridge between the design of SMAMPs and the fundamentals of SMAMP-membrane interactions. In discussions regarding the membrane interaction of SMAMPs, close attention will be paid to the lipid composition of the bilayer. Despite many years of study, the exact conformational aspects responsible for the high selectivity of these AMPs and SMAMPs toward bacterial cells over mammalian cells are still not fully understood. The ability to design SMAMPs that are potently antimicrobial, yet nontoxic to mammalian cells has been demonstrated with a variety of molecular scaffolds. Initial animal studies show very good tissue distribution along with more than a 4-log reduction in bacterial counts. The results on SMAMPs are not only extremely promising for novel antibiotics, but also provide an optimistic picture for the greater challenge of general proteomimetics.

  17. Effect of temperature on spontaneous release of transmitter at the mammalian neuromuscular junction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Duncan, C J; Statham, H E

    1977-01-01

    Temperature has a multifactorial effect on miniature endplate potential (MEPP) frequency at the mammalian neuromuscular junction, with a negative Q/sub 10/ at 14--28/sup 0/C. The results are explained in terms of the effect of temperature on the various factors that control (Ca/sup 2/+sub i/ at the presynaptic terminals. The temperature-sensitivity of the Ca/sup 2 +/-transport enzyme is believed to be of particular significance and accounts for the observed differences between the amphibian and mammalian neuromuscular junctions.

  18. Interference of a synthetic C18 juvenile hormone with mammalian cells in vitro, I. Effects on growth and morphology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zielińska, Z M; Laskowska-Bozek, H; Jastreboff, P

    1978-01-01

    Some of structural and functional analogs of juvenile hormones are now under field examinations as growth inhibitors of some pest-insect populations. So far however very little is known about the possible interference of these compounds with mammalian cells or organisms. In this research the interference of a synthetic preparation of the insect C18 juvenile hormone with mouse embryo fibroblasts (ME-cells) and mouse cells of an established line (L-cells) was studied. Aliquots of juvenile hormone solution or those of the solvent (DMSO plus ethanol, 9:1) were included into the culture medium and after defined times of contact the cells were tested for their morphology, pattern of growth, proliferation rate and viability. The data for the parameters under examination were evaluated by means of the analysis of variance and checked by the Tuckey test. The sensitivity of ME-cells and L-cells to the agent tested was compared by means of the analysis of variance of the data for mitotic indices of these cells and by evaluation of the number of dead cells in cultures under the particular conditions of the experiments. The main findings can be summarized as follows: 1. Cells of both types are evidently more sensitive to juvenile hormone than to the solvent. 2. ME-cells are more sensitive to both agents than are L-cells. 3. The concentrations of the hormone in the medium required to evoked the cytocidal effect on the mouse cells similarly as those affecting some insect non-target cells were far above concentrations found in insect blood, but they were of the same order of magnitude as those used in physiological experiments with insect organs in vitro.

  19. Gravitational dynamos and the low-frequency geomagnetic secular variation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olson, P

    2007-12-18

    Self-sustaining numerical dynamos are used to infer the sources of low-frequency secular variation of the geomagnetic field. Gravitational dynamo models powered by compositional convection in an electrically conducting, rotating fluid shell exhibit several regimes of magnetic field behavior with an increasing Rayleigh number of the convection, including nearly steady dipoles, chaotic nonreversing dipoles, and chaotic reversing dipoles. The time average dipole strength and dipolarity of the magnetic field decrease, whereas the dipole variability, average dipole tilt angle, and frequency of polarity reversals increase with Rayleigh number. Chaotic gravitational dynamos have large-amplitude dipole secular variation with maximum power at frequencies corresponding to a few cycles per million years on Earth. Their external magnetic field structure, dipole statistics, low-frequency power spectra, and polarity reversal frequency are comparable to the geomagnetic field. The magnetic variability is driven by the Lorentz force and is characterized by an inverse correlation between dynamo magnetic and kinetic energy fluctuations. A constant energy dissipation theory accounts for this inverse energy correlation, which is shown to produce conditions favorable for dipole drift, polarity reversals, and excursions.

  20. Passive Super-Low Frequency electromagnetic prospecting technique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Nan; Zhao, Shanshan; Hui, Jian; Qin, Qiming

    2017-03-01

    The Super-Low Frequency (SLF) electromagnetic prospecting technique, adopted as a non-imaging remote sensing tool for depth sounding, is systematically proposed for subsurface geological survey. In this paper, we propose and theoretically illustrate natural source magnetic amplitudes as SLF responses for the first step. In order to directly calculate multi-dimensional theoretical SLF responses, modeling algorithms were developed and evaluated using the finite difference method. The theoretical results of three-dimensional (3-D) models show that the average normalized SLF magnetic amplitude responses were numerically stable and appropriate for practical interpretation. To explore the depth resolution, three-layer models were configured. The modeling results prove that the SLF technique is more sensitive to conductive objective layers than high resistive ones, with the SLF responses of conductive objective layers obviously showing uprising amplitudes in the low frequency range. Afterwards, we proposed an improved Frequency-Depth transformation based on Bostick inversion to realize the depth sounding by empirically adjusting two parameters. The SLF technique has already been successfully applied in geothermal exploration and coalbed methane (CBM) reservoir interpretation, which demonstrates that the proposed methodology is effective in revealing low resistive distributions. Furthermore, it siginificantly contributes to reservoir identification with electromagnetic radiation anomaly extraction. Meanwhile, the SLF interpretation results are in accordance with dynamic production status of CBM reservoirs, which means it could provide an economical, convenient and promising method for exploring and monitoring subsurface geo-objects.

  1. The frequency dependence of friction in experiment, theory, and observations of low frequency earthquakes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, A.; Beeler, N. M.; Burgmann, R.; Shelly, D. R.

    2011-12-01

    Low frequency earthquakes (LFEs) are small amplitude, short duration events composing tectonic tremor, probably generated by shear slip on asperities downdip of the seismogenic zone. In Parkfield, Shelly and Hardebeck [2010] have identified 88 LFE families, or hypocentral locations, that contain over half a million LFEs since 2001 on a 160-km-long section of the San Andreas fault between 16 and 30 km depth. A number of studies have demonstrated the extreme sensitivity of low frequency earthquakes (LFEs) near Parkfield to stress changes ranging from contingent upon the amplitude and frequency content of the applied stress. We attempt to test this framework by comparing observations of LFEs triggered in response to stresses spanning several orders of magnitude in both frequency and amplitude (e.g. tides, teleseismic surface waves, static stress changes, etc.) to the predicted response of a single degree of freedom slider block model with rate and state dependent strength. The sensitivity of failure time in the friction model as developed in previous studies does not distinguish between shear and normal stresses; laboratory experiments show a more complicated sensitivity of failure time to normal stress change than in the published model. Because the shear and normal tidal stresses at Parkfield have different amplitudes and are not in phase, we have modified the model to include the expected sensitivity to normal stress. Our prior investigations of the response of both regular and low frequency earthquakes to tidal stresses [Thomas et al., 2009; Shelly and Johnson, 2011] are qualitatively consistent with the predictions of the friction model , as both the timing and degree (probability) of correlation are in agreement.

  2. Solar observations with a low frequency radio telescope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myserlis, I.; Seiradakis, J.; Dogramatzidis, M.

    2012-01-01

    We have set up a low frequency radio monitoring station for solar bursts at the Observatory of the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. The station consists of a dual dipole phased array, a radio receiver and a dedicated computer with the necessary software installed. The constructed radio receiver is based on NASA's Radio Jove project. It operates continuously, since July 2010, at 20.1 MHz (close to the long-wavelength ionospheric cut-off of the radio window) with a narrow bandwidth (~5 kHz). The system is properly calibrated, so that the recorded data are expressed in antenna temperature. Despite the high interference level of an urban region like Thessaloniki (strong broadcasting shortwave radio stations, periodic experimental signals, CBs, etc), we have detected several low frequency solar radio bursts and correlated them with solar flares, X-ray events and other low frequency solar observations. The received signal is monitored in ordinary ASCII format and as audio signal, in order to investigate and exclude man-made radio interference. In order to exclude narrow band interference and calculate the spectral indices of the observed events, a second monitoring station, working at 36 MHz, is under construction at the village of Nikiforos near the town of Drama, about 130 km away of Thessaloniki. Finally, we plan to construct a third monitoring station at 58 MHz, in Thessaloniki. This frequency was revealed to be relatively free of interference, after a thorough investigation of the region.

  3. Frequency-dependent changes in amplitude of low-frequency oscillations in depression: A resting-state fMRI study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Li; Kong, Qingmei; Li, Ke; Su, Yunai; Zeng, Yawei; Zhang, Qinge; Dai, Wenji; Xia, Mingrui; Wang, Gang; Jin, Zhen; Yu, Xin; Si, Tianmei

    2016-02-12

    We conducted this fMRI study to examine whether the alterations in amplitudes of low-frequency oscillation (LFO) of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients were frequency dependent. The LFO amplitudes (as indexed by amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation [ALFF] and fractional ALFF [fALFF]) within 4 narrowly-defined frequency bands (slow-5: 0.01-0.027Hz, slow-4: 0.027-0.073Hz, slow-3: 0.073-0.198Hz, and slow-2: 0.198-0.25Hz) were computed using resting-state fMRI data of 35 MDD patients and 32 healthy subjects. Repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on ALFF and fALFF both within the low frequency bands of slow-4 and slow-5 and within all of the four bands. We observed significant main effects of group and frequency on ALFF and fALFF in widely distributed brain regions. Importantly, significant group and frequency interaction effects were observed in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, in a left-sided fashion, the bilateral posterior cingulate and precuneus, during ANOVA both within slow-4 and slow-5 bands and within all the frequency bands. The results suggest that the alterations of LFO amplitudes in specific brain regions in MDD patients could be more sensitively detected in the slow-5 rather than the slow-4 bands. The findings may provide guidance for the frequency choice of future resting-state fMRI studies of MDD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Evaluation of Fused Synthetic and Enhanced Vision Display Concepts for Low-Visibility Approach and Landing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, Randall E.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Wilz, Susan J.

    2009-01-01

    NASA is developing revolutionary crew-vehicle interface technologies that strive to proactively overcome aircraft safety barriers that would otherwise constrain the full realization of the next generation air transportation system. A piloted simulation experiment was conducted to evaluate the complementary use of Synthetic and Enhanced Vision technologies. Specific focus was placed on new techniques for integration and/or fusion of Enhanced and Synthetic Vision and its impact within a two-crew flight deck during low-visibility approach and landing operations. Overall, the experimental data showed that significant improvements in situation awareness, without concomitant increases in workload and display clutter, could be provided by the integration and/or fusion of synthetic and enhanced vision technologies for the pilot-flying and the pilot-not-flying. Improvements in lateral path control performance were realized when the Head-Up Display concepts included a tunnel, independent of the imagery (enhanced vision or fusion of enhanced and synthetic vision) presented with it. During non-normal operations, the ability of the crew to handle substantial navigational errors and runway incursions were neither improved nor adversely impacted by the display concepts. The addition of Enhanced Vision may not, of itself, provide an improvement in runway incursion detection without being specifically tailored for this application.

  5. The population genetics of X-autosome synthetic lethals and steriles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lachance, Joseph; Johnson, Norman A; True, John R

    2011-11-01

    Epistatic interactions are widespread, and many of these interactions involve combinations of alleles at different loci that are deleterious when present in the same individual. The average genetic environment of sex-linked genes differs from that of autosomal genes, suggesting that the population genetics of interacting X-linked and autosomal alleles may be complex. Using both analytical theory and computer simulations, we analyzed the evolutionary trajectories and mutation-selection balance conditions for X-autosome synthetic lethals and steriles. Allele frequencies follow a set of fundamental trajectories, and incompatible alleles are able to segregate at much higher frequencies than single-locus expectations. Equilibria exist, and they can involve fixation of either autosomal or X-linked alleles. The exact equilibrium depends on whether synthetic alleles are dominant or recessive and whether fitness effects are seen in males, females, or both sexes. When single-locus fitness effects and synthetic incompatibilities are both present, population dynamics depend on the dominance of alleles and historical contingency (i.e., whether X-linked or autosomal mutations occur first). Recessive synthetic lethality can result in high-frequency X-linked alleles, and dominant synthetic lethality can result in high-frequency autosomal alleles. Many X-autosome incompatibilities in natural populations may be cryptic, appearing to be single-locus effects because one locus is fixed. We also discuss the implications of these findings with respect to standing genetic variation and the origins of Haldane's rule.

  6. Present and Future Modes of Low Frequency Climate Variability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cane, Mark A.

    2014-02-20

    This project addressed area (1) of the FOA, “Interaction of Climate Change and Low Frequency Modes of Natural Climate Variability”. Our overarching objective is to detect, describe and understand the changes in low frequency variability between model simulations of the preindustrial climate and simulations of a doubled CO2 climate. The deliverables are a set of papers providing a dynamical characterization of interannual, decadal, and multidecadal variability in coupled models with attention to the changes in this low frequency variability between pre-industrial concentrations of greenhouse gases and a doubling of atmospheric concentrations of CO2. The principle mode of analysis, singular vector decomposition, is designed to advance our physical, mechanistic understanding. This study will include external natural variability due to solar and volcanic aerosol variations as well as variability internal to the climate system. An important byproduct is a set of analysis tools for estimating global singular vector structures from the archived output of model simulations.

  7. Simple programmable voltage reference for low frequency noise measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ivanov, V. E.; Chye, En Un

    2018-05-01

    The paper presents a circuit design of a low-noise voltage reference based on an electric double-layer capacitor, a microcontroller and a general purpose DAC. A large capacitance value (1F and more) makes it possible to create low-pass filter with a large time constant, effectively reducing low-frequency noise beyond its bandwidth. Choosing the optimum value of the resistor in the RC filter, one can achieve the best ratio between the transient time, the deviation of the output voltage from the set point and the minimum noise cut-off frequency. As experiments have shown, the spectral density of the voltage at a frequency of 1 kHz does not exceed 1.2 nV/√Hz the maximum deviation of the output voltage from the predetermined does not exceed 1.4 % and depends on the holding time of the previous value. Subsequently, this error is reduced to a constant value and can be compensated.

  8. A low-frequency vibration energy harvester based on diamagnetic levitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kono, Yuta; Masuda, Arata; Yuan, Fuh-Gwo

    2017-04-01

    This article presents 3-degree-of-freedom theoretical modeling and analysis of a low-frequency vibration energy harvester based on diamagnetic levitation. In recent years, although much attention has been placed on vibration energy harvesting technologies, few harvesters still can operate efficiently at extremely low frequencies in spite of large potential demand in the field of structural health monitoring and wearable applications. As one of the earliest works, Liu, Yuan and Palagummi proposed vertical and horizontal diamagnetic levitation systems as vibration energy harvesters with low resonant frequencies. This study aims to pursue further improvement along this direction, in terms of expanding maximum amplitude and enhancing the flexibility of the operation direction for broader application fields by introducing a new topology of the levitation system.

  9. INVESTIGATION OF THE FREQUENCY-TEMPERATURE RELATIONSHIP OF THE DIELECTRIC PERMITTIVITY OF THE PZT PIEZOCERAMICS IN THE LOW FREQUENCY RANGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. I. ZOLOTAREVSKIY

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. To investigate the frequency-temperature relationship of the dielectric permittivity of PZT piezoceramics in the low frequency range. Methodology. To obtain the frequency-temperature relationship of the dielectric permittivity of the PZT piezoceramics, a technique was used to determine the capacitance of the capacitor, between which plates the sample was placed. The value of the dielectric permittivity of the sample was calculated from the capacitor capacitance obtained. Findings. The frequency-temperature relationship of the dielectric permittivity of the PZT piezoceramics in the low frequency range has been obtained by the authors. The dielectric permittivity is not practically related to the frequency of the alternating voltage at a low temperature, with increasing in temperature its value increases and frequency relationship is observed. The temperature relationship of the dielectric permittivity of the PZT piezoceramics is satisfactorily described by the exponential functional dependence in the low-temperature range. The activation energy of the PZT piezoceramics polarization is determined from the graph of the dependence of the logarithm of the dielectric permittivity upon the inverse temperature. Different values of the activation energy for the two temperature regions prove on the existence of different mechanisms of the PZT piezoceramics polarization in the temperature range being investigated. Originality. The authors investigated the frequency-temperature relationship of the dielectric permittivity of the PZT piezoceramics in the low-frequency range. It is established that the temperature relationship of the dielectric permittivity of the PZT piezoceramics is satisfactorily described by an exponential functional relationship in the lowtemperature range. The activation energy of polarization is determined for two temperature sections. Practical value. The research results can be used to study the mechanism of polarization of

  10. Sizing of intergranular stress corrosion cracking using low frequency ultrasound

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuller, M.D.; Avioli, M.J.; Rose, J.L.

    1985-01-01

    Based upon the work thus far accomplished on low frequency sizing, the following conclusions can be drawn: the potential of low frequency ultrasound for the sizing of IGSCC seams encouraging as demonstrated in this work. If minimal walking is expected, larger values of crack height/wavelength ratios should not affect the reliability of estimates; notch data points out the validity of signal amplitude for sizing. With care in frequency consideration, the technique can be extended to cracks; when wavelength is greater than flaw size, importance of orientation and reflector shape diminishes although less so for deeper cracks; when beam profile is larger than the defect size, echo amplitude is proportional to defect area when using shear wave probes and corner reflectors; other factors, in addition to crack size, affect signal amplitude. Reference data to compensate for depth and material (HAZ) is a must; additional crack samples should be studied in order to further develop and characterize the use of low frequency ultrasonics

  11. Passive synthetic aperture sonar techniques in combination with tow ship noise canceling: application to a triplet towed array

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Colin, M.E.G.D.; Groen, J.

    2002-01-01

    An important issue in research on passive ASW operations is improvement in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and bearing resolution for targets emitting low frequency signals. One of the techniques believed to improve these characteristics is Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS). The method is based on the

  12. Low-frequency and common genetic variation in ischemic stroke: The METASTROKE collaboration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malik, Rainer; Traylor, Matthew; Pulit, Sara L; Bevan, Steve; Hopewell, Jemma C; Holliday, Elizabeth G; Zhao, Wei; Abrantes, Patricia; Amouyel, Philippe; Attia, John R; Battey, Thomas W K; Berger, Klaus; Boncoraglio, Giorgio B; Chauhan, Ganesh; Cheng, Yu-Ching; Chen, Wei-Min; Clarke, Robert; Cotlarciuc, Ioana; Debette, Stephanie; Falcone, Guido J; Ferro, Jose M; Gamble, Dale M; Ilinca, Andreea; Kittner, Steven J; Kourkoulis, Christina E; Lemmens, Robin; Levi, Christopher R; Lichtner, Peter; Lindgren, Arne; Liu, Jingmin; Meschia, James F; Mitchell, Braxton D; Oliveira, Sofia A; Pera, Joana; Reiner, Alex P; Rothwell, Peter M; Sharma, Pankaj; Slowik, Agnieszka; Sudlow, Cathie L M; Tatlisumak, Turgut; Thijs, Vincent; Vicente, Astrid M; Woo, Daniel; Seshadri, Sudha; Saleheen, Danish; Rosand, Jonathan; Markus, Hugh S; Worrall, Bradford B; Dichgans, Martin

    2016-03-29

    To investigate the influence of common and low-frequency genetic variants on the risk of ischemic stroke (all IS) and etiologic stroke subtypes. We meta-analyzed 12 individual genome-wide association studies comprising 10,307 cases and 19,326 controls imputed to the 1000 Genomes (1 KG) phase I reference panel. We selected variants showing the highest degree of association (p frequencies for all IS and stroke subtypes. We showed genome-wide significance for 4 loci: ABO for all IS, HDAC9 for large vessel disease (LVD), and both PITX2 and ZFHX3 for cardioembolic stroke (CE). We further refined the association peaks for ABO and PITX2. Analyzing different allele frequency bins, we showed significant enrichment in low-frequency variants (allele frequency frequency variants (allele frequency 10% and 30%) for CE (all p low-frequency and rare variants. Larger sample sizes are needed to identify the variants associated with all IS and stroke subtypes. © 2016 American Academy of Neurology.

  13. Formation of low charge state ions of synthetic polymers using quaternary ammonium compounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasioudis, Andreas; Joyce, William F; van Velde, Jan W; Heeren, Ron M A; van den Brink, Oscar F

    2010-07-01

    Factors such as high polymer dispersity and variation in elemental composition (of copolymers) often complicate the electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) analysis of synthetic polymers with high molar mass. In the experiments described in this study, quaternary ammonium compounds were observed to facilitate the production of low charge state pseudomolecular ions when added to the spray solution for ESI-MS. This approach was then used for the ESI time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) analysis of synthetic polymers. Hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride permitted the successful analysis of poly(ethylene glycol) of 2-40 kDa, poly(propylene glycol) and poly(tetramethylene glycol) oligomers. Increasing the quaternary ammonium compounds' concentration results in the production of low charge state pseudomolecular ions. A comparison of structurally different quaternary ammonium compounds showed that the best performance is expected from large molecules with specific charge localization, which leaves the charge available for interactions. The applicability of the method for the MS analysis of other polymeric systems was also studied. In the case of poly(tetramethylene glycol), the method not only shifted the distributions to higher m/z values but also allowed the detection of high molecular weight material that was not observed without addition of the modifier to the spray solution.

  14. Fabrication of SU-8 low frequency electrostatic energy harvester

    KAUST Repository

    Ramadan, Khaled S.

    2011-11-01

    A 1500μm × 1500μm × 150μm out-of-plane, gap closing, electrostatic energy harvester is designed and fabricated to harvest low-frequency ambient vibrations. SU-8 is used to fabricate the proof mass (1200μm × 1200μm × 150μm) and the 5 m springs. Different harvesters were designed to harvest at 50, 75 and 110 Hz. At 110 Hz, Simulations show that with an input vibration of 10 μm amplitude at the frequency of resonance of the structure, the energy harvester should generate an average output power density of 0.032μW/mm3. This is the most area-efficient low-frequency electrostatic harvester to-date. © 2011 IEEE.

  15. Effect of low-frequency vibrations on speckle interferometry fringes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vikram, C.S.; Pechersky, M.J.

    1998-01-01

    The effects of low-frequency vibrations on speckle correlation fringes have been investigated. The relatively short capture time of the camera in the low-frequency case may yield usable fringe contrast in spite of vibration. It has been shown that the fringes also shift due to the vibration. The study is in agreement with experimental observations of good-contrast correlation fringes even if the object is not on a vibration-isolated table. Some such experimental observations are also presented. copyright 1998 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers

  16. Low-frequency Landau-Zener-Stuckelberg interference in dissipative superconducting qubits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Du-lingjie; Lan- Dong; Yu-Yang

    2013-01-01

    Landau-Zener-Stuckelberg (LZS) interference of continuously driven superconducting qubits is studied. Going beyond the second order perturbation expansion, we find a time dependent stationary population evolution as well as unsymmetrical microwave driven Landau-Zener transitions, resulting from the nonresonant terms which are neglected in rotating-wave approximation. For the low-frequency driving, the qubit population at equilibrium is a periodical function of time, owing to the contribution of the nonresonant terms. In order to obtain the average population, it is found that the average approximation based on the perturbation approach can be applied to the low-frequency region. For the extremely low frequency which is much smaller than the decoherence rate, we develop noncoherence approximation by dividing the evolution into discrete time steps during which the coherence is lost totally. These approximations present comprehensive analytical descriptions of LZS interference in most of parameter space of frequency and decoherence rate, agreeing well with those of the numerical simulations and providing a simple but integrated understanding to system dynamics. The application of our models to microwave cooling can obtain the minimal frequency to realize effective microwave cooling.

  17. Simulation model for studying low frequency microinstabilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, W.W.; Okuda, H.

    1976-03-01

    A 2 1 / 2 dimensional, electrostatic particle code in a slab geometry has been developed to study low frequency oscillations such as drift wave and trapped particle instabilities in a nonuniform bounded plasma. A drift approximation for the electron transverse motion is made which eliminates the high frequency oscillations at the electron gyrofrequency and its multiples. It is, therefore, possible to study the nonlinear effects such as the anomalous transport of plasmas within a reasonable computing time using a real mass ratio. Several examples are given to check the validity and usefulness of the model

  18. A Sub-Hertz, Low-Frequency Vibration Isolation Platform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz, Gerardo, G.; Farr, William H.; Sannibale, Virginio

    2011-01-01

    One of the major technical problems deep-space optical communication (DSOC) systems need to solve is the isolation of the optical terminal from vibrations produced by the spacecraft navigational control system and by the moving parts of onboard instruments. Even under these vibration perturbations, the DSOC transceivers (telescopes) need to be pointed l000 fs of times more accurately than an RF communication system (parabolic antennas). Mechanical resonators have been extensively used to provide vibration isolation for groundbased, airborne, and spaceborne payloads. The effectiveness of these isolation systems is determined mainly by the ability of designing a mechanical oscillator with the lowest possible resonant frequency. The Low-Frequency Vibration Isolation Platform (LFVIP), developed during this effort, aims to reduce the resonant frequency of the mechanical oscillators into the sub-Hertz region in order to maximize the passive isolation afforded by the 40 dB/decade roll-off response of the resonator. The LFVIP also provides tip/tilt functionality for acquisition and tracking of a beacon signal. An active control system is used for platform positioning and for dampening of the mechanical oscillator. The basic idea in the design of the isolation platform is to use a passive isolation strut with an approximately equal to 100-mHz resonance frequency. This will extend the isolation range to lower frequencies. The harmonic oscillator is a second-order lowpass filter for mechanical disturbances. The resonance quality depends on the dissipation mechanisms, which are mainly hysteretic because of the low resonant frequency and the absence of any viscous medium. The LFVIP system is configured using the well-established Stewart Platform, which consists of a top platform connected to a base with six extensible struts (see figure). The struts are attached to the base and to the platform via universal joints, which permit the extension and contraction of the struts. The

  19. Stress Recovery Effects of High- and Low-Frequency Amplified Music on Heart Rate Variability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakajima, Yoshie; Tanaka, Naofumi; Mima, Tatsuya; Izumi, Shin-Ichi

    Sounds can induce autonomic responses in listeners. However, the modulatory effect of specific frequency components of music is not fully understood. Here, we examined the role of the frequency component of music on autonomic responses. Specifically, we presented music that had been amplified in the high- or low-frequency domains. Twelve healthy women listened to white noise, a stress-inducing noise, and then one of three versions of a piece of music: original, low-, or high-frequency amplified. To measure autonomic response, we calculated the high-frequency normalized unit (HFnu), low-frequency normalized unit, and the LF/HF ratio from the heart rate using electrocardiography. We defined the stress recovery ratio as the value obtained after participants listened to music following scratching noise, normalized by the value obtained after participants listened to white noise after the stress noise, in terms of the HFnu, low-frequency normalized unit, LF/HF ratio, and heart rate. Results indicated that high-frequency amplified music had the highest HFnu of the three versions. The stress recovery ratio of HFnu under the high-frequency amplified stimulus was significantly larger than that under the low-frequency stimulus. Our results suggest that the high-frequency component of music plays a greater role in stress relief than low-frequency components.

  20. Extremely low frequency magnetic fields and health risks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.I. Buzdugan

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available In a world abounding in artificially created electromagnetic fields, we consider that a new approach regarding their possible harmful effects on living beings becomes mandatory. The paper reviews briefly the results of some epidemiological studies, the ICNIRP (International Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection Guidelines and the latest document of the SCENIHR (an organism of the European Commission regarding extremely low frequency (ELF magnetic fields. We are convinced that the best conduct that might be adopted on this matter is the policy of the prudential avoidance. Several examples of possible harmful effects determined by extremely low frequency magnetic fields dedicated to building services engineering in residences are presented, along with several methods of mitigating them.

  1. Low-frequency fields - health risk assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernhardt, J.

    1993-01-01

    The author briefly reviews the biological actions and effects of low-frequency fields, epidemiological studies and discusses health risks in detail. He describes the assessment principles of the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), medical principles for risk assessment, determination of limits and thesholds, and aspects of prevention. This is supplemented to by several fables and literature list. (Uhe) [de

  2. Frequency-Dependent Tidal Triggering of Low Frequency Earthquakes Near Parkfield, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, L.; Burgmann, R.; Shelly, D. R.

    2017-12-01

    The effect of small periodic stress perturbations on earthquake generation is not clear, however, the rate of low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) near Parkfield, California has been found to be strongly correlated with solid earth tides. Laboratory experiments and theoretical analyses show that the period of imposed forcing and source properties affect the sensitivity to triggering and the phase relation of the peak seismicity rate and the periodic stress, but frequency-dependent triggering has not been quantitatively explored in the field. Tidal forcing acts over a wide range of frequencies, therefore the sensitivity to tidal triggering of LFEs provides a good probe to the physical mechanisms affecting earthquake generation. In this study, we consider the tidal triggering of LFEs near Parkfield, California since 2001. We find the LFEs rate is correlated with tidal shear stress, normal stress rate and shear stress rate. The occurrence of LFEs can also be independently modulated by groups of tidal constituents at semi-diurnal, diurnal and fortnightly frequencies. The strength of the response of LFEs to the different tidal constituents varies between LFE families. Each LFE family has an optimal triggering frequency, which does not appear to be depth dependent or systematically related to other known properties. This suggests the period of the applied forcing plays an important role in the triggering process, and the interaction of periods of loading history and source region properties, such as friction, effective normal stress and pore fluid pressure, produces the observed frequency-dependent tidal triggering of LFEs.

  3. Efficient fdCas9 Synthetic Endonuclease with Improved Specificity for Precise Genome Engineering

    KAUST Repository

    Aouida, Mustapha

    2015-07-30

    The Cas9 endonuclease is used for genome editing applications in diverse eukaryotic species. A high frequency of off-target activity has been reported in many cell types, limiting its applications to genome engineering, especially in genomic medicine. Here, we generated a synthetic chimeric protein between the catalytic domain of the FokI endonuclease and the catalytically inactive Cas9 protein (fdCas9). A pair of guide RNAs (gRNAs) that bind to sense and antisense strands with a defined spacer sequence range can be used to form a catalytically active dimeric fdCas9 protein and generate double-strand breaks (DSBs) within the spacer sequence. Our data demonstrate an improved catalytic activity of the fdCas9 endonuclease, with a spacer range of 15–39 nucleotides, on surrogate reporters and genomic targets. Furthermore, we observed no detectable fdCas9 activity at known Cas9 off-target sites. Taken together, our data suggest that the fdCas9 endonuclease variant is a superior platform for genome editing applications in eukaryotic systems including mammalian cells.

  4. Efficient fdCas9 Synthetic Endonuclease with Improved Specificity for Precise Genome Engineering

    KAUST Repository

    Aouida, Mustapha; Eid, Ayman; Ali, Zahir; Cradick, Thomas; Lee, Ciaran; Deshmukh, Harshavardhan; Atef, Ahmed; Abu Samra, Dina Bashir Kamil; Gadhoum, Samah Zeineb; Merzaban, Jasmeen; Bao, Gang; Mahfouz, Magdy M.

    2015-01-01

    The Cas9 endonuclease is used for genome editing applications in diverse eukaryotic species. A high frequency of off-target activity has been reported in many cell types, limiting its applications to genome engineering, especially in genomic medicine. Here, we generated a synthetic chimeric protein between the catalytic domain of the FokI endonuclease and the catalytically inactive Cas9 protein (fdCas9). A pair of guide RNAs (gRNAs) that bind to sense and antisense strands with a defined spacer sequence range can be used to form a catalytically active dimeric fdCas9 protein and generate double-strand breaks (DSBs) within the spacer sequence. Our data demonstrate an improved catalytic activity of the fdCas9 endonuclease, with a spacer range of 15–39 nucleotides, on surrogate reporters and genomic targets. Furthermore, we observed no detectable fdCas9 activity at known Cas9 off-target sites. Taken together, our data suggest that the fdCas9 endonuclease variant is a superior platform for genome editing applications in eukaryotic systems including mammalian cells.

  5. Subjective evaluation of noise from neighbours with focus on low frequencies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Frank Rysgaard

    1999-01-01

    There is a growing tendency to use lightweight constructions in the building industry. One unwanted side effect of this tendency is poor sound insulation at low frequencies. The purpose of this investigation has been to examine the subjective effects of the resulting increase of low frequency noise...

  6. An investigation of twenty-one cases of low-frequency noise complaints

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Christian Sejer; Møller, Henrik; Persson-Waye, Kerstin

    2007-01-01

    Twenty-one cases of low-frequency noise complaints were thoroughly investigated with the aim of answering the question whether it is real physical sound or low-frequency tinnitus that causes the annoyance. Noise recordings were made in the homes of the complainants taking the spatial variation...

  7. Spontaneous low-frequency oscillations in cerebral vessels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schytz, Henrik W; Hansson, Andreas; Phillip, Dorte

    2010-01-01

    ). Analysis of CA by measurement of spontaneous oscillations in the low-frequency spectrum in cerebral vessels might be a useful tool for assessing risk and investigating different treatment strategies in carotid artery disease (CAD) and stroke. We reviewed studies exploring spontaneous oscillations...

  8. Vibration Isolation Study in Scanning Probe Microscopy Part I: Low Frequency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oliva, A.I.; Espinosa-Faller, F.J.; Aguilar, M.

    1998-01-01

    A study of a low frequency isolation device based in a pneumatic system is presented. It consists of four cylinders which are closed and sealed with an elastic membrane on which the load is applied. Each cylinder made of PVC is formed by two chambers divided by a plate with a small hole for communication and damping. Air contained into chambers acts, in combination with the the elastic membranes, as a damper. Scanning probe techniques can be supported by this device in order to reduce the low frequency noises that affects them. Advantages of this isolator are discussed and compared. A theoretical approximation for this model is presented and compared with the experimental results obtained and show that it can isolate noises up to ∼ 2 Hz. The low frequency isolator has stability and fast response to external perturbations. This simple and economical low frequency isolator can be reproduced easily and its design depends on the work specific requirements. (Author) 9 refs

  9. Tunable signal processing in synthetic MAP kinase cascades.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Shaughnessy, Ellen C; Palani, Santhosh; Collins, James J; Sarkar, Casim A

    2011-01-07

    The flexibility of MAPK cascade responses enables regulation of a vast array of cell fate decisions, but elucidating the mechanisms underlying this plasticity is difficult in endogenous signaling networks. We constructed insulated mammalian MAPK cascades in yeast to explore how intrinsic and extrinsic perturbations affect the flexibility of these synthetic signaling modules. Contrary to biphasic dependence on scaffold concentration, we observe monotonic decreases in signal strength as scaffold concentration increases. We find that augmenting the concentration of sequential kinases can enhance ultrasensitivity and lower the activation threshold. Further, integrating negative regulation and concentration variation can decouple ultrasensitivity and threshold from the strength of the response. Computational analyses show that cascading can generate ultrasensitivity and that natural cascades with different kinase concentrations are innately biased toward their distinct activation profiles. This work demonstrates that tunable signal processing is inherent to minimal MAPK modules and elucidates principles for rational design of synthetic signaling systems. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Effect of space flight on the frequency of micronuclei and expression of stress-responsive proteins in cultured mammalian cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ikenaga, Mituo; Hirayama, Jun; Kato, Tomohisa [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Radiation Biology Center] [and others

    2002-12-01

    Results of past space experiments suggest that the biological effect of space radiation could been hanced under microgravity in some cases, especially ininsects. To examine if such a synergistic effect of radiation and microgravity also exists in human cells, frequencies of chromosome instability and cellular levels of several stress-responsive proteins were analyzed incultured human and rodent cells afterspace flight. Human (MCF7 and ataxia telangiectasia(AT)2KY), mouse (m5S) and hamster (Syrian hamster embryo (SHE)) cell lines were loaded on the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95 mission) and grown during a 9-daymission. After landing, the micronuclei resulting from abnormal nuclear division and accumulationof stress-responsive proteins such as p53 and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), which are involved in radiation-induced signal transduction cascades, were analyzed. The frequencies of micronucleiin all the four mammalian cell strains tested were not significantly different between flight and ground control samples. Also, the cellular amounts of p53, p21 (WAF1/SDI1/CIP1) and activated (phosphorylated) forms of three distinct MAPKs in MCF7 and m5S cells of flight samples were similar to those of ground control samples. These results indicated that anyeffect of space radiation, microgravity, or combination of both were not detectable, at least under thepresent experimental conditions. (author)

  11. A synthetic prestin reveals protein domains and molecular operation of outer hair cell piezoelectricity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaechinger, Thorsten J; Gorbunov, Dmitry; Halaszovich, Christian R; Moser, Tobias; Kügler, Sebastian; Fakler, Bernd; Oliver, Dominik

    2011-06-24

    Prestin, a transporter-like protein of the SLC26A family, acts as a piezoelectric transducer that mediates the fast electromotility of outer hair cells required for cochlear amplification and auditory acuity in mammals. Non-mammalian prestin orthologues are anion transporters without piezoelectric activity. Here, we generated synthetic prestin (SynPres), a chimera of mammalian and non-mammalian prestin exhibiting both, piezoelectric properties and anion transport. SynPres delineates two distinct domains in the protein's transmembrane core that are necessary and sufficient for generating electromotility and associated non-linear charge movement (NLC). Functional analysis of SynPres showed that the amplitude of NLC and hence electromotility are determined by the transport of monovalent anions. Thus, prestin-mediated electromotility is a dual-step process: transport of anions by an alternate access cycle, followed by an anion-dependent transition generating electromotility. The findings define structural and functional determinants of prestin's piezoelectric activity and indicate that the electromechanical process evolved from the ancestral transport mechanism.

  12. Long-term change of activity of very low-frequency earthquakes in southwest Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baba, S.; Takeo, A.; Obara, K.; Kato, A.; Maeda, T.; Matsuzawa, T.

    2017-12-01

    On plate interface near seismogenic zone of megathrust earthquakes, various types of slow earthquakes were detected including non-volcanic tremors, slow slip events (SSEs) and very low-frequency earthquakes (VLFEs). VLFEs are classified into deep VLFEs, which occur in the downdip side of the seismogenic zone, and shallow VLFEs, occur in the updip side, i.e. several kilometers in depth in southwest Japan. As a member of slow earthquake family, VLFE activity is expected to be a proxy of inter-plate slipping because VLFEs have the same mechanisms as inter-plate slipping and are detected during Episodic tremor and slip (ETS). However, long-term change of the VLFE seismicity has not been well constrained compared to deep low-frequency tremor. We thus studied long-term changes in the activity of VLFEs in southwest Japan where ETS and long-term SSEs have been most intensive. We used continuous seismograms of F-net broadband seismometers operated by NIED from April 2004 to March 2017. After applying the band-pass filter with a frequency range of 0.02—0.05 Hz, we adopted the matched-filter technique in detecting VLFEs. We prepared templates by calculating synthetic waveforms for each hypocenter grid assuming typical focal mechanisms of VLFEs. The correlation coefficients between templates and continuous F-net seismograms were calculated at each grid every 1s in all components. The grid interval is 0.1 degree for both longitude and latitude. Each VLFE was detected as an event if the average of correlation coefficients exceeds the threshold. We defined the detection threshold as eight times as large as the median absolute deviation of the distribution. At grids in the Bungo channel, where long-term SSEs occurred frequently, the cumulative number of detected VLFEs increases rapidly in 2010 and 2014, which were modulated by stress loading from the long-term SSEs. At inland grids near the Bungo channel, the cumulative number increases steeply every half a year. This stepwise

  13. Alpha band frequency differences between low-trait and high-trait anxious individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Richard T; Smith, Shelby L; Kraus, Brian T; Allen, Anna V; Moses, Michael A; Simon-Dack, Stephanie L

    2018-01-17

    Trait anxiety has been shown to cause significant impairments on attentional tasks. Current research has identified alpha band frequency differences between low-trait and high-trait anxious individuals. Here, we further investigated the underlying alpha band frequency differences between low-trait and high-trait anxious individuals during their resting state and the completion of an inhibition executive functioning task. Using human participants and quantitative electroencephalographic recordings, we measured alpha band frequency in individuals both high and low in trait anxiety during their resting state, and while they completed an Eriksen Flanker Task. Results indicated that high-trait anxious individuals exhibit a desynchronization in alpha band frequency from a resting state to when they complete the Eriksen Flanker Task. This suggests that high-trait anxious individuals maintain fewer attentional resources at rest and must martial resources for task performance as compared with low-trait anxious individuals, who appear to maintain stable cognitive resources between rest and task performance. These findings add to the cognitive neuroscience literature surrounding the role of alpha band frequency in low-trait and high-trait anxious individuals.

  14. Orbiting low frequency array for radio astronomy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rajan, Rai Thilak; Rajan, Raj; Engelen, Steven; Bentum, Marinus Jan; Verhoeven, Chris

    2011-01-01

    Recently new and interesting science drivers have emerged for very low frequency radio astronomy from 0.3 MHz to 30 MHz. However Earth bound radio observations at these wavelengths are severely hampered by ionospheric distortions, man made interference, solar flares and even complete reflection

  15. Characteristics of low-frequency oscillation intensity of airsea turbulent heat fluxes over the northwest Pacific

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2009-01-01

    Based on the daily turbulent heat fluxes and related meteorological variables datasets (1985-2006) from Objectively Analyzed air-sea Fluxes (OAFlux) Project of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), characteristics of low-frequency oscillation intensity of air-sea turbulent heat fluxes over the northwest Pacific are analyzed by linear perturbation method and correlation analysis. It can be concluded that: 1) the distribution of low-frequency oscillation intensity of latent heat flux (LHF) over the northwest Pacific is mainly affected by that of low-frequency oscillation intensity of anomalous air-sea humidity gradient (Δq′) as well as mean air-sea humidity gradient ( Δ q), while the distribution of low-frequency oscillation intensity of sensible heat flux (SHF) is mainly affected by that of low-frequency oscillation intensity of anomalous air-sea temperature gradient (ΔT′). 2) The low-frequency oscillation of turbulent heat fluxes over the northwest Pacific is the strongest in winter and the weakest in summer. And the seasonal transition of low-frequency oscillation intensity of LHF is jointly influenced by those of low-frequency oscillation intensity of Δq′, low-frequency oscillation intensity of anomalous wind speed (U′), Δ q and mean wind speed (U ), while the seasonal transition of low-frequency oscillation intensity of SHF is mainly influenced by those of low-frequency oscillation intensity of ΔT′ and U . 3) Over the tropical west Pacific and sea areas north of 20°N, the low-frequency oscillation of LHF (SHF) is mainly influenced by atmospheric variables qa′ (Ta′) and U′, indicating an oceanic response to overlying atmospheric forcing. In contrast, over the tropical eastern and central Pacific south of 20°N, qs′ (Ts′) also greatly influences the low-frequency oscillation of LHF (SHF).

  16. A new method for calculation of low-frequency coupling impedance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurennoy, S.S.; Stupakov, G.V.

    1993-05-01

    In high-energy proton accelerators and storage rings the bunch length is typically at least a few times larger than the radius of the vacuum chamber. For example, the SSC will have an rms bunch length above 6 cm and a beam-pipe radius below 2 cm. The main concern for beam stability in such a machine is the low-frequency impedance, i.e., the coupling impedance at frequencies wen below the cut-off frequency of the vacuum chamber. In the present paper we develop a new analytical approach for calculation of the low-frequency impedance of axisymmetric structures that allows us to give quick and reliable estimates of contributions to the impedance from various chamber discontinuities. Simple formulae for the longitudinal impedance of some typical discontinuities are obtained

  17. Low frequency phononic band structures in two-dimensional arc-shaped phononic crystals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, Zhenlong; Wu, Fugen; Guo, Zhongning

    2012-01-01

    The low frequency phononic band structures of two-dimensional arc-shaped phononic crystals (APCs) were studied by the transfer matrix method in cylindrical coordinates. The results showed the first phononic band gaps (PBGs) of APCs from zero Hz with low modes. Locally resonant (LR) gaps were obtained with higher-order rotation symmetry, due to LR frequencies corresponding to the speeds of acoustic waves in the materials. These properties can be efficiently used in a structure for low frequencies that are forbidden, or in a device that permits a narrow window of frequencies. -- Highlights: ► We report a new class of quasi-periodic hetero-structures, arc-shaped phononic crystals (APCs). ► The results show the first PBGs start with zero Hz with low modes. ► Locally resonant (LR) gaps were obtained with higher-order rotation symmetry, due to LR frequencies corresponding to the speeds of acoustic waves in the materials.

  18. Do our reconstructions of ENSO have too much low-frequency variability?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loope, G. R.; Overpeck, J. T.

    2017-12-01

    Reconstructing the spectrum of Pacific SST variability has proven to be difficult both because of complications with proxy systems such as tree rings and the relatively small number of records from the tropical Pacific. We show that the small number of long coral δ18O and Sr/Ca records has caused a bias towards having too much low-frequency variability in PCR, CPS, and RegEM reconstructions of Pacific variability. This occurs because the individual coral records used in the reconstructions have redder spectra than the shared signal (e.g. ENSO). This causes some of the unshared, low-frequency signal from local climate, salinity and possibly coral biology to bleed into the reconstruction. With enough chronologies in a reconstruction, this unshared noise cancels out but the problem is exacerbated in our longest reconstructions where fewer records are available. Coral proxies tend to have more low-frequency variability than SST observations so this problem is smaller but can still be seen in pseudoproxy experiments using observations and reanalysis data. The identification of this low-frequency bias in coral reconstructions helps bring the spectra of ENSO reconstructions back into line with both models and observations. Although our analysis is mostly constrained to the 20th century due to lack of sufficient data, we expect that as more long chronologies are developed, the low-frequency signal in ENSO reconstructions will be greatly reduced.

  19. Stable dynamics in forced systems with sufficiently high/low forcing frequency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartuccelli, M; Gentile, G; Wright, J A

    2016-08-01

    We consider parametrically forced Hamiltonian systems with one-and-a-half degrees of freedom and study the stability of the dynamics when the frequency of the forcing is relatively high or low. We show that, provided the frequency is sufficiently high, Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) theorem may be applied even when the forcing amplitude is far away from the perturbation regime. A similar result is obtained for sufficiently low frequency, but in that case we need the amplitude of the forcing to be not too large; however, we are still able to consider amplitudes which are outside of the perturbation regime. In addition, we find numerically that the dynamics may be stable even when the forcing amplitude is very large, well beyond the range of validity of the analytical results, provided the frequency of the forcing is taken correspondingly low.

  20. Analysis of Power System Low Frequency Oscillation Based on Energy Shift Theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Junfeng; Zhang, Chunwang; Ma, Daqing

    2018-01-01

    In this paper, a new method for analyzing low-frequency oscillation between analytic areas based on energy coefficient is proposed. The concept of energy coefficient is proposed by constructing the energy function, and the low-frequency oscillation is analyzed according to the energy coefficient under the current operating conditions; meanwhile, the concept of model energy is proposed to analyze the energy exchange behavior between two generators. Not only does this method provide an explanation of low-frequency oscillation from the energy point of view, but also it helps further reveal the dynamic behavior of complex power systems. The case analysis of four-machine two-area and the power system of Jilin Power Grid proves the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed method in low-frequency oscillation analysis of power system.

  1. One-dimensional low spatial frequency LIPSS with rotating orientation on fused silica

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schwarz, Simon, E-mail: simon.schwarz@h-ab.de; Rung, Stefan; Hellmann, Ralf

    2017-07-31

    Highlights: • Generation of one-dimensional low spatial frequency LIPSS on transparent material. • Varying the angle of incidence results in a rotation of the one-dimensional LSFL. • Rotation angle of LSFL decreases with increasing the applied fluence. • Orientation of the LSFL is mirror-inverted when reversing the scanning direction. - Abstract: We report on the generation of one-dimensional low spatial frequency LIPSS on transparent material. The influence of the applied laser fluence and angle of incidence on the periodicity, orientation and quality of the one-dimensional low spatial frequency LIPSS is investigated, facilitating the generation of highly uniform LIPSS alongside a line. Most strikingly, however, we observe a previously unreported effect of a pronounced rotation of the one-dimensional low spatial frequency LIPSS for varying angle of incidence upon inclined laser irradiation.

  2. Mitigation of low-frequency groundnoise from runways

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Eerden, F.J.M. van der; Salomons, E.M.; Beeks, A.A.F.M.

    2007-01-01

    With the extra runway at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, introduced in 2003, the noise nuisance for local residents increased due to increased groundnoise. In a case study the effect of enhanced ground absorption on the propagation of low-frequency noise from aircraft ground operations, e.g. departing

  3. Prediction of the Low Frequency Wave Field on Open Coastal Beaches

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Ozkan-Haller, H. T

    2005-01-01

    ... (both abrupt and gradual) affect the resulting low frequency wave climate. 3. The assessment of the importance of interactions between different modes of time-varying motions in the nearshore region, as well as interactions between these modes and the incident wave field. 4. To arrive at a predictive understanding of low frequency motions.

  4. Antagonistic control of a dual-input mammalian gene switch by food additives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Mingqi; Ye, Haifeng; Hamri, Ghislaine Charpin-El; Fussenegger, Martin

    2014-08-01

    Synthetic biology has significantly advanced the design of mammalian trigger-inducible transgene-control devices that are able to programme complex cellular behaviour. Fruit-based benzoate derivatives licensed as food additives, such as flavours (e.g. vanillate) and preservatives (e.g. benzoate), are a particularly attractive class of trigger compounds for orthogonal mammalian transgene control devices because of their innocuousness, physiological compatibility and simple oral administration. Capitalizing on the genetic componentry of the soil bacterium Comamonas testosteroni, which has evolved to catabolize a variety of aromatic compounds, we have designed different mammalian gene expression systems that could be induced and repressed by the food additives benzoate and vanillate. When implanting designer cells engineered for gene switch-driven expression of the human placental secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) into mice, blood SEAP levels of treated animals directly correlated with a benzoate-enriched drinking programme. Additionally, the benzoate-/vanillate-responsive device was compatible with other transgene control systems and could be assembled into higher-order control networks providing expression dynamics reminiscent of a lap-timing stopwatch. Designer gene switches using licensed food additives as trigger compounds to achieve antagonistic dual-input expression profiles and provide novel control topologies and regulation dynamics may advance future gene- and cell-based therapies. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  5. Low-frequency fluid waves in fractures and pipes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Korneev, Valeri

    2010-09-01

    Low-frequency analytical solutions have been obtained for phase velocities of symmetrical fluid waves within both an infinite fracture and a pipe filled with a viscous fluid. Three different fluid wave regimes can exist in such objects, depending on the various combinations of parameters, such as fluid density, fluid viscosity, walls shear modulus, channel thickness, and frequency. Equations for velocities of all these regimes have explicit forms and are verified by comparisons with the exact solutions. The dominant role of fractures in rock permeability at field scales and the strong amplitude and frequency effects of Stoneley guided waves suggest the importance of including these wave effects into poroelastic theories.

  6. Energy harvesting from low frequency applications using piezoelectric materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Huidong; Tian, Chuan; Deng, Z. Daniel

    2014-01-01

    In an effort to eliminate the replacement of the batteries of electronic devices that are difficult or impractical to service once deployed, harvesting energy from mechanical vibrations or impacts using piezoelectric materials has been researched over the last several decades. However, a majority of these applications have very low input frequencies. This presents a challenge for the researchers to optimize the energy output of piezoelectric energy harvesters, due to the relatively high elastic moduli of piezoelectric materials used to date. This paper reviews the current state of research on piezoelectric energy harvesting devices for low frequency (0–100 Hz) applications and the methods that have been developed to improve the power outputs of the piezoelectric energy harvesters. Various key aspects that contribute to the overall performance of a piezoelectric energy harvester are discussed, including geometries of the piezoelectric element, types of piezoelectric material used, techniques employed to match the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric element to input frequency of the host structure, and electronic circuits specifically designed for energy harvesters

  7. Low-frequency response in antiferromagnetically coupled Fe/Cr multilayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aliev, F.G.; Guerrero, R.; Martinez, J.L.; Moshchalkov, V.V.; Bruynseraede, Y.; Villar, R.

    2001-01-01

    We have studied the magnetic field dependences of the real (χ) and imaginary (χ') contributions to the low-frequency magnetic susceptibility in epitaxial antiferromagnetically coupled [Fe(Cr(1 0 0)] n (n=10-50) multilayers. For the magnetic field directed along (1 1 0), the magnetic susceptibility shows on orientation phase transition. For the magnetic field either along the easy or the hard axes we observe a strong enhancement of the χ'(H) (i.e. magnetic losses) at low magnetic fields (H<50 Oe), which we relate to AC field-induced domain wall movement. This response is strongly dependent on frequency and temperature

  8. Synthetic mimetics of the endogenous gastrointestinal nanomineral: Silent constructs that trap macromolecules for intracellular delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pele, Laetitia C; Haas, Carolin T; Hewitt, Rachel E; Robertson, Jack; Skepper, Jeremy; Brown, Andy; Hernandez-Garrido, Juan Carlos; Midgley, Paul A; Faria, Nuno; Chappell, Helen; Powell, Jonathan J

    2017-02-01

    Amorphous magnesium-substituted calcium phosphate (AMCP) nanoparticles (75-150nm) form constitutively in large numbers in the mammalian gut. Collective evidence indicates that they trap and deliver luminal macromolecules to mucosal antigen presenting cells (APCs) and facilitate gut immune homeostasis. Here, we report on a synthetic mimetic of the endogenous AMCP and show that it has marked capacity to trap macromolecules during formation. Macromolecular capture into AMCP involved incorporation as shown by STEM tomography of the synthetic AMCP particle with 5nm ultra-fine iron (III) oxohydroxide. In vitro, organic cargo-loaded synthetic AMCP was taken up by APCs and tracked to lysosomal compartments. The AMCP itself did not regulate any gene, or modify any gene regulation by its cargo, based upon whole genome transcriptomic analyses. We conclude that synthetic AMCP can efficiently trap macromolecules and deliver them to APCs in a silent fashion, and may thus represent a new platform for antigen delivery. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Nonlinear transfer function encodes synchronization in a neural network from the mammalian brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menendez de la Prida, L; Sanchez-Andres, J V

    1999-09-01

    Synchronization is one of the mechanisms by which the brain encodes information. The observed synchronization of neuronal activity has, however, several levels of fluctuations, which presumably regulate local features of specific areas. This means that biological neural networks should have an intrinsic mechanism able to synchronize the neuronal activity but also to preserve the firing capability of individual cells. Here, we investigate the input-output relationship of a biological neural network from developing mammalian brain, i.e., the hippocampus. We show that the probability of occurrence of synchronous output activity (which consists in stereotyped population bursts recorded throughout the hippocampus) is encoded by a sigmoidal transfer function of the input frequency. Under this scope, low-frequency inputs will not produce any coherent output while high-frequency inputs will determine a synchronous pattern of output activity (population bursts). We analyze the effect of the network size (N) on the parameters of the transfer function (threshold and slope). We found that sigmoidal functions realistically simulate the synchronous output activity of hippocampal neural networks. This outcome is particularly important in the application of results from neural network models to neurobiology.

  10. Extragalactic Peaked-spectrum Radio Sources at Low Frequencies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Callingham, J. R.; Gaensler, B. M.; Sadler, E. M.; Lenc, E. [Sydney Institute for Astronomy (SIfA), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia); Ekers, R. D.; Bell, M. E. [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science (CASS), Marsfield, NSW 2122 (Australia); Line, J. L. B.; Hancock, P. J.; Kapińska, A. D.; McKinley, B.; Procopio, P. [ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) (Australia); Hurley-Walker, N.; Tingay, S. J.; Franzen, T. M. O.; Morgan, J. [International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102 (Australia); Dwarakanath, K. S. [Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore 560080 (India); For, B.-Q. [International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009 (Australia); Hindson, L.; Johnston-Hollitt, M. [School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140 (New Zealand); Offringa, A. R., E-mail: joseph.callingham@sydney.edu.au [Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), Dwingeloo (Netherlands); and others

    2017-02-20

    We present a sample of 1483 sources that display spectral peaks between 72 MHz and 1.4 GHz, selected from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey. The GLEAM survey is the widest fractional bandwidth all-sky survey to date, ideal for identifying peaked-spectrum sources at low radio frequencies. Our peaked-spectrum sources are the low-frequency analogs of gigahertz-peaked spectrum (GPS) and compact-steep spectrum (CSS) sources, which have been hypothesized to be the precursors to massive radio galaxies. Our sample more than doubles the number of known peaked-spectrum candidates, and 95% of our sample have a newly characterized spectral peak. We highlight that some GPS sources peaking above 5 GHz have had multiple epochs of nuclear activity, and we demonstrate the possibility of identifying high-redshift ( z > 2) galaxies via steep optically thin spectral indices and low observed peak frequencies. The distribution of the optically thick spectral indices of our sample is consistent with past GPS/CSS samples but with a large dispersion, suggesting that the spectral peak is a product of an inhomogeneous environment that is individualistic. We find no dependence of observed peak frequency with redshift, consistent with the peaked-spectrum sample comprising both local CSS sources and high-redshift GPS sources. The 5 GHz luminosity distribution lacks the brightest GPS and CSS sources of previous samples, implying that a convolution of source evolution and redshift influences the type of peaked-spectrum sources identified below 1 GHz. Finally, we discuss sources with optically thick spectral indices that exceed the synchrotron self-absorption limit.

  11. Autographa californica Multicapsid Nucleopolyhedrovirus efficiently infects Sf9 cells and transduces mammalian cells via direct fusion with the plasma membrane at low pH

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dong, S.; Wang, M.; Qiu, Z.; Deng, F.; Vlak, J.M.; Hu, Z.H.; Wang, H.L.

    2010-01-01

    The budded virus (BV) of the Autographa californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) infects insect cells and transduces mammalian cells mainly through the endocytosis pathway. However, this study revealed that the treatment of the virus bound to Sf9 cells at low pH could efficiently rescue

  12. A model explaining synchronization of neuron bioelectric frequency under weak alternating low frequency magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moral, A. del, E-mail: delmoral@unizar.es [Laboratorio de Magnetismo, Departamento de Física de Materia Condensada and Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales, Universidad de Zaragoza and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 50009 Zaragoza (Spain); Laboratorio de Magnetobiología, Departamento de Anatomía e Histología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza (Spain); Centro de Tecnología Biomédica, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28223 Madrid (Spain); Azanza, María J., E-mail: mjazanza@unizar.es [Laboratorio de Magnetobiología, Departamento de Anatomía e Histología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza (Spain); Centro de Tecnología Biomédica, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28223 Madrid (Spain)

    2015-03-01

    A biomagnetic-electrical model is presented that explains rather well the experimentally observed synchronization of the bioelectric potential firing rate (“frequency”), f, of single unit neurons of Helix aspersa mollusc under the application of extremely low frequency (ELF) weak alternating (AC) magnetic fields (MF). The proposed model incorporates to our widely experimentally tested model of superdiamagnetism (SD) and Ca{sup 2+} Coulomb explosion (CE) from lipid (LP) bilayer membrane (SD–CE model), the electrical quadrupolar long range interaction between the bilayer LP membranes of synchronized neuron pairs, not considered before. The quadrupolar interaction is capable of explaining well the observed synchronization. Actual extension of our SD–CE-model shows that the neuron firing frequency field, B, dependence becomes not modified, but the bioelectric frequency is decreased and its spontaneous temperature, T, dependence is modified. A comparison of the model with synchronization experimental results of pair of neurons under weak (B{sub 0}≅0.2–15 mT) AC-MF of frequency f{sub M}=50 Hz is reported. From the deduced size of synchronized LP clusters under B, is suggested the formation of small neuron networks via the membrane lipid correlation. - Highlights: • Neuron pair synchronization under low frequency alternating (AC) magnetic field (MF). • Superdiamagnetism and Ca{sup 2+} Coulomb explosion for AC MF effect in synchronized frequency. • Membrane lipid electrical quadrupolar pair interaction as synchronization mechamism. • Good agreement of model with electrophysiological experiments on mollusc Helix neurons.

  13. A model explaining synchronization of neuron bioelectric frequency under weak alternating low frequency magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moral, A. del; Azanza, María J.

    2015-01-01

    A biomagnetic-electrical model is presented that explains rather well the experimentally observed synchronization of the bioelectric potential firing rate (“frequency”), f, of single unit neurons of Helix aspersa mollusc under the application of extremely low frequency (ELF) weak alternating (AC) magnetic fields (MF). The proposed model incorporates to our widely experimentally tested model of superdiamagnetism (SD) and Ca 2+ Coulomb explosion (CE) from lipid (LP) bilayer membrane (SD–CE model), the electrical quadrupolar long range interaction between the bilayer LP membranes of synchronized neuron pairs, not considered before. The quadrupolar interaction is capable of explaining well the observed synchronization. Actual extension of our SD–CE-model shows that the neuron firing frequency field, B, dependence becomes not modified, but the bioelectric frequency is decreased and its spontaneous temperature, T, dependence is modified. A comparison of the model with synchronization experimental results of pair of neurons under weak (B 0 ≅0.2–15 mT) AC-MF of frequency f M =50 Hz is reported. From the deduced size of synchronized LP clusters under B, is suggested the formation of small neuron networks via the membrane lipid correlation. - Highlights: • Neuron pair synchronization under low frequency alternating (AC) magnetic field (MF). • Superdiamagnetism and Ca 2+ Coulomb explosion for AC MF effect in synchronized frequency. • Membrane lipid electrical quadrupolar pair interaction as synchronization mechamism. • Good agreement of model with electrophysiological experiments on mollusc Helix neurons

  14. Frequency decoding of periodically timed action potentials through distinct activity patterns in a random neural network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reichenbach, Tobias; Hudspeth, A J

    2012-01-01

    Frequency discrimination is a fundamental task of the auditory system. The mammalian inner ear, or cochlea, provides a place code in which different frequencies are detected at different spatial locations. However, a temporal code based on spike timing is also available: action potentials evoked in an auditory-nerve fiber by a low-frequency tone occur at a preferred phase of the stimulus—they exhibit phase locking—and thus provide temporal information about the tone's frequency. Humans employ this temporal information for discrimination of low frequencies. How might such temporal information be read out in the brain? Here we employ statistical and numerical methods to demonstrate that recurrent random neural networks in which connections between neurons introduce characteristic time delays, and in which neurons require temporally coinciding inputs for spike initiation, can perform sharp frequency discrimination when stimulated with phase-locked inputs. Although the frequency resolution achieved by such networks is limited by the noise in phase locking, the resolution for realistic values reaches the tiny frequency difference of 0.2% that has been measured in humans. (paper)

  15. Atomic scattering in the presence of a low-frequency laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Banerji, J.

    1982-01-01

    In the first four chapters of this thesis previous work on non-resonant potential scattering, resonant potential scattering and non-resonant electron-atom scattering in the presence of a low-frequency laser has been discussed and extended. Chapter 6 deals with the experimental aspects of laser-modified atomic scattering. In chapter 7, the problem of electron-atom ionizing collisions (both resonant and non-resonant) in the presence of a low-frequency laser is discussed. In the next chapter the cut-off Coulomb potential scattering in the presence of a low-frequency laser has been considered. Because of the long range of the Coulomb potential, the result deviates sharply from that obtained for short range potentials unless, of course, the collision energy is very high. Moreover, it has been suggested that the experiments are not reproducible unless the details of the cut-off Coulomb potential are spelled out

  16. Characterization and Impact of Low Frequency Wind Turbine Noise Emissions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finch, James

    Wind turbine noise is a complex issue that requires due diligence to minimize any potential impact on quality of life. This study enhances existing knowledge of wind turbine noise through focused analyses of downwind sound propagation, directionality, and the low frequency component of the noise. Measurements were conducted at four wind speeds according to a design of experiments at incremental distances and angles. Wind turbine noise is shown to be highly directional, while downwind sound propagation is spherical with limited ground absorption. The noise is found to have a significant low frequency component that is largely independent of wind speed over the 20-250 Hz range. The generated low frequency noise is shown to be audible above 40 Hz at the MOE setback distance of 550 m. Infrasound levels exhibit higher dependency on wind speed, but remain below audible levels up to 15 m/s.

  17. Critical mm-wave components for synthetic automatic test systems

    CERN Document Server

    Hrobak, Michael

    2015-01-01

    Michael Hrobak studied hybrid integrated front end modules for high frequency measurement equipment and especially for synthetic automatic test systems. Recent developments of innovative, critical millimeter-wave components like frequency multipliers, directional couplers, filters, triple balanced mixers and power detectors are illustrated by the author separately and in combination.  Contents Synthetic Instruments Resistive Diode Frequency Multipliers Planar Directional Couplers and Filters Triple Balanced Mixers Zero Bias Schottky Power Detectors Integrated Front End Assemblies  Target Groups Scientists and students in the field of electrical engineering with main emphasis on high frequency technology Engineers and Practitioners dealing with the development of micro- and millimeter-wave measurement instruments  About the Author Dr. Michael Hrobak is with the Microwave Department of the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH), Berlin, Germany, where he is involved in the development and measurement of monolithic i...

  18. Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations in Multiple-Frequency Bands in Acute Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhan, Jie; Gao, Lei; Zhou, Fuqing; Bai, Lijun; Kuang, Hongmei; He, Laichang; Zeng, Xianjun; Gong, Honghan

    2016-01-01

    Functional disconnectivity during the resting state has been observed in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients during the acute stage. However, it remains largely unknown whether the abnormalities are related to specific frequency bands of the low-frequency oscillations (LFO). Here, we used the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) to examine the amplitudes of LFO in different frequency bands (slow-5: 0.01-0.027 Hz; slow-4: 0.027-0.073 Hz; and typical: 0.01-0.08 Hz) in patients with acute mTBI. A total of 24 acute mTBI patients and 24 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls participated in this study. In the typical band, acute mTBI patients showed lower standardized ALFF in the right middle frontal gyrus and higher standardized ALFF in the right lingual/fusiform gyrus and left middle occipital gyrus. Further analyses showed that the difference between groups was concentrated in a narrower (slow-4) frequency band. In the slow-5 band, mTBI patients only exhibited higher standardized ALFF in the occipital areas. No significant correlation between the mini-mental state examination score and the standardized ALFF value was found in any brain region in the three frequency bands. Finally, no significant interaction between frequency bands and groups was found in any brain region. We concluded that the abnormality of spontaneous brain activity in acute mTBI patients existed in the frontal lobe as well as in distributed brain regions associated with integrative, sensory, and emotional roles, and the abnormal spontaneous neuronal activity in different brain regions could be better detected by the slow-4 band. These findings might contribute to a better understanding of local neural psychopathology of acute mTBI. Future studies should take the frequency bands into account when measuring intrinsic brain activity of mTBI patients.

  19. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in multiple-frequency bands in acute mild traumatic brain injury

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jie eZhan

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Functional disconnectivity during the resting state has been observed in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI patients during the acute stage. However, it remains largely unknown whether the abnormalities are related to specific frequency bands of the low-frequency oscillations (LFO. Here, we used the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF to examine the amplitudes of LFO in different frequency bands (slow-5: 0.01–0.027 Hz; slow-4: 0.027–0.073 Hz; and typical: 0.01–0.08 Hz in patients with acute mTBI. A total of 24 acute mTBI patients and 24 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls (HC participated in this study. In the typical band, acute mTBI patients showed lower standardized ALFF in the right middle frontal gyrus and higher standardized ALFF in the right lingual/fusiform gyrus and left middle occipital gyrus. Further analyses showed that the difference between groups was concentrated in a narrower (slow-4 frequency band. In the slow-5 band, mTBI patients only exhibited higher standardized ALFF in the occipital areas. No significant correlation between the MMSE score and the standardized ALFF value was found in any brain region in the three frequency bands. Finally, no significant interaction between frequency bands and groups was found in any brain region. We concluded that the abnormality of spontaneous brain activity in acute mTBI patients existed in the frontal lobe as well as in distributed brain regions associated with integrative, sensory and emotional roles, and the abnormal spontaneous neuronal activity in different brain regions could be better detected by the slow-4 band. These findings might contribute to a better understanding of local neural psychopathology of acute mTBI. Future studies should take the frequency bands into account when measuring intrinsic brain activity of mTBI patients.

  20. Precision control of recombinant gene transcription for CHO cell synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Adam J; James, David C

    2016-01-01

    The next generation of mammalian cell factories for biopharmaceutical production will be genetically engineered to possess both generic and product-specific manufacturing capabilities that may not exist naturally. Introduction of entirely new combinations of synthetic functions (e.g. novel metabolic or stress-response pathways), and retro-engineering of existing functional cell modules will drive disruptive change in cellular manufacturing performance. However, before we can apply the core concepts underpinning synthetic biology (design, build, test) to CHO cell engineering we must first develop practical and robust enabling technologies. Fundamentally, we will require the ability to precisely control the relative stoichiometry of numerous functional components we simultaneously introduce into the host cell factory. In this review we discuss how this can be achieved by design of engineered promoters that enable concerted control of recombinant gene transcription. We describe the specific mechanisms of transcriptional regulation that affect promoter function during bioproduction processes, and detail the highly-specific promoter design criteria that are required in the context of CHO cell engineering. The relative applicability of diverse promoter development strategies are discussed, including re-engineering of natural sequences, design of synthetic transcription factor-based systems, and construction of synthetic promoters. This review highlights the potential of promoter engineering to achieve precision transcriptional control for CHO cell synthetic biology. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  1. Rheotaxis guides mammalian sperm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miki, Kiyoshi; Clapham, David E

    2013-01-01

    Background In sea urchins, spermatozoan motility is altered by chemotactic peptides, giving rise to the assumption that mammalian eggs also emit chemotactic agents that guide spermatozoa through the female reproductive tract to the mature oocyte. Mammalian spermatozoa indeed undergo complex adaptations within the female (the process of capacitation) that are initiated by agents ranging from pH to progesterone, but these factors are not necessarily taxic. Currently, chemotaxis, thermotaxis, and rheotaxis have not been definitively established in mammals. Results Here, we show that positive rheotaxis, the ability of organisms to orient and swim against the flow of surrounding fluid, is a major taxic factor for mouse and human sperm. This flow is generated within 4 hours of sexual stimulation and coitus in female mice; prolactin-triggered oviductal fluid secretion clears the oviduct of debris, lowers viscosity, and generates the stream that guides sperm migration in the oviduct. Rheotaxic movement is demonstrated in capacitated and uncapacitated spermatozoa in low and high viscosity medium. Finally, we show that a unique sperm motion we quantify using the sperm head's rolling rate reflects sperm rotation that generates essential force for positioning the sperm in the stream. Rotation requires CatSper channels, presumably by enabling Ca2+ influx. Conclusions We propose that rheotaxis is a major determinant of sperm guidance over long distances in the mammalian female reproductive tract. Coitus induces fluid flow to guide sperm in the oviduct. Sperm rheotaxis requires rotational motion during CatSper channel-dependent hyperactivated motility. PMID:23453951

  2. Whole blood of mammalian species in the oscillating shear field: influence of erythrocyte aggregation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Windberger, U.; Pöschl, Ch; Peters, S.; Huber, J.; van den Hoven, R.

    2017-02-01

    This is the rheologicalanalysis of mammalian blood of species with a high (horse), medium (man), and low (sheep) erythrocyte (RBC) aggregability by small amplitude oscillation technique. Amplitude and frequency sweep tests in linear mode were performed with blood from healthy adult volunteers, horses, and sheep in CSS-mode. Blood samples were hematocrit (HCT) adjusted (40%, 50%, 60%) and tested at 7°C, 22°C, and 37°C. Storage modulus (G‧) increased with HCT and decreased with temperature in each species, but the gradient of this increase was species-specific. The lower dependency of G‧ on the equine HCT value could be a benefit during physical performance when high numbers of RBCs are released from the spleen in the horse. In sheep, a HCT-threshold had to be overcome before elasticity of the blood sample could be measured, suggesting that the cohesive forces between RBCs, and between RBCs and plasma molecules must be very low. The frequencies for tests under quasi-staticcondition were in a narrow range around the physiologic heart rate of the species. In horse, time-dependent influences concurred at frequencies lower than 3 rad.s-1 probably due to sedimentation of RBC aggregates. In conclusion, elasticity of blood depends not only on the amount of blood cells, but also on their mechanical and functional properties.

  3. Low Frequency Dispersion Mechanism of Dielectric Response for Oil-paper Insulation Diagnosis

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    ZHOU Lijun; LI Xianlang; WU Guangning

    2013-01-01

    Both the real part and imaginary part of complex permittivity approximately have a log-linear frequency dependency at low frequencies,especially at ultra-low frequencies under conditions of different moisture concentrations and temperatures,which is recognized as the low frequency dispersion (LFD).In order to explain this dispersion,a new mechanism of dielectric response of LFD of oil-paper insulation is proposed.A simplified one-dimensional mathematical model of concentration polarization carrier caused by slow migration is developed and solved,which indicates that ion mobility is closely related to the size of gap and the adsorption capacity of cellulose molecular chains to ions.A stochastic statistical model of the carrier mobility induced LFD is also developed.Moreover,actual tests under 50 ℃and 2% moisture content were put forward,as well as simulations with according current waveforms.The simulation results agreed well with the experimental data in that concentration polarization of carriers caused by slow migration is the probable cause of low frequency dispersion ofdielectric response for oil-paper insulation diagnosis.

  4. Plate-type metamaterials for extremely broadband low-frequency sound insulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaopeng; Guo, Xinwei; Chen, Tianning; Yao, Ge

    2018-01-01

    A novel plate-type acoustic metamaterial with a high sound transmission loss (STL) in the low-frequency range ( ≤1000 Hz) is designed, theoretically proven and then experimentally verified. The thin plates with large modulus used in this paper mean that we do not need to apply tension to the plates, which is more applicable to practical engineering, the achievement of noise reduction is better and the installation of plates is more user-friendly than that of the membranes. The effects of different structural parameters of the plates on the sound-proofed performance at low-frequencies were also investigated by experiment and finite element method (FEM). The results showed that the STL can be modulated effectively and predictably using vibration theory by changing the structural parameters, such as the radius and thickness of the plate. Furthermore, using unit cells of different geometric sizes which are responsible for different frequency regions, the stacked panels with thickness ≤16 mm and weight ≤5 kg/m2 showed high STL below 2000 Hz. The acoustic metamaterial proposed in this study could provide a potential application in the low-frequency noise insulation.

  5. Oscillographic Chronopotentiometry with High and Low Frequency Current

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2000-01-01

    A novel electroanalytical method, oscillographic chronopotentiometry with high and low frequency current, is presented in this paper. With this method, the sensitivity of almost all kinds of oscillographic chronopotentiometry can be enhanced about one order.

  6. Acupuncture or low frequency infrared treatment for low back pain in Chinese patients: a discrete choice experiment.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li-Chia Chen

    Full Text Available Acupuncture is a popular but controversial treatment option for low back pain. In China, it is practised as traditional Chinese medicine; other treatment strategies for low back pain are commonly practised as Western medicine. Research on patient preference for low back-pain treatment options has been mainly conducted in Western countries and is limited to a willingness-to-pay approach. A stated-preference, discrete choice experiment was conducted to determine Chinese patient preferences and trade-offs for acupuncture and low frequency infrared treatment in low back pain from September 2011 to August 2012 after approval from the Department of Scientific Research in the study settings. Eight-six adult outpatients who visited the 'traditional medicine department' at a traditional Chinese medicine hospital and the 'rehabilitation department' at a Western medicine hospital in Guangdong Province of China for chronic low back pain during study period participated in an interview survey. A questionnaire containing 10 scenarios (5 attributes in each scenario was used to ask participants' preference for acupuncture, low frequency infrared treatment or neither option. Validated responses were analysed using a nested-logit model. The decision on whether to receive a therapy was not associated with the expected utility of receiving therapy, female gender and higher out-of-pocket payment significantly decreased chance to receive treatments. Of the utility of receiving either acupuncture or low frequency infrared treatment, the treatment sensation was the most important attribute as an indicator of treatment efficacy, followed by the maximum efficacy, maintenance duration and onset of efficacy, and the out-of-pocket payment. The willingness-to-pay for acupuncture and low frequency infrared treatment were about $618.6 and $592.4 USD per course respectively, demonstrated patients' demand of pain management. The treatment sensation was regarded as an indicator

  7. A two-fluid interpretation of low frequency modes in Tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thyagaraja, A.; Haas, F.A.

    1983-01-01

    The linear stability of low frequency modes (ω/ωsub(ci) << 1) of a dissipationless two-fluid cylindrical analogue of Tokamak is investigated. The eigenvalue problem comprises a coupled first-order and second-order differential equation. Given certain plausible assumptions, the case of an internal resonant point is solved analytically. The resulting modes and frequencies are qualitatively similar to those observed. The analogue of the MHD uniform current model is solved exactly and the usual MHD marginal stability boundary is shown to be modified. More general considerations show, that even in the absence of dissipation, the magnetic field is not ''frozen'' to the ions or the electrons. Furthermore, in general the MHD equations can only be recovered by a limiting process which is inappropriate to Tokamaks. For very low frequencies (ω << ω*), however, single and two-fluid theories predict the same magnetic field structure but different electric fields. The present analysis which covers frequencies from zero to ωsub(Alfven), including drift and acoustic frequencies predicts that both discrete and continuum modes can be unstable which is in contrast to ideal MHD. (author)

  8. Low frequency vibrations induce malformations in two aquatic species in a frequency-, waveform-, and direction-specific manner.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura N Vandenberg

    Full Text Available Environmental toxicants such as industrial wastes, air particulates from machinery and transportation vehicles, and pesticide run-offs, as well as many chemicals, have been widely studied for their effects on human and wildlife populations. Yet other potentially harmful environmental pollutants such as electromagnetic pulses, noise and vibrations have remained incompletely understood. Because developing embryos undergo complex morphological changes that can be affected detrimentally by alterations in physical forces, they may be particularly susceptible to exposure to these types of pollutants. We investigated the effects of low frequency vibrations on early embryonic development of two aquatic species, Xenopus laevis (frogs and Danio rerio (zebrafish, specifically focusing on the effects of varying frequencies, waveforms, and applied direction. We observed treatment-specific effects on the incidence of neural tube defects, left-right patterning defects and abnormal tail morphogenesis in Xenopus tadpoles. Additionally, we found that low frequency vibrations altered left-right patterning and tail morphogenesis, but did not induce neural tube defects, in zebrafish. The results of this study support the conclusion that low frequency vibrations are toxic to aquatic vertebrates, with detrimental effects observed in two important model species with very different embryonic architectures.

  9. The role of continuous low-frequency harmonicity cues for interrupted speech perception in bimodal hearing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Soo Hee; Donaldson, Gail S; Kong, Ying-Yee

    2016-04-01

    Low-frequency acoustic cues have been shown to enhance speech perception by cochlear-implant users, particularly when target speech occurs in a competing background. The present study examined the extent to which a continuous representation of low-frequency harmonicity cues contributes to bimodal benefit in simulated bimodal listeners. Experiment 1 examined the benefit of restoring a continuous temporal envelope to the low-frequency ear while the vocoder ear received a temporally interrupted stimulus. Experiment 2 examined the effect of providing continuous harmonicity cues in the low-frequency ear as compared to restoring a continuous temporal envelope in the vocoder ear. Findings indicate that bimodal benefit for temporally interrupted speech increases when continuity is restored to either or both ears. The primary benefit appears to stem from the continuous temporal envelope in the low-frequency region providing additional phonetic cues related to manner and F1 frequency; a secondary contribution is provided by low-frequency harmonicity cues when a continuous representation of the temporal envelope is present in the low-frequency, or both ears. The continuous temporal envelope and harmonicity cues of low-frequency speech are thought to support bimodal benefit by facilitating identification of word and syllable boundaries, and by restoring partial phonetic cues that occur during gaps in the temporally interrupted stimulus.

  10. Low frequency noise reduction using stiff light composite panels

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    DENG Yongchang; LIN Weizheng

    2003-01-01

    The experiment presented in this paper is to investigate and analyze the noise reduction at low frequency using stiff light composite panels. Since these composite panels are made of lightweight and stiff materials, this actuation strategy will enable the creation of composite panels for duct noise control without using traditional heavy structural mass. The results suggest that the mass-spring resonance absorption in the case of a comparatively stiff thick panel with a thin flexible plate is more efficient with minimum weight, when subjected to low-frequency (<500 Hz). The efficiency of the panel absorber depends on the mass of the thin flexible plate and the stiffness of the panel.

  11. Nonlinear Microstructured Material to Reduce Noise and Vibrations at Low Frequencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lavazec, Deborah; Cumunel, Gwendal; Duhamel, Denis; Soize, Christian; Batou, Anas

    2016-01-01

    At low frequencies, for which the wavelengths are wide, the acoustic waves and the mechanical vibrations cannot easily be reduced in the structures at macroscale by using dissipative materials, contrarily to the middle- and high-frequency ranges. The final objective of this work is to reduce the vibrations and the induced noise on a broad low-frequency band by using a microstructured material by inclusions that are randomly arranged in the material matrix. The dynamical regimes of the inclusions will be imposed in the nonlinear domain in order that the energy be effectively pumped over a broad frequency band around the resonance frequency, due to the nonlinearity. The first step of this work is to design and to analyze the efficiency of an inclusion, which is made up of a hollow frame including a point mass centered on a beam. This inclusion is designed in order to exhibit nonlinear geometric effects in the low-frequency band that is observed. For this first step, the objective is to develop the simplest mechanical model that has the capability to roughly predict the experimental results that are measured. The second step, which is not presented in the paper, will consist in developing a more sophisticated nonlinear dynamical model of the inclusion. In this paper, devoted to the first step, it is proved that the nonlinearity induces an attenuation on a broad frequency band around the resonance, contrarily to its linear behavior for which the attenuation is only active in a narrow frequency band around the resonance. We will present the design in terms of geometry, dimension and materials for the inclusion, the experimental manufacturing of this system realized with a 3D printing system, and the experimental measures that have been performed. We compare the prevision given by the stochastic computational model with the measurements. The results obtained exhibit the physical attenuation over a broad low-frequency band, which were expected. (paper)

  12. Development of a low-frequency physiotherapeutic device for diabetes manipulated by microcontroller.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Jin-Song; Gong, Jian

    2001-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To develop a physiotherapeutic device for diabetes that generates special low-frequency waveform manipulated by a microcontroller. METHODS: A microcontoller and a digital-to-analog converter were utilized along with a keyboard and LED display circuit, to generate desired low-frequecy waveform with the assistance of a software. RESULTS: The complex waveform generated by this device met the demands for diabetes physiotherapy, and the frequency and amplitude could be freely adjusted. CONCLUSIONS: The utilization of a digital-to-analog converter controlled by a microcontroller can very well serve the purpose of a low-frequency physiotherapy for diabetes.

  13. Low frequency elastic properties of glasses at low temperatures - implications on the tunneling model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raychaudhuri, A.K.; Hunklinger, S.

    1984-01-01

    We have measured the low frequency elastic properties of dielectric, normal conducting and superconducting metallic glasses at audio-frequencies (fapprox.=1 kHz) and temperatures down to 10 mK. Our results are discussed in the framework of the tunneling model of glasses. The major assumption of the tunneling model regarding the tunneling states with long relaxation time has been verified, but discrepancies to high frequency measurements have been found. In addition, our experiments on superconducting metallic glasses seem to indicate that the present treatment of the electron-tunneling state interaction is not sufficient. (orig.)

  14. Technologies for low radio frequency observations of the Cosmic Dawn

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, D. L.

    2014-03-01

    The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is developing concepts and technologies for low frequency radio astronomy space missions aimed at observing highly redshifted neutral Hydrogen from the Dark Ages. This is the period of cosmic history between the recombination epoch when the microwave background radiation was produced and the re-ionization of the intergalactic medium by the first generation of stars (Cosmic Dawn). This period, at redshifts z > ~20, is a critical epoch for the formation and evolution of large-scale structure in the universe. The 21-cm spectral line of Hydrogen provides the most promising method for directly studying the Dark Ages, but the corresponding frequencies at such large redshifts are only tens of MHz and thus require space-based observations to avoid terrestrial RFI and ionospheric absorption and refraction. This paper reports on the status of several low frequency technology development activities at JPL, including deployable bi-conical dipoles for a planned lunar-orbiting mission, and both rover-deployed and inflation-deployed long dipole antennas for use on the lunar surface. In addition, recent results from laboratory testing of low frequency receiver designs are presented. Finally, several concepts for space-based imaging interferometers utilizing deployable low frequency antennas are described. Some of these concepts involve large numbers of antennas and consequently a large digital cross-correlator will be needed. JPL has studied correlator architectures that greatly reduce the DC power required for this step, which can dominate the power consumption of real-time signal processing. Strengths and weaknesses of each mission concept are discussed in the context of the additional technology development required.

  15. Low-frequency sound affects active micromechanics in the human inner ear

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kugler, Kathrin; Wiegrebe, Lutz; Grothe, Benedikt; Kössl, Manfred; Gürkov, Robert; Krause, Eike; Drexl, Markus

    2014-01-01

    Noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common auditory pathologies, resulting from overstimulation of the human cochlea, an exquisitely sensitive micromechanical device. At very low frequencies (less than 250 Hz), however, the sensitivity of human hearing, and therefore the perceived loudness is poor. The perceived loudness is mediated by the inner hair cells of the cochlea which are driven very inadequately at low frequencies. To assess the impact of low-frequency (LF) sound, we exploited a by-product of the active amplification of sound outer hair cells (OHCs) perform, so-called spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. These are faint sounds produced by the inner ear that can be used to detect changes of cochlear physiology. We show that a short exposure to perceptually unobtrusive, LF sounds significantly affects OHCs: a 90 s, 80 dB(A) LF sound induced slow, concordant and positively correlated frequency and level oscillations of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions that lasted for about 2 min after LF sound offset. LF sounds, contrary to their unobtrusive perception, strongly stimulate the human cochlea and affect amplification processes in the most sensitive and important frequency range of human hearing. PMID:26064536

  16. Axisymmetric Synthetic Jet Actuators with Large Streamwise Dimensions

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kordík, Jozef; Trávníček, Zdeněk

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 51, č. 12 (2013), s. 2862-2877 ISSN 0001-1452 R&D Projects: GA ČR GPP101/12/P556; GA ČR(CZ) GCP101/11/J019 Institutional support: RVO:61388998 Keywords : synthetic jet * synthetic jet actuator * resonance frequency Subject RIV: BK - Fluid Dynamics Impact factor: 1.165, year: 2013 http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/1.J052504

  17. Determination of low-frequency vibrational states in glasses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad, N.; Hasan, M.M.

    1996-01-01

    It is shown that density of low frequency (v < 1 THz) vibrational states g(v) in glasses can be determined from heat capacities measured at low temperature. These g(v) are identical to those determined from inelastic neutron scattering studies. The form of g(v) is non quadratic and therefore the Debye density of states may not be used to interpret the Raman, and infrared absorption in glasses. (author)

  18. Characteristics of low-frequency oscillation intensity of air-sea turbulent heat fluxes over the northwest Pacific

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LI Gen; REN BaoHua; ZHENG JianOiu; WANG Jun

    2009-01-01

    Based on the daily turbulent heat fluxes and related meteorological variables dataeets (1985-2006) from Objectively Analyzed air-sea Fluxes (OAFlux) Project of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), characteristics of low-frequency oscillation intensity of air-sea turbulent heat fluxes over the northwest Pacific are analyzed by linear perturbation method and correlation analysis. It can be concluded that: 1) the distribution of low-frequency oscillation intensity of latent heat flux (LHF) over the northwest Pacific is mainly affected by that of low-frequency oscillation intensity of anomalous air-eea humidity gradient (△q') as well as mean air-eea humidity gradient (△q), while the distribution of low-frequency oscillation Intensity of sensible heat flux (SHF) is mainly affected by that of low-frequency oscillation intensity of anomalous air-sea temperature gradient (△T'). 2) The low-frequency oscillation of turbulent heat fluxes over the northwest Pacific is the strongest in winter and the weakest in summer. And the seasonal transition of low-frequency oscillation intensity of LHF is jointly influenced by those of low-frequency oscillation intensity of △q', low-frequency oscillation intensity of anomalous wind speed (U'), △q and mean wind speed (U), while the seasonal transition of low-frequency oscillation intensity of SHF is mainly influenced by those of low-frequency oscillation Intensity of △T' and U. 3) Over the tropical west Pacific and sea areas north of 20ON, the low-frequency oscillation of LHF (SHF) is mainly influenced by atmospheric variables qa' (Ta') and U', indicating an oceanic response to overlying atmospheric forcing. In contrast, over the tropical eastern and central Pacific south of 20°N, qs' (Ts') also greatly influences the low-frequency oscillation of LHF (SHF).

  19. Cross correlation measurement of low frequency conductivity noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jain, Aditya Kumar; Nigudkar, Himanshu; Chakraborti, Himadri; Udupa, Aditi; Gupta, Kantimay Das

    2018-04-01

    In order to study the low frequency noise(1/f noise)an experimental technique based on cross correlation of two channels is presented. In this method the device under test (DUT)is connected to the two independently powered preamplifiers in parallel. The amplified signals from the two preamplifiers are fed to two channels of a digitizer. Subsequent data processing largelyeliminates the uncorrelated noise of the two channels. This method is tested for various commercial carbon/metal film resistors by measuring equilibrium thermal noise (4kBTR). The method is then modified to study the non-equilibrium low frequency noise of heterostructure samples using fiveprobe configuration. Five contact probes allow two parts of the sample to become two arms of a balanced bridge. This configuration helps in suppressing the effect of power supply fluctuations, bath temperature fluctuations and contact resistances.

  20. Musculoskeletal networks reveal topological disparity in mammalian neck evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnold, Patrick; Esteve-Altava, Borja; Fischer, Martin S

    2017-12-13

    The increase in locomotor and metabolic performance during mammalian evolution was accompanied by the limitation of the number of cervical vertebrae to only seven. In turn, nuchal muscles underwent a reorganization while forelimb muscles expanded into the neck region. As variation in the cervical spine is low, the variation in the arrangement of the neck muscles and their attachment sites (i.e., the variability of the neck's musculoskeletal organization) is thus proposed to be an important source of neck disparity across mammals. Anatomical network analysis provides a novel framework to study the organization of the anatomical arrangement, or connectivity pattern, of the bones and muscles that constitute the mammalian neck in an evolutionary context. Neck organization in mammals is characterized by a combination of conserved and highly variable network properties. We uncovered a conserved regionalization of the musculoskeletal organization of the neck into upper, mid and lower cervical modules. In contrast, there is a varying degree of complexity or specialization and of the integration of the pectoral elements. The musculoskeletal organization of the monotreme neck is distinctively different from that of therian mammals. Our findings reveal that the limited number of vertebrae in the mammalian neck does not result in a low musculoskeletal disparity when examined in an evolutionary context. However, this disparity evolved late in mammalian history in parallel with the radiation of certain lineages (e.g., cetartiodactyls, xenarthrans). Disparity is further facilitated by the enhanced incorporation of forelimb muscles into the neck and their variability in attachment sites.

  1. LOW-FREQUENCY OBSERVATIONS OF THE MOON WITH THE MURCHISON WIDEFIELD ARRAY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McKinley, B.; Briggs, F. [Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra (Australia); Kaplan, D. L. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI (United States); Greenhill, L. J.; Bernardi, G.; De Oliveira-Costa, A. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States); Bowman, J. D. [School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (United States); Tingay, S. J.; Gaensler, B. M. [ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW (Australia); Oberoi, D. [National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, Pune (India); Johnston-Hollitt, M. [School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington (New Zealand); Arcus, W.; Emrich, D. [International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, Perth (Australia); Barnes, D. [Center for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne (Australia); Bunton, J. D. [CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Canberra (Australia); Cappallo, R. J.; Corey, B. E. [MIT Haystack Observatory, Westford, MA (United States); Deshpande, A. [Raman Research Institute, Bangalore (India); DeSouza, L. [Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney (Australia); Goeke, R. [MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Cambridge, MA (United States); and others

    2013-01-01

    A new generation of low-frequency radio telescopes is seeking to observe the redshifted 21 cm signal from the epoch of reionization (EoR), requiring innovative methods of calibration and imaging to overcome the difficulties of wide-field low-frequency radio interferometry. Precise calibration will be required to separate the expected small EoR signal from the strong foreground emission at the frequencies of interest between 80 and 300 MHz. The Moon may be useful as a calibration source for detection of the EoR signature, as it should have a smooth and predictable thermal spectrum across the frequency band of interest. Initial observations of the Moon with the Murchison Widefield Array 32 tile prototype show that the Moon does exhibit a similar trend to that expected for a cool thermally emitting body in the observed frequency range, but that the spectrum is corrupted by reflected radio emission from Earth. In particular, there is an abrupt increase in the observed flux density of the Moon within the internationally recognized frequency modulated (FM) radio band. The observations have implications for future low-frequency surveys and EoR detection experiments that will need to take this reflected emission from the Moon into account. The results also allow us to estimate the equivalent isotropic power emitted by the Earth in the FM band and to determine how bright the Earth might appear at meter wavelengths to an observer beyond our own solar system.

  2. Low-Frequency Waves in HF Heating of the Ionosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, A. S.; Eliasson, B.; Milikh, G. M.; Najmi, A.; Papadopoulos, K.; Shao, X.; Vartanyan, A.

    2016-02-01

    Ionospheric heating experiments have enabled an exploration of the ionosphere as a large-scale natural laboratory for the study of many plasma processes. These experiments inject high-frequency (HF) radio waves using high-power transmitters and an array of ground- and space-based diagnostics. This chapter discusses the excitation and propagation of low-frequency waves in HF heating of the ionosphere. The theoretical aspects and the associated models and simulations, and the results from experiments, mostly from the HAARP facility, are presented together to provide a comprehensive interpretation of the relevant plasma processes. The chapter presents the plasma model of the ionosphere for describing the physical processes during HF heating, the numerical code, and the simulations of the excitation of low-frequency waves by HF heating. It then gives the simulations of the high-latitude ionosphere and mid-latitude ionosphere. The chapter also briefly discusses the role of kinetic processes associated with wave generation.

  3. Towards an enhanced performance of uniform circular arrays at low frequencies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tiana Roig, Elisabet; Torras Rosell, Antoni; Fernandez Grande, Efren

    2013-01-01

    are mounted on a scatterer such as a rigid cylinder or a sphere. The beamforming output improves with increasing frequency, up to a certain frequency where spatial aliasing occurs. At low frequencies the performance is limited by the radius of the array; in other words, given a certain number of microphones...

  4. Extremely low frequencies. Health effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields. Opinion of the Afsset. Collective expertise report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bounouh, Alexandre; Brugere, Henri; Clavel, Jacqueline; Febvre, Pascal; Lagroye, Isabelle; Vecchia, Paolo; Dore, Jean-Francois; Anfosso-Ledee, Fabienne; Berengier, Michel; Cesarini, Jean-Pierre; Cohen, Jean-Claude; Planton, Serge; Courant, Daniel; Tardif, Francois; Couturier, Frederic; Debouzy, Jean-Claude; El Khatib, Aicha; Flahaut, Emmanuel; Gaffet, Eric; Hours, Martine; Lambert, Jacques; Vallet, Michel; Job, Agnes; Labeyrie, Antoine; Laurier, Dominique; Le Bihan, Olivier; Lepoutre, Philippe; Marchal, Didier; Moch, Annie; Pirard, Philipe; Rumeau, Michel; De Seze, Rene; Attia, Dina; Merckel, Olivier; Fite, Johanna; Guichard, Alexandra; Saihi, Myriam; Guitton, Sophie; Saddoki, Sophia

    2010-03-01

    This report aims at proposing a synthesis of works of international expertise on the health effect of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields, at performing a methodological analysis of the 'Expers' study (a study on the exposure of individuals), at performing a methodological analysis of a study performed by the Criirem in the western part of France, at assessing the contribution of different equipment and situations to the exposure of population to extremely-low-frequency electromagnetic fields, at making recommendations and proposals for a better assessment of the exposure level, and at proposing topics of investigation and research to improve knowledge on these issues. The report recalls the context, scope and modalities of the study, gives an overview of generalities on electromagnetic fields (nature, physical values, electromagnetic spectrum, artificial and natural electromagnetic field sources, exposure threshold values and regulatory context), addresses the assessment of exposure (notion of exposure, exposure assessment methods, analysis of available data, analysis of recent or current studies), gives an overview of biological and health effects of these electromagnetic fields (methodological aspects, interaction between fields and biological tissues, synthesis of the international expertise on health impacts). Recommendations are formulated

  5. Voluntary low-force contraction elicits prolonged low-frequency fatigue and changes in surface electromyography and mechanomyography

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blangsted, Anne Katrine; Sjøgaard, Gisela; Madeleine, Pascal

    2005-01-01

    Controversies exist regarding objective documentation of fatigue development with low-force contractions. We hypothesized that non-exhaustive, low-force muscle contraction may induce prolonged low-frequency fatigue (LFF) that in the subsequent recovery period is detectable by electromyography (EMG...

  6. High-energy sources at low radio frequency: the Murchison Widefield Array view of Fermi blazars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giroletti, M.; Massaro, F.; D’Abrusco, R.; Lico, R.; Burlon, D.

    2016-01-01

    Low-frequency radio arrays are opening a new window for the study of the sky, both to study new phenomena and to better characterize known source classes. Being flat-spectrum sources, blazars are so far poorly studied at low radio frequencies. In this paper, we characterize the spectral properties of the blazar population at low radio frequency, compare the radio and high-energy properties of the gamma-ray blazar population, and search for radio counterparts of unidentified gamma-ray sources. We cross-correlated the 6100 deg"2 Murchison Widefield Array Commissioning Survey catalogue with the Roma blazar catalogue, the third catalogue of active galactic nuclei detected by Fermi-LAT, and the unidentified members of the entire third catalogue of gamma-ray sources detected by Fermi-LAT. When available, we also added high-frequency radio data from the Australia Telescope 20 GHz catalogue. We find low-frequency counterparts for 186 out of 517 (36%) blazars, 79 out of 174 (45%) gamma-ray blazars, and 8 out of 73 (11%) gamma-ray blazar candidates. The mean low-frequency (120–180 MHz) blazar spectral index is (α_l_o_w) = 0.57 ± 0.02: blazar spectra are flatter than the rest of the population of low-frequency sources, but are steeper than at ~GHz frequencies. Low-frequency radio flux density and gamma-ray energy flux display a mildly significant and broadly scattered correlation. Ten unidentified gamma-ray sources have a (probably fortuitous) positional match with low radio frequency sources. Low-frequency radio astronomy provides important information about sources with a flat radio spectrum and high energy. However, the relatively low sensitivity of the present surveys still misses a significant fraction of these objects. Finally, upcoming deeper surveys, such as the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-Sky MWA (GLEAM) survey, will provide further insight into this population.

  7. Tracking Galaxy Evolution Through Low-Frequency Radio ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    This justify focussing on transitional galaxies to find relic-evidences of the immediate past AGN-feedback which decide the future course of evolution of a galaxy. Relic radio lobes can be best detected in low frequency observations with the GMRT, LOFAR and in future SKA. The age of these relic radio plasma can be as old ...

  8. Sensitive detection of proteasomal activation using the Deg-On mammalian synthetic gene circuit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Wenting; Bonem, Matthew; McWhite, Claire; Silberg, Jonathan J; Segatori, Laura

    2014-04-08

    The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) has emerged as a drug target for diverse diseases characterized by altered proteostasis, but pharmacological agents that enhance UPS activity have been challenging to establish. Here we report the Deg-On system, a genetic inverter that translates proteasomal degradation of the transcriptional regulator TetR into a fluorescent signal, thereby linking UPS activity to an easily detectable output, which can be tuned using tetracycline. We demonstrate that this circuit responds to modulation of UPS activity in cell culture arising from the inhibitor MG-132 and activator PA28γ. Guided by predictive modelling, we enhanced the circuit's signal sensitivity and dynamic range by introducing a feedback loop that enables self-amplification of TetR. By linking UPS activity to a simple and tunable fluorescence output, these genetic inverters will enable a variety of applications, including screening for UPS activating molecules and selecting for mammalian cells with different levels of proteasome activity.

  9. Power system low frequency oscillation mode estimation using wide area measurement systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Papia Ray

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Oscillations in power systems are triggered by a wide variety of events. The system damps most of the oscillations, but a few undamped oscillations may remain which may lead to system collapse. Therefore low frequency oscillations inspection is necessary in the context of recent power system operation and control. Ringdown portion of the signal provides rich information of the low frequency oscillatory modes which has been taken into analysis. This paper provides a practical case study in which seven signal processing based techniques i.e. Prony Analysis (PA, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT, S-Transform (ST, Wigner-Ville Distribution (WVD, Estimation of Signal Parameters by Rotational Invariance Technique (ESPRIT, Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT and Matrix Pencil Method (MPM were presented for estimating the low frequency modes in a given ringdown signal. Preprocessing of the signal is done by detrending. The application of the signal processing techniques is illustrated using actual wide area measurement systems (WAMS data collected from four different Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU i.e. Dadri, Vindyachal, Kanpur and Moga which are located near the recent disturbance event at the Northern Grid of India. Simulation results show that the seven signal processing technique (FFT, PA, ST, WVD, ESPRIT, HHT and MPM estimates two common oscillatory frequency modes (0.2, 0.5 from the raw signal. Thus, these seven techniques provide satisfactory performance in determining small frequency modes of the signal without losing its valuable property. Also a comparative study of the seven signal processing techniques has been carried out in order to find the best one. It was found that FFT and ESPRIT gives exact frequency modes as compared to other techniques, so they are recommended for estimation of low frequency modes. Further investigations were also carried out to estimate low frequency oscillatory mode with another case study of Eastern Interconnect Phasor Project

  10. Observational study of generation conditions of substorm-associated low-frequency AKR emissions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Olsson

    2004-11-01

    Full Text Available It has lately been shown that low-frequency bursts of auroral kilometric radiation (AKR are nearly exclusively associated with substorm expansion phases. Here we study low-frequency AKR using Polar PWI and Interball POLRAD instruments to constrain its possible generation mechanisms. We find that there are more low-frequency AKR emission events during wintertime and equinoxes than during summertime. The dot-AKR emission radial distance range coincides well with the region where the deepest density cavities are seen statistically during Kp>2. We suggest that the dot-AKR emissions originate in the deepest density cavities during substorm onsets. The mechanism for generating dot-AKR is possibly strong Alfvén waves entering the cavity from the magnetosphere and changing their character to more inertial, which causes the Alfvén wave associated parallel electric field to increase. This field may locally accelerate electrons inside the cavity enough to produce low-frequency AKR emission. We use Interball IESP low-frequency wave data to verify that in about half of the cases the dot-AKR is accompanied by low-frequency wave activity containing a magnetic component, i.e. probably inertial Alfvén waves. Because of the observational geometry, this result is consistent with the idea that inertial Alfvén waves might always be present in the source region when dot-AKR is generated. The paper illustrates once more the importance of radio emissions as a powerful remote diagnostic tool of auroral processes, which is not only relevant for the Earth's magnetosphere but may be relevant in the future in studying extrasolar planets.

  11. A very brief description of LOFAR the Low Frequency Array

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Falcke, H.D.; van Haarlem, M.P.; de Bruyn, A.G.; Braun, R.; Röttgering, H.J.A.; Stappers, B.W.; Boland, W.H.W.M.; Butcher, H.R.; de Geus, E.J.; Koopmans, L.V.; Fender, R.P.; Kuijpers, H.J.M.E.; Miley, G.K.; Schilizzi, R.T.; Vogt, C.; Wijers, R.A.M.J.; Wise, M.; Brouw, W.N.; Hamaker, J.P.; Noordam, J.E.; Oosterloo, T.; Bähren, L.; Brentjens, M.A.; Wijnholds, S.J.; Bregman, J.D.; van Cappellen, W.A.; Gunst, A.W.; Kant, G.W.; Reitsma, J.; van der Schaaf, K.; de Vos, C.M.

    2007-01-01

    LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) is an innovative radio telescope optimized for the frequency range 30 240 MHz. The telescope is realized as a phased aperture array without any moving parts. Digital beam forming allows the telescope to point to any part of the sky within a second. Transient buffering

  12. A very brief description of LOFAR - the Low Frequency Array

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Falcke, H.; Haarlem, M.P. van; Wijnholds, S.J.; Bregman, J.D.; Cappellen, W.A.; Gunst, A.W.; Kant, G.W.; Reitsma, J.; Schaaf, K. van der; Vos, C.M. de

    2006-01-01

    Abstract: LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) is an innovative radio telescope optimized for the frequency range 30-240 MHz. The telescope is realized as a phased aperture array without any moving parts. Digital beam forming allows the telescope to point to any part of the sky within a second. Transient

  13. A very brief description of LOFAR -- the Low Frequency Array

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Falcke, H.D.E.; Haarlem, M.P. van; Bruyn, A.G. de; Braun, R.; Röttgering, H.J.A.; Stappers, B.; Boland, W.H.W.M.; Butcher, H.R.; Geus, E.J. de; Koopmans, L.V.; Fender, R.P.; Kuijpers, H.J.M.E.; Miley, G.K.; Schilizzi, R.T.; Vogt, C.; Wijers, R.A.M.J.; Wise, M.W.; Brouw, W.N.; Hamaker, J.P.; Noordam, J.E.; Oosterloo, T.; Bähren, L.; Brentjens, M.A.; Wijnholds, S.J.; Bregman, J.D.; Cappellen, W.A. van; Gunst, A.W.; Kant, G.W.; Reitsma, J.; Schaaf, K. van der; Vos, C.M. de

    2007-01-01

    LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) is an innovative radio telescope optimized for the frequency range 30-240 MHz. The telescope is realized as a phased aperture array without any moving parts. Digital beam forming allows the telescope to point to any part of the sky within a second. Transient buffering

  14. Reward-based hypertension control by a synthetic brain-dopamine interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rössger, Katrin; Charpin-El Hamri, Ghislaine; Fussenegger, Martin

    2013-11-05

    Synthetic biology has significantly advanced the design of synthetic trigger-controlled devices that can reprogram mammalian cells to interface with complex metabolic activities. In the brain, the neurotransmitter dopamine coordinates communication with target neurons via a set of dopamine receptors that control behavior associated with reward-driven learning. This dopamine transmission has recently been suggested to increase central sympathetic outflow, resulting in plasma dopamine levels that correlate with corresponding brain activities. By functionally rewiring the human dopamine receptor D1 (DRD1) via the second messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) to synthetic promoters containing cAMP response element-binding protein 1(CREB1)-specific cAMP-responsive operator modules, we have designed a synthetic dopamine-sensitive transcription controller that reversibly fine-tunes specific target gene expression at physiologically relevant brain-derived plasma dopamine levels. Following implantation of circuit-transgenic human cell lines insulated by semipermeable immunoprotective microcontainers into mice, the designer device interfaced with dopamine-specific brain activities and produced a systemic expression response when the animal's reward system was stimulated by food, sexual arousal, or addictive drugs. Reward-triggered brain activities were able to remotely program peripheral therapeutic implants to produce sufficient amounts of the atrial natriuretic peptide, which reduced the blood pressure of hypertensive mice to the normal physiologic range. Seamless control of therapeutic transgenes by subconscious behavior may provide opportunities for treatment strategies of the future.

  15. DATA ACQUISITION AND ANALYSIS OF LOW FREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PETRICA POPOV

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In recent years more and more studies have shown that, the low frequency field strength (particularly magnetic, 50 / 60Hz are a major risk factor; according to some specialists - even more important as the radiation field. As a result, the personnel serving equipment and facilities such as: electric generators, synchronous, the motors, the inverters or power transformers is subjected continually to intense fields, in their vicinity, with possible harmful effects in the long term by affecting metabolism cell, espectively, the biological mechanisms.Therefore, finding new methods and tools for measurement and analysis of low frequency electromagnetic fields may lead to improved standards for exposure limits of the human body.

  16. Mixed Discretization of the Time Domain MFIE at Low Frequencies

    KAUST Repository

    Ulku, Huseyin Arda

    2017-01-10

    Solution of the magnetic field integral equation (MFIE), which is obtained by the classical marching on-in-time (MOT) scheme, becomes inaccurate when the time step is large, i.e., under low-frequency excitation. It is shown here that the inaccuracy stems from the classical MOT scheme’s failure to predict the correct scaling of the current’s Helmholtz components for large time steps. A recently proposed mixed discretization strategy is used to alleviate the inaccuracy problem by restoring the correct scaling of the current’s Helmholtz components under low-frequency excitation.

  17. Sound field control for a low-frequency test facility

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Christian Sejer; Møller, Henrik

    2013-01-01

    The two largest problems in controlling the reproduction of low-frequency sound for psychoacoustic experiments is the effect of the room due to standing waves and the relatively large sound pressure levels needed. Anechoic rooms are limited downward in frequency and distortion may be a problem even...... at moderate levels, while pressure-field playback can give higher sound pressures but is limited upwards in frequency. A new solution that addresses both problems has been implemented in the laboratory of Acoustics, Aalborg University. The solution uses one wall with 20 loudspeakers to generate a plane wave...... that is actively absorbed when it reaches the 20 loudspeakers on the opposing wall. This gives a homogeneous sound field in the majority of the room with a flat frequency response in the frequency range 2-300 Hz. The lowest frequencies are limited to sound pressure levels in the order of 95 dB. If larger levels...

  18. A low frequency piezoelectric power harvester using a spiral-shaped bimorph

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    HU; Yuantai; HU; Hongping; YANG; Jiashi

    2006-01-01

    We propose a spiral-shaped piezoelectric bimorph power harvester operating with coupled flexural and extensional vibration modes for applications to low frequency energy sources.A theoretical analysis is performed and the computational results show that the spiral structure has relatively low operating frequency compared to beam power harvesters of the same size.It is found that to optimize the performance of a piezoelectric spiral-shaped harvester careful design is needed.

  19. The Role of Low-Spatial Frequencies in Lexical Decision and Masked Priming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boden, C.; Giaschi, D.

    2009-01-01

    Spatial frequency filtering was used to test the hypotheses that low-spatial frequency information in printed text can: (1) lead to a rapid lexical decision or (2) facilitate word recognition. Adult proficient readers made lexical decisions in unprimed and masked repetition priming experiments with unfiltered, low-pass, high-pass and notch…

  20. Using of synthetic Zeolites in the treatment of low-level liquid radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ganjizadeh, M.; Bayat, I.; Sadatipoor, M.T.; Yavari, I.

    2002-01-01

    The removal of Cesium-137 from low active waste solution from research reactors by ion exchange using synthetic zeolites 4 A and A R-1 has been investigated by using batch and column technique. In batch tests we have studied the distribution coefficient (k d ) of Cesium-137 on the zeolites as a function of P H, Sodium concentration, contact time, and particle size of zeolites. The decontamination factor determined in column test. The accuracy of the method is investigated by comparing results obtained by this method here with results obtained by other techniques

  1. Performance Analysis of Low-Cost Single-Frequency GPS Receivers in Hydrographic Surveying

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elsobeiey, M.

    2017-10-01

    The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) has issued standards that provide the minimum requirements for different types of hydrographic surveys execution to collect data to be used to compile navigational charts. Such standards are usually updated from time to time to reflect new survey techniques and practices and must be achieved to assure both surface navigation safety and marine environment protection. Hydrographic surveys can be classified to four orders namely, special order, order 1a, order 1b, and order 2. The order of hydrographic surveys to use should be determined in accordance with the importance to the safety of navigation in the surveyed area. Typically, geodetic-grade dual-frequency GPS receivers are utilized for position determination during data collection in hydrographic surveys. However, with the evolution of high-sensitivity low-cost single-frequency receivers, it is very important to evaluate the performance of such receivers. This paper investigates the performance of low-cost single-frequency GPS receivers in hydrographic surveying applications. The main objective is to examine whether low-cost single-frequency receivers fulfil the IHO standards for hydrographic surveys. It is shown that the low-cost single-frequency receivers meet the IHO horizontal accuracy for all hydrographic surveys orders at any depth. However, the single-frequency receivers meet only order 2 requirements for vertical accuracy at depth more than or equal 100 m.

  2. Olfar: orbiting low frequency antenna for radio astronomy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bentum, Marinus Jan; Boonstra, Albert Jan

    2009-01-01

    New interesting astronomical science drivers for very low frequency radio astronomy have emerged, ranging from studies of the astronomical dark ages, the epoch of reionization, exoplanets, to ultra-high energy cosmic rays. However, astronomical observations with Earth-bound radio telescopes at very

  3. Low-frequency active surface plasmon optics on semiconductors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gómez Rivas, J.; Kuttge, M.; Kurz, H.; Haring Bolivar, P.; Sánchez-Gil, J.A.

    2006-01-01

    A major challenge in the development of surface plasmon optics or plasmonics is the active control of the propagation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of low-frequency active plasmonics using semiconductors. We show experimentally that the Bragg scattering

  4. Sensitivity studies of a seismically isolated system to low frequency amplification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, T.S.; Seidensticker, R.W.

    1987-06-01

    Responses of a seismically isolated structure to earthquake motions will depend primarily on the input ground motion and the isolation system frequency. The isolation frequency generally is relatively low when isolating against horizontal ground motions. After installation, the isolation frequency could deviate from its designed value due to aging, manufacturing tolerance etc. In addition, under cettain soil conditions, the input motion could have high energy content at relatively low frequencies. This report covers the first of these two concerns by performing a sensitivity study of the variations in isolation frequency on the responses of a nuclear reactor module incorporated with an isolation system. Results from a number of ground motions have shown that, for most earthquake motions, a higher isolation frequency tends to yield higher maximum acceleration, higher transmitted shear force, and lower relative displacement between the isolated and unisolated parts of the structure. In one of the ground motions considered, a 7% increase in the isolation frequency from its original design value is observed to give over a 22% increase in the transmitted shear force. Other ground motions, especially those exhibiting sharp rise in spectral accelerations in the vicinity of the designed isolated frequency, yield responses following the same general trend

  5. RareVar: A Framework for Detecting Low-Frequency Single-Nucleotide Variants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Yangyang; Xuei, Xiaoling; Li, Lang; Nakshatri, Harikrishna; Edenberg, Howard J; Liu, Yunlong

    2017-07-01

    Accurate identification of low-frequency somatic point mutations in tumor samples has important clinical utilities. Although high-throughput sequencing technology enables capturing such variants while sequencing primary tumor samples, our ability for accurate detection is compromised when the variant frequency is close to the sequencer error rate. Most current experimental and bioinformatic strategies target mutations with ≥5% allele frequency, which limits our ability to understand the cancer etiology and tumor evolution. We present an experimental and computational modeling framework, RareVar, to reliably identify low-frequency single-nucleotide variants from high-throughput sequencing data under standard experimental protocols. RareVar protocol includes a benchmark design by pooling DNAs from already sequenced individuals at various concentrations to target variants at desired frequencies, 0.5%-3% in our case. By applying a generalized, linear model-based, position-specific error model, followed by machine-learning-based variant calibration, our approach outperforms existing methods. Our method can be applied on most capture and sequencing platforms without modifying the experimental protocol.

  6. Low-frequency electrostatic dust-modes in a nonuniform magnetized dusty plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paul, S.K.; Duha, S.S.; Mamun, A.A.

    2004-07-01

    A self-consistent and general description of obliquely propagating low frequency electrostatic dust-modes in a inhomogeneous, magnetized dusty plasma system has been presented. A number of different situations, which correspond to different low-frequency electrostatic dust-modes, namely, dust-acoustic mode, dust-drift mode, dust-cyclotron mode, dust-lower-hybrid mode, and other associated modes (such as, accelerated and retarded dust-acoustic modes, accelerated and retarded dust-lower-hybrid modes, etc.), have also been investigated. It has been shown that the effects of obliqueness and inhomogeneities in plasma particle number densities introduce new electrostatic dust modes as well as significantly modify the dispersion properties of the other low-frequency electrostatic dust-modes. The implications of these results to some space and astrophysical dusty plasma systems, especially to planetary ring-systems and cometary tails, are briefly mentioned. (author)

  7. Influence of the low-frequency source parameters on the plasma characteristics in a dual frequency capacitively coupled plasma reactor: Two dimensional simulations

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Xiang Xu; Hao Ge; Shuai Wang; Zhongling Dai; Younian Wang; Aimin Zhu

    2009-01-01

    A two-dimensional (2D) fluid model is presented to study the discharge of argon in a dual frequency capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) reactor. We are interested in the influence of low-frequency (LF) source parameters such as applied voltage amplitudes and low frequencies on the plasma characteristics. In this paper, the high frequency is set to 60 MHz with voltage 50 V. The simulations were carried out for low frequencies of 1, 2 and 6 MHz with LF voltage 100 V, and for LF voltages of 60, 90 and 120 V with low frequency 2 MHz. The results of 2D distributions of electric field and ion density, the ion flux impinging on the substrate and the ion energy on the powered electrode are shown. As the low frequency increases, two sources become from uncoupling to coupling, When two sources are uncoupling, the increase in LF has little impact on the plasma characteristics, but when two sources are coupling, the increase in LF decreases the uniformities of ion density and ion flux noticeably. It is also found that with the increase in LF voltage, the uniformities in the radial direction of ion density distribution and ion flux at the powered electrode decreases significantly, and the energy of ions bombarding on the powered electrode increases significantly.

  8. Twenty-two cases of low-frequency noise complaints

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Christian Sejer; Møller, Henrik; Persson-Waye, Kerstin

    2006-01-01

    In Denmark and in other industrialized countries there are cases where people complain about annoying low-frequency or infrasonic noise in their homes. Besides noise annoyance people often report other adverse effects such as insomnia, headache, lack of concentration etc. In many cases the noise...

  9. Study of the immunological relatedness of goldfish MSH in an RIA for synthetic mammalian α MSH

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Follenius, Ernest; Schmitt, Gabrielle; Meunier, Annie

    1980-01-01

    α MSH from the neuro-intermediate lobe of the pituitary gland of the goldfish displays a competitive behaviour in an RIA for synthetic α MSH. The inhibition curves from neuro-intermediate homogenates parallel the standard curve (P [fr

  10. Low-frequency observations of Galactic supernova remnants and the distribution of low-density ionized gas in the interstellar medium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kassim, N.E.

    1989-01-01

    New long-wavelength observations of Galactic SNRs at 30.9 and 57.5 MHz are used to derive detailed low-frequency radio spectra for 32 SNRs. Of these, about two-thirds show turnovers at low frequencies, implying the presence of a widespread, but inhomogeneous, ionized absorbing medium along the lines of sight. These observations are combined with other low-frequency data to derive free-free optical depths toward 457 SNRs and to constrain the physical properties of the ionized gas responsible for the absorption. These optical depths are consistent with the expected absorbing properties of extended H II region envelopes. 43 refs

  11. Relativistic runaway breakdown in low-frequency radio

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fullekrug, M.; Roussel-Dupre, R.; Symbalisty, E.M.D.

    2011-01-01

    at a distance of similar to 550 km. The measured broadband pulses occur similar to 4-9 ms after the sprite-producing lightning discharge, they exhibit electromagnetic radiation which mainly spans the frequency range from similar to 50 to 350 kHz, and they exhibit complex waveforms without the typical...... electromagnetic pulses and possibly generates sprites. The source location of the broadband pulses can be determined with an interferometric network of wideband low-frequency radio receivers to lend further experimental support to the relativistic runaway breakdown theory.......The electromagnetic radiation emitted by an electron avalanche beam resulting from relativistic runaway breakdown within the Earth's atmosphere is investigated. It is found from theoretical modeling with a computer simulation that the electron beam emits electromagnetic radiation which...

  12. Effects of Low-frequency Current Sacral Dermatome Stimulation on Idiopathic Slow Transit Constipation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jin-Seop; Yi, Seung-Ju

    2014-06-01

    [Purpose] This study aimed to determine whether low-frequency current therapy can be used to reduce the symptoms of idiopathic slow transit constipation (ISTC). [Subjects] Fifteen patients (ten male and five female) with idiopathic slow transit constipation were enrolled in the present study. [Results] Bowel movements per day, bowel movements per week, and constipation assessment scale scores significantly improved after low-frequency current simulation of S2-S3. [Conclusion] Our results show that stimulation with low-frequency current of the sacral dermatomes may offer therapeutic benefits for a subject of patients with ISTC.

  13. [The features of high and low-frequency function of horizontal, semicircular canal in Meniere's disease].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ying; Zhao, Zhongxin; Zhuang, Jianhua; Xie, Xuewei; Jin, Zhe; Li, Fei

    2015-05-01

    To analyze the feature of horizontal semicircular canal function at high and low-frequencies in Meniere's disease. Thirty patients suffering from unilateral Meniere's disease were included in the research from 2013 June to 2014 June. Caloric test and video head impulse test were performed to evaluate the high low-frequency function of horizontal semicircular canal. these patients were devided by the severity of unilateral weakness in caloric test. The gain value in video head impulse test, which reflects the high-frequency function of semicircular canal, were not different between the normal and mild abnormal group (P > 0.05), but were obviously different between the normal and mild-severe abnormal group, slight abnormal and mild-severe abnormal group (P frequency function of both side, has no difference between three groups (P > 0.05). A part of Meniere's disease may have normal high, low-frequency function of horizontal semicircular canal. As patient suffering slight injury of low-frequency function, the high-frequency function keeps normal. As the injury of low-frequency function become mildly to severely, the damage of high-frequency function appears, but the symmetry still keeps balance.

  14. Inactivation of Enterobacter aerogenes in reconstituted skim milk by high- and low-frequency ultrasound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Shengpu; Hemar, Yacine; Lewis, Gillian D; Ashokkumar, Muthupandian

    2014-11-01

    The inactivation of Enterobacter aerogenes in skim milk using low-frequency (20kHz) and high-frequency (850kHz) ultrasonication was investigated. It was found that low-frequency acoustic cavitation resulted in lethal damage to E. aerogenes. The bacteria were more sensitive to ultrasound in water than in reconstituted skim milk having different protein concentrations. However, high-frequency ultrasound was not able to inactivate E. aerogenes in milk even when powers as high as 50W for 60min were used. This study also showed that high-frequency ultrasonication had no influence on the viscosity and particle size of skim milk, whereas low-frequency ultrasonication resulted in the decrease in viscosity and particle size of milk. The decrease in particle size is believed to be due to the breakup of the fat globules, and possibly to the cleavage of the κ-casein present at the surface of the casein micelles. Whey proteins were also found to be slightly affected by low-frequency ultrasound, with the amounts of α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin slightly decreasing. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  15. Low profile frequency agile MIMO slot antenna with TCM characterization

    KAUST Repository

    Ghalib, Asim

    2017-06-07

    In this paper, a frequency reconfigurable multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) slot antenna is presented. The proposed design is low profile and compact with wide tunability range, covering several well-known frequency bands from 1800 MHz to 2450 MHz. The frequency reconfigurability is achieved by loading the annular slot with varactor diodes. The antenna system is also analyzed for MIMO performance metrics. Moreover, the effect of circular slot antenna on the chassis modes is also investigated using the theory of characteristic modes (TCM). The physical principle behind frequency reconfigurability is also investigated using TCM analysis. An interesting finding is observed using varactor diodes for frequency reconfigurability, that is the reactive impedance loading does not alter the modal significance (MS) plots but only aid in the input impedance matching at different frequency bands.

  16. Improvement of the low frequency oscillation model for Hall thrusters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Chunsheng, E-mail: wangcs@hit.edu.cn; Wang, Huashan [Yanshan University, College of Vehicles and Energy, Qinhuangdao 066004, Hebei (China)

    2016-08-15

    The low frequency oscillation of the discharge current in Hall thrusters is a major aspect of these devices that requires further study. While the existing model captures the ionization mechanism of the low frequency oscillation, it unfortunately fails to express the dynamic characteristics of the ion acceleration. The analysis in this paper shows this is because of the simplification of the electron equation, which affects both the electric field distribution and the ion acceleration process. Additionally, the electron density equation is revised and a new model that is based on the physical properties of ion movement is proposed.

  17. Phonons in models for icosahedral quasicrystals: low frequency behaviour an inelastic scattering properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Los, J.; Janssen, T.; Gaehler, F.

    1993-01-01

    A detailed study of the low frequency behaviour of the phonon spectrum for 3-dimensional tiling models of icosahedral quasicrystals is presented, in commensurate approximations with up to 10336 atoms per unit cell. The scaling behaviour of the lowest phonon branches shows that the widths of the gaps relative to the bandwidths vanish in the low frequency limit. The density of states at low frequencies is calculated by Brillouin zone integration, using either local linear or local quadratic interpolation of the branch surface. For perfect approximants it appears that there is a deviation from the normal ω 2 -behaviour already at relatively low frequencies, in the form of pseudogaps. Also randomized approximants are considered, and it turns out that the pseudogaps in the density of states are flattened by randomization. When approaching the quasiperiodic limit, the dispersion of the acoustic branches becomes more and more isotropic, and the two transversal sound velocities tend to the same value. The dynamical structure factor is determined for several approximants, and it is shown that the linearity and the isotropy of the dispersion are extended far beyond the range of the acoustic branches inside the Brillouin zone. A sharply peaked response is observed at low frequencies, and broadening at higher frequencies. To obtain these results, an efficient algorithm based on Lanczos tridiagonalisation is used. (orig.)

  18. LoFASM: A Low Frequency All Sky Monitor for Radio Transients and Student Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-09-02

    SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: The Low-Frequency All- Sky Monitor (LoFASM) is an innovative new radio astronomy observatory. Designed and built by...Feb-2015 Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited Final Report: LoFASM: A Low Frequency All Sky Monitor for Radio Transients and Student...reviewed journals: Number of Papers published in non peer-reviewed journals: Final Report: LoFASM: A Low Frequency All Sky Monitor for Radio Transients and

  19. Thickness Measurement of a Film on a Substrate by Low-Frequency Ultrasound

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LI Ming-Xuan; WANG Xiao-Min; MAO Jie

    2004-01-01

    @@ We describe a new simple technique for the low-frequency ultrasonic thickness measurement of an air-backed soft thin layer attached on a hard substrate of finite thickness through the frequency-shifts of the substrate resonances by the substrate-side insonification. A plane compressive wave impinging normally on the substrate surface from a liquid is studied. Low frequency here means an interrogating acoustical wave frequency of less than half of coating to the substrate. Equations for the frequency-shifts are derived and solved by the Newton iterative method and the Taylor expansion method, respectively, indicating satisfactory agreement within the range of interest of thickness ratio of the thin layer to the substrate for a polymer-aluminium structure. An experimental setup is constructed to verify the validity of the technique.

  20. Low-frequency blood pressure oscillations and inotrope treatment failure in premature infants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vesoulis, Zachary A; Hao, Jessica; McPherson, Christopher; El Ters, Nathalie M; Mathur, Amit M

    2017-07-01

    The underlying mechanism as to why some hypotensive preterm infants do not respond to inotropic medications remains unclear. For these infants, we hypothesize that impaired vasomotor function is a significant factor and is manifested through a decrease in low-frequency blood pressure variability across regulatory components of vascular tone. Infants born ≤28 wk estimated gestational age underwent prospective recording of mean arterial blood pressure for 72 h after birth. After error correction, root-mean-square spectral power was calculated for each valid 10-min data frame across each of four frequency bands ( B1 , 0.005-0.0095 Hz; B2 , 0.0095-0.02 Hz; B3 , 0.02-0.06 Hz; and B4 , 0.06-0.16) corresponding to different components of vasomotion control. Forty infants (twenty-nine normotensive control and eleven inotrope-exposed) were included with a mean ± SD estimated gestational age of 25.2 ± 1.6 wk and birth weight 790 ± 211 g. 9.7/11.8 Million (82%) data points were error-free and used for analysis. Spectral power across all frequency bands increased with time, although the magnitude was 20% less in the inotrope-exposed infants. A statistically significant increase in spectral power in response to inotrope initiation was noted across all frequency bands. Infants with robust blood pressure response to inotropes had a greater increase compared with those who had limited or no blood pressure response. In this study, hypotensive infants who require inotropes have decreased low-frequency variability at baseline compared with normotensive infants, which increases after inotrope initiation. Low-frequency spectral power does not change for those with inotrope treatment failure, suggesting dysfunctional regulation of vascular tone as a potential mechanism of treatment failure. NEW & NOTEWORTHY In this study, we examine patterns of low-frequency oscillations in blood pressure variability across regulatory components of vascular tone in normotensive and

  1. Current Status of The Low Frequency All Sky Monitor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dartez, Louis; Creighton, Teviet; Jenet, Fredrick; Dolch, Timothy; Boehler, Keith; Bres, Luis; Cole, Brent; Luo, Jing; Miller, Rossina; Murray, James; Reyes, Alex; Rivera, Jesse

    2018-01-01

    The Low Frequency All Sky Monitor (LoFASM) is a distributed array of cross-dipole antennas that are sensitive to radio frequencies from 10 to 88 MHz. LoFASM consists of antennas and front end electronics that were originally developed for the Long Wavelength Array by the U.S. Naval Research Lab, the University of New Mexico, Virginia Tech, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. LoFASM, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, will initially consist of 4 stations, each consisting of 12 dual- polarization dipole antenna stands. The primary science goals of LoFASM will be the detection and study of low-frequency radio transients, a high priority science goal as deemed by the National Research Council’s ASTRO2010 decadal survey. The data acquisition system for the LoFASM antenna array uses Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology to implement a real time full Stokes spectrometer and data recorder. This poster presents an overview of the LoFASM Radio Telescope as well as the status of data analysis of initial commissioning observations.

  2. Band-gap tunable dielectric elastomer filter for low frequency noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Kun; Wang, Mian; Lu, Tongqing; Zhang, Jinhua; Wang, Tiejun

    2016-05-01

    In the last decades, diverse materials and technologies for sound insulation have been widely applied in engineering. However, suppressing the noise radiation at low frequency still remains a challenge. In this work, a novel membrane-type smart filter, consisting of a pre-stretched dielectric elastomer membrane with two compliant electrodes coated on the both sides, is presented to control the low frequency noise. Since the stiffness of membrane dominates its acoustic properties, sound transmission band-gap of the membrane filter can be tuned by adjusting the voltage applied to the membrane. The impedance tube experiments have been carried out to measure the sound transmission loss (STL) of the filters with different electrodes, membrane thickness and pre-stretch conditions. The experimental results show that the center frequency of sound transmission band-gap mainly depends on the stress in the dielectric elastomer, and a large band-gap shift (more than 60 Hz) can be achieved by tuning the voltage applied to the 85 mm diameter VHB4910 specimen with pre-stretch {λ }0=3. Based on the experimental results and the assumption that applied electric field is independent of the membrane behavior, 3D finite element analysis has also been conducted to calculate the membrane stress variation. The sound filter proposed herein may provide a promising facility to control low frequency noise source with tonal characteristics.

  3. Low-frequency dilatational wave propagation through unsaturated porous media containing two immiscible fluids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lo, W.-C.; Sposito, G.; Majer, E.

    2007-02-01

    An analytical theory is presented for the low-frequency behavior of dilatational waves propagating through a homogeneous elastic porous medium containing two immiscible fluids. The theory is based on the Berryman-Thigpen-Chin (BTC) model, in which capillary pressure effects are neglected. We show that the BTC model equations in the frequency domain can be transformed, at sufficiently low frequencies, into a dissipative wave equation (telegraph equation) and a propagating wave equation in the time domain. These partial differential equations describe two independent modes of dilatational wave motion that are analogous to the Biot fast and slow compressional waves in a single-fluid system. The equations can be solved analytically under a variety of initial and boundary conditions. The stipulation of 'low frequency' underlying the derivation of our equations in the time domain is shown to require that the excitation frequency of wave motions be much smaller than a critical frequency. This frequency is shown to be the inverse of an intrinsic time scale that depends on an effective kinematic shear viscosity of the interstitial fluids and the intrinsic permeability of the porous medium. Numerical calculations indicate that the critical frequency in both unconsolidated and consolidated materials containing water and a nonaqueous phase liquid ranges typically from kHz to MHz. Thus engineering problems involving the dynamic response of an unsaturated porous medium to low excitation frequencies (e.g. seismic wave stimulation) should be accurately modeled by our equations after suitable initial and boundary conditions are imposed.

  4. A PLIF and PIV study of liquid mixing enhanced by a lateral synthetic jet pair

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xia Qingfeng; Zhong Shan

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Enhancement of mixing between two water streams in a planar channel by means of a lateral synthetic jet pair is studied using PLIF and PIV. ► The excellent mixing observed is largely caused by a strong interaction between the opposing vortex pairs produced by the lateral synthetic jets. ► The synthetic jet operating conditions, at which a nearly homogenous mixing is achieved, are also identified and they are expressed in terms of a functional relationship. - Abstract: In this paper, enhancement of mixing between two water streams of the same flow rate in a planar channel by means of a lateral synthetic jet pair is studied at a net flow Reynolds number of 83 using PLIF and PIV. The synthetic jet pair is operated 180° out-of-phase at a range of actuation frequencies and displacements, with the latter being characterized by the dimensionless stroke length. The extent of mixing is evaluated using PLIF data at a location further downstream in the mixing channel. It is found that at a fixed actuation frequency a higher dimensionless stroke length produces a better mixing, and as the actuation frequency increases a lower dimensionless stroke length is required to achieve a given mixing degree. At a sufficiently high frequency or dimensionless stroke length, a nearly homogenous mixing with a mixing degree greater than 0.9 can be obtained. A functional relationship between actuation frequency and dimensionless stroke length is also obtained by best fitting the experimental data, which can be used for selecting the synthetic jet operating conditions to ensure a good mixing. Furthermore, both PLIF and PIV results show that each synthetic jet actuation cycle produce two opposing vortex pairs, which play an important role in prompting mixing between the two fluid streams. The excellent mixing obtained at a high frequency or a high dimensionless stroke length is found to be largely caused by a strong interaction between these opposing vortex pairs.

  5. Direct comparison of low- and mid-frequency Raman spectroscopy for quantitative solid-state pharmaceutical analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipiäinen, Tiina; Fraser-Miller, Sara J; Gordon, Keith C; Strachan, Clare J

    2018-02-05

    This study considers the potential of low-frequency (terahertz) Raman spectroscopy in the quantitative analysis of ternary mixtures of solid-state forms. Direct comparison between low-frequency and mid-frequency spectral regions for quantitative analysis of crystal form mixtures, without confounding sampling and instrumental variations, is reported for the first time. Piroxicam was used as a model drug, and the low-frequency spectra of piroxicam forms β, α2 and monohydrate are presented for the first time. These forms show clear spectral differences in both the low- and mid-frequency regions. Both spectral regions provided quantitative models suitable for predicting the mixture compositions using partial least squares regression (PLSR), but the low-frequency data gave better models, based on lower errors of prediction (2.7, 3.1 and 3.2% root-mean-square errors of prediction [RMSEP] values for the β, α2 and monohydrate forms, respectively) than the mid-frequency data (6.3, 5.4 and 4.8%, for the β, α2 and monohydrate forms, respectively). The better performance of low-frequency Raman analysis was attributed to larger spectral differences between the solid-state forms, combined with a higher signal-to-noise ratio. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Low frequency torsional vibration gaps in the shaft with locally resonant structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Dianlong; Liu Yaozong; Wang Gang; Cai Li; Qiu Jing

    2006-01-01

    The propagation of torsional wave in the shaft with periodically attached local resonators is studied with the transfer matrix theory and the finite element method. The analytical dispersion relation and the complex band structure of such a structure is presented for the first time, which indicates the existence of low frequency gaps. The effect of shaft material on the vibration attenuation in band gap is investigated. The frequency response function of the shaft with finite periodic locally resonant oscillators is simulated with finite element method, which shows large vibration attenuation in the frequency range of the gap as expected. The low frequency torsional gap in shafts provides a new idea for vibration control

  7. Estimation Trajectory of the Low-Frequency Floating Car Considering the Traffic Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhijian Wang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Floating car equipped with GPS to detect traffic flow has been widely used in ITS research and applications. The trajectory estimation is the most critical and complex part in the floating vehicle information processing system. However, the trajectory estimation would be more difficult when using the low-frequency data sampling because of the high communication cost and the numerous data. Specifically, the ordinary algorithm cannot determine the specific vehicle paths with two anchor points across multiple intersections. Considering the accuracy in map matching, this paper used a delay matching algorithm and studied the trajectory estimation algorithm focusing on the issue of existence of a small road network between two anchor points. A method considering the three multiobjective factors of signal control and driving distance and number of intersections was developed. Firstly, an optimal solution set was acquired according to multiobjective decision theory and Pareto optimal principles in game theory. Then, the optimal solution set was evaluated synthetically based on the fuzzy set theory. Finally, the candidate trajectory which is the core evaluation factor was identified as the best possible travel path. The algorithm was validated by using the real traffic data in Wangjing area of Beijing. The results showed that the algorithm can get a better trajectory estimation and provide more traffic information to traffic management department.

  8. Higher frequency network activity flow predicts lower frequency node activity in intrinsic low-frequency BOLD fluctuations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bajaj, Sahil; Adhikari, Bhim Mani; Dhamala, Mukesh

    2013-01-01

    The brain remains electrically and metabolically active during resting conditions. The low-frequency oscillations (LFO) of the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) coherent across distributed brain regions are known to exhibit features of this activity. However, these intrinsic oscillations may undergo dynamic changes in time scales of seconds to minutes during resting conditions. Here, using wavelet-transform based time-frequency analysis techniques, we investigated the dynamic nature of default-mode networks from intrinsic BOLD signals recorded from participants maintaining visual fixation during resting conditions. We focused on the default-mode network consisting of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), left middle temporal cortex (LMTC) and left angular gyrus (LAG). The analysis of the spectral power and causal flow patterns revealed that the intrinsic LFO undergo significant dynamic changes over time. Dividing the frequency interval 0 to 0.25 Hz of LFO into four intervals slow-5 (0.01-0.027 Hz), slow-4 (0.027-0.073 Hz), slow-3 (0.073-0.198 Hz) and slow-2 (0.198-0.25 Hz), we further observed significant positive linear relationships of slow-4 in-out flow of network activity with slow-5 node activity, and slow-3 in-out flow of network activity with slow-4 node activity. The network activity associated with respiratory related frequency (slow-2) was found to have no relationship with the node activity in any of the frequency intervals. We found that the net causal flow towards a node in slow-3 band was correlated with the number of fibers, obtained from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data, from the other nodes connecting to that node. These findings imply that so-called resting state is not 'entirely' at rest, the higher frequency network activity flow can predict the lower frequency node activity, and the network activity flow can reflect underlying structural

  9. Word selection affects perceptions of synthetic biology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tonidandel Scott

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Members of the synthetic biology community have discussed the significance of word selection when describing synthetic biology to the general public. In particular, many leaders proposed the word "create" was laden with negative connotations. We found that word choice and framing does affect public perception of synthetic biology. In a controlled experiment, participants perceived synthetic biology more negatively when "create" was used to describe the field compared to "construct" (p = 0.008. Contrary to popular opinion among synthetic biologists, however, low religiosity individuals were more influenced negatively by the framing manipulation than high religiosity people. Our results suggest that synthetic biologists directly influence public perception of their field through avoidance of the word "create".

  10. The assessment and evaluation of low-frequency noise near the region of infrasound

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stanislav Ziaran

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The main aim of this paper is to present recent knowledge about the assessment and evaluation of low-frequency sounds (noise and infrasound, close to the threshold of hearing, and identify their potential effect on human health and annoyance. Low-frequency noise generated by air flowing over a moving car with an open window was chosen as a typical scenario which can be subjectively assessed by people traveling by automobile. The principle of noise generated within the interior of the car and its effects on the comfort of the driver and passengers are analyzed at different velocities. An open window of a car at high velocity behaves as a source of specifically strong tonal low-frequency noise which is generally perceived as annoying. The interior noise generated by an open window of a passenger car was measured under different conditions: Driving on a highway and driving on a typical roadway. First, an octave-band analysis was used to assess the noise level and its impact on the driver′s comfort. Second, a fast Fourier transform (FFT analysis and one-third octave-band analysis were used for the detection of tonal low-frequency noise. Comparison between two different car makers was also done. Finally, the paper suggests some possibilities for scientifically assessing and evaluating low-frequency sounds in general, and some recommendations are introduced for scientific discussion, since sounds with strong low-frequency content (but not only strong engender greater annoyance than is predicted by an A-weighted sound pressure level.

  11. Study on The Extended Range Weather Forecast of Low Frequency Signal Based on Period Analysis Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, X.

    2016-12-01

    Although many studies have explored the MJO and its application for weather forecasting, low-frequency oscillation has been insufficiently studied for the extend range weather forecasting over middle and high latitudes. In China, low-frequency synoptic map is a useful tool for meteorological operation department to forecast extend range weather. It is therefore necessary to develop objective methods to serve the need for finding low-frequency signal, interpretation and application of this signal in the extend range weather forecasting. In this paper, method of Butterworth band pass filter was applied to get low-frequency height field at 500hPa from 1980 to 2014 by using NCEP/NCAR daily grid data. Then period analysis and optimal subset regression methods were used to process the low frequency data of 150 days before the first forecast day and extend the low frequency signal of 500hPa low-frequency high field to future 30 days in the global from June to August during 2011-2014. Finally, the results were test. The main results are as follows: (1) In general, the fitting effect of low frequency signals of 500hPa low-frequency height field by period analysis in the northern hemisphere was better than that in the southern hemisphere, and was better in the low latitudes than that in the high latitudes. The fitting accuracy gradually reduced with the increase of forecast time length, which tended to be stable during the late forecasting period. (2) The fitting effects over the 6 key regions in China showed that except filtering result over Xinjiang area in the first 10 days and 30 days, filtering results over the other 5 key regions throughout the whole period have passed reliability test with level more than 95%. (3) The center and scope of low and high low frequency systems can be fitted well by using the methods mentioned above, which is consist with the corresponding use of the low-frequency synoptic map for the prediction of the extended period. Application of the

  12. An analysis of low frequency noise from large wind turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Christian Sejer; Møller, Henrik

    2010-01-01

    As wind turbines get larger, worries have emerged, that the noise emitted by the turbines would move down in frequency, and that the contents of low-frequency noise would be enough to cause significant annoyance for the neighbors. The sound emission from 48 wind turbines with nominal electric power......-third-octave-band spectra shows that the relative noise emission is higher in the 63-250 Hz frequency range from turbines above 2 MW than from smaller turbines. The observations confirm a downward shift of the spectrum....

  13. [Effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic radiation on cardiovascular system of workers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Long-yu; Song, Chun-xiao; Yu, Duo; Liu, Xiao-liang; Guo, Jian-qiu; Wang, Chuan; Ding, Yuan-wei; Zhou, Hong-xia; Ma, Shu-mei; Liu, Xiao-dong; Liu, Xin

    2012-03-01

    To observe the exposure levels of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields in workplaces and to analyze the effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic radiation on cardiovascular system of occupationally exposed people. Intensity of electromagnetic fields in two workplaces (control and exposure groups) was detected with EFA-300 frequency electromagnetic field strength tester, and intensity of the noise was detected with AWA5610D integral sound level. The information of health physical indicators of 188 controls and 642 occupationally exposed workers was collected. Data were analyzed by SPSS17.0 statistic software. The intensity of electric fields and the magnetic fields in exposure groups was significantly higher than that in control group (P 0.05). The results of physical examination showed that the abnormal rates of HCY, ALT, AST, GGT, ECG in the exposure group were significantly higher than those in control group (P 0.05). Exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic radiation may have some effects on the cardiovascular system of workers.

  14. Increasing low frequency sound attenuation using compounded single layer of sonic crystal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gulia, Preeti; Gupta, Arpan

    2018-05-01

    Sonic crystals (SC) are man-made periodic structures where sound hard scatterers are arranged in a crystalline manner. SC reduces noise in a particular range of frequencies called as band gap. Sonic crystals have a promising application in noise shielding; however, the application is limited due to the size of structure. Particularly for low frequencies, the structure becomes quite bulky, restricting its practical application. This paper presents a compounded model of SC, which has the same overall area and filling fraction but with increased low frequency sound attenuation. Two cases have been considered, a three layer SC and a compounded single layer SC. Both models have been analyzed using finite element simulation and plane wave expansion method. Band gaps for periodic structures have been obtained using both methods which are in good agreement. Further, sound transmission loss has been evaluated using finite element method. The results demonstrate the use of compounded model of Sonic Crystal for low frequency sound attenuation.

  15. A forward model and conjugate gradient inversion technique for low-frequency ultrasonic imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Dongen, Koen W A; Wright, William M D

    2006-10-01

    Emerging methods of hyperthermia cancer treatment require noninvasive temperature monitoring, and ultrasonic techniques show promise in this regard. Various tomographic algorithms are available that reconstruct sound speed or contrast profiles, which can be related to temperature distribution. The requirement of a high enough frequency for adequate spatial resolution and a low enough frequency for adequate tissue penetration is a difficult compromise. In this study, the feasibility of using low frequency ultrasound for imaging and temperature monitoring was investigated. The transient probing wave field had a bandwidth spanning the frequency range 2.5-320.5 kHz. The results from a forward model which computed the propagation and scattering of low-frequency acoustic pressure and velocity wave fields were used to compare three imaging methods formulated within the Born approximation, representing two main types of reconstruction. The first uses Fourier techniques to reconstruct sound-speed profiles from projection or Radon data based on optical ray theory, seen as an asymptotical limit for comparison. The second uses backpropagation and conjugate gradient inversion methods based on acoustical wave theory. The results show that the accuracy in localization was 2.5 mm or better when using low frequencies and the conjugate gradient inversion scheme, which could be used for temperature monitoring.

  16. Low-frequency fields - sources and exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kunsch, B.

    1993-01-01

    The author briefly discusses definition of terms, gives an introduction to measurement techniques and describes the characteristics of various low-frequency fields and their causes using typical examples: natural electric fields (thunderstroms), natural magnetic fields, technical electric constant fields (urban transportation, households), static magnetic fields (urban transportation, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging), technical electric alternating fields (high-voltage transmission lines, households), and magnetic alternating fields (high-voltage transmission lines). The author discusses both occupational exposure and that of the general public while underpinning his statements by numerous tables, measurement diagrams and charts. (Uhe) [de

  17. Inverted pendulum as low-frequency pre-isolation for advanced gravitational wave detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takamori, A.; Raffai, P.; Marka, S.; DeSalvo, R.; Sannibale, V.; Tariq, H.; Bertolini, A.; Cella, G.; Viboud, N.; Numata, K.; Takahashi, R.; Fukushima, M.

    2007-01-01

    We have developed advanced seismic attenuation systems for Gravitational Wave (GW) detectors. The design consists of an Inverted Pendulum (IP) holding stages of Geometrical Anti-Spring Filters (GASF) and pendula, which isolate the test mass suspension from ground noise. The ultra-low-frequency IP suppresses the horizontal seismic noise, while the GASF suppresses the vertical ground vibrations. The three legs of the IP are supported by cylindrical maraging steel flexural joints. The IP can be tuned to very low frequencies by carefully adjusting its load. As a best result, we have achieved an ultra low, ∼12 mHz pendulum frequency for the system prototype made for Advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory). The measured quality factor, Q, of this IP, ranging from Q∼2500 (at 0.45 Hz) to Q∼2 (at 12 mHz), is compatible with structural damping, and is proportional to the square of the pendulum frequency. Tunable counterweights allow for precise center-of-percussion tuning to achieve the required attenuation up to the first leg internal resonance (∼60 Hz for advanced LIGO prototype). All measurements are in good agreement with our analytical models. We therefore expect good attenuation in the low-frequency region, from ∼0.1to ∼50 Hz, covering the micro-seismic peak. The extremely soft IP requires minimal control force, which simplifies any needed actuation

  18. A wideband, frequency up-converting bounded vibration energy harvester for a low-frequency environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ashraf, K; Md Khir, M H; Baharudin, Z; Dennis, J O

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents a bounded vibration energy harvester to effectively harvest energy from a wide band of low-frequency environmental vibrations ranging from 10 to 18 Hz. Rigid mechanical stoppers are used to confine the seismic mass movement within the elastic limits of the spring. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed technique in increasing the efficiency of the energy harvester. When excited at a frequency of 10 Hz with a peak acceleration of 1 g, the harvester responds at a higher frequency of 20 Hz and gives a peak power of 2.68 mW and a peak to peak voltage of 2.62 V across a load of 220 Ω. The average power density of 65.74 μW cm −3 obtained at 10 Hz 1 g excitation monotonically increases with frequency up to 341.86 μW cm −3 at 18 Hz. An analytical model describing the nonlinear dynamics of the proposed harvester is also presented. A simple technique to estimate the energy losses during impact and thereof a method to incorporate these losses in the model are suggested. The presented model not only predicts the experimental voltage waveform and frequency response of the device with good similarity but also predicts the RMS voltage from the harvester for the whole range of operating frequencies with an RMS error of 5.2%. (paper)

  19. Stabilizing effects of hot electrons on low frequency plasma drift waves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Chaosong; Qiu Lijian; Ren Zhaoxing

    1988-01-01

    The MHD equation is used to study the stabilization of low frequency drift waves driven by density gradient of plasma in a hot electron plasma. The dispersion relation is derived, and the stabilizing effects of hot electrons are discussed. The physical mechanism for hot electron stabilization of the low frequency plasma perturbations is charge uncovering due to the hot electron component, which depends only on α, the ratio of N h /N i , but not on the value of β h . The hot electrons can reduce the growth rate of the interchange mode and drift wave driven by the plasma, and suppress the enomalous plasma transport caused by the drift wave. Without including the effectof β h , the stabilization of the interchange mode requires α≅2%, and the stabilization of the drift wave requires α≅40%. The theoretical analyses predict that the drift wave is the most dangerous low frequency instability in the hot electron plasma

  20. Low-Voltage, Low-Power, and Wide-Tuning-Range Ring-VCO for Frequency ΔΣ Modulator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tuan Vu, Cao; Wisland, Dag T.; Lande, Tor Sverre

    A low-voltage, low-power, and wide-tuning-range VCO which converts an analog input voltage to phase information for a frequency ΔΣ modulator is proposed in this paper. The VCO is based on a differential ring oscillator, which is improved with modified symmetric load and a positive feedback...

  1. Ionic screening effect on low-frequency drain current fluctuations in liquid-gated nanowire FETs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu, Ming-Pei; Vire, Eric; Montès, Laurent

    2015-01-01

    The ionic screening effect plays an important role in determining the fundamental surface properties within liquid–semiconductor interfaces. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of low-frequency drain current noise in liquid-gated nanowire (NW) field effect transistors (FETs) to obtain physical insight into the effect of ionic screening on low-frequency current fluctuation. When the NW FET was operated close to the gate voltage corresponding to the maximum transconductance, the magnitude of the low-frequency noise for the NW exposed to a low-ionic-strength buffer (0.001 M) was approximately 70% greater than that when exposed to a high-ionic-strength buffer (0.1 M). We propose a noise model, considering the charge coupling efficiency associated with the screening competition between the electrolyte buffer and the NW, to describe the ionic screening effect on the low-frequency drain current noise in liquid-gated NW FET systems. This report not only provides a physical understanding of the ionic screening effect behind the low-frequency current noise in liquid-gated FETs but also offers useful information for developing the technology of NW FETs with liquid-gated architectures for application in bioelectronics, nanosensors, and hybrid nanoelectronics. (paper)

  2. Low-frequency electromagnetic radiation field interaction with cerebral nervous MT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao Feng; Zhou Yi; Xiao Detao; Zhang Dengyu

    2009-01-01

    We investigate the interaction characteristics and mechanism of electromagnetic radiation field and cerebral nervous system. When the electromagnetic radiation is non-ionization low-frequency electromagnetic field, the two-state physical system in the cytoskeletal microtubule (MT) can be quantized. The state of information bits in cerebral neurons system is described by density matrix, and the system dynamics equation is established and solved. It indicates that when the brain is exposed to non-ionization low-frequency electromagnetic field, the density matrix non-opposite angle element of cerebral nervous qubit will never be zero, its quantum coherence characteristic can keep well, and the brain function will also be not damaged. (authors)

  3. Ultra-thin smart acoustic metasurface for low-frequency sound insulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hao; Xiao, Yong; Wen, Jihong; Yu, Dianlong; Wen, Xisen

    2016-04-01

    Insulating low-frequency sound is a conventional challenge due to the high areal mass required by mass law. In this letter, we propose a smart acoustic metasurface consisting of an ultra-thin aluminum foil bonded with piezoelectric resonators. Numerical and experimental results show that the metasurface can break the conventional mass law of sound insulation by 30 dB in the low frequency regime (sound insulation performance is attributed to the infinite effective dynamic mass density produced by the smart resonators. It is also demonstrated that the excellent sound insulation property can be conveniently tuned by simply adjusting the external circuits instead of modifying the structure of the metasurface.

  4. Super-Resolution for Synthetic Zooming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Xin

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Optical zooming is an important feature of imaging systems. In this paper, we investigate a low-cost signal processing alternative to optical zooming—synthetic zooming by super-resolution (SR techniques. Synthetic zooming is achieved by registering a sequence of low-resolution (LR images acquired at varying focal lengths and reconstructing the SR image at a larger focal length or increased spatial resolution. Under the assumptions of constant scene depth and zooming speed, we argue that the motion trajectories of all physical points are related to each other by a unique vanishing point and present a robust technique for estimating its D coordinate. Such a line-geometry-based registration is the foundation of SR for synthetic zooming. We address the issue of data inconsistency arising from the varying focal length of optical lens during the zooming process. To overcome the difficulty of data inconsistency, we propose a two-stage Delaunay-triangulation-based interpolation for fusing the LR image data. We also present a PDE-based nonlinear deblurring to accommodate the blindness and variation of sensor point spread functions. Simulation results with real-world images have verified the effectiveness of the proposed SR techniques for synthetic zooming.

  5. Low power fast settling multi-standard current reusing CMOS fractional-N frequency synthesizer

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Lou Wenfeng; Feng Peng; Wang Haiyong; Wu Nanjian

    2012-01-01

    A low power fast settling multi-standard CMOS fractional-N frequency synthesizer is proposed.The current reusing and frequency presetting techniques are adopted to realize the low power fast settling multi-standard fractional-N frequency synthesizer.An auxiliary non-volatile memory (NVM) is embedded to avoid the repetitive calibration process and to save power in practical application.This PLL is implemented in a 0.18μm technology.The frequency range is 0.3 to 2.54 GHz and the settling time is less than 5μs over the entire frequency range.The LC-VCO with the stacked divide-by-2 has a good figure of merit of-193.5 dBc/Hz.The measured phase noise of frequency synthesizer is about -115 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset when the carrier frequency is 2.4 GHz and the reference spurs are less than -52 dBc.The whole frequency synthesizer consumes only 4.35 mA @ 1.8 V.

  6. Low-frequency hippocampal-cortical activity drives brain-wide resting-state functional MRI connectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Russell W; Leong, Alex T L; Ho, Leon C; Gao, Patrick P; Wong, Eddie C; Dong, Celia M; Wang, Xunda; He, Jufang; Chan, Ying-Shing; Lim, Lee Wei; Wu, Ed X

    2017-08-15

    The hippocampus, including the dorsal dentate gyrus (dDG), and cortex engage in bidirectional communication. We propose that low-frequency activity in hippocampal-cortical pathways contributes to brain-wide resting-state connectivity to integrate sensory information. Using optogenetic stimulation and brain-wide fMRI and resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI), we determined the large-scale effects of spatiotemporal-specific downstream propagation of hippocampal activity. Low-frequency (1 Hz), but not high-frequency (40 Hz), stimulation of dDG excitatory neurons evoked robust cortical and subcortical brain-wide fMRI responses. More importantly, it enhanced interhemispheric rsfMRI connectivity in various cortices and hippocampus. Subsequent local field potential recordings revealed an increase in slow oscillations in dorsal hippocampus and visual cortex, interhemispheric visual cortical connectivity, and hippocampal-cortical connectivity. Meanwhile, pharmacological inactivation of dDG neurons decreased interhemispheric rsfMRI connectivity. Functionally, visually evoked fMRI responses in visual regions also increased during and after low-frequency dDG stimulation. Together, our results indicate that low-frequency activity robustly propagates in the dorsal hippocampal-cortical pathway, drives interhemispheric cortical rsfMRI connectivity, and mediates visual processing.

  7. A multi-landing pad DNA integration platform for mammalian cell engineering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaidukov, Leonid; Wroblewska, Liliana; Teague, Brian; Nelson, Tom; Zhang, Xin; Liu, Yan; Jagtap, Kalpana; Mamo, Selamawit; Tseng, Wen Allen; Lowe, Alexis; Das, Jishnu; Bandara, Kalpanie; Baijuraj, Swetha; Summers, Nevin M; Zhang, Lin; Weiss, Ron

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Engineering mammalian cell lines that stably express many transgenes requires the precise insertion of large amounts of heterologous DNA into well-characterized genomic loci, but current methods are limited. To facilitate reliable large-scale engineering of CHO cells, we identified 21 novel genomic sites that supported stable long-term expression of transgenes, and then constructed cell lines containing one, two or three ‘landing pad’ recombination sites at selected loci. By using a highly efficient BxB1 recombinase along with different selection markers at each site, we directed recombinase-mediated insertion of heterologous DNA to selected sites, including targeting all three with a single transfection. We used this method to controllably integrate up to nine copies of a monoclonal antibody, representing about 100 kb of heterologous DNA in 21 transcriptional units. Because the integration was targeted to pre-validated loci, recombinant protein expression remained stable for weeks and additional copies of the antibody cassette in the integrated payload resulted in a linear increase in antibody expression. Overall, this multi-copy site-specific integration platform allows for controllable and reproducible insertion of large amounts of DNA into stable genomic sites, which has broad applications for mammalian synthetic biology, recombinant protein production and biomanufacturing. PMID:29617873

  8. Dual-mode ferromagnetic resonance in an FeCoB/Ru/FeCoB synthetic antiferromagnet with uniaxial anisotropy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Cuiling; Zhang, Shouheng; Qiao, Shizhu; Du, Honglei; Liu, Xiaomin; Sun, Ruicong; Chu, Xian-Ming; Miao, Guo-Xing; Dai, Youyong; Kang, Shishou; Yan, Shishen; Li, Shandong

    2018-05-01

    Dual-mode ferromagnetic resonance is observed in FeCoB/Ru/FeCoB trilayer synthetic antiferromagnets with uniaxial in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The optical mode is present in the (0-108 Oe) magnetic field range, where the top and bottom layer magnetizations are aligned in opposite directions. The strong acoustic mode appears, when the magnetic field exceeds the 300 Oe value, which corresponds to the flop transition in the trilayer. Magnetic field and angular dependences of resonant frequencies are studied for both optical (low-field) and acoustic (high field) modes. The low-field mode is found to be anisotropic but insensitive to the magnetic field value. In contrast, the high field mode is quasi-isotropic, but its resonant frequency is tunable by the value of the magnetic field. The coexistence of two modes of ferromagnetic resonance as well as switching between them with the increase in the magnetic field originates from the difference in the sign of interlayer coupling energy at the parallel and antiparallel configurations of the synthetic antiferromagnet. The dual-mode resonance in the studied trilayer structures provides greater flexibility in the design and functionalization of micro-inductors in monolithic microwave integrated circuits.

  9. The statistics of low frequency radio interference at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory

    OpenAIRE

    Sokolowski, Marcin; Wayth, Randall B.; Lewis, Morgan

    2016-01-01

    We characterize the low frequency radio-frequency interference (RFI) environment at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO), the location selected for the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array. Data were collected from the BIGHORNS instrument, located at the MRO, which records a contiguous bandwidth between 70 and 300 MHz, between November 2014 to March 2015 inclusive. The data were processed to identify RFI, and we describe a series of statistics in both the time and ...

  10. Photodetachment of H- in the presence of a low-frequency laser field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bivona, S.; Burlon, R.; Leone, C.

    1992-01-01

    The photodetachment of a model one-electron ion simulating H - in the presence of a low-frequency field is analyzed. Two different geometries are considered in order to get information on the effect of the ponderomotive energy shift Δ on the photodetachment cross section. Our calculations suggest that a correspondence may be established between the ponderomotive shift and the photodetachment cross section, when the ejected electron may exchange only a few low-frequency photons. This is in qualitative agreement with recent experimental observations. When a large number of processes are open in which the detached electron may exchange low-frequency photons with comparable probability, it is impossible to make any connection between ponderomotive threshold shift and photodetachment cross section which, instead, may be described in terms of a field picture

  11. Characteristics of low frequency MHD fluctuations in the PRETEXT tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kochanski, T.P.

    1981-05-01

    The temporal and spectral characteristics of low frequency (< 100KHz) MHD fluctuations, which are commonly associated with disruptions, have been investigated in the PRETEXT tokamak. There exists rigid phase coherence between the internal m = 1, and externally detected m = 2 modes indicative of strong mode coupling. A parametric study of the frequency of the mode, in the saturated state, indicates that the frequency scales with the toroidal magnetic field, and is inversely proportional to the plasma current. The frequency is observed to decrease abruptly as the mode amplitude rapidly increases prior to a plasma disruption. The burst type growth of the m = 2 mode appears to be inextricably linked to the occurrence of the disruptive instability

  12. Image enhancement by spatial frequency post-processing of images obtained with pupil filters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Estévez, Irene; Escalera, Juan C.; Stefano, Quimey Pears; Iemmi, Claudio; Ledesma, Silvia; Yzuel, María J.; Campos, Juan

    2016-12-01

    The use of apodizing or superresolving filters improves the performance of an optical system in different frequency bands. This improvement can be seen as an increase in the OTF value compared to the OTF for the clear aperture. In this paper we propose a method to enhance the contrast of an image in both its low and its high frequencies. The method is based on the generation of a synthetic Optical Transfer Function, by multiplexing the OTFs given by the use of different non-uniform transmission filters on the pupil. We propose to capture three images, one obtained with a clear pupil, one obtained with an apodizing filter that enhances the low frequencies and another one taken with a superresolving filter that improves the high frequencies. In the Fourier domain the three spectra are combined by using smoothed passband filters, and then the inverse transform is performed. We show that we can create an enhanced image better than the image obtained with the clear aperture. To evaluate the performance of the method, bar tests (sinusoidal tests) with different frequency content are used. The results show that a contrast improvement in the high and low frequencies is obtained.

  13. From MAD to SAD: The Italian experience for the low-frequency aperture array of SKA1-LOW

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolli, P.; Pupillo, G.; Virone, G.; Farooqui, M. Z.; Lingua, A.; Mattana, A.; Monari, J.; Murgia, M.; Naldi, G.; Paonessa, F.; Perini, F.; Pluchino, S.; Rusticelli, S.; Schiaffino, M.; Schillirò, F.; Tartarini, G.; Tibaldi, A.

    2016-03-01

    This paper describes two small aperture array demonstrators called Medicina and Sardinia Array Demonstrators (MAD and SAD, respectively). The objectives of these instruments are to acquire experience and test new technologies for a possible application to the low-frequency aperture array of the low-frequency telescope of the Square Kilometer Array phase 1 (SKA1-LOW). The MAD experience was concluded in 2014, and it turned out to be an important test bench for implementing calibration techniques based on an artificial source mounted in an aerial vehicle. SAD is based on 128 dual-polarized Vivaldi antennas and is 1 order of magnitude larger than MAD. The architecture and the station size of SAD, which is along the construction phase, are more similar to those under evaluation for SKA1-LOW, and therefore, SAD is expected to provide useful hints for SKA1-LOW.

  14. Harvesting Low-Frequency (<5 Hz) Irregular Mechanical Energy: A Possible Killer Application of Triboelectric Nanogenerator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zi, Yunlong; Guo, Hengyu; Wen, Zhen; Yeh, Min-Hsin; Hu, Chenguo; Wang, Zhong Lin

    2016-04-26

    Electromagnetic generators (EMGs) and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are the two most powerful approaches for harvesting ambient mechanical energy, but the effectiveness of each depends on the triggering frequency. Here, after systematically comparing the performances of EMGs and TENGs under low-frequency motion (frequency, while that of TENGs is approximately in proportion to the frequency. Therefore, the TENG has a much better performance than that of the EMG at low frequency (typically 0.1-3 Hz). Importantly, the extremely small output voltage of the EMG at low frequency makes it almost inapplicable to drive any electronic unit that requires a certain threshold voltage (∼0.2-4 V), so that most of the harvested energy is wasted. In contrast, a TENG has an output voltage that is usually high enough (>10-100 V) and independent of frequency so that most of the generated power can be effectively used to power the devices. Furthermore, a TENG also has advantages of light weight, low cost, and easy scale up through advanced structure designs. All these merits verify the possible killer application of a TENG for harvesting energy at low frequency from motions such as human motions for powering small electronics and possibly ocean waves for large-scale blue energy.

  15. Power system low frequency oscillation monitoring and analysis based on multi-signal online identification

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2010-01-01

    The advance in the wide-area measurement system (WAMS) is driving the power system to the trend of wide-area monitoring and control.The Prony method is usually used for low frequency oscillation online identification.However,the identified amplitude and phase information is not sufficiently used.In this paper,the amplitude is adopted to detect the occurrence of the oscillation and to obtain the mode observability of the sites.The phase is adopted to identify the oscillation generator grouping and to obtain the mode shapes.The time varying characteristics of low frequency oscillations are studied.The behaviors and the characters of low frequency oscillations are displayed by dynamic visual techniques.Demonstrations on the "11.9" low frequency oscillation of the Guizhou Power Grid substantiate the feasibility and the validation of the proposed methods.

  16. Adaptive beamforming for low frequency SAS imagery and bathymetry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hayes, M.P.; Hunter, A.J.

    2012-01-01

    Synthetic aperture side-scan sonar (SAS) is a mature technology for high-resolution sea floor imaging [1]. Interferometric synthetic aperture sonars (InSAS) use additional hydrophones in a vertical array for bathymetric mapping [2]. This has created high-resolution bathymetry in deep water

  17. The Relationship Between Low-Frequency Motions and Community Structure of Residue Network in Protein Molecules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Weitao

    2018-01-01

    The global shape of a protein molecule is believed to be dominant in determining low-frequency deformational motions. However, how structure dynamics relies on residue interactions remains largely unknown. The global residue community structure and the local residue interactions are two important coexisting factors imposing significant effects on low-frequency normal modes. In this work, an algorithm for community structure partition is proposed by integrating Miyazawa-Jernigan empirical potential energy as edge weight. A sensitivity parameter is defined to measure the effect of local residue interaction on low-frequency movement. We show that community structure is a more fundamental feature of residue contact networks. Moreover, we surprisingly find that low-frequency normal mode eigenvectors are sensitive to some local critical residue interaction pairs (CRIPs). A fair amount of CRIPs act as bridges and hold distributed structure components into a unified tertiary structure by bonding nearby communities. Community structure analysis and CRIP detection of 116 catalytic proteins reveal that breaking up of a CRIP can cause low-frequency allosteric movement of a residue at the far side of protein structure. The results imply that community structure and CRIP may be the structural basis for low-frequency motions.

  18. The rapamycin-binding domain of the protein kinase mammalian target of rapamycin is a destabilizing domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Sarah R; Wandless, Thomas J

    2007-05-04

    Rapamycin is an immunosuppressive drug that binds simultaneously to the 12-kDa FK506- and rapamycin-binding protein (FKBP12, or FKBP) and the FKBP-rapamycin binding (FRB) domain of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase. The resulting ternary complex has been used to conditionally perturb protein function, and one such method involves perturbation of a protein of interest through its mislocalization. We synthesized two rapamycin derivatives that possess large substituents at the C-16 position within the FRB-binding interface, and these derivatives were screened against a library of FRB mutants using a three-hybrid assay in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Several FRB mutants responded to one of the rapamycin derivatives, and twenty of these mutants were further characterized in mammalian cells. The mutants most responsive to the ligand were fused to yellow fluorescent protein, and fluorescence levels in the presence and absence of the ligand were measured to determine stability of the fusion proteins. Wild-type and mutant FRB domains were expressed at low levels in the absence of the rapamycin derivative, and expression levels rose up to 10-fold upon treatment with ligand. The synthetic rapamycin derivatives were further analyzed using quantitative mass spectrometry, and one of the compounds was found to contain contaminating rapamycin. Furthermore, uncontaminated analogs retained the ability to inhibit mTOR, although with diminished potency relative to rapamycin. The ligand-dependent stability displayed by wild-type FRB and FRB mutants as well as the inhibitory potential and purity of the rapamycin derivatives should be considered as potentially confounding experimental variables when using these systems.

  19. Dielectric response of KCN crystals at ultra-low frequencies

    OpenAIRE

    Ziemath, Ervino C.; Aegerter, Michel A.; Slaets, J.

    1987-01-01

    We describe an ultra low frequency equipment employing programmable digital technique. The system is used to measure the dielectric parameters et, en and tg d or pure KCN crystals as a function of temperature in the frequency range 10-2 Hz to 40 Hz. The relaxation time of the Cn dipoles presents a classical temperature activated reorientation behaviour characterized by an Arrhenius law t=to exp (U/kT) with t0=7,26 x 10-15 s and U = 0,147 eV.

  20. Major enhancement of extra-low-frequency radiation by increasing the high-frequency heating wave power in electrojet modulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuo, S.P.; Lee, S.H.; Kossey, Paul

    2002-01-01

    Extra-low-frequency (ELF) wave generation by modulated polar electrojet currents is studied. The amplitude-modulated high-frequency (HF) heating wave excites a stimulated thermal instability to enhance the electrojet current modulation by the passive Ohmic heating process. Inelastic collisions of electrons with neutral particles (mainly due to vibrational excitation of N 2 ) damp nonlinearly this instability, which is normally saturated at low levels. However, the electron's inelastic collision loss rate drops rapidly to a low value in the energy regime from 3.5 to 6 eV. As the power of the modulated HF heating wave exceeds a threshold level, it is shown that significant electron heating enhanced by the stimulated thermal instability can indeed cause a steep drop in the electron inelastic collision loss rate. Consequently, this instability saturates at a much higher level, resulting to a near step increase (of about 10-13 dB, depending on the modulation wave form) in the spectral intensity of ELF radiation. The dependence of the threshold power of the HF heating wave on the modulation frequency is determined

  1. DC response of dust to low frequency AC signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKinlay, Michael; Konopka, Uwe; Thomas, Edward

    2017-10-01

    Macroscopic changes in the shape and equilibrium position of clouds of charged microparticles suspended in a plasma have been observed in response to low frequency AC signals. In these experiments, dusty plasmas consisting of 2-micron diameter silica microspheres suspended between an anode and cathode in an argon, DC glow discharge plasma are produced in a grounded, 6-way cross vacuum chamber. An AC signal, produced by a function generator and amplified by a bipolar op-amp, is superimposed onto the potential from the cathode. The frequencies of the applied AC signals, ranging from tens to hundreds of kHz, are comparable to the ion-neutral collision frequency; well below the ion/electron plasma frequencies, but also considerably higher than the dust plasma frequency. This presentation will detail the experimental setup, present documentation and categorization of observations of the dust response, and present an initial model of the response. This work is supported by funding from the US Dept. of Energy, Grant Number DE-SC0016330, and by the National Science Foundation, Grant Number PHY-1613087.

  2. Low-Frequency Interlayer Raman Modes to Probe Interface of Twisted Bilayer MoS2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Shengxi; Liang, Liangbo; Ling, Xi; Puretzky, Alexander A; Geohegan, David B; Sumpter, Bobby G; Kong, Jing; Meunier, Vincent; Dresselhaus, Mildred S

    2016-02-10

    van der Waals homo- and heterostructures assembled by stamping monolayers together present optoelectronic properties suitable for diverse applications. Understanding the details of the interlayer stacking and resulting coupling is crucial for tuning these properties. We investigated the low-frequency interlayer shear and breathing Raman modes (frequency and intensity changes of low-frequency modes. The frequency variation can be up to 8 cm(-1) and the intensity can vary by a factor of ∼5 for twisting angles near 0° and 60°, where the stacking is a mixture of high-symmetry stacking patterns and is thus sensitive to twisting. For twisting angles between 20° and 40°, the interlayer coupling is nearly constant because the stacking results in mismatched lattices over the entire sample. It follows that the Raman signature is relatively uniform. Note that for some samples, multiple breathing mode peaks appear, indicating nonuniform coupling across the interface. In contrast to the low-frequency interlayer modes, high-frequency intralayer Raman modes are much less sensitive to interlayer stacking and coupling. This research demonstrates the effectiveness of low-frequency Raman modes for probing the interfacial coupling and environment of twisted bilayer MoS2 and potentially other two-dimensional materials and heterostructures.

  3. Autonomic nervous system activity in purebred Arabian horses evaluated according to the low frequency and high frequency spectrum versus racing performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iwona Janczarek

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Emotional excitability influences horses’ performance in sports and races. The aim of the study was to analyse whether the balance of the autonomic system which can occur when sympathetic system activity is at various levels might impact the horses’ racing performance. The study was carried out on 67 purebred Arabian horses trained for racing. The following indices were analysed: low frequency (LF, high frequency (HF, and the ratio of spectrum power at low frequencies to high frequencies (LF/HF. The autonomic nervous system activity was measured × 3 during the training season, at three-month intervals. Each examination included a 30-min measurement at rest and after a training session. The racing performance indices in these horses were also analysed. Better racing results were found in horses with enhanced LF/HF. The worst racing results were determined in horses with low LF.

  4. Polymorph characterization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) using low-frequency Raman spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larkin, Peter J; Dabros, Marta; Sarsfield, Beth; Chan, Eric; Carriere, James T; Smith, Brian C

    2014-01-01

    Polymorph detection, identification, and quantitation in crystalline materials are of great importance to the pharmaceutical industry. Vibrational spectroscopic techniques used for this purpose include Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and terahertz (THz) and far-infrared (FIR) spectroscopy. Typically, the fundamental molecular vibrations accessed using high-frequency Raman and MIR spectroscopy or the overtone and combination of bands in the NIR spectra are used to monitor the solid-state forms of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The local environmental sensitivity of the fundamental molecular vibrations provides an indirect probe of the long-range order in molecular crystals. However, low-frequency vibrational spectroscopy provides access to the lattice vibrations of molecular crystals and, hence, has the potential to more directly probe intermolecular interactions in the solid state. Recent advances in filter technology enable high-quality, low-frequency Raman spectra to be acquired using a single-stage spectrograph. This innovation enables the cost-effective collection of high-quality Raman spectra in the 200-10 cm(-1) region. In this study, we demonstrate the potential of low-frequency Raman spectroscopy for the polymorphic characterization of APIs. This approach provides several benefits over existing techniques, including ease of sampling and more intense, information-rich band structures that can potentially discriminate among crystalline forms. An improved understanding of the relationship between the crystalline structure and the low-frequency vibrational spectrum is needed for the more widespread use of the technique.

  5. Characteristics of low-frequency components of the near-bottom current in the Chinese Pioneer Area

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LIANG Chujin; HOU Yijun; CHEN Qi; DONG Ruzhou; DONG Lixian

    2004-01-01

    Two deep-sea moorings were deployed respectively in the east area and the west area of Chinese Pioneer Area (CPA) in the tropic east Pacific to monitor the regional deep-sea dynamics below 600 meters above bottom (mab) from July 1997 to Oct. 1999. Results of statistics, spectral estimate and correlation analysis of the low-passed velocity data show that time scales of low-frequency components of the near-bottom currents are 25~120 days, in which 51-day period dominates the lower band of the frequency domain. Topographic features have obvious effect on low-frequency currents below 50 mab; modulations of the bottom-intensified sheared mean flow to the low-frequency currents are the dynamic mechanism of the frequency shift that occurs in both the east-area and the west-area.

  6. Large Amplitude Low Frequency Waves in a Magnetized Nonuniform Electron-Positron-Ion Plasma

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Q. Haque; H. Saleem

    2004-01-01

    @@ It is shown that the large amplitude low-frequency electromagnetic drift waves in electron-positron-ion plasmas might give rise to dipolar vortices. A linear dispersion relation of several coupled electrostatic and electromagnetic low-frequency modes is obtained. The relevance of this work to both laboratory and astrophysical situations is pointed out.

  7. The low frequency 2D vibration sensor based on flat coil element

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Djamal, Mitra; Sanjaya, Edi; Islahudin; Ramli [Department of Physics, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesa 10 Bandung 40116 (Indonesia); Department of Physics, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesa 10 Bandung 40116 (Indonesia) and Department of Physics, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jl. Ir.H. Djuanda 95 Ciputat 15412 (Indonesia); MTs NW Nurul Iman Kembang Kerang, Jl. Raya Mataram - Lb.Lombok, NTB (Indonesia); Department of Physics, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesa 10 Bandung 40116 (Indonesia) and Department of Physics,Universitas Negeri Padang, Jl. Prof. Hamka, Padang 25132 (Indonesia)

    2012-06-20

    Vibration like an earthquake is a phenomenon of physics. The characteristics of these vibrations can be used as an early warning system so as to reduce the loss or damage caused by earthquakes. In this paper, we introduced a new type of low frequency 2D vibration sensor based on flat coil element that we have developed. Its working principle is based on position change of a seismic mass that put in front of a flat coil element. The flat coil is a part of a LC oscillator; therefore, the change of seismic mass position will change its resonance frequency. The results of measurements of low frequency vibration sensor in the direction of the x axis and y axis gives the frequency range between 0.2 to 1.0 Hz.

  8. Configuration Considerations for Low Frequency Arrays

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lonsdale, C. J.

    2005-12-01

    The advance of digital signal processing capabilities has spurred a new effort to exploit the lowest radio frequencies observable from the ground, from ˜10 MHz to a few hundred MHz. Multiple scientifically and technically complementary instruments are planned, including the Mileura Widefield Array (MWA) in the 80-300 MHz range, and the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) in the 20-80 MHz range. The latter instrument will target relatively high angular resolution, and baselines up to a few hundred km. An important practical question for the design of such an array is how to distribute the collecting area on the ground. The answer to this question profoundly affects both cost and performance. In this contribution, the factors which determine the anticipated performance of any such array are examined, paying particular attention to the viability and accuracy of array calibration. It is argued that due to the severity of ionospheric effects in particular, it will be difficult or impossible to achieve routine, high dynamic range imaging with a geographically large low frequency array, unless a large number of physically separate array stations is built. This conclusion is general, is based on the need for adequate sampling of ionospheric irregularities, and is independent of the calibration algorithms and techniques that might be employed. It is further argued that array configuration figures of merit that are traditionally used for higher frequency arrays are inappropriate, and a different set of criteria are proposed.

  9. Comparison of spatial frequency domain features for the detection of side attack explosive ballistics in synthetic aperture acoustics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dowdy, Josh; Anderson, Derek T.; Luke, Robert H.; Ball, John E.; Keller, James M.; Havens, Timothy C.

    2016-05-01

    Explosive hazards in current and former conflict zones are a threat to both military and civilian personnel. As a result, much effort has been dedicated to identifying automated algorithms and systems to detect these threats. However, robust detection is complicated due to factors like the varied composition and anatomy of such hazards. In order to solve this challenge, a number of platforms (vehicle-based, handheld, etc.) and sensors (infrared, ground penetrating radar, acoustics, etc.) are being explored. In this article, we investigate the detection of side attack explosive ballistics via a vehicle-mounted acoustic sensor. In particular, we explore three acoustic features, one in the time domain and two on synthetic aperture acoustic (SAA) beamformed imagery. The idea is to exploit the varying acoustic frequency profile of a target due to its unique geometry and material composition with respect to different viewing angles. The first two features build their angle specific frequency information using a highly constrained subset of the signal data and the last feature builds its frequency profile using all available signal data for a given region of interest (centered on the candidate target location). Performance is assessed in the context of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves on cross-validation experiments for data collected at a U.S. Army test site on different days with multiple target types and clutter. Our preliminary results are encouraging and indicate that the top performing feature is the unrolled two dimensional discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of SAA beamformed imagery.

  10. Reproducibility of frequency-dependent low frequency fluctuations in reaction time over time and across tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zan-Zan; Qu, Hui-Jie; Tian, Zhuo-Ling; Han, Meng-Jian; Fan, Yi; Ge, Lie-Zhong; Zang, Yu-Feng; Zhang, Hang

    2017-01-01

    Increased levels of reaction time variability (RTV) are characteristics of sustained attention deficits. The clinical significance of RTV has been widely recognized. However, the reliability of RTV measurements has not been widely studied. The present study aimed to assess the test-retest reliability of RTV conventional measurements, e.g., the standard deviation (SD), the coefficient of variation (CV), and a new measurement called the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of RT. In addition, we aimed to assess differences and similarities of these measurements between different tasks. Thirty-seven healthy college students participated in 2 tasks, i.e., an Eriksen flanker task (EFT) and a simple reaction task (SRT), twice over a mean interval of 56 days. Conventional measurements of RTV including RT-SD and RT-CV were assessed first. Then the RT time series were converted into frequency domains, and RT-ALFF was further calculated for the whole frequency band (0.0023-0.167 Hz) and for a few sub-frequency bands including Slow-6 (frequency bands (Slow-3), but SRT RT-ALFF values showed slightly higher ICC values than EFT values in lower frequency bands (Slow-5 and Slow-4). 2) RT-ALFF magnitudes in each sub-frequency band were greater for the SRT than those for the EFT. 3) The RT-ALFF in the Slow-4 of the EFT was found to be correlated with the RT-ALFF in the Slow-5 of the SRT for both two visits, but no consistently significant correlation was found between the same frequency bands. These findings reveal good test-retest reliability for conventional measurements and for the RT-ALFF of RTV. The RT-ALFF presented frequency-dependent similarities across tasks. All of our results reveal the presence of different frequency structures between the two tasks, and thus the frequency-dependent characteristics of different tasks deserve more attention in future studies.

  11. Ultra-low-frequency electrostatic modes in a magnetized dusty plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salimullah, M.; Amin, M.R.; Roy Chowdhury, A.R.; Salahuddin, M.

    1997-11-01

    A study on the extremely low-frequency possible electrostatic modes in a finite temperature magnetized dusty plasma taking the charged dust grains as the third component has been carried out using the appropriate Vlasov-kinetic theory for the dynamics of the electrons, ions and the dust particles. It is found that the inequalities of charge and number density of plasma species, and the finite-Larmor-radius thermal kinetic effects of the mobile charged dust grains, introduce the existence of very low-frequency electrostatic eigenmodes in the three-component homogeneous magnetized dusty plasma. The relevance of the present investigation to space and astrophysical situations as well as laboratory experiments for dust Coulomb crystallization has been pointed out. (author)

  12. Interocular transfer of spatial adaptation is weak at low spatial frequencies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Daniel H; Meese, Tim S

    2012-06-15

    Adapting one eye to a high contrast grating reduces sensitivity to similar target gratings shown to the same eye, and also to those shown to the opposite eye. According to the textbook account, interocular transfer (IOT) of adaptation is around 60% of the within-eye effect. However, most previous studies on this were limited to using high spatial frequencies, sustained presentation, and criterion-dependent methods for assessing threshold. Here, we measure IOT across a wide range of spatiotemporal frequencies, using a criterion-free 2AFC method. We find little or no IOT at low spatial frequencies, consistent with other recent observations. At higher spatial frequencies, IOT was present, but weaker than previously reported (around 35%, on average, at 8c/deg). Across all conditions, monocular adaptation raised thresholds by around a factor of 2, and observers showed normal binocular summation, demonstrating that they were not binocularly compromised. These findings prompt a reassessment of our understanding of the binocular architecture implied by interocular adaptation. In particular, the output of monocular channels may be available to perceptual decision making at low spatial frequencies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. A spatial picture of the synthetic large-scale motion from dynamic roughness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huynh, David; McKeon, Beverley

    2017-11-01

    Jacobi and McKeon (2011) set up a dynamic roughness apparatus to excite a synthetic, travelling wave-like disturbance in a wind tunnel, boundary layer study. In the present work, this dynamic roughness has been adapted for a flat-plate, turbulent boundary layer experiment in a water tunnel. A key advantage of operating in water as opposed to air is the longer flow timescales. This makes accessible higher non-dimensional actuation frequencies and correspondingly shorter synthetic length scales, and is thus more amenable to particle image velocimetry. As a result, this experiment provides a novel spatial picture of the synthetic mode, the coupled small scales, and their streamwise development. It is demonstrated that varying the roughness actuation frequency allows for significant tuning of the streamwise wavelength of the synthetic mode, with a range of 3 δ-13 δ being achieved. Employing a phase-locked decomposition, spatial snapshots are constructed of the synthetic large scale and used to analyze its streamwise behavior. Direct spatial filtering is used to separate the synthetic large scale and the related small scales, and the results are compared to those obtained by temporal filtering that invokes Taylor's hypothesis. The support of AFOSR (Grant # FA9550-16-1-0361) is gratefully acknowledged.

  14. Multiscale energy reallocation during low-frequency steady-state brain response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yifeng; Chen, Wang; Ye, Liangkai; Biswal, Bharat B; Yang, Xuezhi; Zou, Qijun; Yang, Pu; Yang, Qi; Wang, Xinqi; Cui, Qian; Duan, Xujun; Liao, Wei; Chen, Huafu

    2018-05-01

    Traditional task-evoked brain activations are based on detection and estimation of signal change from the mean signal. By contrast, the low-frequency steady-state brain response (lfSSBR) reflects frequency-tagging activity at the fundamental frequency of the task presentation and its harmonics. Compared to the activity at these resonant frequencies, brain responses at nonresonant frequencies are largely unknown. Additionally, because the lfSSBR is defined by power change, we hypothesize using Parseval's theorem that the power change reflects brain signal variability rather than the change of mean signal. Using a face recognition task, we observed power increase at the fundamental frequency (0.05 Hz) and two harmonics (0.1 and 0.15 Hz) and power decrease within the infra-slow frequency band ( .955) of their spatial distribution and brain-behavior relationship at all frequency bands. Additionally, the reallocation of finite energy was observed across various brain regions and frequency bands, forming a particular spatiotemporal pattern. Overall, results from this study strongly suggest that frequency-specific power and variability may measure the same underlying brain activity and that these results may shed light on different mechanisms between lfSSBR and brain activation, and spatiotemporal characteristics of energy reallocation induced by cognitive tasks. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Low-frequency high-definition power Doppler in visualizing and defining fetal pulmonary venous connections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Lin; He, Yihua; Li, Zhian; Gu, Xiaoyan; Zhang, Ye; Zhang, Lianzhong

    2014-07-01

    The use of low-frequency high-definition power Doppler in assessing and defining pulmonary venous connections was investigated. Study A included 260 fetuses at gestational ages ranging from 18 to 36 weeks. Pulmonary veins were assessed by performing two-dimensional B-mode imaging, color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI), and low-frequency high-definition power Doppler. A score of 1 was assigned if one pulmonary vein was visualized, 2 if two pulmonary veins were visualized, 3 if three pulmonary veins were visualized, and 4 if four pulmonary veins were visualized. The detection rate between Exam-1 and Exam-2 (intra-observer variability) and between Exam-1 and Exam-3 (inter-observer variability) was compared. In study B, five cases with abnormal pulmonary venous connection were diagnosed and compared to their anatomical examination. In study A, there was a significant difference between CDFI and low-frequency high-definition power Doppler for the four pulmonary veins observed (P low-frequency high-definition power Doppler was higher than that when employing two-dimensional B-mode imaging or CDFI. There was no significant difference between the intra- and inter-observer variabilities using low-frequency high-definition power Doppler display of pulmonary veins (P > 0.05). The coefficient correlation between Exam-1 and Exam-2 was 0.844, and the coefficient correlation between Exam-1 and Exam-3 was 0.821. In study B, one case of total anomalous pulmonary venous return and four cases of partial anomalous pulmonary venous return were diagnosed by low-frequency high-definition power Doppler and confirmed by autopsy. The assessment of pulmonary venous connections by low-frequency high-definition power Doppler is advantageous. Pulmonary venous anatomy can and should be monitored during fetal heart examination.

  16. Synthetic CT: Simulating low dose single and dual energy protocols from a dual energy scan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Adam S.; Pelc, Norbert J.

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The choice of CT protocol can greatly impact patient dose and image quality. Since acquiring multiple scans at different techniques on a given patient is undesirable, the ability to predict image quality changes starting from a high quality exam can be quite useful. While existing methods allow one to generate simulated images of lower exposure (mAs) from an acquired CT exam, the authors present and validate a new method called synthetic CT that can generate realistic images of a patient at arbitrary low dose protocols (kVp, mAs, and filtration) for both single and dual energy scans. Methods: The synthetic CT algorithm is derived by carefully ensuring that the expected signal and noise are accurate for the simulated protocol. The method relies on the observation that the material decomposition from a dual energy CT scan allows the transmission of an arbitrary spectrum to be predicted. It requires an initial dual energy scan of the patient to either synthesize raw projections of a single energy scan or synthesize the material decompositions of a dual energy scan. The initial dual energy scan contributes inherent noise to the synthesized projections that must be accounted for before adding more noise to simulate low dose protocols. Therefore, synthetic CT is subject to the constraint that the synthesized data have noise greater than the inherent noise. The authors experimentally validated the synthetic CT algorithm across a range of protocols using a dual energy scan of an acrylic phantom with solutions of different iodine concentrations. An initial 80/140 kVp dual energy scan of the phantom provided the material decomposition necessary to synthesize images at 100 kVp and at 120 kVp, across a range of mAs values. They compared these synthesized single energy scans of the phantom to actual scans at the same protocols. Furthermore, material decompositions of a 100/120 kVp dual energy scan are synthesized by adding correlated noise to the initial material

  17. Multifaceted roles for low-frequency oscillations in bottom-up and top-down processing during navigation and memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ekstrom, Arne D; Watrous, Andrew J

    2014-01-15

    A prominent and replicated finding is the correlation between running speed and increases in low-frequency oscillatory activity in the hippocampal local field potential. A more recent finding concerns low-frequency oscillations that increase in coherence between the hippocampus and neocortical brain areas such as prefrontal cortex during memory-related behaviors (i.e., remembering the correct location to visit). In this review, we tie together movement-related and memory-related low-frequency oscillations in the rodent with similar findings in humans. We argue that although movement-related low-frequency oscillations, in particular, may have slightly different characteristics in humans than rodents, placing important constraints on our thinking about this issue, both phenomena have similar functional foundations. We review four prominent theoretical models that provide partially conflicting accounts of movement-related low-frequency oscillations. We attempt to tie together these theoretical proposals, and existing data in rodents and humans, with memory-related low-frequency oscillations. We propose that movement-related low-frequency oscillations and memory-related low-frequency oscillatory activity, both of which show significant coherence with oscillations in other brain regions, represent different facets of "spectral fingerprints," or different resonant frequencies within the same brain networks underlying different cognitive processes. Together, movement-related and memory-related low-frequency oscillatory coupling may be linked by their distinct contributions to bottom-up, sensorimotor driven processing and top-down, controlled processing characterizing aspects of memory encoding and retrieval. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  18. Experimental investigation on low-frequency vibration assisted micro-WEDM of Inconel 718

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deepak Rajendra Unune

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The micro-wire electric discharge machining (micro-WEDM has emerged as the popular micromachining processes for fabrication of micro-features. However, the low machining rate and poor surface finish are restricting wide applications of this process. Therefore, in this study, an attempt was made to improve machining rate of micro-WEDM with low-frequency workpiece vibration assistance. The gap voltage, capacitance, feed rate and vibrational frequency were chosen as control factors, whereas, the material removal rate (MRR and kerf width were selected as performance measures while fabricating microchannels in Inconel 718. It was observed that in micro-WEDM, the capacitance is the most significant factor affecting both MRR and kerf width. It was witnessed that the low-frequency workpiece vibration improves the performance of micro-WEDM by improving the MRR due to enhanced flushing conditions and reduced electrode-workpiece adhesion.

  19. Effects of low frequency electromagnetic field on ankle joint swelling of ankle joint sprain and bruise%低频电磁场减轻踝关节扭挫伤患者肿胀疼痛的疗效观察

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    姜乃明; 张宝芬; 祁欣; 范剑非

    2002-01-01

    Background: Main symptoms of ankle joint sprain and bruise are local swelling, pain and dysfunction. Aim of physical therapy is to reduce swelling and ease pain and resume walking function. Magnetic therapy has effects of reducing swelling and easing pain and promoting local blood circulation. Low frequency electromagnetic field has synthetic treatment function of magnetic heat and concussion massage. But the curative effects are different as the differences of working condition and shaking strength of magnetic head. Objective:To compare curative effects of low frequency full wave and half wave magnetic field on ankle joint swelling of ankle joint sprain and bruise. Unit: Department of Physical Therapy of General Hospital of Shenyang Military District.

  20. Low frequency interference between short synchrotron radiation sources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Méot

    2001-06-01

    Full Text Available A recently developed analytical formalism describing low frequency far-field synchrotron radiation (SR is applied to the calculation of spectral angular radiation densities from interfering short sources (edge, short magnet. This is illustrated by analytical calculation of synchrotron radiation from various assemblies of short dipoles, including an “isolated” highest density infrared SR source.

  1. Two-dimensional concentrated-stress low-frequency piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sharpes, Nathan [Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems (CEHMS), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 (United States); Abdelkefi, Abdessattar [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003 (United States); Priya, Shashank [Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems (CEHMS), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 (United States); Bio-Inspired Materials and Devices Laboratory (BMDL), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 (United States)

    2015-08-31

    Vibration-based energy harvesters using piezoelectric materials have long made use of the cantilever beam structure. Surmounting the deficiencies in one-dimensional cantilever-based energy harvesters has been a major focus in the literature. In this work, we demonstrate a strategy of using two-dimensional beam shapes to harvest energy from low frequency excitations. A characteristic Zigzag-shaped beam is created to compare against the two proposed two-dimensional beam shapes, all of which occupy a 25.4 × 25.4 mm{sup 2} area. In addition to maintaining the low-resonance bending frequency, the proposed beam shapes are designed with the goal of realizing a concentrated stress structure, whereby stress in the beam is concentrated in a single area where a piezoelectric layer may be placed, rather than being distributed throughout the beam. It is shown analytically, numerically, and experimentally that one of the proposed harvesters is able to provide significant increase in power production, when the base acceleration is set equal to 0.1 g, with only a minimal change in the resonant frequency compared to the current state-of-the-art Zigzag shape. This is accomplished by eliminating torsional effects, producing a more pure bending motion that is necessary for high electromechanical coupling. In addition, the proposed harvesters have a large effective beam tip whereby large tip mass may be placed while retaining a low-profile, resulting in a low volume harvester and subsequently large power density.

  2. Measurement of whole blood of different mammalian species in the oscillating shear field: influence of erythrocyte aggregation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Windberger, U; Pöschl, Ch; Peters, S; Huber, J; Van den Hoven, R

    2017-01-01

    This is the first systematic analysis of mammalian blood of species with a high (horse), medium (man), and low (sheep) erythrocyte (RBC) aggregability by small amplitude oscillation technique. Amplitude and frequency sweep tests (linear viscoelastic mode) were performed with blood from healthy adult volunteers, horses, and sheep in CSS-mode. Blood samples were hematocrit (HCT) adjusted (40%, 50%, 60%) and tested at 7°C, 22°C, and 37°C. Generally, storage modulus (G´) increased with HCT and decreased with temperature in each species, but the gradient of this increase was species-specific. The lower dependency of G´ on the equine HCT value could be a benefit during physical performance when high numbers of RBCs are released from the spleen. In sheep, an HCT-threshold had to be overcome before the desired quasi-static condition of the blood sample could be achieved, suggesting that the contact between RBCs, and between RBCs and plasma molecules must be very low. The frequencies for tests under linear viscoelastic condition were in a narrow range around the physiologic heart rate of the species. In horse, time-dependent influences concurred at frequencies lower than 3 rad.s -1 probably due to sedimentation of RBC aggregates. In conclusion, blood is a fragile suspension that shows its best stability around the resting heart rate of the species. (paper)

  3. Measurement of whole blood of different mammalian species in the oscillating shear field: influence of erythrocyte aggregation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Windberger, U.; Pöschl, Ch; Peters, S.; Huber, J.; van den Hoven, R.

    2017-01-01

    This is the first systematic analysis of mammalian blood of species with a high (horse), medium (man), and low (sheep) erythrocyte (RBC) aggregability by small amplitude oscillation technique. Amplitude and frequency sweep tests (linear viscoelastic mode) were performed with blood from healthy adult volunteers, horses, and sheep in CSS-mode. Blood samples were hematocrit (HCT) adjusted (40%, 50%, 60%) and tested at 7°C, 22°C, and 37°C. Generally, storage modulus (G´) increased with HCT and decreased with temperature in each species, but the gradient of this increase was species-specific. The lower dependency of G´ on the equine HCT value could be a benefit during physical performance when high numbers of RBCs are released from the spleen. In sheep, an HCT-threshold had to be overcome before the desired quasi-static condition of the blood sample could be achieved, suggesting that the contact between RBCs, and between RBCs and plasma molecules must be very low. The frequencies for tests under linear viscoelastic condition were in a narrow range around the physiologic heart rate of the species. In horse, time-dependent influences concurred at frequencies lower than 3 rad.s-1probably due to sedimentation of RBC aggregates. In conclusion, blood is a fragile suspension that shows its best stability around the resting heart rate of the species.

  4. Effective deep brain stimulation suppresses low frequency network oscillations in the basal ganglia by regularizing neural firing patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    McConnell, George C.; So, Rosa Q.; Hilliard, Justin D; Lopomo, Paola; Grill, Warren M.

    2012-01-01

    Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an effective treatment for the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The effects of DBS depend strongly on stimulation frequency: high frequencies (>90Hz) improve motor symptoms, while low frequencies (basal ganglia were studied in the unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rat model of PD. Only high frequency DBS reversed motor symptoms and the effectiveness of DBS depended strongly on stimulation frequency in a manner reminiscent of its clinical effects in persons with PD. Quantification of single-unit activity in the globus pallidus externa (GPe) and substantia nigra reticulata (SNr) revealed that high frequency DBS, but not low frequency DBS, reduced pathological low frequency oscillations (~9Hz) and entrained neurons to fire at the stimulation frequency. Similarly, the coherence between simultaneously recorded pairs of neurons within and across GPe and SNr shifted from the pathological low frequency band to the stimulation frequency during high frequency DBS, but not during low frequency DBS. The changes in firing patterns in basal ganglia neurons were not correlated with changes in firing rate. These results indicate that high frequency DBS is more effective than low frequency DBS, not as a result of changes in firing rate, but rather due to its ability to replace pathological low frequency network oscillations with a regularized pattern of neuronal firing. PMID:23136407

  5. Effective deep brain stimulation suppresses low-frequency network oscillations in the basal ganglia by regularizing neural firing patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McConnell, George C; So, Rosa Q; Hilliard, Justin D; Lopomo, Paola; Grill, Warren M

    2012-11-07

    Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an effective treatment for the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). The effects of DBS depend strongly on stimulation frequency: high frequencies (>90 Hz) improve motor symptoms, while low frequencies (basal ganglia were studied in the unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rat model of PD. Only high-frequency DBS reversed motor symptoms, and the effectiveness of DBS depended strongly on stimulation frequency in a manner reminiscent of its clinical effects in persons with PD. Quantification of single-unit activity in the globus pallidus externa (GPe) and substantia nigra reticulata (SNr) revealed that high-frequency DBS, but not low-frequency DBS, reduced pathological low-frequency oscillations (∼9 Hz) and entrained neurons to fire at the stimulation frequency. Similarly, the coherence between simultaneously recorded pairs of neurons within and across GPe and SNr shifted from the pathological low-frequency band to the stimulation frequency during high-frequency DBS, but not during low-frequency DBS. The changes in firing patterns in basal ganglia neurons were not correlated with changes in firing rate. These results indicate that high-frequency DBS is more effective than low-frequency DBS, not as a result of changes in firing rate, but rather due to its ability to replace pathological low-frequency network oscillations with a regularized pattern of neuronal firing.

  6. The Noisiness of Low Frequency Bands of Noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawton, B. W.

    1975-01-01

    The relative noisiness of low frequency 1/3-octave bands of noise was examined. The frequency range investigated was bounded by the bands centered at 25 and 200 Hz, with intensities ranging from 50 to 95 db (SPL). Thirty-two subjects used a method of adjustment technique, producing comparison band intensities as noisy as 100 and 200 Hz standard bands at 60 and 72 db. The work resulted in contours of equal noisiness for 1/3-octave bands, ranging in intensity from approximately 58 to 86 db (SPL). These contours were compared with the standard equal noisiness contours; in the region of overlap, between 50 and 200 Hz, the agreement was good.

  7. LOMEGA: a low frequency, field implicit method for plasma simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barnes, D.C.; Kamimura, T.

    1982-04-01

    Field implicit methods for low frequency plasma simulation by the LOMEGA (Low OMEGA) codes are described. These implicit field methods may be combined with particle pushing algorithms using either Lorentz force or guiding center force models to study two-dimensional, magnetized, electrostatic plasmas. Numerical results for ωsub(e)deltat>>1 are described. (author)

  8. Low-Frequency Volatility in China’s Gold Futures Market and Its Macroeconomic Determinants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Song Liu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available We extract low- and high-frequency volatility from China’s Shanghai gold futures market using an asymmetric Spline-GARCH (ASP-GARCH model. We then regress monthly low-frequency volatility on selected monthly macroeconomic indicators to study the impact of macroeconomy on gold futures market and to test for excess volatility. Our main result is volatility in China’s Shanghai gold futures market resulting from both macroeconomic fluctuations and investor behaviour. Chinese Consumer Price Index Volatility and US dollar volatility are the two main determinants of low-frequency gold volatility. We also find significant evidence of excess volatility, which can in part be explained in terms of loss-aversive investor behaviour.

  9. Frequency-dependent changes in the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in Internet gaming disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiao eLin

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Neuroimaging studies have revealed that the task-related functional brain activities are impaired in Internet gaming disorder (IGD subjects. However, little is known about the alternations in spontaneous brain activities about them. Recent studies have proposed that the brain activities of different frequency ranges are generated by different nervous activities and have different physiological and psychological functions. Thus, in this study, we set to explore the spontaneous brain activities in IGD subjects by measuring the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF, to investigate band-specific changes of resting-state fALFF. We subdivided the frequency range into five bands based on literatures. Comparing to healthy controls, the IGD group showed decreased fALFF values in the cerebellum posterior lobe and increased fALFF values in superior temporal gyrus. Significant interactions between frequency bands and groups were found in the cerebellum, the anterior cingulate, the lingual gyrus, the middle temporal gyrus and the middle frontal gyrus. Those brain regions are proved related to the executive function and decision-making. These results revealed the changed spontaneous brain activity of IGD, which contributed to understanding the underlying pathophysiology of IGD.

  10. Complexity of low-frequency blood oxygen level-dependent fluctuations covaries with local connectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Jeffrey S; Zielinski, Brandon A; Nielsen, Jared A; Ferguson, Michael A

    2014-04-01

    Very low-frequency blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) fluctuations have emerged as a valuable tool for describing brain anatomy, neuropathology, and development. Such fluctuations exhibit power law frequency dynamics, with largest amplitude at lowest frequencies. The biophysical mechanisms generating such fluctuations are poorly understood. Using publicly available data from 1,019 subjects of age 7-30, we show that BOLD fluctuations exhibit temporal complexity that is linearly related to local connectivity (regional homogeneity), consistently and significantly covarying across subjects and across gray matter regions. This relationship persisted independently of covariance with gray matter density or standard deviation of BOLD signal. During late neurodevelopment, BOLD fluctuations were unchanged with age in association cortex while becoming more random throughout the rest of the brain. These data suggest that local interconnectivity may play a key role in establishing the complexity of low-frequency BOLD fluctuations underlying functional magnetic resonance imaging connectivity. Stable low-frequency power dynamics may emerge through segmentation and integration of connectivity during development of distributed large-scale brain networks. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Multi-cavity locally resonant structure with the low frequency and broad band-gaps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiulong Jiang

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available A multi-cavity periodic structure with the characteristic of local resonance was proposed in the paper. The low frequency band-gap structure was comparatively analyzed by the finite element method (FEM and electric circuit analogy (ECA. Low frequency band-gap can be opened through the dual influence of the coupling’s resonance in the cavity and the interaction among the couplings between structures. Finally, the influence of the structural factors on the band-gap was analyzed. The results show that the structure, which is divided into three parts equally, has a broader effective band-gap below the frequency of 200 Hz. It is also proved that reducing the interval between unit structures can increase the intensity of the couplings among the structures. And in this way, the width of band-gap would be expanded significantly. Through the parameters adjustment, the structure enjoys a satisfied sound insulation effect below the frequency of 500Hz. In the area of low frequency noise reduction, the structure has a lot of potential applications.

  12. Low power fast settling multi-standard current reusing CMOS fractional-N frequency synthesizer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lou Wenfeng; Feng Peng; Wang Haiyong; Wu Nanjian

    2012-01-01

    A low power fast settling multi-standard CMOS fractional-N frequency synthesizer is proposed. The current reusing and frequency presetting techniques are adopted to realize the low power fast settling multi-standard fractional-N frequency synthesizer. An auxiliary non-volatile memory (NVM) is embedded to avoid the repetitive calibration process and to save power in practical application. This PLL is implemented in a 0.18 μm technology. The frequency range is 0.3 to 2.54 GHz and the settling time is less than 5 μs over the entire frequency range. The LC-VCO with the stacked divide-by-2 has a good figure of merit of −193.5 dBc/Hz. The measured phase noise of frequency synthesizer is about −115 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset when the carrier frequency is 2.4 GHz and the reference spurs are less than −52 dBc. The whole frequency synthesizer consumes only 4.35 mA and 1.8 V. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

  13. Low-frequency quantitative ultrasound imaging of cell death in vivo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sadeghi-Naini, Ali; Falou, Omar; Czarnota, Gregory J.; Papanicolau, Naum; Tadayyon, Hadi; Lee, Justin; Zubovits, Judit; Sadeghian, Alireza; Karshafian, Raffi; Al-Mahrouki, Azza; Giles, Anoja; Kolios, Michael C.

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: Currently, no clinical imaging modality is used routinely to assess tumor response to cancer therapies within hours to days of the delivery of treatment. Here, the authors demonstrate the efficacy of ultrasound at a clinically relevant frequency to quantitatively detect changes in tumors in response to cancer therapies using preclinical mouse models.Methods: Conventional low-frequency and corresponding high-frequency ultrasound (ranging from 4 to 28 MHz) were used along with quantitative spectroscopic and signal envelope statistical analyses on data obtained from xenograft tumors treated with chemotherapy, x-ray radiation, as well as a novel vascular targeting microbubble therapy.Results: Ultrasound-based spectroscopic biomarkers indicated significant changes in cell-death associated parameters in responsive tumors. Specifically changes in the midband fit, spectral slope, and 0-MHz intercept biomarkers were investigated for different types of treatment and demonstrated cell-death related changes. The midband fit and 0-MHz intercept biomarker derived from low-frequency data demonstrated increases ranging approximately from 0 to 6 dBr and 0 to 8 dBr, respectively, depending on treatments administrated. These data paralleled results observed for high-frequency ultrasound data. Statistical analysis of ultrasound signal envelope was performed as an alternative method to obtain histogram-based biomarkers and provided confirmatory results. Histological analysis of tumor specimens indicated up to 61% cell death present in the tumors depending on treatments administered, consistent with quantitative ultrasound findings indicating cell death. Ultrasound-based spectroscopic biomarkers demonstrated a good correlation with histological morphological findings indicative of cell death (r 2 = 0.71, 0.82; p < 0.001).Conclusions: In summary, the results provide preclinical evidence, for the first time, that quantitative ultrasound used at a clinically relevant frequency, in

  14. Low-frequency quantitative ultrasound imaging of cell death in vivo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sadeghi-Naini, Ali; Falou, Omar; Czarnota, Gregory J. [Imaging Research – Physical Science, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Papanicolau, Naum; Tadayyon, Hadi [Imaging Research – Physical Science, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5, Canada and Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Lee, Justin [Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5, Canada and Department of Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Zubovits, Judit [Department of Pathology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Sadeghian, Alireza [Department of Computer Science, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3 (Canada); Karshafian, Raffi [Department of Physics, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3 (Canada); Al-Mahrouki, Azza; Giles, Anoja [Imaging Research – Physical Science, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5, Canada and Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Kolios, Michael C. [Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5, Canada and Department of Physics, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3 (Canada)

    2013-08-15

    Purpose: Currently, no clinical imaging modality is used routinely to assess tumor response to cancer therapies within hours to days of the delivery of treatment. Here, the authors demonstrate the efficacy of ultrasound at a clinically relevant frequency to quantitatively detect changes in tumors in response to cancer therapies using preclinical mouse models.Methods: Conventional low-frequency and corresponding high-frequency ultrasound (ranging from 4 to 28 MHz) were used along with quantitative spectroscopic and signal envelope statistical analyses on data obtained from xenograft tumors treated with chemotherapy, x-ray radiation, as well as a novel vascular targeting microbubble therapy.Results: Ultrasound-based spectroscopic biomarkers indicated significant changes in cell-death associated parameters in responsive tumors. Specifically changes in the midband fit, spectral slope, and 0-MHz intercept biomarkers were investigated for different types of treatment and demonstrated cell-death related changes. The midband fit and 0-MHz intercept biomarker derived from low-frequency data demonstrated increases ranging approximately from 0 to 6 dBr and 0 to 8 dBr, respectively, depending on treatments administrated. These data paralleled results observed for high-frequency ultrasound data. Statistical analysis of ultrasound signal envelope was performed as an alternative method to obtain histogram-based biomarkers and provided confirmatory results. Histological analysis of tumor specimens indicated up to 61% cell death present in the tumors depending on treatments administered, consistent with quantitative ultrasound findings indicating cell death. Ultrasound-based spectroscopic biomarkers demonstrated a good correlation with histological morphological findings indicative of cell death (r{sup 2}= 0.71, 0.82; p < 0.001).Conclusions: In summary, the results provide preclinical evidence, for the first time, that quantitative ultrasound used at a clinically relevant frequency

  15. Electrodialytic soil remediation enhanced by low frequency pulse current

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sun, Tian R.; Ottosen, Lisbeth M.; Mortensen, John

    2013-01-01

    The effect of low frequency pulse current on decreasing the polarization and energy consumption during the process of electrodialytic soil remediation was investigated in the present work. The results indicated that the transportation of cations through the cation exchange membrane was the rate...

  16. Peculiarities of low-frequency dielectric spectra and domain wall motion in gadolinium molybdate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galiyarova, N.M.; Gorin, S.V.; Dontsova, L.I.; Shil'nikov, A.V.; Shuvalov, L.A.

    1994-01-01

    Low-frequency Debye dispersion of dielectric permeability in GMO with the low values of high-frequency limit ε ∞ was investigated in a wide temperature range as well as in fields of variable amplitude. The features of domain boundaries motion were studied at the partial repolarization in monopolar P-pulsed fields. The model of cooperationrelaxation motion brifing in parallel with positive to negative contribution to polarization that explained the low values of ε ∞ was suggested

  17. Low-frequency, low-magnitude vibrations (LFLM enhances chondrogenic differentiation potential of human adipose derived mesenchymal stromal stem cells (hASCs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Krzysztof Marycz

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate if low-frequency, low-magnitude vibrations (LFLM could enhance chondrogenic differentiation potential of human adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (hASCs with simultaneous inhibition of their adipogenic properties for biomedical purposes. We developed a prototype device that induces low-magnitude (0.3 g low-frequency vibrations with the following frequencies: 25, 35 and 45 Hz. Afterwards, we used human adipose derived mesenchymal stem cell (hASCS, to investigate their cellular response to the mechanical signals. We have also evaluated hASCs morphological and proliferative activity changes in response to each frequency. Induction of chondrogenesis in hASCs, under the influence of a 35 Hz signal leads to most effective and stable cartilaginous tissue formation through highest secretion of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 (BMP-2, and Collagen type II, with low concentration of Collagen type I. These results correlated well with appropriate gene expression level. Simultaneously, we observed significant up-regulation of α3, α4, β1 and β3 integrins in chondroblast progenitor cells treated with 35 Hz vibrations, as well as Sox-9. Interestingly, we noticed that application of 35 Hz frequencies significantly inhibited adipogenesis of hASCs. The obtained results suggest that application of LFLM vibrations together with stem cell therapy might be a promising tool in cartilage regeneration.

  18. Responses of the ear to low frequency sounds, infrasound and wind turbines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salt, Alec N; Hullar, Timothy E

    2010-09-01

    Infrasonic sounds are generated internally in the body (by respiration, heartbeat, coughing, etc) and by external sources, such as air conditioning systems, inside vehicles, some industrial processes and, now becoming increasingly prevalent, wind turbines. It is widely assumed that infrasound presented at an amplitude below what is audible has no influence on the ear. In this review, we consider possible ways that low frequency sounds, at levels that may or may not be heard, could influence the function of the ear. The inner ear has elaborate mechanisms to attenuate low frequency sound components before they are transmitted to the brain. The auditory portion of the ear, the cochlea, has two types of sensory cells, inner hair cells (IHC) and outer hair cells (OHC), of which the IHC are coupled to the afferent fibers that transmit "hearing" to the brain. The sensory stereocilia ("hairs") on the IHC are "fluid coupled" to mechanical stimuli, so their responses depend on stimulus velocity and their sensitivity decreases as sound frequency is lowered. In contrast, the OHC are directly coupled to mechanical stimuli, so their input remains greater than for IHC at low frequencies. At very low frequencies the OHC are stimulated by sounds at levels below those that are heard. Although the hair cells in other sensory structures such as the saccule may be tuned to infrasonic frequencies, auditory stimulus coupling to these structures is inefficient so that they are unlikely to be influenced by airborne infrasound. Structures that are involved in endolymph volume regulation are also known to be influenced by infrasound, but their sensitivity is also thought to be low. There are, however, abnormal states in which the ear becomes hypersensitive to infrasound. In most cases, the inner ear's responses to infrasound can be considered normal, but they could be associated with unfamiliar sensations or subtle changes in physiology. This raises the possibility that exposure to the

  19. An acoustic vector based approach to locate low frequency noise sources in 3D

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bree, H.-E. de; Ostendorf, C.; Basten, T.

    2009-01-01

    Although low frequency noise is an issue of huge societal importance, traditional acoustic testing methods have limitations in finding the low frequency source. It is hard to determine the direction of the noise using traditional microphones. Three dimensional sound probes capturing the particle

  20. Low-frequency noise suppression of a fiber laser based on a round-trip EDFA power stabilizer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pan, Z Q; Zhou, J; Yang, F; Ye, Q; Cai, H W; Qu, R H; Fang, Z J

    2013-01-01

    We have designed a power stabilizer based on a round-trip erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) structure to suppress the low-frequency relative intensity noise (RIN) for a narrow linewidth fiber laser. The noise suppressor is analyzed theoretically and its feasibility is verified experimentally. For a short-cavity single-frequency fiber laser with this device, about 20 dB low-frequency RIN improvement is achieved (down to −120 dB Hz −1 at 10 Hz). The corresponding frequency noise is also reduced by a factor of 1.6. The proposed method is an effective solution to achieve a low-frequency low RIN laser source for highly coherent detection applications. (paper)

  1. Low frequency noise from large wind turbines - updated 2011; Lavfrekvent stoej fra store vindmoeller - opdateret 2011

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moeller, H.; Sejer Pedersen, C.; Pedersen, Steffen

    2011-07-01

    The study analyzed measurements of noise from 65 wind turbines, 25 large turbines (2.3 to 3.6 MW) and 40 small ones (up to 2 MW). The large mills (2.3 to 3.6 MW) emit relatively more low frequency noise than the small ones (up to 2 MW). The difference is statistically significant for the frequency range 63-250 Hz, regardless of whether calculations are performed on all the large mills or only on new wind turbines. There are no significant differences between prototype turbines and the new mills. Because of wind noise in the measurements of the small mills, it is not possible to determine whether the difference between small and large turbines continues further down in frequency. Looking at the A-weighted sound pressure in relevant neighbor distances, the lower frequencies constitute an essential part of the noise from the large mills, and there is no doubt that the low frequency noise is both audible and annoying. When the total A-weighted sound pressure level is the same, there will on average be about 3 dB more low frequency noise from large turbines than from small ones. At large distances the noise character becomes yet more low frequency because atmospheric absorption reduces the high frequencies more than the low frequencies. Depending on the sound insulation the low frequency noise can also be annoying indoors. If the total A-weighted sound pressure level outdoors is 44 dB, the low frequency noise can be heard indoors in all the houses and for all the large turbines. The sound pressure level will in many cases exceed the indoor limit for evening night at 20 dB. (ln)

  2. Topology optimization and fabrication of low frequency vibration energy harvesting microdevices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deng, Jiadong; Rorschach, Katherine; Baker, Evan; Sun, Cheng; Chen, Wei

    2015-01-01

    Topological design of miniaturized resonating structures capable of harvesting electrical energy from low frequency environmental mechanical vibrations encounters a particular physical challenge, due to the conflicting design requirements: low resonating frequency and miniaturization. In this paper structural static stiffness to resist undesired lateral deformation is included into the objective function, to prevent the structure from degenerating and forcing the solution to be manufacturable. The rational approximation of material properties interpolation scheme is introduced to deal with the problems of local vibration and instability of the low density area induced by the design dependent body forces. Both density and level set based topology optimization (TO) methods are investigated in their parameterization, sensitivity analysis, and applicability for low frequency energy harvester TO problems. Continuum based variation formulations for sensitivity analysis and the material derivative based shape sensitivity analysis are presented for the density method and the level set method, respectively; and their similarities and differences are highlighted. An external damper is introduced to simulate the energy output of the resonator due to electrical damping and the Rayleigh proportional damping is used for mechanical damping. Optimization results for different scenarios are tested to illustrate the influences of dynamic and static loads. To demonstrate manufacturability, the designs are built to scale using a 3D microfabrication method and assembled into vibration energy harvester prototypes. The fabricated devices based on the optimal results from using different TO techniques are tested and compared with the simulation results. The structures obtained by the level set based TO method require less post-processing before fabrication and the structures obtained by the density based TO method have resonating frequency as low as 100 Hz. The electrical voltage response

  3. Low-frequency fluctuation in multimode semiconductor laser subject to optical feedback

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Xu Zhang; Huiying Ye; Zhaoxin Song

    2008-01-01

    Dynamics of a semiconductor laser subject to moderate optical feedback operating in the low-frequency fluctuation regime is numerically investigated.Multimode Lang-Kobayashi(LK)equations show that the low-frequency intensity dropout including the total intensity and sub-modes intensity is accompanied by sudden dropout simultaneously,which is in good agreement with experimental observation.The power fluctuation is quite annoying in practical applications,therefore it becomes important to study the mechanism of power fluctuation.It is also shown that many factors,such as spontaneous emission noise and feedback parameter,may influence power fluctuation larger than previously expected.

  4. Low frequency sound field enhancement system for rectangular rooms, using multiple loudspeakers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Celestinos, Adrian

    2007-01-01

    The scope of this PhD dissertation is within the performance of loudspeakers in rooms at low frequencies. The research concentrates on the improvement of the sound level distribution in rooms produced by loudspeakers at low frequencies. The work focuses on seeing the problem acoustically...... and solving it in the time domain. Loudspeakers are the last link in the sound reproduction chain, and they are typically placed in small or medium size rooms. When low frequency sound is radiated by a loudspeaker the sound level distribution along the room presents large deviations. This is due...... to the multiple reflection of sound at the rigid walls of the room. This may cause level differences of up to 20 dB in the room. Some of these deviations are associated with the standing waves, resonances or anti resonances of the room. The understanding of the problem is accomplished by analyzing the behavior...

  5. Adiabatic perturbation theory for atoms and molecules in the low-frequency regime.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martiskainen, Hanna; Moiseyev, Nimrod

    2017-12-14

    There is an increasing interest in the photoinduced dynamics in the low frequency, ω, regime. The multiphoton absorptions by molecules in strong laser fields depend on the polarization of the laser and on the molecular structure. The unique properties of the interaction of atoms and molecules with lasers in the low-frequency regime imply new concepts and directions in strong-field light-matter interactions. Here we represent a perturbational approach for the calculations of the quasi-energy spectrum in the low-frequency regime, which avoids the construction of the Floquet operator with extremely large number of Floquet channels. The zero-order Hamiltonian in our perturbational approach is the adiabatic Hamiltonian where the atoms/molecules are exposed to a dc electric field rather than to ac-field. This is in the spirit of the first step in the Corkum three-step model. The second-order perturbation correction terms are obtained when iℏω∂∂τ serves as a perturbation and τ is a dimensionless variable. The second-order adiabatic perturbation scheme is found to be an excellent approach for calculating the ac-field Floquet solutions in our test case studies of a simple one-dimensional time-periodic model Hamiltonian. It is straightforward to implement the perturbation approach presented here for calculating atomic and molecular energy shifts (positions) due to the interaction with low-frequency ac-fields using high-level electronic structure methods. This is enabled since standard quantum chemistry packages allow the calculations of atomic and molecular energy shifts due to the interaction with dc-fields. In addition to the shift of the energy positions, the energy widths (inverse lifetimes) can be obtained at the same level of theory. These energy shifts are functions of the laser parameters (low frequency, intensity, and polarization).

  6. Excitation of low-frequency electrostatic instability on the auroral ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Low-Frequency Electrostatic Instability That Is Observed By Both Ground Facilities And Satellites Have Been Studied In The Auroral Acceleration Region Consisting Of Hot Precipitating Electron Beam From The Magnetosphere, Cold Background Electron And Ion Beam Moving Upward Away From The Earth Along The ...

  7. Frequency-Specific Alternations in the Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations in Chronic Tinnitus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Chen eChen

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Tinnitus, a phantom ringing, buzzing or hissing sensation with potentially debilitating consequences, is thought to arise from aberrant spontaneous neural activity at one or more sites within the central nervous system; however, the location and specific features of these oscillations are poorly understood with respect to specific tinnitus features. Recent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI studies suggest that aberrant fluctuations in spontaneous low-frequency oscillations (LFO of the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD signal may be an important factor in chronic tinnitus; however, the role that frequency-specific components of LFO play in subjective tinnitus remains unclear. A total of 39 chronic tinnitus patients and 41 well-matched healthy controls participated in the resting-state fMRI scans. The LFO amplitudes were investigated using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF and fractional ALFF (fALFF in two different frequency bands (slow-4: 0.027-0.073 Hz and slow-5: 0.01-0.027 Hz. We observed significant differences between tinnitus patients and normal controls in ALFF/fALFF in the two bands (slow-4 and slow-5 in several brain regions including the superior frontal gyrus (SFG, inferior frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and middle occipital gyrus. Across the entire subject pool, significant differences in ALFF/fALFF between the two bands were found in the midbrain, basal ganglia, hippocampus and cerebellum (Slow 4>Slow 5, and in the middle frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, and precuneus (Slow 5>Slow 4. We also observed significant interaction between frequency bands and patient groups in the orbitofrontal gyrus. Furthermore, tinnitus distress was positively correlated with the magnitude of ALFF in right SFG and the magnitude of fALFF slow-4 band in left SFG, whereas tinnitus duration was positively correlated with the magnitude of ALFF in

  8. Inertia and ion Landau damping of low-frequency magnetohydrodynamical modes in tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bondeson, A.; Chu, M.S.

    1996-01-01

    The inertia and Landau damping of low-frequency magnetohydrodynamical modes are investigated using the drift-kinetic energy principle for the motion along the magnetic field. Toroidal trapping of the ions decreases the Landau damping and increases the inertia for frequencies below (r/R) 1/2 v thi /qR. The theory is applied to toroidicity-induced Alfvacute en eigenmodes and to resistive wall modes in rotating plasmas. An explanation of the beta-induced Alfvacute en eigenmode is given in terms of the Pfirsch endash Schlueter-like enhancement of inertia at low frequency. The toroidal inertia enhancement also increases the effects of plasma rotation on resistive wall modes. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

  9. Enhancer evolution across 20 mammalian species

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Villar, Diego; Berthelot, Camille; Aldridge, Sarah

    2015-01-01

    The mammalian radiation has corresponded with rapid changes in noncoding regions of the genome, but we lack a comprehensive understanding of regulatory evolution in mammals. Here, we track the evolution of promoters and enhancers active in liver across 20 mammalian species from six diverse orders...... by profiling genomic enrichment of H3K27 acetylation and H3K4 trimethylation. We report that rapid evolution of enhancers is a universal feature of mammalian genomes. Most of the recently evolved enhancers arise from ancestral DNA exaptation, rather than lineage-specific expansions of repeat elements....... These results provide important insight into the functional genetics underpinning mammalian regulatory evolution....

  10. Low frequency complex dielectric (conductivity) response of dilute clay suspensions: Modeling and experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Chang-Yu; Feng, Ling; Seleznev, Nikita; Freed, Denise E

    2018-04-11

    In this work, we establish an effective medium model to describe the low-frequency complex dielectric (conductivity) dispersion of dilute clay suspensions. We use previously obtained low-frequency polarization coefficients for a charged oblate spheroidal particle immersed in an electrolyte as the building block for the Maxwell Garnett mixing formula to model the dilute clay suspension. The complex conductivity phase dispersion exhibits a near-resonance peak when the clay grains have a narrow size distribution. The peak frequency is associated with the size distribution as well as the shape of clay grains and is often referred to as the characteristic frequency. In contrast, if the size of the clay grains has a broad distribution, the phase peak is broadened and can disappear into the background of the canonical phase response of the brine. To benchmark our model, the low-frequency dispersion of the complex conductivity of dilute clay suspensions is measured using a four-point impedance measurement, which can be reliably calibrated in the frequency range between 0.1 Hz and 10 kHz. By using a minimal number of fitting parameters when reliable information is available as input for the model and carefully examining the issue of potential over-fitting, we found that our model can be used to fit the measured dispersion of the complex conductivity with reasonable parameters. The good match between the modeled and experimental complex conductivity dispersion allows us to argue that our simplified model captures the essential physics for describing the low-frequency dispersion of the complex conductivity of dilute clay suspensions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Development of a rating procedure for low frequency noise : Results of measurements near runways

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Buikema, E.; Vercammen, M.; Ploeg, F. van der; Granneman, J.; Vos, J.

    2010-01-01

    Recent issues concerning low frequency aircraft noise around airports (groundnoise) and a legal verdict about the application of low frequency noise criteria in the Netherlands have been the motivation to start a research commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the

  12. Discrete-time nonlinear damping backstepping control with observers for rejection of low and high frequency disturbances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Wonhee; Chen, Xu; Lee, Youngwoo; Chung, Chung Choo; Tomizuka, Masayoshi

    2018-05-01

    A discrete-time backstepping control algorithm is proposed for reference tracking of systems affected by both broadband disturbances at low frequencies and narrow band disturbances at high frequencies. A discrete time DOB, which is constructed based on infinite impulse response filters is applied to compensate for narrow band disturbances at high frequencies. A discrete-time nonlinear damping backstepping controller with an augmented observer is proposed to track the desired output and to compensate for low frequency broadband disturbances along with a disturbance observer, for rejecting narrow band high frequency disturbances. This combination has the merit of simultaneously compensating both broadband disturbances at low frequencies and narrow band disturbances at high frequencies. The performance of the proposed method is validated via experiments.

  13. A Canadian refiner's perspective of synthetic crudes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Halford, T.L.; McIntosh, A.P.; Rasmussen

    1997-01-01

    Some of the factors affecting a refiner's choice of crude oil include refinery hardware, particularly gas oil crackers, products slate and product specifications, crude availability, relative crude price and crude quality. An overview of synthetic crude, the use of synthetic crude combined with other crudes and a comparison of synthetic crude with conventional crude oil was given. The two main users of synthetic crude are basically two groups of refiners, those large groups who use synthetic crude combined with other crudes, and a smaller group who run synthetic crude on specially designed units as a sole feed. The effects of changes in fuel legislation were reviewed. It was predicted that the changes will have a mixed impact on the value of synthetic crude, but low sulphur diesel regulations and gasoline sulphur regulations will make current synthetic crudes attractive. The big future change with a negative impact will be diesel cetane increases to reduce engine emissions. This will reduce synthetic crude attractiveness due to distillate yields and quality and high gas oil yields. Similarly, any legislation limiting aromatics in diesel fuel will also make synthetic crudes less attractive. Problems experienced by refiners with hardware dedicated to synthetic crude (salt, naphthenic acid, fouling, quality variations) were also reviewed. 3 tabs

  14. Technologies for Low Frequency Radio Observations of the Cosmic Dawn

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Dayton L.

    2014-01-01

    The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is developing concepts and technologies for low frequency radio astronomy space missions aimed at observing highly redshifted neutral Hydrogen from the Dark Ages. This is the period of cosmic history between the recombination epoch when the microwave background radiation was produced and the re-ionization of the intergalactic medium by the first generation of stars (Cosmic Dawn). This period, at redshifts greater than about 20, is a critical epoch for the formation and evolution of large-scale structure in the universe. The 21-cm spectral line of Hydrogen provides the most promising method for directly studying the Dark Ages, but the corresponding frequencies at such large redshifts are only tens of MHz and thus require space-based observations to avoid terrestrial RFI and ionospheric absorption and refraction. This paper reports on the status of several low frequency technology development activities at JPL, including deployable bi-conical dipoles for a planned lunar-orbiting mission, and both rover-deployed and inflation-deployed long dipole antennas for use on the lunar surface.

  15. Characterization of low-frequency acoustic wave propagation through a periodic corrugated waveguide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Changyong; Huang, Lixi

    2018-03-01

    In this paper, a periodic corrugated waveguide structure is proposed, and its unit-cell is analyzed by the wave finite element method. In low-frequency range, the unit-cell is treated as an equivalent fluid through a homogenization process, and the equivalent acoustic parameters are obtained, which are validated by finite structure simulations and experiments. The proposed structure is shown to add tortuosity to the waveguide, hence higher equivalent fluid density is achieved, while the system elastic modulus remains unchanged. As a result, the equivalent speed of sound is smaller than normal air. The application of such change of speed of sound is demonstrated in the classic quarter-wavelength resonator based on the corrugated waveguide, which gives a lower resonance frequency with the same side branch length. When the waveguide is filled with porous materials, the added tortuosity enhances the broadband, low-frequency sound absorption by increasing the equivalent mass without bringing in excess damping, the latter being partly responsible for the poor performance of usual porous materials in the low-frequency region. Therefore, the proposed structure provides another dimension for the design and optimization of porous sound absorption materials.

  16. Synthetic bedding and wheeze in childhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponsonby, Anne-Louise; Dwyer, Terence; Kemp, Andrew; Cochrane, Jennifer; Couper, David; Carmichael, Allan

    2003-01-01

    The reasons for the increase in childhood asthma over time are unclear. The indoor environment is of particular concern. An adverse role for synthetic bedding on asthma development in childhood has been suggested by cross-sectional studies that have found an association between synthetic pillow use and childhood wheeze. Prospective data on infant bedding have not been available. Bedding data at 1 month of age were available from an infant survey for children who were participating in a 1995 follow-up study (N = 863; 78% traced). The 1995 follow-up was embedded in a larger cross-sectional survey involving 6,378 seven year olds in Tasmania (N = 92% of eligible). Outcome measures included respiratory symptoms as defined in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood protocol. Frequent wheeze was defined as more than 12 wheeze episodes over the past year compared with no wheeze. Synthetic pillow use at 1 month of age was associated with frequent wheeze at age 7 (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 2.5; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2-5.5) independent of childhood exposure. Current synthetic pillow and quilt use was strongly associated with frequent wheeze (aRR = 5.2; CI = 1.3-20.6). Substantial trends were evident for an association of increasing number of synthetic bedding items with frequent wheeze and with increasing wheeze frequency. Among children with asthma, the age of onset of asthma occurred earlier if synthetic bedding was used in infancy. In this cohort, synthetic bedding was strongly and consistently associated with frequent childhood wheeze. The association did not appear to be attributable to bedding choice as part of an asthma management strategy.

  17. Suspension for the low frequency facility

    CERN Document Server

    Cella, G; Di Virgilio, A; Gaddi, A; Viceré, A

    2000-01-01

    We introduce the working principles of the VIRGO Low Frequency Facility (LFF), whose main aim is the measurement of the thermal noise in the VIRGO suspension system. We evaluate the displacement thermal noise of a mirror, which is an intermediate element of a double pendulum suspension system. This double pendulum will be suspended to the last stage of a VIRGO Super-Attenuator (SA), the prototype VIRGO suspension system being tested at the Pisa section of INFN. In the proposed configuration, we evaluate the spectrum of the thermal noise for different choices of the parameters: based on this study, we comment on the future directions to be undertaken in the LFF experiment.

  18. Mutation in cultured mammalian cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, N.; Okada, S.

    1982-01-01

    Mammalian cell cultures were exposed to gamma-rays at various dose rates. Dose-rate effects were observed in cultured somatic cells of the mouse for cell killing and mutations resistant to 6-thioguanine (TGsup(r)) and to methotrexate (MTXsup(r)). Linear quadratic model may be applied to cell killing and TGsup(r) mutations in some cases but can not explain the whole data. Results at low doses with far low dose-rate were not predictable from data at high doses with acute or chronic irradiation. Radioprotective effects of dimethyl sulfoxide were seen only after acute exposure but not after chronic one, suggesting that damages by indirect action of radiations may be potentially reparable by cells. TGsup(r) mutations seem to contain gross structural changes whereas MTXsup(r) ones may have smaller alterations. (Namekawa, K.)

  19. Low-frequency ultrasound increases non-viral gene transfer to the mouse lung.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xenariou, Stefania; Liang, Hai-Dong; Griesenbach, Uta; Zhu, Jie; Farley, Raymond; Somerton, Lucinda; Singh, Charanjit; Jeffery, Peter K; Scheule, Ronald K; Cheng, Seng H; Geddes, Duncan M; Blomley, Martin; Alton, Eric W F W

    2010-01-01

    The aim of the study was to assess if low-frequency ultrasound (US), in the range of 30-35 kHz, increases non-viral gene transfer to the mouse lung. US is greatly attenuated in the lung due to large energy losses at the air/tissue interfaces. The advantages of low-frequency US, compared with high-frequency US are: (i) increased cavitation (responsible for the formation of transient pores in the cell membrane) and (ii) reduced energy losses during lung penetration. Cationic lipid GL67/plasmid DNA (pDNA), polyethylenimine (PEI)/pDNA and naked pDNA were delivered via intranasal instillation and the animals were then exposed to US (sonoporation) at 0.07 or 0.1 MPa for 10 min. Under these conditions, US did not enhance GL67 or PEI-mediated transfection. It did, however, increase naked pDNA gene transfer by approximately 4 folds. Importantly, this was achieved in the absence of microbubbles, which are crucial for the commonly used high-frequency (1 MHz) sonoporation but may not be able to withstand nebulization in a clinically relevant setup. Lung hemorrhage was also assessed and shown to increase with US pressure in a dose-dependent manner. We have thus, established that low-frequency US can enhance lung gene transfer with naked pDNA and this enhancement is more effective than the previously reported 1 MHz US.

  20. Low-frequency electromagnetic iirradiation treatment of grain in harvester

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. V. Zhalnin

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Treatment of crop seeds by low-frequency electromagnetic field contributes to obtaining high and stable yields. After this treatment in a laboratory environment crop production can increase from 15 to 40 percent. To research an effect of magnetic field on a seed material in the field we developed technological design for a seeds treatment in a combine harvester «Enisey-1200 NМ». Three modules of low frequency electromagnetic waves source were mounted in the design of transporting working elements from the threshing apparatus to the grain tank for the impact they have on the moving of freshly threshed grain portion. Conditions of magnetization of seeds vere varied. Influence of modes of grain treatment at threshing of spring wheat in a harvester on the effectiveness of the stimulation vere researched. A comparative laboratory analysis of quality of grain, magnetic directly in the harvester, and 3 months after thrashing showed that the new technology allows to increase sowing qualities of grain. Electromagnetic irradiation of grain in a harvester increases the germination of seeds from 6 to 20 percent, germination energy about 30 percent, also raises the weight of the plant parts and more qualitatively clears seeds of a peel that promotes best storage. Regime of magnetization determines a germination ability and readiness og seeds. The most pronounced effect of the grain magnetization is observed under irradiation becomes apparent for more than 9 minutes. Irradiation of grain placed in the hopper of the combine is more effective. The optimum parameters of electromagnetic radiation is a frequency equaled to 16 Hz, the value of magnetic induction of 6 mT. We proposed to extend the technology field stimulation of seeds with low-frequency magnetic field in order to increase germination and yield of different crops. An application of the proposed design of the electromagnetic module for any model and size of modern types of grain and rice harvesters

  1. Assessment of extremely low frequency magnetic field exposure from GSM mobile phones

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Calderón, Carolina; Addison, Darren; Mee, Terry; Findlay, Richard; Maslanyj, Myron; Conil, Emmanuelle; Kromhout, Hans; Lee, Ae Kyoung; Sim, Malcolm R.; Taki, Masao; Varsier, Nadège; Wiart, Joe; Cardis, Elisabeth

    2014-01-01

    Although radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones have received much attention, relatively little is known about the extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields emitted by phones. This paper summarises ELF magnetic flux density measurements on global system for mobile

  2. Quantitative Estimation of Above Ground Crop Biomass using Ground-based, Airborne and Spaceborne Low Frequency Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koyama, C.; Watanabe, M.; Shimada, M.

    2016-12-01

    Estimation of crop biomass is one of the important challenges in environmental remote sensing related to agricultural as well as hydrological and meteorological applications. Usually passive optical data (photographs, spectral data) operating in the visible and near-infrared bands is used for such purposes. The virtue of optical remote sensing for yield estimation, however, is rather limited as the visible light can only provide information about the chemical characteristics of the canopy surface. Low frequency microwave signals with wavelength longer 20 cm have the potential to penetrate through the canopy and provide information about the whole vertical structure of vegetation from the top of the canopy down to the very soil surface. This phenomenon has been well known and exploited to detect targets under vegetation in the military radar application known as FOPEN (foliage penetration). With the availability of polarimetric interferometric SAR data the use PolInSAR techniques to retrieve vertical vegetation structures has become an attractive tool. However, PolInSAR is still highly experimental and suitable data is not yet widely available. In this study we focus on the use of operational dual-polarization L-band (1.27 GHz) SAR which is since the launch of Japan's Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS, 2006-2011) available worldwide. Since 2014 ALOS-2 continues to deliver such kind of partial polarimetric data for the entire land surface. In addition to these spaceborne data sets we use airborne L-band SAR data acquired by the Japanese Pi-SAR-L2 as well as ultra-wideband (UWB) ground based SAR data operating in the frequency range from 1-4 GHz. By exploiting the complex dual-polarization [C2] Covariance matrix information, the scattering contributions from the canopy can be well separated from the ground reflections allowing for the establishment of semi-empirical relationships between measured radar reflectivity and the amount of fresh-weight above

  3. Effects of the major sudden stratospheric warming event of 2009 on the subionospheric very low frequency/low frequency radio signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pal, S.; Hobara, Y.; Chakrabarti, S. K.; Schnoor, P. W.

    2017-07-01

    This paper presents effects of the major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event of 2009 on the subionospheric very low frequency/low frequency (VLF/LF) radio signals propagating in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide. Signal amplitudes from four transmitters received by VLF/LF radio networks of Germany and Japan corresponding to the major SSW event are investigated for possible anomalies and atmospheric influence on the high- to middle-latitude ionosphere. Significant anomalous increase or decrease of nighttime and daytime amplitudes of VLF/LF signals by ˜3-5 dB during the SSW event have been found for all propagation paths associated with stratospheric temperature rise at 10 hPa level. Increase or decrease in VLF/LF amplitudes during daytime and nighttime is actually due to the modification of the lower ionospheric boundary conditions in terms of electron density and electron-neutral collision frequency profiles and associated modal interference effects between the different propagating waveguide modes during the SSW period. TIMED/SABER mission data are also used to investigate the upper mesospheric conditions over the VLF/LF propagation path during the same time period. We observe a decrease in neutral temperature and an increase in pressure at the height of 75-80 km around the peak time of the event. VLF/LF anomalies are correlated and in phase with the stratospheric temperature and mesospheric pressure variation, while minimum of mesospheric cooling shows a 2-3 day delay with maximum VLF/LF anomalies. Simulations of VLF/LF diurnal variation are performed using the well-known Long Wave Propagating Capability (LWPC) code within the Earth-ionosphere waveguide to explain the VLF/LF anomalies qualitatively.

  4. Low-Frequency Noise Reduction by Earmuffs with Flax Fibre-Reinforced Polypropylene Ear Cups

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linus Yinn Leng Ang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Soldiers and supporting engineers are frequently exposed to high low-frequency (<500 Hz cabin noise in military vehicles. Despite the use of commercial hearing protection devices, the risk of auditory damage is still imminent because the devices may not be optimally customised for such applications. This study considers flax fibre-reinforced polypropylene (Flax-PP as an alternative to the material selection for the ear cups of commercial earmuffs, which are typically made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS. Different weaving configurations (woven and nonwoven and various noise environments (pink noise, cabin booming noise, and firing noise were considered to investigate the feasibility of the proposed composite earmuffs for low-frequency noise reduction. The remaining assembly components of the earmuff were kept consistent with those of a commercial earmuff, which served as a benchmark for results comparison. In contrast to the commercial earmuff, the composite earmuffs were shown to be better in mitigating low-frequency noise by up to 16.6 dB, while compromising midfrequency acoustical performance. Consequently, the proposed composite earmuffs may be an alternative for low-frequency noise reduction in vehicle cabins, at airports, and at construction sites involving heavy machineries.

  5. Low frequency of paleoviral infiltration across the avian phylogeny

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cui, Jie; Zhao, Wei; Huang, Zhiyong

    2014-01-01

    Background: Mammalian genomes commonly harbor endogenous viral elements. Due to a lack of comparable genome-scale sequence data, far less is known about endogenous viral elements in avian species, even though their small genomes may enable important insights into the patterns and processes of end...

  6. Functional subdivisions in low-frequency primary auditory cortex (AI).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallace, M N; Palmer, A R

    2009-04-01

    We wished to test the hypothesis that there are modules in low-frequency AI that can be identified by their responsiveness to communication calls or particular regions of space. Units were recorded in anaesthetised guinea pig AI and stimulated with conspecific vocalizations and a virtual motion stimulus (binaural beats) presented via a closed sound system. Recording tracks were mainly oriented orthogonally to the cortical surface. Some of these contained units that were all time-locked to the structure of the chutter call (14/22 tracks) and/or the purr call (12/22 tracks) and/or that had a preference for stimuli from a particular region of space (8/20 tracks with four contralateral, two ipsilateral and two midline), or where there was a strong asymmetry in the response to beats of different direction (two tracks). We conclude that about half of low-frequency AI is organized into modules that are consistent with separate "what" and "where" pathways.

  7. Development of Lightweight, Compact, Structurally-Integrated Acoustic Liners for Broadband Low-Frequency Noise Mitigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chambers, Andrew T.

    Airborne noise with a low dominant frequency content (scope of conventional acoustic noise mitigation techniques using liners, foams or claddings owing to mass and volume considerations. Its low evanescence contributes significantly to environmental noise pollution, and unwanted structural vibrations causing diminished efficiency, comfort, payload integrity and mission capabilities. An alternative approach using liner configurations with realistic mass and volume constraints having innovative 'folded' core geometries is investigated to ascertain its low-frequency noise absorption characteristics. In contrast to mass-driven approaches, the folded core approach relies on tailoring interactions between acoustic resonances to tune the liner's impedance to suit the dominant low-frequency content of the source. This allows to keep non-structural mass-addition to a minimum, while retaining an overall thickness comparable to conventional liners for these low-frequency liner designs. The relative acoustic performance of various candidate folded core designs is evaluated by means of a new composite metric termed the Low-Frequency Performance (LFP) factor, which is educed from the absorption coefficient spectrum obtained using Zwikker-Kosten Transmission Line (ZKTL) theory-based numerical studies. An LFP-based software tool is developed to determine optimal 3D cavity packing for a prescribed liner volume and target frequency range. ZKTL-based parametric studies on core dimensions and face sheet porosity are utilized for detailed design of test articles. Experimental verification of absorption coefficient spectra conducted using 3D printed test articles in a normal incidence acoustic impedance tube yield good correlation with simulations. More than 100 Hz of continuous bandwidth with an absorption coefficient greater than 0.6 is shown to be possible in the 300 to 400 Hz range with a 38.1-mm (1.5-inch) thick liner. Further, the influence of face sheet type, Mach number, and

  8. Modulation of low-frequency oscillations in GaAs MESFETs' channel current by sidegating bias

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    DING Yong; LU Shengli; ZHAO Fuchuan

    2005-01-01

    Low-frequency oscillations in channel current are usually observed when measuring the GaAs MESFET's output characteristics. This paper studies the oscillations by testing the MESFET's output characteristics under different sidegate bias conditions. It is shown that the low-frequency oscillations of channel current are directly related to the sidegate bias. In other words, the sidegate bias can modulate the oscillations. Whether the sidegate bias varies positively or negatively, there will inevitably be a threshold voltage after which the low-frequency oscillations disappear. The observation is strongly dependent upon the peculiarities of channel-substrate (C-S) junction and impact ionization of traps-EL2 under high field. This conclusion is of particular pertinence to the design of low-noise GaAs IC's.

  9. Is attention based on spatial contextual memory preferentially guided by low spatial frequency signals?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patai, Eva Zita; Buckley, Alice; Nobre, Anna Christina

    2013-01-01

    A popular model of visual perception states that coarse information (carried by low spatial frequencies) along the dorsal stream is rapidly transmitted to prefrontal and medial temporal areas, activating contextual information from memory, which can in turn constrain detailed input carried by high spatial frequencies arriving at a slower rate along the ventral visual stream, thus facilitating the processing of ambiguous visual stimuli. We were interested in testing whether this model contributes to memory-guided orienting of attention. In particular, we asked whether global, low-spatial frequency (LSF) inputs play a dominant role in triggering contextual memories in order to facilitate the processing of the upcoming target stimulus. We explored this question over four experiments. The first experiment replicated the LSF advantage reported in perceptual discrimination tasks by showing that participants were faster and more accurate at matching a low spatial frequency version of a scene, compared to a high spatial frequency version, to its original counterpart in a forced-choice task. The subsequent three experiments tested the relative contributions of low versus high spatial frequencies during memory-guided covert spatial attention orienting tasks. Replicating the effects of memory-guided attention, pre-exposure to scenes associated with specific spatial memories for target locations (memory cues) led to higher perceptual discrimination and faster response times to identify targets embedded in the scenes. However, either high or low spatial frequency cues were equally effective; LSF signals did not selectively or preferentially contribute to the memory-driven attention benefits to performance. Our results challenge a generalized model that LSFs activate contextual memories, which in turn bias attention and facilitate perception.

  10. Complete low-frequency bandgap in a two-dimensional phononic crystal with spindle-shaped inclusions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ting, Wang; Hui, Wang; Mei-Ping, Sheng; Qing-Hua, Qin

    2016-04-01

    A two-dimensional phononic crystal (PC) structure possessing a relatively low frequency range of complete bandgap is presented. The structure is composed of periodic spindle-shaped plumbum inclusions in a rubber matrix which forms a square lattice. The dispersion relation, transmission spectrum and displacement field are studied using the finite element method in conjunction with the Bloch theorem. Numerical results show that the present PC structure can achieve a large complete bandgap in a relatively low frequency range compared with two inclusions of different materials, which is useful in low-frequency noise and vibration control and can be designed as a low frequency acoustic filter and waveguides. Moreover, the transmission spectrum and effective mass are evaluated to validate the obtained band structure. It is interesting to see that within the band gap the effective mass becomes negative, resulting in an imaginary wave speed and wave exponential attenuation. Finally, sensitivity analysis of the effect of geometrical parameters of the presented PC structure on the lowest bandgap is performed to investigate the variations of the bandgap width and frequency. Project supported by the China Scholarship Council.

  11. MONITORING HIGH-FREQUENCY OCEAN SIGNALS USING LOW-COST GNSS/IMU BUOYS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y.-L. Huang

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In oceans there are different ocean signals covering the multi-frequencies including tsunami, meteotsunami, storm surge, as sea level change, and currents. These signals have the direct and significant impact on the economy and life of human-beings. Therefore, measuring ocean signals accurately becomes more and more important and necessary. Nowadays, there are many techniques and methods commonly used for monitoring oceans, but each has its limitation. For example, tide gauges only measure sea level relative to benchmarks and are disturbed unevenly, and satellite altimeter measurements are not continuous and inaccurate near coastal oceans. In addition, high-frequency ocean signals such as tsunami and meteotsunami cannot be sufficiently detected by 6-minutes tide gauge measurements or 10-day sampled altimetry data. Moreover, traditional accelerometer buoy is heavy, expensive and the low-frequency noise caused by the instrument is unavoidable. In this study, a small, low-cost and self-assembly autonomous Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU that independently collects continuous acceleration and angular velocity data is mounted on a GNSS buoy to provide the positions and tilts of the moving buoy. The main idea is to integrate the Differential GNSS (DGNSS or Precise Point Positioning (PPP solutions with IMU data, and then evaluate the performance by comparing with in situ tide gauges. The validation experiments conducted in the NCKU Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory showed that GNSS and IMU both can detect the simulated regular wave frequency and height, and the field experiments in the Anping Harbor, Tainan, Taiwan showed that the low-cost GNSS buoy has an excellent ability to observe significant wave heights in amplitude and frequency.

  12. Synthetic biology, inspired by synthetic chemistry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malinova, V; Nallani, M; Meier, W P; Sinner, E K

    2012-07-16

    The topic synthetic biology appears still as an 'empty basket to be filled'. However, there is already plenty of claims and visions, as well as convincing research strategies about the theme of synthetic biology. First of all, synthetic biology seems to be about the engineering of biology - about bottom-up and top-down approaches, compromising complexity versus stability of artificial architectures, relevant in biology. Synthetic biology accounts for heterogeneous approaches towards minimal and even artificial life, the engineering of biochemical pathways on the organismic level, the modelling of molecular processes and finally, the combination of synthetic with nature-derived materials and architectural concepts, such as a cellular membrane. Still, synthetic biology is a discipline, which embraces interdisciplinary attempts in order to have a profound, scientific base to enable the re-design of nature and to compose architectures and processes with man-made matter. We like to give an overview about the developments in the field of synthetic biology, regarding polymer-based analogs of cellular membranes and what questions can be answered by applying synthetic polymer science towards the smallest unit in life, namely a cell. Copyright © 2012 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Source of low frequency modulation of ENSO amplitude in a CGCM

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moon, Byung-Kwon [Chonbuk National University, Division of Science Education/Institute of Science Education, Jeonju (Korea); Yeh, Sang-Wook [Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Ansan (Korea); Dewitte, Boris [Laboratoire d' Etude en Geophysique et Oceanographie Spatiale, Toulouse (France); Jhun, Jong-Ghap [Seoul National University, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul (Korea); Kang, In-Sik [Seoul National University, Climate Environment System Research Center (CES), Seoul (Korea)

    2007-07-15

    We study the relationship between changes in equatorial stratification and low frequency El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) amplitude modulation in a coupled general circulation model (CGCM) that uses an anomaly coupling strategy to prevent climate drifts in the mean state. The stratification is intensified at upper levels in the western and central equatorial Pacific during periods of high ENSO amplitude. Furthermore, changes in equatorial stratification are connected with subsurface temperature anomalies originating from the central south tropical Pacific. The correlation analysis of ocean temperature anomalies against an index for the ENSO modulation supports the hypothesis of the existence of an oceanic ''tunnel'' that connects the south tropical Pacific to the equatorial wave guide. Further analysis of the wind stress projection coefficient onto the oceanic baroclinic modes suggests that the low frequency modulation of ENSO amplitude is associated with a significant contribution of higher-order modes in the western and central equatorial Pacific. In the light of these results, we suggest that, in the CGCM, change in the baroclinic mode energy distribution associated with low frequency ENSO amplitude modulation have its source in the central south tropical Pacific. (orig.)

  14. Biological and clinical effects of low-frequency magnetic and electric fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Llaurado, J.G.; Sances, A. Jr.; Battocletti, J. (eds.)

    1974-01-01

    The blurb on this book states that it has been written for physicians, biologists, psychologists, engineers and those persons interested in the interaction of low frequency electric and magnetic fields upon animals and man. Certainly, the content of this book--which comprises papers presented by specialists at a symposium on The Effects of Low Frequency Magnetic Fields on Biological Communication Processes held in Aspen, Colorado--does not make simple reading and those lacking the necessary background are unlikely to make much progress. This said, however, the book can be recommended to those with the necessary interest, knowledge and perseverance. The book provides a great deal of information in a convenient manner and all those concerned with its production are to be congratulated on their work. Articles are well set out, illustrated and supported by abstracts, extensive references and discussions. As indicated above, the range of the subjects covered is large and includes such varied items as acupuncture, bird communication and some details of the U.S.A. Navy's extra low frequency communication system known as Project Sanguine. Finally, it is a pleasure to say that the book has been attractively produced and contains an excellent index.

  15. Commercial Flight Crew Decision-Making during Low-Visibility Approach Operations Using Fused Synthetic/Enhanced Vision Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III

    2007-01-01

    NASA is investigating revolutionary crew-vehicle interface technologies that strive to proactively overcome aircraft safety barriers that would otherwise constrain the full realization of the next-generation air transportation system. A fixed-based piloted simulation experiment was conducted to evaluate the complementary use of Synthetic and Enhanced Vision technologies. Specific focus was placed on new techniques for integration and/or fusion of Enhanced and Synthetic Vision and its impact within a two-crew flight deck on the crew's decision-making process during low-visibility approach and landing operations. Overall, the experimental data showed that significant improvements in situation awareness, without concomitant increases in workload and display clutter, could be provided by the integration and/or fusion of synthetic and enhanced vision technologies for the pilot-flying and the pilot-not-flying. During non-normal operations, the ability of the crew to handle substantial navigational errors and runway incursions were neither improved nor adversely impacted by the display concepts. The addition of Enhanced Vision may not, unto itself, provide an improvement in runway incursion detection without being specifically tailored for this application. Existing enhanced vision system procedures were effectively used in the crew decision-making process during approach and missed approach operations but having to forcibly transition from an excellent FLIR image to natural vision by 100 ft above field level was awkward for the pilot-flying.

  16. Low-frequency electromagnetic field in a Wigner crystal

    OpenAIRE

    Stupka, Anton

    2016-01-01

    Long-wave low-frequency oscillations are described in a Wigner crystal by generalization of the reverse continuum model for the case of electronic lattice. The internal self-consistent long-wave electromagnetic field is used to describe the collective motions in the system. The eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the obtained system of equations are derived. The velocities of longitudinal and transversal sound waves are found.

  17. Planck 2015 results: II. Low Frequency Instrument data processings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ade, P. A R; Aghanim, N.; Ashdown, M.

    2016-01-01

    We present an updated description of the Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) data processing pipeline, associated with the 2015 data release. We point out the places where our results and methods have remained unchanged since the 2013 paper and we highlight the changes made for the 2015 release...

  18. Dual-Phase Lock-In Amplifier Based on FPGA for Low-Frequencies Experiments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gonzalo Macias-Bobadilla

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Photothermal techniques allow the detection of characteristics of material without invading it. Researchers have developed hardware for some specific Phase and Amplitude detection (Lock-In Function applications, eliminating space and unnecessary electronic functions, among others. This work shows the development of a Digital Lock-In Amplifier based on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA for low-frequency applications. This system allows selecting and generating the appropriated frequency depending on the kind of experiment or material studied. The results show good frequency stability in the order of 1.0 × 10−9 Hz, which is considered good linearity and repeatability response for the most common Laboratory Amplitude and Phase Shift detection devices, with a low error and standard deviation.

  19. Low-frequency features of the ultrasound echo from an adhesively bonded layer-substrate structure

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WANG Xiaomin; LI Mingxuan; MAO Jie; LIAN Guoxuan

    2005-01-01

    The low-frequency features of the ultrasound reflection spectra from the structure of a single layer on a substrate bonded by a thin adhesive layer are theoretically studied; the low-frequency here means the frequency of the interrogating ultrasonic wave is less than the quart-wavelength resonance frequency of the adhesive layer. The possibility of the inversion of the thickness and the evaluation of the cohesion strength of the adhesive layer from the resonance frequency shifts of the layered system is indicated. An analytic solution to the nonlinear equation satisfied by the resonance frequency is presented by Taylor expansion method showing satisfactory agreement with the numerical results by Newton iterative method. The results indicate larger range for application than the traditional spring model for the thin adhesive layer. In a much lower frequency range the thin adhesive layer may be regarded to be a spring.

  20. Adjuvant low-frequency rTMS in treating auditory hallucinations in recent-onset schizophrenia: a randomized controlled study investigating the effect of high-frequency priming stimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ray, Prasenjit; Sinha, Vinod Kumar; Tikka, Sai Krishna

    2015-01-01

    Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been found to be effective in reducing frequency and duration of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH). Priming stimulation, which involves high-frequency rTMS stimulation followed by low-frequency rTMS, has been shown to markedly enhance the neural response to the low-frequency stimulation train. However, this technique has not been investigated in recent onset schizophrenia patients. The aim of this randomized controlled study was to investigate whether the effects of rTMS on AVH can be enhanced with priming rTMS in recent onset schizophrenia patients. Forty recent onset schizophrenia patients completed the study. Patients were randomized over two groups: one receiving low-frequency rTMS preceded by priming and another receiving low-frequency rTMS without priming. Both treatments were directed at the left temporo-parietal region. The severity of AVH and other psychotic symptoms were assessed with the auditory hallucination subscale (AHRS) of the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Clinical Global Impression (CGI). We found that all the scores of these ratings significantly reduced over time (i.e. baseline through 1, 2, 4 and 6 weeks) in both the treatment groups. We found no difference between the two groups on all measures, except for significantly greater improvement on loudness of AVH in the group with priming stimulation during the follow-ups (F = 2.72; p low-frequency rTMS alone and high-frequency priming of low-frequency rTMS do not elicit significant differences in treatment of overall psychopathology, particularly AVH when given in recent onset schizophrenia patients. Add on priming however, seems to be particularly better in faster reduction in loudness of AVH.

  1. Terahertz Frequency-Domain Spectroscopy of Low-Pressure Acetonitrile Gas by a Photomixing Terahertz Synthesizer Referenced to Dual Optical Frequency Combs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsieh, Yi-Da; Kimura, Hiroto; Hayashi, Kenta; Minamikawa, Takeo; Mizutani, Yasuhiro; Yamamoto, Hirotsugu; Iwata, Tetsuo; Inaba, Hajime; Minoshima, Kaoru; Hindle, Francis; Yasui, Takeshi

    2016-09-01

    A terahertz (THz) frequency synthesizer based on photomixing of two near-infrared lasers with a sub-THz to THz frequency offset is a powerful tool for spectroscopy of polar gas molecules due to its broad spectral coverage; however, its frequency accuracy and resolution are relatively low. To tune the output frequency continuously and widely while maintaining its traceability to a frequency standard, we developed a photomixing THz synthesizer phase-locked to dual optical frequency combs (OFCs). While the phase-locking to dual OFCs ensured continuous tuning within a spectral range of 120 GHz, in addition to the traceability to the frequency standard, use of a broadband uni-traveling carrier photodiode for photomixing enabled the generation of CW-THz radiation within a frequency range from 0.2 to 1.5 THz. We demonstrated THz frequency-domain spectroscopy of gas-phase acetonitrile CH3CN and its isotope CH3 13CN in the frequency range of 0.600-0.720 THz using this THz synthesizer. Their rotational transitions were assigned with a frequency accuracy of 8.42 × 10-8 and a frequency resolution of 520 kHz. Furthermore, the concentration of the CH3CN gas at 20 Pa was determined to be (5.41 ± 0.05) × 1014 molecules/cm3 by curve fitting analysis of the measured absorbance spectrum, and the mixture ratio of the mixed CH3CN/CH3 13CN gas was determined to be 1:2.26 with a gas concentration of 1014-1015 molecules/cm3. The developed THz synthesizer is highly promising for high-precision THz-FDS of low-pressure molecular gases and will enable the qualitative and quantitative analyses of multiple gases.

  2. Extremely low frequency electromagnetic field in combination with β ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Fatemeh Sanie-Jahromi

    Extremely low frequency (<300 Hz) electromagnetic field (EMF) is shown to decrease ... Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under ..... mouse liver induced by morphine and protected by antioxidants.

  3. Synthetic aperture ultrasound Fourier beamformation using virtual sources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Moghimirad, Elahe; Villagómez Hoyos, Carlos Armando; Mahloojifar, Ali

    2016-01-01

    An efficient Fourier beamformation algorithm is presented for multistatic synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging using virtual sources (FBV). The concept is based on the frequency domain wavenumber algorithm from radar and sonar and is extended to a multi-element transmit/receive configuration using...

  4. Micro-Doppler Signal Time-Frequency Algorithm Based on STFRFT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cunsuo Pang

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a time-frequency algorithm based on short-time fractional order Fourier transformation (STFRFT for identification of a complicated movement targets. This algorithm, consisting of a STFRFT order-changing and quick selection method, is effective in reducing the computation load. A multi-order STFRFT time-frequency algorithm is also developed that makes use of the time-frequency feature of each micro-Doppler component signal. This algorithm improves the estimation accuracy of time-frequency curve fitting through multi-order matching. Finally, experiment data were used to demonstrate STFRFT’s performance in micro-Doppler time-frequency analysis. The results validated the higher estimate accuracy of the proposed algorithm. It may be applied to an LFM (Linear frequency modulated pulse radar, SAR (Synthetic aperture radar, or ISAR (Inverse synthetic aperture radar, for improving the probability of target recognition.

  5. Micro-Doppler Signal Time-Frequency Algorithm Based on STFRFT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pang, Cunsuo; Han, Yan; Hou, Huiling; Liu, Shengheng; Zhang, Nan

    2016-09-24

    This paper proposes a time-frequency algorithm based on short-time fractional order Fourier transformation (STFRFT) for identification of a complicated movement targets. This algorithm, consisting of a STFRFT order-changing and quick selection method, is effective in reducing the computation load. A multi-order STFRFT time-frequency algorithm is also developed that makes use of the time-frequency feature of each micro-Doppler component signal. This algorithm improves the estimation accuracy of time-frequency curve fitting through multi-order matching. Finally, experiment data were used to demonstrate STFRFT's performance in micro-Doppler time-frequency analysis. The results validated the higher estimate accuracy of the proposed algorithm. It may be applied to an LFM (Linear frequency modulated) pulse radar, SAR (Synthetic aperture radar), or ISAR (Inverse synthetic aperture radar), for improving the probability of target recognition.

  6. Low-Frequency Gravitational Wave Searches Using Spacecraft Doppler Tracking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Armstrong J. W.

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses spacecraft Doppler tracking, the current-generation detector technology used in the low-frequency (~millihertz gravitational wave band. In the Doppler method the earth and a distant spacecraft act as free test masses with a ground-based precision Doppler tracking system continuously monitoring the earth-spacecraft relative dimensionless velocity $2 Delta v/c = Delta u/ u_0$, where $Delta u$ is the Doppler shift and $ u_0$ is the radio link carrier frequency. A gravitational wave having strain amplitude $h$ incident on the earth-spacecraft system causes perturbations of order $h$ in the time series of $Delta u/ u_0$. Unlike other detectors, the ~1-10 AU earth-spacecraft separation makes the detector large compared with millihertz-band gravitational wavelengths, and thus times-of-flight of signals and radio waves through the apparatus are important. A burst signal, for example, is time-resolved into a characteristic signature: three discrete events in the Doppler time series. I discuss here the principles of operation of this detector (emphasizing transfer functions of gravitational wave signals and the principal noises to the Doppler time series, some data analysis techniques, experiments to date, and illustrations of sensitivity and current detector performance. I conclude with a discussion of how gravitational wave sensitivity can be improved in the low-frequency band.

  7. USA and RXTE Observations of a Variable Low-Frequency QPO in XTEJ1118+480

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bloom, Elliott

    2000-06-29

    The USA experiment on ARGOS and RXTE have extensively observed the X-ray transient XTEJ1118+480 during its recent outburst in 2000 April--June. The authors present detailed monitoring of the evolution of a low frequency QPO which drifts from 0.07 Hz to 0.15 Hz during the outburst. They examine possible correlations of the QPO frequency with the flux and spectral characteristics of the source, and compare this QPO to low frequency QPOs observed in other black hole candidates.

  8. Wavelet low- and high-frequency components as features for predicting stock prices with backpropagation neural networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salim Lahmiri

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a forecasting model that integrates the discrete wavelet transform (DWT and backpropagation neural networks (BPNN for predicting financial time series. The presented model first uses the DWT to decompose the financial time series data. Then, the obtained approximation (low-frequency and detail (high-frequency components after decomposition of the original time series are used as input variables to forecast future stock prices. Indeed, while high-frequency components can capture discontinuities, ruptures and singularities in the original data, low-frequency components characterize the coarse structure of the data, to identify the long-term trends in the original data. As a result, high-frequency components act as a complementary part of low-frequency components. The model was applied to seven datasets. For all of the datasets, accuracy measures showed that the presented model outperforms a conventional model that uses only low-frequency components. In addition, the presented model outperforms both the well-known auto-regressive moving-average (ARMA model and the random walk (RW process.

  9. Low frequency sounds in dwellings : A case control study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Berg, Frits (G P)

    2000-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to systematically assess the level and spectral distribution of low frequency (LF) sounds in dwellings. Measurements of broad and narrow hand sound levels have been made in 36 Dutch dwellings in 1998. In 19 dwellings there were complaints about LF noise, in 17 others no

  10. The role of low-frequency intraseasonal oscillations in the ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    We analyze the dynamical features and responsible factors of the low-frequency intraseasonal time scales which influenced the nature of onset, intensity and duration of active/break phases and withdrawal of the monsoon during the anomalous Indian summer monsoon of 2002 – the most severe drought recorded in recent ...

  11. Characteristics of Large Low-frequency Debris Flow Hazards and Mitigation Strategies

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WANG Shige

    2005-01-01

    A low-frequency debris flow took place in the north coastal range of Venezuela on Dec. 16, 1999,and scientists all over the world paid attention to this catastrophe. Four characteristics of low-frequency debris hazard are discussed: long return period and extreme catastrophe, special rare triggering factors,difficulty in distinguishing and a series of small hazards subsequent to the catastrophe. Different measures, such as preventing, forecast - warning,engineering, can be used for mitigating and controlling the catastrophe. In engineering practice, it is a key that large silt-trap dams are used to control rare large debris flow. A kind of low dam with cheap cost can be used to replace high dam in developing countries. A planning for controlling debris flow hazard in Cerro Grande stream of Venezuela is presented at the end of this paper.

  12. Helical ripple transport in stellarators at low collision frequency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beidler, C.D.

    1987-12-01

    Numerical and analytical techniques have been developed to investigate the plasma transport which is due to particles trapping/detrapping in the local helical ripple wells of a stellarator's magnetic field. This process is of considerable importance as it provides the dominant transport mechanism in a stellarator plasma at ''low'' collision frequency: that is, when the frequency with which a particle is collisionally detrapped from a local ripple well is less than the bounce frequency of the particle in that well. A form of the longitudinal adiabatic invariant, J, is constructed and shown to describe accurately the orbits of ripple trapped particles. Unlike previous expressions for J, the form derived here correctly accounts for the local toroidal variation of the magnetic field. The expression for J is incorporated into a rapid ''hybrid'' Monte Carlo simulation of ripple transport in stellarators. The simulation is a hybrid in the sense that particle orbits in the narrow region of phase space on either side of the ripple trapping/detrapping boundary are followed using guiding center equations of motion while orbits in the remainder of phase space are described using adiabatic invariants. An analytical expression for the distribution function of ripple trapped particles in a stellarator - valid at all low collision frequencies - has been obtained by series solution of the bounce - averaged kinetic equation. This solution has been applied to both 'standard' and a class of 'transport optimized' stellarator magnetic fields. Analytical estimates of the diffusion coefficient obtained from the series solution show excellent agreement with the numerical results of the hybrid Monte Carlo code in all cases studied. 55 refs., 30 figs

  13. Continuous exposure to low-frequency noise and carbon disulfide: Combined effects on hearing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venet, Thomas; Carreres-Pons, Maria; Chalansonnet, Monique; Thomas, Aurélie; Merlen, Lise; Nunge, Hervé; Bonfanti, Elodie; Cosnier, Frédéric; Llorens, Jordi; Campo, Pierre

    2017-09-01

    Carbon disulfide (CS 2 ) is used in industry; it has been shown to have neurotoxic effects, causing central and distal axonopathies.However, it is not considered cochleotoxic as it does not affect hair cells in the organ of Corti, and the only auditory effects reported in the literature were confined to the low-frequency region. No reports on the effects of combined exposure to low-frequency noise and CS 2 have been published to date. This article focuses on the effects on rat hearing of combined exposure to noise with increasing concentrations of CS 2 (0, 63,250, and 500ppm, 6h per day, 5 days per week, for 4 weeks). The noise used was a low-frequency noise ranging from 0.5 to 2kHz at an intensity of 106dB SPL. Auditory function was tested using distortion product oto-acoustic emissions, which mainly reflects the cochlear performances. Exposure to noise alone caused an auditory deficit in a frequency area ranging from 3.6 to 6 kHz. The damaged area was approximately one octave (6kHz) above the highest frequency of the exposure noise (2.8kHz); it was a little wider than expected based on the noise spectrum.Consequently, since maximum hearing sensitivity is located around 8kHz in rats, low-frequency noise exposure can affect the cochlear regions detecting mid-range frequencies. Co-exposure to CS 2 (250-ppm and over) and noise increased the extent of the damaged frequency window since a significant auditory deficit was measured at 9.6kHz in these conditions.Moreover, the significance at 9.6kHz increased with the solvent concentrations. Histological data showed that neither hair cells nor ganglion cells were damaged by CS 2 . This discrepancy between functional and histological data is discussed. Like most aromatic solvents, carbon disulfide should be considered as a key parameter in hearing conservation régulations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Stimulus Ratio and Level Dependence of Low- and Mid-Frequency Distortion-Product Otoacoustic Emissions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Anders Tornvig; Ordoñez, Rodrigo Pizarro; Hammershøi, Dorte

    2014-01-01

    ratios f2/f1 (1.05-1.50) and three stimulus sound pressure levels L1/L2 (65/45, 65/55, 70/60) were measured in each configuration. The DPOAE response was isolated with the discrete Fourier transformation (DFT). The DFT measures the DPOAE response accurately only when the DPOAE frequency and both stimulus...... examples of low-frequency DPOAEs exist in the literature. Overcoming the decreasing response level and increasing noise level with decreasing frequency may provide a non-invasive window into the inner-ear mechanics of low-frequency hearing. Eighteen out of 21 young human adults screened (19-30 years) had......-frequency range. The stimulus level has similar effects in both frequency ranges, that is, the ratio-magnitude response increases and broadens with increasing level. The combined observations could indicate a difference between apical and basal cochlear physiology....

  15. Low-frequency scaling of the standard and mixed magnetic field and Müller integral equations

    KAUST Repository

    Bogaert, Ignace

    2014-02-01

    The standard and mixed discretizations for the magnetic field integral equation (MFIE) and the Müller integral equation (MUIE) are investigated in the context of low-frequency (LF) scattering problems involving simply connected scatterers. It is proved that, at low frequencies, the frequency scaling of the nonsolenoidal part of the solution current can be incorrect for the standard discretization. In addition, it is proved that the frequency scaling obtained with the mixed discretization is correct. The reason for this problem in the standard discretization scheme is the absence of exact solenoidal currents in the rotated RWG finite element space. The adoption of the mixed discretization scheme eliminates this problem and leads to a well-conditioned system of linear equations that remains accurate at low frequencies. Numerical results confirm these theoretical predictions and also show that, when the frequency is lowered, a finer and finer mesh is required to keep the accuracy constant with the standard discretization. © 1963-2012 IEEE.

  16. Simultaneously Suppressing Low-Frequency and Relaxation Oscillation Intensity Noise in a DBR Single-Frequency Phosphate Fiber Laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiao Yu; Li Can; Xu Shan-Hui; Feng Zhou-Ming; Yang Chang-Sheng; Zhao Qi-Lai; Yang Zhong-Min

    2015-01-01

    Effective multiple optoelectronic feedback circuits for simultaneously suppressing low-frequency and relaxation oscillation intensity noise in a single-frequency phosphate fiber laser are demonstrated. The forward transfer function, which relates the laser output intensity to the pump modulations, is measured and analyzed. A custom two-path feedback system operating at different frequency bands is designed to adjust the pump current directly. The relative intensity noise is decreased by 20 dB from 0.2 to 5kHz and over 10 dB from 5 to 10 kHz. The relaxation oscillation peak is suppressed by 22 dB. In addition, a long term (24 h) laser instability of less than 0.05% is achieved. (paper)

  17. Daris, a low-frequency distributed aperture array for radio astronomy in space

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boonstra, A.J.; Saks, N.; Bentum, Marinus Jan; van 't Klooster, K.; Falcke, H.

    2010-01-01

    DARIS (Distributed Aperture Array for Radio Astronomy in Space) is a radio astronomy space mission concept aimed at observing the low-frequency radio sky in the range 1-10 MHz. Because of the Earth's ionospheric disturbances and opaqueness, this frequency range can only be observed from space. The

  18. Low power very high frequency resonant converter with high step down ratio

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Madsen, Mickey Pierre; Knott, Arnold; Andersen, Michael A. E.

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents the design of a resonant converter with a switching frequency in the very high frequency range (30-300MHz), a large step down ratio and low output power. This gives the designed converters specifications which are far from previous results. The class E inverter and rectifier...

  19. Comparison of synthetic chelators and low molecular weight organic acids in enhancing phytoextraction of heavy metals by two ecotypes of Sedum alfredii Hance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Dan; Islam, Ejazul; Li, Tingqiang; Yang, Xiaoe; Jin, Xiaofen; Mahmood, Qaisar

    2008-05-01

    Lab scale and pot experiments were conducted to compare the effects of synthetic chelators and low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOA) on the phytoextraction of multi-contaminated soils by two ecotypes of Sedum alfredii Hance. Through lab scale experiments, the treatment dosage of 5 and 10 mM for synthetic chelators and LMWOA, respectively, and the treatment time of 10 days were selected for pot experiment. In pot experiment, the hyperaccumulating ecotype (HE) was found more tolerant to the metal toxicity compared with the non-hyperaccumulating ecotype (NHE). EDTA for Pb, EDDS for Cu, and DTPA for Cu and Cd were found more effective to enhance heavy metal accumulation in the shoots of S. alfredii Hance. Compared with synthetic chelators, the phytoextraction ability of LMWOA was lesser. Considering the strong post-harvest effects of synthetic chelators, it is suggested that higher dosage of LMWOA could be practiced during phytoextraction, and some additional measures could also be taken to lower the potential environmental risks of synthetic chelators in the future studies.

  20. Slow-wave metamaterial open panels for efficient reduction of low-frequency sound transmission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jieun; Lee, Joong Seok; Lee, Hyeong Rae; Kang, Yeon June; Kim, Yoon Young

    2018-02-01

    Sound transmission reduction is typically governed by the mass law, requiring thicker panels to handle lower frequencies. When open holes must be inserted in panels for heat transfer, ventilation, or other purposes, the efficient reduction of sound transmission through holey panels becomes difficult, especially in the low-frequency ranges. Here, we propose slow-wave metamaterial open panels that can dramatically lower the working frequencies of sound transmission loss. Global resonances originating from slow waves realized by multiply inserted, elaborately designed subwavelength rigid partitions between two thin holey plates contribute to sound transmission reductions at lower frequencies. Owing to the dispersive characteristics of the present metamaterial panels, local resonances that trap sound in the partitions also occur at higher frequencies, exhibiting negative effective bulk moduli and zero effective velocities. As a result, low-frequency broadened sound transmission reduction is realized efficiently in the present metamaterial panels. The theoretical model of the proposed metamaterial open panels is derived using an effective medium approach and verified by numerical and experimental investigations.

  1. Low frequency vibrations disrupt left-right patterning in the Xenopus embryo.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura N Vandenberg

    Full Text Available The development of consistent left-right (LR asymmetry across phyla is a fascinating question in biology. While many pharmacological and molecular approaches have been used to explore molecular mechanisms, it has proven difficult to exert precise temporal control over functional perturbations. Here, we took advantage of acoustical vibration to disrupt LR patterning in Xenopus embryos during tightly-circumscribed periods of development. Exposure to several low frequencies induced specific randomization of three internal organs (heterotaxia. Investigating one frequency (7 Hz, we found two discrete periods of sensitivity to vibration; during the first period, vibration affected the same LR pathway as nocodazole, while during the second period, vibration affected the integrity of the epithelial barrier; both are required for normal LR patterning. Our results indicate that low frequency vibrations disrupt two steps in the early LR pathway: the orientation of the LR axis with the other two axes, and the amplification/restriction of downstream LR signals to asymmetric organs.

  2. Modeling of Low Frequency MHD Induced Beam Ion Transport In NSTX

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gorelenkov, N.N.; Medley, S.S.

    2004-01-01

    Beam ion transport in the presence of low frequency MHD activity in National Spherical Tokamak Experiment (NSTX) plasma is modeled numerically and analyzed theoretically in order to understand basic underlying physical mechanisms responsible for the observed fast ion redistribution and losses. Numerical modeling of the beam ions flux into the NPA in NSTX shows that after the onset of low frequency MHD activity high energy part of beam ion distribution, E b > 40keV, is redistributed radially due to stochastic diffusion. Such diffusion is caused by high order harmonics of the transit frequency resonance overlap in the phase space. Large drift orbit radial width induces such high order resonances. Characteristic confinement time is deduced from the measured NPA energy spectrum and is typically ∼ 4msec. Considered MHD activity may induce losses on the order of 10% at the internal magnetic field perturbation (delta)B/B = Ο (10 -3 ), which is comparable to the prompt orbit losses

  3. Brain alterations in low-frequency fluctuations across multiple bands in obsessive compulsive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giménez, Mònica; Guinea-Izquierdo, Andrés; Villalta-Gil, Victoria; Martínez-Zalacaín, Ignacio; Segalàs, Cinto; Subirà, Marta; Real, Eva; Pujol, Jesús; Harrison, Ben J; Haro, Josep Maria; Sato, Joao R; Hoexter, Marcelo Q; Cardoner, Narcís; Alonso, Pino; Menchón, José Manuel; Soriano-Mas, Carles

    2017-12-01

    The extent of functional abnormalities in frontal-subcortical circuits in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is still unclear. Although neuroimaging studies, in general, and resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rs-fMRI), in particular, have provided relevant information regarding such alterations, rs-fMRI studies have been typically limited to the analysis of between-region functional connectivity alterations at low-frequency signal fluctuations (i.e., <0.08 Hz). Conversely, the local attributes of Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal across different frequency bands have been seldom studied, although they may provide valuable information. Here, we evaluated local alterations in low-frequency fluctuations across different oscillation bands in OCD. Sixty-five OCD patients and 50 healthy controls underwent an rs-fMRI assessment. Alterations in the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) were evaluated, voxel-wise, across four different bands (from 0.01 Hz to 0.25 Hz). OCD patients showed decreased fALFF values in medial orbitofrontal regions and increased fALFF values in the dorsal-medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) at frequency bands <0.08 Hz. This pattern was reversed at higher frequencies, where increased fALFF values also appeared in medial temporal lobe structures and medial thalamus. Clinical variables (i.e., symptom-specific severities) were associated with fALFF values across the different frequency bands. Our findings provide novel evidence about the nature and regional distribution of functional alterations in OCD, which should contribute to refine neurobiological models of the disorder. We suggest that the evaluation of the local attributes of BOLD signal across different frequency bands may be a sensitive approach to further characterize brain functional alterations in psychiatric disorders.

  4. Status of the low frequency facility experiment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bracci, L; Calamai, G; Cuoco, E; Dominici, P; Fabbroni, L; Guidi, G; Losurdo, G; Martelli, F; Mazzoni, M; Stanga, R; Vetrano, F; Porzio, A; Ricciardi, I; Solimeno, S; Ballardin, G; Braccini, S; Bradaschia, C; Casciano, C; Cavalieri, R; Cecchi, R; Cella, G; Dattilo, V; Virgilio, A Di; Fazzi, M; Ferrante, I; Fidecaro, F; Frasconi, F; Gennaro, G; Giazotto, A; Holloway, L; Penna, P La; Lomtadze, T; Nenci, F; Nicolosi, L; Lelli, F; Paoletti, F; Pasqualetti, A; Passaquieti, R; Passuello, D; Poggiani, R; Raffaelli, F; Taddei, R; Vicere, A; Zhang, Z; Frasca, S; Majorana, E; Palomba, C; Perciballi, M; Puppo, P; Rapagnani, P; Ricci, F

    2002-01-01

    The low frequency facility is a VIRGO R and D experiment having the goal of performing a direct measurement of the thermal noise of the VIRGO suspensions by means of a two-mirror Fabry-Perot cavity suspended to the last stage of the attenuating chain. The present status of advancement of this experiment is reported: the apparatus, including mechanical and optical parts, has been completely built and put into operation. Vacuum facilities and the first control loops are active. First measurements on the suspended cavity are in progress

  5. Status of the low frequency facility experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bracci, L [Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Firenze, Florence (Italy); Calamai, G [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Firenze/Urbino (Italy); Cuoco, E [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Firenze/Urbino (Italy); Dominici, P [Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Firenze, Firenze (Italy); Fabbroni, L [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Firenze/Urbino (Italy); Guidi, G [Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Urbino, Urbino (Italy); Losurdo, G [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Firenze/Urbino (Italy); Martelli, F [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Firenze/Urbino (Italy); Mazzoni, M [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Firenze/Urbino (Italy); Stanga, R [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Firenze/Urbino (Italy); Vetrano, F [Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Urbino, Urbino (Italy); Porzio, A [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Naples (Italy); Ricciardi, I [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Naples (Italy); Solimeno, S [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Naples (Italy); Ballardin, G [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Braccini, S [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Bradaschia, C [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Casciano, C [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Cavalieri, R [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Cecchi, R [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Cella, G [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Dattilo, V [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Virgilio, A Di [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Fazzi, M [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Ferrante, I [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy); Fidecaro, F [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sez Pisa (Italy)] [and others

    2002-04-07

    The low frequency facility is a VIRGO R and D experiment having the goal of performing a direct measurement of the thermal noise of the VIRGO suspensions by means of a two-mirror Fabry-Perot cavity suspended to the last stage of the attenuating chain. The present status of advancement of this experiment is reported: the apparatus, including mechanical and optical parts, has been completely built and put into operation. Vacuum facilities and the first control loops are active. First measurements on the suspended cavity are in progress.

  6. Galactic foreground science: Faraday Tomography at low frequencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haverkorn, Marijke

    2018-05-01

    This contribution describes how low-frequency radio-spectropolarimetric imaging as done for Epoch of Reionization detection is used to investigate the nearby Galactic interstellar medium. The method of Faraday Tomography allows disentangling of every line of sight into various components in Faraday depth, which is a proxy for density-weighted magnetic field. I discuss instrumental biases and side effects of this method, and early results it has yielded.

  7. Automatic Control of Gene Expression in Mammalian Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fracassi, Chiara; Postiglione, Lorena; Fiore, Gianfranco; di Bernardo, Diego

    2016-04-15

    Automatic control of gene expression in living cells is paramount importance to characterize both endogenous gene regulatory networks and synthetic circuits. In addition, such a technology can be used to maintain the expression of synthetic circuit components in an optimal range in order to ensure reliable performance. Here we present a microfluidics-based method to automatically control gene expression from the tetracycline-inducible promoter in mammalian cells in real time. Our approach is based on the negative-feedback control engineering paradigm. We validated our method in a monoclonal population of cells constitutively expressing a fluorescent reporter protein (d2EYFP) downstream of a minimal CMV promoter with seven tet-responsive operator motifs (CMV-TET). These cells also constitutively express the tetracycline transactivator protein (tTA). In cells grown in standard growth medium, tTA is able to bind the CMV-TET promoter, causing d2EYFP to be maximally expressed. Upon addition of tetracycline to the culture medium, tTA detaches from the CMV-TET promoter, thus preventing d2EYFP expression. We tested two different model-independent control algorithms (relay and proportional-integral (PI)) to force a monoclonal population of cells to express an intermediate level of d2EYFP equal to 50% of its maximum expression level for up to 3500 min. The control input is either tetracycline-rich or standard growth medium. We demonstrated that both the relay and PI controllers can regulate gene expression at the desired level, despite oscillations (dampened in the case of the PI controller) around the chosen set point.

  8. The Neuroprotective Mechanism of Low-Frequency rTMS on Nigral Dopaminergic Neurons of Parkinson's Disease Model Mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Qiaoyun; Wang, Yanyong; Gu, Ping; Shao, Rusheng; Zhao, Li; Liu, Xiqi; Wang, Zhanqiang; Wang, Mingwei

    2015-01-01

    Background. Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease in elder people, pathophysiologic basis of which is the severe deficiency of dopamine in the striatum. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of low-frequency rTMS on Parkinson's disease in model mice. Methods. The effects of low-frequency rTMS on the motor function, cortex excitability, neurochemistry, and neurohistopathology of MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease mice were investigated through behavioral detection, electrophysiologic technique, high performance liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection, immunohistochemical staining, and western blot. Results. Low-frequency rTMS could improve the motor coordination impairment of Parkinson's disease mice: the resting motor threshold significantly decreased in the Parkinson's disease mice; the degeneration of nigral dopaminergic neuron and the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase were significantly improved by low-frequency rTMS; moreover, the expressions of brain derived neurotrophic factor and glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor were also improved by low-frequency rTMS. Conclusions. Low-frequency rTMS had a neuroprotective effect on the nigral dopaminergic neuron which might be due to the improved expressions of brain derived neurotrophic factor and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor. The present study provided a theoretical basis for the application of low-frequency rTMS in the clinical treatment and recovery of Parkinson's disease.

  9. Enhanced detection of a low-frequency signal by using broad squeezed light and a bichromatic local oscillator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wei; Jin, Yuanbin; Yu, Xudong; Zhang, Jing

    2017-08-01

    We experimentally study a protocol of using the broadband high-frequency squeezed vacuum to detect the low-frequency signal. In this scheme, the lower sideband field of the squeezed light carries the low-frequency modulation signal, and the two strong coherent light fields are applied as the bichromatic local oscillator in the homodyne detection to measure the quantum entanglement of the upper and lower sideband for the broadband squeezed light. The power of one of the local oscillators for detecting the upper sideband can be adjusted to optimize the conditional variance in the low-frequency regime by subtracting the photocurrent of the upper sideband field of the squeezed light from that of the lower sideband field. By means of the quantum correlation of the upper and lower sideband for the broadband squeezed light, the low-frequency signal beyond the standard quantum limit is measured. This scheme is appropriate for enhancing the sensitivity of the low-frequency signal by the aid of the broad squeezed light, such as gravitational waves detection, and does not need to directly produce the low-frequency squeezing in an optical parametric process.

  10. Implementation and validation of synthetic inertia support employing series produced electric vehicles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rezkalla, Michel M.N.; Martinenas, Sergejus; Zecchino, Antonio

    2017-01-01

    The high integration of renewable energy resources (inverter connected) replacing conventional generation reduces the available rotational inertia in the power system. This introduces the need for faster regulation services including synthetic inertia services. These services could potentially...... be provided by electric vehicles due to their fast response capability. This work evaluates and experimentally shows the capability and limits of EVs in providing synthetic inertia services. Three series produced EVs are used during the experiment. The results show the performance of the EVs in providing...... synthetic inertia. It shows also that, on the contrary of synchronous inertia, synthetic inertia might lead to unstable frequency behavior....

  11. Offshore windfarm connection with low frequency AC transmission technology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Qin, Nan; Xu, Zhao; You, Shi

    2009-01-01

    This paper investigates the feasibility of using the low frequency AC transmission (LFAC) system, e.g. fraction of 50 Hz or 60 Hz, for connecting the large offshore wind farm to the grid by modelling and simulation. The LFAC system improves the transmission capacity and distance compared...... to the conventional AC solution at the nominal frequency, e.g. 50 Hz or 60 Hz. and reduces the investment cost compared to the HVDC solution. It is estimated that the LFAC system is competitive in the transmission distance of about 30-150 km. The simulation model of the wind integration using the LFAC system has been...... developed, which consists of three parts, the fixed-speed wind turbine representing a wind farm, the transmission line and the frequency converter. Although the transmission capability is greatly improved by the LFAC system, simulation shows it gives negative influences on the wind turbine operation due...

  12. Radiation effects in mammalian cells in vitro

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hill, C.K.; Han, A.; Elkind, M.M.; Wells, R.L.; Buess, E.M.; Lin, C.M.

    1985-01-01

    The purpose of this research effort is to elucidate the mechanisms for the radiation-induced changes in mammalian cells that lead to cell death, mutation, neoplastic transformation, DNA damage, and chromosomal alterations. Of particular interest are the effects of low-dose-rate and fractionated irradiation on these end points with respect to the mechanisms whereby these effects are influenced by cellular repair processes, inhibitors, and promoters that act at the genetic or biochemical level. 17 refs

  13. Identification of low-frequency variants associated with gout and serum uric acid levels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sulem, Patrick; Gudbjartsson, Daniel F; Walters, G Bragi

    2011-01-01

    ,506 individuals for whom serum uric acid measurements were available. We identified a low-frequency missense variant (c.1580C>G) in ALDH16A1 associated with gout (OR = 3.12, P = 1.5 × 10(-16), at-risk allele frequency = 0.019) and serum uric acid levels (effect = 0.36 s.d., P = 4.5 × 10(-21)). We confirmed.......48 s.d., P = 4.5 × 10(-16)). This variant is close to a common variant previously associated with serum uric acid levels. This work illustrates how whole-genome sequencing data allow the detection of associations between low-frequency variants and complex traits....

  14. ANALYSIS OF LOW-FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS FOR THE SOUTH CHINA SEA SUMMER MONSOON IN 1998

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    徐国强; 朱乾根

    2003-01-01

    With NCEP/NCAR reanalysis daily data and SST for 1998, the paper investigates the features of summer monsoon low-frequency oscillation (LFO) over the South China Sea (SCS). Results show that SCS summer monsoon onset is enhanced because of its LFO. Low-frequency (LF) low-level convergence (divergence) region of SCS is in the LF positive (negative) rainfall area. LFO of the SCS region migrates from south to north in the meridian and from west to east in zonal direction. LF divergence of SCS is vertically compensating to each other between high and low level.

  15. Comparison between different encoding schemes for synthetic aperture imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nikolov, Svetoslav; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

    2002-01-01

    and spatio-temporal encoding was investigated. Experiments on wire phantom in water were carried out to quantify the gain from the different encodings. The gain in SNR using an FM modulated pulse is 12 dB. The penetration depth of the images was studied using tissue mimicking phantom with frequency dependent......Synthetic transmit aperture ultrasound (STAU) imaging can create images with as low as 2 emissions, making it attractive for 3D real-time imaging. Two are the major problems to be solved: (1) complexity of the hardware involved, and (2) poor image quality due to low signal to noise ratio (SNR). We...... attenuation of 0.5 dB/(cm MHz). The combination of spatial and temporal encoding have highest penetration depth. Images to a depth of 110 mm, can successfully be made with contrast resolution comparable to that of a linear array image. The in-vivo scans show that the motion artifacts do not significantly...

  16. Effect of low frequency electromagnetic field on microstructures and macrosegregation of horizontal direct chill casting aluminum alloy

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    赵志浩; 崔建忠; 董杰; 张海涛; 张北江

    2004-01-01

    The influences of low frequency electromagnetic field on cast surface, microstructures and macrosegregation in horizontal direct chill(HDC) casting process were investigated experimentally. The cast surfaces, microstructures and macrosegregation of the ingots manufactured by conventional HDC and low frequency electromagnetic HDC casting were compared. The results show that low frequency electromagnetic field significantly improves the surface quality, refines the microstructures and reduces macrosegregation. Further more, increasing electromagnetic intensity or decreasing frequency is beneficial to the improvement. In the range of ampere-turns and frequency employed in the experiments, the optimum ampere-turns is found to be 10 000 A · turn and the frequency to be 30 Hz.

  17. A low-cost, tunable laser lock without laser frequency modulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shea, Margaret E.; Baker, Paul M.; Gauthier, Daniel J.

    2015-05-01

    Many experiments in optical physics require laser frequency stabilization. This can be achieved by locking to an atomic reference using saturated absorption spectroscopy. Often, the laser frequency is modulated and phase sensitive detection used. This method, while well-proven and robust, relies on expensive components, can introduce an undesirable frequency modulation into the laser, and is not easily frequency tuned. Here, we report a simple locking scheme similar to those implemented previously. We modulate the atomic resonances in a saturated absorption setup with an AC magnetic field created by a single solenoid. The same coil applies a DC field that allows tuning of the lock point. We use an auto-balanced detector to make our scheme more robust against laser power fluctuations and stray magnetic fields. The coil, its driver, and the detector are home-built with simple, cheap components. Our technique is low-cost, simple to setup, tunable, introduces no laser frequency modulation, and only requires one laser. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the NSF through Grant # PHY-1206040.

  18. Creating poloidal flux in a tokamak plasma with low frequency waves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kirkwood, R.K.; Capewell, D.L.; Bellan, P.M.

    1993-01-01

    Using a fully toroidal, collisionless, low frequency model, we show that low amplitude, circularly polarized waves can, depending on antenna geometry (i) drive the toroidal EMF necessary to sustain a tokamak reactor, or (ii) shift the internal current profile. Measurements on a small tokamak to test (ii) agree with the model predictions. (orig.)

  19. Potential for Low-Pathogenic Avian H7 Influenza A Viruses To Replicate and Cause Disease in a Mammalian Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zanin, Mark; Koçer, Zeynep A.; Poulson, Rebecca L.; Gabbard, Jon D.; Howerth, Elizabeth W.; Jones, Cheryl A.; Friedman, Kimberly; Seiler, Jon; Danner, Angela; Kercher, Lisa; McBride, Ryan; Paulson, James C.; Wentworth, David E.; Krauss, Scott; Tompkins, Stephen M.; Stallknecht, David E.

    2016-01-01

    ABSTRACT H7 subtype influenza A viruses are widely distributed and have been responsible for human infections and numerous outbreaks in poultry with significant impact. Despite this, the disease-causing potential of the precursor low-pathogenic (LP) H7 viruses from the wild bird reservoir has not been investigated. Our objective was to assess the disease-causing potential of 30 LP H7 viruses isolated from wild avian species in the United States and Canada using the DBA/2J mouse model. Without prior mammalian adaptation, the majority of viruses, 27 (90%), caused mortality in mice. Of these, 17 (56.7%) caused 100% mortality and 24 were of pathogenicity similar to that of A/Anhui/1/2013 (H7N9), which is highly pathogenic in mice. Viruses of duck origin were more pathogenic than those of shorebird origin, as 13 of 18 (72.2%) duck origin viruses caused 100% mortality while 4 of 12 (33.3%) shorebird origin viruses caused 100% mortality, despite there being no difference in mean lung viral titers between the groups. Replication beyond the respiratory tract was also evident, particularly in the heart and brain. Of the 16 viruses studied for fecal shedding, 11 were detected in fecal samples. These viruses exhibited a strong preference for avian-type α2,3-linked sialic acids; however, binding to mammalian-type α2,6-linked sialic acids was also detected. These findings indicate that LP avian H7 influenza A viruses are able to infect and cause disease in mammals without prior adaptation and therefore pose a potential public health risk. IMPORTANCE Low-pathogenic (LP) avian H7 influenza A viruses are widely distributed in the avian reservoir and are the precursors of numerous outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses in commercial poultry farms. However, unlike highly pathogenic H7 viruses, the disease-causing potential of LP H7 viruses from the wild bird reservoir has not been investigated. To address this, we studied 30 LP avian H7 viruses isolated from wild

  20. Factors affecting the spontaneous mutational spectra in somatic mammalian cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    О.А. Ковальова

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available  In our survey of references we are discussed the influence of factors biological origin on the spontaneous mutation specters in mammalian. Seasonal and age components influence on the frequence of cytogenetic anomalies. The immune and endocrinous systems are take part in control of the alteration of the spontaneous mutation specters. Genetical difference of sensibility in animal and human at the alteration of factors enviroment as and  genetical differences of repair systems activity are may influence on individual variation of spontaneous destabilization characters of chromosomal apparatus.