Evaluation of APD and SiPM Matrices as Sensors for Monolithic PET Detector Block

Gamma detectors based on monolithic scintillator blocks coupled to APDs matrices have proved to be a good alternative to pixelated ones for PET scanners. They provide comparable spatial resolution, improve the sensitivity and make easier the mechanical design of the system. In this study we evaluate by means of Geant4-based simulations the possibility of replacing the APDs by SiPMs. Several commercial matrices of light sensors coupled to LYSO:Ce monolithic blocks have been simulated and compared. Regarding the spatial resolution and linearity of the detector, SiPMs with high photo detection efficiency could become an advantageous replacement for the APDs

Evaluation of a PET Prototype Using LYSO:Ce Monolithic Detector Block

We have analyzed the performance of a PET demonstrator formed by two sectors of four monolithic detector blocks placed face-to-face. Both front-end and read-out electronics have been evaluated by means of coincidence measurements using a rotating 22Na source placed at the center of the sectors in order to emulate the behavior of a complete full ring. A continuous training method based on neural network (NN) algorithms has been carried out to determine the entrance points over the surface of the detectors. Reconstructed images from 1 MBq 22Na point source and 22Na Derenzo phantom have been obtained using both filtered back projection (FBP) analytic methods and the OSEM 3D iterative algorithm available in the STIR software package [1]. Preliminary data on image reconstruction from a 22Na point source with Ø = 0.25 mm show spatial resolutions from 1.7 to 2.1 mm FWHM in the transverse plane. The results confirm the viability of this design for the development of a full-ring brain PET scanner compatible with magnetic resonance imaging for human studies.

Documentación de estudio para sistemas audiovisuales

Este proyecto es una documentación sintetizada, para los alumnos de Grado en Imagen y Sonido, de todos los conceptos que conciernen a la asignatura Sistemas Audiovisuales. No obstante puede servir para todo aquel al que le interese la materia, sin ser necesariamente estudiante. El material se basa en la recopilación de libros de diversos autores, páginas web y catálogos de productos de empresas del sector audiovisual. Se intenta con esto incentivar en el auto-aprendizaje, proporcionando multitud de fuentes de información. El documento se ha dividido en dos bloques temáticos correspondientes a los temas: 1- Dispositivos de captación y reproducción de sonido e imagen. 2- Señales y formatos de audio y vídeo. Aunque no es tema de este proyecto pero si de la asignatura hay que nombrar el tercer bloque temático, Introducción a los sistemas de transmisión de audio y vídeo. Dado que hay suficiente documentación de estudio sobre éste se ha optado por no incluirlo. Cada bloque temático a su vez contiene cuatro unidades didácticas. Cada unidad se ha desarrollado de manera independiente a las demás, es decir, que cada unidad puede ser estudiada sin necesidad de recurrir a otras unidades para comprender la/s que interesa/n. Por otro lado hay que remarcar que todos los capítulos tienen relación entre sí. La documentación se complementa al final de cada unidad didáctica con un test de evaluación que a su vez ha sido publicado dentro del entorno de Moodle en la página correspondiente a la asignatura. Para ello se ha accedido a esta plataforma on line con el rol de editor de contenido. Para la elaboración de los cuestionarios se han tomado los conceptos clave de cada unidad didáctica, de esta manera los alumnos pueden saber si han comprendido lo que se explica en la documentación y mejorar así sus conocimientos. Para la redacción y estructuración de cada unidad didáctica, así como el documento en general, se ha cogido como referencia la Taxonomía de objetivos de la Educación o Taxonomía de Bloom. Dado que el dominio cognitivo del lector se encuadra dentro del ‘nivel de comprensión’, el documento no resulta tedioso en su estudio. No obstante introduce al alumno en los temas más importantes de la materia, proporcionando una base sólida de conocimiento en sistemas audiovisuales. Es precisamente el interés en hacer lo más accesible posible este documento lo que ha dificultado su elaboración, ya que el área de estudio es muy extensa y es difícil sintetizar sin eliminar contenido importante. No obstante para hacer más fiable el documento se ha seguido las pautas temáticas y argumentales marcadas por el Departamento Ingeniería Audiovisual y Comunicaciones de la Escuela Universitaria de Ingeniería Técnica de Telecomunicaciones de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid verificando cada uno de los capítulos con los profesores de este departamento. Al tratarse de un proyecto con fines académicos, el texto se ha apoyado por figuras, esquemas, tablas, anexos y desarrollo de ecuaciones para hacer más comprensible lo que se expone. Algunos de estas informaciones se incluyen en inglés y no se ha creído conveniente su traducción dado que gran parte de la información que encontrará el alumno a lo largo de la carrera vendrá escrita en este idioma. Por último hay que decir al lector que es conveniente, pero no necesario, tener ciertas nociones de cálculo, álgebra, ondas y circuitos para seguir con fluidez lo que a continuación se expone. ABSTRACT. This project concerns all the concepts and topics of the subject Audiovisual Systems. It has been created for students of Sound and Image Degree, however everyone who's interested in this subject could use it even if isn’t a student. The document is divided into two main thematic sections corresponding to the topics: 1- Catchment and reproduction devices of sound and image. 2- Audio and video signals and formats. Even if this subject it isn’t mention in this project, it’s very important to quote a third important thematic of this block , such as Introduction about Transmission of Audio and Video System. Since there is enough study-documentation about this topic, it has been taken the choice to don’t integrate this chapter in this project. Every thematic block in this project is divided in chapters that have been developed in an independent way: that’s means that for each unit it is not necessary to look forward to other chapters in this project On the other hand it is necessary to emphasize that all the chapters are related one to each other. Every didactic unit and chapter ends with an evaluation test , that has been published with Moodle System using a content editor account. Those exercises will help in a easy way the student to improve his skills and his own ability. Collection of books of various authors, websites and product catalogs of audiovisual companies are used in this document and are included for stimulate the curiosity of the student. The key concepts of each unit have been used for making tests, so in this way students could be able to know if they have understood what the documentation explains and improve his skills. For writing and building each didactic unit, such as in the general document, it has been taken reference from Bloom’s Taxonomy. Since the skills and competence of the student are concentrated in the ‘comprehension level’, it will not be very complicated or hard to study. In spite of everything, all of thematic treated and discussed in documentation gives a solid knowledge of topic about audiovisual systems. The most difficult thing of realizing this document it was to take very complex topic and try to explain them as simply as possible In spite of everything for making this document as much accurated as possible it has been taken as point of reference rules established by the Department of Audiovisual Engineering & Communications of University School of Telecommunications Engineering (EUITT-UPM). This Project reach academic goal, for this reason in this document images, tables, annexes and outlines are enclosed in this document for an easier compression. At last, it’s necessary to say that each lector must have necessary a basic knowledge about arithmetic, calculus, waves and electronic circuits in the order that he could follow in a fluently way what the documentation set out.

Explointing FPGA block memories for protected cryptographic implementations

Modern Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are power packed with features to facilitate designers. Availability of features like huge block memory (BRAM), Digital Signal Processing (DSP) cores, embedded CPU makes the design strategy of FPGAs quite different from ASICs. FPGA are also widely used in security-critical application where protection against known attacks is of prime importance. We focus ourselves on physical attacks which target physical implementations. To design countermeasures against such attacks, the strategy for FPGA designers should also be different from that in ASIC. The available features should be exploited to design compact and strong countermeasures. In this paper, we propose methods to exploit the BRAMs in FPGAs for designing compact countermeasures. BRAM can be used to optimize intrinsic countermeasures like masking and dual-rail logic, which otherwise have significant overhead (at least 2X). The optimizations are applied on a real AES-128 co-processor and tested for area overhead and resistance on Xilinx Virtex-5 chips. The presented masking countermeasure has an overhead of only 16% when applied on AES. Moreover Dual-rail Precharge Logic (DPL) countermeasure has been optimized to pack the whole sequential part in the BRAM, hence enhancing the security. Proper robustness evaluations are conducted to analyze the optimization for area and security.

Design and construction of the Barriga Dam spillway through an improved wedge-shaped block technology

The Barriga Dam (Burgos, Spain) is a unique case study because its trapezoid spillway is located on the dam body and is composed of wedge-shaped concrete blocks (WSB) that include certain relevant improvements. This note summarizes the main features of the studies, the key aspects of the final design of the WSB and their placement on the dam, and important details of the spillway design. The design team concluded the study by showing the suitability of this enhanced technology for application to small dams and ponds in the short term, even with unit flows above 5 m2/s.

Validation Study of the Use of Matlab/Simulink Synchronous-Machine Block for Accurate Power-Plant Stability Studies

This paper presents results of the validity study of the use of MATLAB/Simulink synchronous-machine block for power-system stability studies. Firstly, the waveforms of the theoretical synchronous-generator short-circuit currents are described. Thereafter, the comparison between the currents obtained through the simulation model in the sudden short-circuit test, are compared to the theoretical ones. Finally, the factory tests of two commercial generating units are compared to the response of the synchronous generator simulation block during sudden short-circuit, set with the same real data, with satisfactory results. This results show the validity of the use of this generator block for power plant simulation.

Mathematical development of stress-strain law for rock block contacts

The fracture behavior of rock block contacts has been studied for many years. Unfortunately, up to now, there is not a rigorous formulation or a solid theoretical foundation to support it. A mathematical development to represent the failure mechanism which occurs in the contacts between rock blocks is presented to evaluate the performance of breaking mechanism of such blocks relating it to the morphology of the contact and mechanical parameters of the material. The examined framework includes the evaluation of the surface roughness of first order in the failure mechanism of the granular particles of large size and the development of a theoretical model describing the morphology of the contact between rock blocks.