DIAGNOSIS of REGIONAL CEREBRAL BLOOD FLOW ABNORMALITIES USING SPECT: AGREEMENT BETWEEN INDIVIDUALIZED STATISTICAL PARAMETRIC MAPS and VISUAL INSPECTION BY NUCLEAR MEDICINE PHYSICIANS WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS of EXPERTISE IN NUCLEAR NEUROLOGY

INTRODUCTION: Visual analysis is widely used to interpret regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) SPECT images in clinical practice despite its limitations. Automated methods are employed to investigate between-group rCBF differences in research Studies but have rarely been explored in individual analyses.OBJECTIVES: To compare visual inspection by nuclear physicians with the automated statistical parametric mapping program using a SPECT dataset of patients with neurological disorders and normal control images.METHODS: Using statistical parametric mapping, 14 SPECT images from patients with various neurological disorders were compared individually with a databank of 32 normal images using a statistical threshold of p<0.05 (corrected for multiple comparisons at the level of individual voxels or clusters). Statistical parametric mapping results were compared with Visual analyses by a nuclear physician highly experienced in neurology (A) as well as a nuclear physician with a general background of experience (B) who independently classified images as normal or altered, and determined the location of changes and the severity.RESULTS: of the 32 images of the normal databank, 4 generated maps showing rCBF abnormalities (p<0.05, corrected). Among the 14 images from patients with neurological disorders, 13 showed rCBF alterations. Statistical parametric mapping and physician A completely agreed on 84.37% and 64.28% of cases from the normal databank and neurological disorders, respectively. The agreement between statistical parametric mapping and ratings of physician B were lower (71.18% and 35.71%, respectively).CONCLUSION: Statistical parametric mapping replicated the findings described by the more experienced nuclear physician. This finding suggests that automated methods for individually analyzing rCBF SPECT images may be a valuable resource to complement visual inspection in clinical practice.

Miniaturized structures for removal or selection of particles from liquid flow

The aim of this work was the development of miniaturized structures useful for retention and/or selection of particles and viscous substances from a liquid flow. The proposed low costs structures are similar to macroscopic wastewater treatment systems, named baffles, and allow disassemble. They were simulated using FEMLAB 3.2b package and manufactured in acrylic with conventional tools. Tests for retention or selection of particles in water or air and viscous fluids in water were carried out. Either in air or water particles with 50 mu m diameter will be retained but not with 13 mu m diameter. In aqueous flow, it is also possible the retention of viscous samples, such as silicone 350 cSt. The simulated results showed good agreement with experimental measurements. These miniaturized structures can be useful in sample pretreatment for chemical analysis and microorganism manipulation. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

NOISE GENERATED BY CAVITATION IN ORIFICE-PLATES WITH SOME GASEOUS EFFECTS.

An experimental investigation of the noise generated by cavitation in turbulent shear flows produced by confined sharp-edge orifice-plates is reported. The acoustic source strength of cavitation was determined by means of reciprocity type measurements. Experimentally determined scaling parameters are applied to a model to prototype scaling formula derived from dimensional analysis. The proposed formula is checked experimentally. Comparative photographic observations of the cavitation patterns for two different values of gas content are presented. The observed sound reduction, that occurs when supersaturated conditions exist downstream the orifice-plates, is explained by the effects of gas diffusion into the cavitation bubbles, and by simple acoustic attenuation.

Water waves generated by local disturbance: Serre's model validity

Water waves generated by landslides were long menace in certain localities and the study of this phenomenon were carried out at an accelerated rate in the last decades. Nevertheless, the phase of wave creation was found to be very complex. As such, a numerical model based on Boussinesq equations was used to describe water waves generated by local disturbance. This numerical model takes in account the vertical acceleration of the particles and considers higher orders derivate terms previously neglected by Boussinesq, so that in the generation zone, this model can support high relative amplitude of waves.

Flow evolution of a metallic slurry during thixoextrusion of an automotive valve

The aim of this work is to characterize a metallic slurry (Al-4.5%Cu) flow during thixoforming of an automotive valve. The necessary globular structure was obtained by first inoculating the alloy with TIBAL (5%Ti, 1%B, Al - rest) at 750.0°C, and then reheating to a state between liquidus and solidus prior to thixoforming. Two metallic slurries, with a solid phase of approximately 86.1 and 78.2 percent, were used to generate different experimental flow patterns during the thixoforming process. The flow of the material into the die was observed for total, and partial displacement (2.7, 5.4, 7.5mm) of the punch. The first displacement shows formation of the valve rod. The patterns at each step of displacement of the punch were preserved by quenching in water, thus revealing the profile of the die fill and microstructural evolution. Degeneration of the globular phase was observed along the piece thixoextruded. Thixoextrusion forces versus time curves were generated for partial and full displacement of the punch. Porosity was visible along the billet prior to thixoforming. However, some areas show that the porosity gradually decreased to zero as the thixoextrusion pressure increased. Turbulent, transient and laminar flow are analyzed in this work.

Waves generated by two or more ships in a channel

The numerical model FUNWAVE+Ship simulates the generation and propagation of ship waves to shore, including phenomena such as refraction, diffraction, currents and breaking of waves. The interaction of two wave trains, generated by ships moving either in the same direction at different speeds or in opposite directions, is studied. Focus is given to the wave orbital velocities and to the free surface pattern.

Interaction between wave and coastal structure: Validation of two lagrangian numerical models with experimental results marine 2011

Numerical modeling of the interaction among waves and coastal structures is a challenge due to the many nonlinear phenomena involved, such as, wave propagation, wave transformation with water depth, interaction among incident and reflected waves, run-up / run-down and wave overtopping. Numerical models based on Lagrangian formulation, like SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics), allow simulating complex free surface flows. The validation of these numerical models is essential, but comparing numerical results with experimental data is not an easy task. In the present paper, two SPH numerical models, SPHysics LNEC and SPH UNESP, are validated comparing the numerical results of waves interacting with a vertical breakwater, with data obtained in physical model tests made in one of the LNEC's flume. To achieve this validation, the experimental set-up is determined to be compatible with the Characteristics of the numerical models. Therefore, the flume dimensions are exactly the same for numerical and physical model and incident wave characteristics are identical, which allows determining the accuracy of the numerical models, particularly regarding two complex phenomena: wave-breaking and impact loads on the breakwater. It is shown that partial renormalization, i.e. renormalization applied only for particles near the structure, seems to be a promising compromise and an original method that allows simultaneously propagating waves, without diffusion, and modeling accurately the pressure field near the structure.

Parameterization technique for the continuation power flow using the trivial and tangent predictor

This paper presents efficient geometric parameterization techniques using the tangent and the trivial predictors for the continuation power flow, developed from observation of the trajectories of the load flow solution. The parameterization technique eliminates the Jacobian matrix singularity of load flow, and therefore all the consequent problems of ill-conditioning, by the addition of the line equations which pass through the points in the plane determined by the variables loading factor and the real power generated by the slack bus, two parameters with clear physical meaning. This paper also provides an automatic step size control around the maximum loading point. Thus, the resulting method enables not only the calculation of the maximum loading point, but also the complete tracing of P-V curves of electric power systems. The technique combines robustness with ease of understanding. The results to the IEEE 300-bus system and of large real systems show the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2012 IEEE.

Robust control applied to power flow control in single-phase inverter with LCL filter, using droop control and D-stability

This paper proposes a new methodology to control the power flow between a distributed generator (DG) and the electrical power distribution grid. It is used the droop voltage control to manage the active and reactive power. Through this control a sinusoidal voltage reference is generated to be tracked by voltage loop and this loop generates the current reference for the current loop. The proposed control introduces feed-forward states improving the control performance in order to obtain high quality for the current injected to the grid. The controllers were obtained through the linear matrix inequalities (LMI) using the D-stability analysis to allocate the closed-loop controller poles. Therefore, the results show quick transient response with low oscillations. Thus, this paper presents the proposed control technique, the main simulation results and a prototype with 1000VA was developed in the laboratory in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed control. © 2012 IEEE.

Detection of buried pipes using a shear wave ground surface vibration technique

A major UK initiative, entitled 'Mapping the Underworld', is seeking to address the serious social, environmental and economic consequences arising from an inability to locate the buried utility service infrastructure without resorting to extensive excavations. Mapping the Underworld aims to develop and prove the efficacy of a multi-sensor device for accurate remote buried utility service detection, location and, where possible, identification. One of the technologies to be incorporated in the device is low-frequency vibro-acoustics, and the application of this technology for detecting buried infrastructure is currently being investigated. Here, a shear wave ground vibration technique for detecting buried pipes is described. For this technique, shear waves are generated at the ground surface, and the resulting ground surface vibrations measured, using geophones, along a line traversing the anticipated run of the pipe. Measurements were made at a test site with a single pressurized polyethylene mains water pipe. Time-extended signals were employed to generate the illuminating wave. Cross-correlation functions between the measured ground velocities and a reference measurement adjacent to the excitation were then calculated and summed using a stacking method to generate a cross-sectional image of the ground. The wide cross-correlation peaks caused by high ground attenuation were partially compensated for by using a generalized cross-correlation function called the smoothed coherence transform. To mitigate the effects of other potential sources of vibration in the vicinity, the excitation signal was used as an additional reference when calculating the generalized cross-correlation functions. For two out of three tests, the pipe was detected, indicating that this technique will be a valuable addition to the Mapping the Underworld armoury.

Influência de estruturas geológicas bidimensionais no campo geoeletromagnético na presença do eletrojato equatorial

A Terra atua como um grande magneto esférico, cujo campo assemelha-se àquele gerado por um dipolo magnético. Este campo apresenta mudanças de intensidade que variam com a localização e a hora local. A parte principal do campo geomagnético se origina no interior da Terra através de processos eletromagnéticos. Extensivos estudos mostraram ainda que existem contribuições de origem externa ao planeta, principalmente de origem solar. Dentre estas fontes há anomalias do campo magnético que surgem a partir de um aumento diurno da corrente elétrica em uma estreita faixa da ionosfera, de direção leste-oeste, centrada no equador magnético e denominada Eletrojato Equatorial (EEJ). Ocasionalmente estas correntes podem apresentar reversões de fluxo, sendo denominadas Contra-Eletrojato (CEJ). Vários autores têm estudado os efeitos do EEJ e CEJ sobre as observações geoeletromagnéticas. Eles estão interessados no efeito combinado do EEJ e estruturas geológicas condutivas 1-D e 2-D. Nestes trabalhos a estrutura 2-D sempre se apresentava paralela ao eletrojato, o que é uma hipótese bastante restritiva ao se modelar ambientes geológicos mais realistas, em que corpos bidimensionais podem ter qualquer strike em relação ao EEJ. Neste trabalho apresentamos a solução deste problema sem esta restrição. Assim, mostramos os campos geoeletromagnéticos devidos a estruturas bidimensionais que possuam strike oblíquo em relação ao EEJ, através de perfis dos campos elétrico e magnéticos calculados na superfície e formando direção arbitrária à heterogeneidade condutiva 2-D. Com esta resposta avaliamos ainda qual a influência que estruturas bidimensionais exercem sobre a resposta magnetotelúrica, sob influência do Eletrojato Equatorial. Durante o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, utilizamos o método de elementos finitos, tendo por fonte eletromagnética o EEJ e o CEJ, que por sua vez foram representados por uma combinação de distribuições gaussianas de densidade de corrente. Estas fontes foram decompostas nas direções paralela e perpendicular à estrutura 2-D, resultando nos modos de propagação TE₁ e TE₂ e TM acoplados, respectivamente. Resolvemos o modo acoplado aplicando uma Transformada de Fourier nas equações de Maxwell e uma Transformada Inversa de Fourier na solução encontrada. De acordo com os experimentos numéricos realizados em um modelo interpretativo da Anomalia Condutiva da Bacia do Parnaíba, formado por uma enorme estrutura de 3000 ohm-m dentro de um corpo externo condutivo (1 ohm-m), concluímos que a presença do CEJ causa uma inversão na anomalia, se compararmos com o resultado do EEJ. Concluímos também que para as frequências mais altas as componentes do campo elétrico apresentam menor influência da parte interna do corpo 2-D do que da parte externa. Já para frequências mais baixas este comportamento se observa com as componentes do campo magnético. Com relação à frequência, vimos os efeitos do “skin-depth”, principalmente nas respostas magnéticas. Além disso, quando a estrutura 2-D está paralela ao eletrojato, o campo elétrico é insensível à estrutura interna do modelo para todos os valores de frequência utilizados. Com respeito ao ângulo θ_h entre a heterogeneidade e a fonte, vimos que o modo TM se manifesta naturalmente quando θ_h é diferente de 0°. Neste caso, o modo TE é composto por uma parte devido à componente da fonte paralela à heterogeneidade e a outra devido à componente da fonte perpendicular, que é acoplada ao modo TM. Assim, os campos calculados têm relação direta com o valor de θ_h. Analisando a influência do ângulo entre a direção do perfil dos campos e o strike da heterogeneidade verificamos que, à medida que θ_h se aproxima de 90°, os campos primários tornam-se variáveis para valores de θ_p diferentes de 90°. Estas variações causam uma assimetria na anomalia e dão uma idéia da inclinação da direção do perfil em relação aos corpos. Finalmente, concluímos que uma das influências que a distância entre o centro do EEJ e o centro da estrutura 2-D, causa sobre as componentes dos campos está relacionado às correntes reversas do EEJ e CEJ, pois a 500 km do centro da fonte estas correntes têm máxima intensidade. No entanto, com o aumento da distância, as anomalias diminuem de intensidade. Nas sondagens MT, nós também usamos o EEJ e o CEJ como fonte primária e comparamos nossos resultados com a resposta da onda plana. Deste modo observamos que as componentes do campo geoeletromagnético, usadas para calcular a impedância, têm influência do fator de acoplamento entre os modos TE₂ e TM. Além disso, esta influência se torna maior em meios resistivos e nas frequências mais baixas. No entanto, o fator de acoplamento não afeta os dados magnetotelúricos em frequências maiores de 10^-2 Hz. Para frequências da ordem de 10^-4 Hz os dados MT apresentam duas fontes de perturbação: a primeira e mais evidente é devido à presença fonte 2-D (EEJ e CEJ), que viola a hipótese da onda plana no método MT; e a segunda é causada pelo acoplamento entre os modos TE₂ e TM, pois quando a estrutura bidimensional está obliqua à fonte 2-D temos correntes elétricas adicionais ao longo da heterogeneidade. Concluimos assim, que o strike de uma grande estrutura condutiva bidimensional relativamente à direção do EEJ ou CEJ tem de fato influência sobre o campo geomagnético. Por outro lado, para estudos magnetotelúricos rasos (frequências maiores de 10^-3 Hz) o efeito do ângulo entre a estrutura geológica 2-D e a direção do EEJ não é tão importante. Contudo, em estudos de litosfera frequências menores de 10^-3 Hz) o acoplamento entre os modos TE₂ e TM não pode ser ignorado.

Desenvolvimento de software utilizando a técnica sph (smoothed particle hydrodynamics) na geração de ondas de submersão

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Elétrica - FEIS

Estudo de propagação de ondas em planície de inundação para elaboração de plano de ação emergencial de barragens: UHE Três irmãos estudo de caso

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Civil - FEIS

Investigation of the Effect of Sealer Use on the Heat Generated at the External Root Surface during Root Canal Obturation Using Warm Vertical Compaction Technique with System B Heat Source

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Application of acoustoelasticity to measure the stress generated by milling in ASTM A36 steel plates

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)