Statistical model based 3D shape prediction of postoperative trunks for non-invasive scoliosis surgery planning

One of the major concerns of scoliosis patients undergoing surgical treatment is the aesthetic aspect of the surgery outcome. It would be useful to predict the postoperative appearance of the patient trunk in the course of a surgery planning process in order to take into account the expectations of the patient. In this paper, we propose to use least squares support vector regression for the prediction of the postoperative trunk 3D shape after spine surgery for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Five dimensionality reduction techniques used in conjunction with the support vector machine are compared. The methods are evaluated in terms of their accuracy, based on the leave-one-out cross-validation performed on a database of 141 cases. The results indicate that the 3D shape predictions using a dimensionality reduction obtained by simultaneous decomposition of the predictors and response variables have the best accuracy.

Performance of correlation functionals in ab initio chemisorption cluster-model calculations: Alkali metals on Si(111)

The performance of different correlation functionals has been tested for alkali metals, Li to Cs, interacting with cluster models simulating different active sites of the Si(111) surface. In all cases, the ab initio Hartree-Fock density has been obtained and used as a starting point. The electronic correlation energy is then introduced as an a posteriori correction to the Hartree-Fock energy using different correlation functionals. By making use of the ionic nature of the interaction and of different dissociation limits we have been able to prove that all functionals tested introduce the right correlation energy, although to a different extent. Hence, correlation functionals appear as an effective and easy way to introduce electronic correlation in the ab initio Hartree-Fock description of the chemisorption bond in complex systems where conventional configuration interaction techniques cannot be used. However, the calculated energies may differ by some tens of eV. Therefore, these methods can be employed to get a qualitative idea of how important correlation effects are, but they have some limitations if accurate binding energies are to be obtained.

A Comparative Study of Convective Parameterization Schemes in WRF-NMM Model

Severe local storms, including tornadoes, damaging hail and wind gusts, frequently occur over the eastern and northeastern states of India during the pre-monsoon season (March-May). Forecasting thunderstorms is one of the most difficult tasks in weather prediction, due to their rather small spatial and temporal extension and the inherent non-linearity of their dynamics and physics. In this paper, sensitivity experiments are conducted with the WRF-NMM model to test the impact of convective parameterization schemes on simulating severe thunderstorms that occurred over Kolkata on 20 May 2006 and 21 May 2007 and validated the model results with observation. In addition, a simulation without convective parameterization scheme was performed for each case to determine if the model could simulate the convection explicitly. A statistical analysis based on mean absolute error, root mean square error and correlation coefficient is performed for comparisons between the simulated and observed data with different convective schemes. This study shows that the prediction of thunderstorm affected parameters is sensitive to convective schemes. The Grell-Devenyi cloud ensemble convective scheme is well simulated the thunderstorm activities in terms of time, intensity and the region of occurrence of the events as compared to other convective schemes and also explicit scheme

The diagnosis of severe thunderstorms with high-resolution WRF model

Thunderstorm, resulting from vigorous convective activity, is one of the most spectacular weather phenomena in the atmosphere. A common feature of the weather during the pre-monsoon season over the Indo-Gangetic Plain and northeast India is the outburst of severe local convective storms, commonly known as ‘Nor’westers’(as they move from northwest to southeast). The severe thunderstorms associated with thunder, squall lines, lightning and hail cause extensive losses in agricultural, damage to structure and also loss of life. In this paper, sensitivity experiments have been conducted with the Non-hydrostatic Mesoscale Model (NMM) to test the impact of three microphysical schemes in capturing the severe thunderstorm event occurred over Kolkata on 15 May 2009. The results show that the WRF-NMM model with Ferrier microphysical scheme appears to reproduce the cloud and precipitation processes more realistically than other schemes. Also, we have made an attempt to diagnose four severe thunderstorms that occurred during pre-monsoon seasons of 2006, 2007 and 2008 through the simulated radar reflectivity fields from NMM model with Ferrier microphysics scheme and validated the model results with Kolkata Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) observations. Composite radar reflectivity simulated by WRF-NMM model clearly shows the severe thunderstorm movement as observed by DWR imageries, but failed to capture the intensity as in observations. The results of these analyses demonstrated the capability of high resolution WRF-NMM model in the simulation of severe thunderstorm events and determined that the 3 km model improve upon current abilities when it comes to simulating severe thunderstorms over east Indian region

Asymptotic model for shape resonance control of diatomics by intense non-resonant light

We derive a universal model for atom pairs interacting with non-resonant light via the polarizability anisotropy, based on the long range properties of the scattering. The corresponding dynamics can be obtained using a nodal line technique to solve the asymptotic Schrödinger equation. It consists of imposing physical boundary conditions at long range and vanishing the wavefunction at a position separating the inner zone and the asymptotic region. We show that nodal lines which depend on the intensity of the non-resonant light can satisfactorily account for the effect of the polarizability at short range. The approach allows to determine the resonance structure, energy, width, channel mixing and hybridization even for narrow resonances.

Asymptotic model for shape resonance control of diatomics by intense non-resonant light: universality in the single-channel approximation

Non-resonant light interacting with diatomics via the polarizability anisotropy couples different rotational states and may lead to strong hybridization of the motion. The modification of shape resonances and low-energy scattering states due to this interaction can be fully captured by an asymptotic model, based on the long-range properties of the scattering (Crubellier et al 2015 New J. Phys. 17 045020). Remarkably, the properties of the field-dressed shape resonances in this asymptotic multi-channel description are found to be approximately linear in the field intensity up to fairly large intensity. This suggests a perturbative single-channel approach to be sufficient to study the control of such resonances by the non-resonant field. The multi-channel results furthermore indicate the dependence on field intensity to present, at least approximately, universal characteristics. Here we combine the nodal line technique to solve the asymptotic Schrödinger equation with perturbation theory. Comparing our single channel results to those obtained with the full interaction potential, we find nodal lines depending only on the field-free scattering length of the diatom to yield an approximate but universal description of the field-dressed molecule, confirming universal behavior.

A 3D stochastic cloud model for investigating the radiative properties of inhomogeneous cirrus clouds

(From author). Comments: First 3D stochastic/fractal model of cirrus; first detailed analysis & explanation of power spectra of ice water content, including first observations of 50-km scale break and mixing-induced steepening of spectrum; first demonstration of the potential effect of wind shear on radiative fluxes by changing fall-streak orientation. Has spawned work on the effect of 3D photon transport on the radiative effects of cirrus clouds.