A performance lower bound for quadratic timing recovery accounting for the symbol transition density

The symbol transition density in a digitally modulated signal affects the performance of practical synchronization schemes designed for timing recovery. This paper focuses on the derivation of simple performance limits for the estimation of the time delay of a noisy linearly modulated signal in the presence of various degrees of symbol correlation produced by the varioustransition densities in the symbol streams. The paper develops high- and low-signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) approximations of the so-called (Gaussian) unconditional Cramér–Rao bound (UCRB),as well as general expressions that are applicable in all ranges of SNR. The derived bounds are valid only for the class of quadratic, non-data-aided (NDA) timing recovery schemes. To illustrate the validity of the derived bounds, they are compared with the actual performance achieved by some well-known quadratic NDA timing recovery schemes. The impact of the symbol transitiondensity on the classical threshold effect present in NDA timing recovery schemes is also analyzed. Previous work on performancebounds for timing recovery from various authors is generalized and unified in this contribution.

NDA waveform estimation in the low-SNR regime

This correspondence addresses the problem of nondata-aidedwaveform estimation for digital communications. Based on the unconditionalmaximum likelihood criterion, the main contribution of this correspondenceis the derivation of a closed-form solution to the waveform estimationproblem in the low signal-to-noise ratio regime. The proposed estimationmethod is based on the second-order statistics of the received signaland a clear link is established between maximum likelihood estimation andcorrelation matching techniques. Compression with the signal-subspace isalso proposed to improve the robustness against the noise and to mitigatethe impact of abnormals or outliers.

A high frequency electronic transducer for multiphase flow measurements

This paper describes an electronic transducer for multiphase flow measurement. Its high sensitivity, good signal to noise ratio and accuracy are achieved through an electrical impedance sensor with a special guard technique. The transducer consists of a wide bandwidth and high slew rate differentiator where the lead inductance and stray capacitance effects are compensated. The sensor edge effect is eliminated by using a guard electrode based on the virtual ground potential of the operational amplifier. A theoretical modeling and a calibration method are also presented. The results obtained seem to confirm the validity of the proposed technique.

Topographic distribution of the tibial somatosensory evoked potential using coherence

The objective of the present study was to determine the adequate cortical regions based on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) recording. This investigation was carried out using magnitude-squared coherence (MSC), a frequency domain objective response detection technique. Electroencephalographic signals were collected (International 10-20 System) from 38 volunteers, without history of neurological pathology, during somatosensory stimulation. Stimuli were applied to the right posterior tibial nerve at the rate of 5 Hz and intensity slightly above the motor threshold. Response detection was based on rejecting the null hypothesis of response absence (significance level α= 0.05 and M = 500 epochs). The best detection rates (maximum percentage of volunteers for whom the response was detected for the frequencies between 4.8 and 72 Hz) were obtained for the parietal and central leads mid-sagittal and ipsilateral to the stimulated leg: C4 (87%), P4 (82%), Cz (89%), and Pz (89%). The P37-N45 time-components of the SEP can also be observed in these leads. The other leads, including the central and parietal contralateral and the frontal and fronto-polar leads, presented low detection capacity. If only contralateral leads were considered, the centro-parietal region (C3 and P3) was among the best regions for response detection, presenting a correspondent well-defined N37; however, this was not observed in some volunteers. The results of the present study showed that the central and parietal regions, especially sagittal and ipsilateral to the stimuli, presented the best SNR in the gamma range. Furthermore, these findings suggest that the MSC can be a useful tool for monitoring purposes.

Développement et validation de méthodes visant une utilisation optimale d'antennes réceptrices en imagerie par résonance magnétique

Différentes méthodes ayant pour objectif une utilisation optimale d'antennes radio-fréquences spécialisées en imagerie par résonance magnétique sont développées et validées. Dans un premier temps, il est démontré qu'une méthode alternative de combinaison des signaux provenant des différents canaux de réception d'un réseau d'antennes mène à une réduction significative du biais causé par la présence de bruit dans des images de diffusion, en comparaison avec la méthode de la somme-des-carrés généralement utilisée. Cette réduction du biais engendré par le bruit permet une amélioration de l'exactitude de l'estimation de différents paramètres de diffusion et de diffusion tensorielle. De plus, il est démontré que cette méthode peut être utilisée conjointement avec une acquisition régulière sans accélération, mais également en présence d'imagerie parallèle. Dans une seconde perspective, les bénéfices engendrés par l'utilisation d'une antenne d'imagerie intravasculaire sont étudiés. Suite à une étude sur fantôme, il est démontré que l'imagerie par résonance magnétique intravasculaire offre le potentiel d'améliorer significativement l'exactitude géométrique lors de mesures morphologiques vasculaires, en comparaison avec les résultats obtenus avec des antennes de surface classiques. Il est illustré qu'une exactitude géométrique comparable à celle obtenue grâce à une sonde ultrasonique intravasculaire peut être atteinte. De plus, plusieurs protocoles basés sur une acquisition de type balanced steady-state free-precession sont comparés dans le but de mettre en évidence différentes relations entre les paramètres utilisés et l'exactitude géométrique obtenue. En particulier, des dépendances entre la taille du vaisseau, le rapport signal-sur-bruit à la paroi vasculaire, la résolution spatiale et l'exactitude géométrique atteinte sont mises en évidence. Dans une même optique, il est illustré que l'utilisation d'une antenne intravasculaire permet une amélioration notable de la visualisation de la lumière d'une endoprothèse vasculaire. Lorsque utilisée conjointement avec une séquence de type balanced steady-state free-precession utilisant un angle de basculement spécialement sélectionné, l'imagerie par résonance magnétique intravasculaire permet d'éliminer complètement les limitations normalement engendrées par l'effet de blindage radio-fréquence de l'endoprothèse.

A robust algorithm for segmenting fluorescence images and its application to single-molecule counting

La microscopie par fluorescence de cellules vivantes produit de grandes quantités de données. Ces données sont composées d’une grande diversité au niveau de la forme des objets d’intérêts et possèdent un ratio signaux/bruit très bas. Pour concevoir un pipeline d’algorithmes efficaces en traitement d’image de microscopie par fluorescence, il est important d’avoir une segmentation robuste et fiable étant donné que celle-ci constitue l’étape initiale du traitement d’image. Dans ce mémoire, je présente MinSeg, un algorithme de segmentation d’image de microscopie par fluorescence qui fait peu d’assomptions sur l’image et utilise des propriétés statistiques pour distinguer le signal par rapport au bruit. MinSeg ne fait pas d’assomption sur la taille ou la forme des objets contenus dans l’image. Par ce fait, il est donc applicable sur une grande variété d’images. Je présente aussi une suite d’algorithmes pour la quantification de petits complexes dans des expériences de microscopie par fluorescence de molécules simples utilisant l’algorithme de segmentation MinSeg. Cette suite d’algorithmes a été utilisée pour la quantification d’une protéine nommée CENP-A qui est une variante de l’histone H3. Par cette technique, nous avons trouvé que CENP-A est principalement présente sous forme de dimère.

Realization of a Scanning Photoacoustic Technique: Thermal properties of Bulk and Film Samples

Among the large number of photothcrmal techniques available, photoacoustics assumes a very significant place because of its essential simplicity and the variety of applications it finds in science and technology. The photoacoustic (PA) effect is the generation of an acoustic signal when a sample, kept inside an enclosed volume, is irradiated by an intensity modulated beam of radiation. The radiation absorbed by the sample is converted into thermal waves by nonradiative de-excitation processes. The propagating thermal waves cause a corresponding expansion and contraction of the gas medium surrounding the sample, which in tum can be detected as sound waves by a sensitive microphone. These sound waves have the same frequency as the initial modulation frequency of light. Lock-in detection method enables one to have a sufficiently high signal to noise ratio for the detected signal. The PA signal amplitude depends on the optical absorption coefficient of the sample and its thermal properties. The PA signal phase is a function of the thermal diffusivity of the sample.Measurement of the PA amplitude and phase enables one to get valuable information about the thermal and optical properties of the sample. Since the PA signal depends on the optical and thennal properties of the sample, their variation will get reflected in the PA signal. Therefore, if the PA signal is collected from various points on a sample surface it will give a profile of the variations in the optical/thennal properties across the sample surface. Since the optical and thermal properties are affected by the presence of defects, interfaces, change of material etc. these will get reflected in the PA signal. By varying the modulation frequency, we can get information about the subsurface features also. This is the basic principle of PA imaging or PA depth profiling. It is a quickly expanding field with potential applications in thin film technology, chemical engineering, biology, medical diagnosis etc. Since it is a non-destructive method, PA imaging has added advantages over some of the other imaging techniques. A major part of the work presented in this thesis is concemed with the development of a PA imaging setup that can be used to detect the presence of surface and subsmface defects in solid samples.Determination of thermal transport properties such as thermal diffusivity, effusivity, conductivity and heat capacity of materials is another application of photothennal effect. There are various methods, depending on the nature of the sample, to determine these properties. However, there are only a few methods developed to determine all these properties simultaneously. Even though a few techniques to determine the above thermal properties individually for a coating can be found in literature, no technique is available for the simultaneous measurement of these parameters for a coating. We have developed a scanning photoacoustic technique that can be used to determine all the above thermal transport properties simultaneously in the case of opaque coatings such as paints. Another work that we have presented in this thesis is the determination of thermal effusivity of many bulk solids by a scanning photoacoustic technique. This is one of the very few methods developed to determine thermal effiisivity directly.

Apodisation, denoising and system identification techniques for THz transients in the wavelet domain

This work describes the use of a quadratic programming optimization procedure for designing asymmetric apodization windows to de-noise THz transient interferograms and compares these results to those obtained when wavelet signal processing algorithms are adopted. A systems identification technique in the wavelet domain is also proposed for the estimation of the complex insertion loss function. The proposed techniques can enhance the frequency dependent dynamic range of an experiment and should be of particular interest to the THz imaging and tomography community. Future advances in THz sources and detectors are likely to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the recorded THz transients and high quality apodization techniques will become more important, and may set the limit on the achievable accuracy of the deduced spectrum.

An ensemble of eddy-permitting global ocean reanalyses from the MyOcean project

A set of four eddy-permitting global ocean reanalyses produced in the framework of the MyOcean project have been compared over the altimetry period 1993–2011. The main differences among the reanalyses used here come from the data assimilation scheme implemented to control the ocean state by inserting reprocessed observations of sea surface temperature (SST), in situ temperature and salinity profiles, sea level anomaly and sea-ice concentration. A first objective of this work includes assessing the interannual variability and trends for a series of parameters, usually considered in the community as essential ocean variables: SST, sea surface salinity, temperature and salinity averaged over meaningful layers of the water column, sea level, transports across pre-defined sections, and sea ice parameters. The eddy-permitting nature of the global reanalyses allows also to estimate eddy kinetic energy. The results show that in general there is a good consistency between the different reanalyses. An intercomparison against experiments without data assimilation was done during the MyOcean project and we conclude that data assimilation is crucial for correctly simulating some quantities such as regional trends of sea level as well as the eddy kinetic energy. A second objective is to show that the ensemble mean of reanalyses can be evaluated as one single system regarding its reliability in reproducing the climate signals, where both variability and uncertainties are assessed through the ensemble spread and signal-to-noise ratio. The main advantage of having access to several reanalyses differing in the way data assimilation is performed is that it becomes possible to assess part of the total uncertainty. Given the fact that we use very similar ocean models and atmospheric forcing, we can conclude that the spread of the ensemble of reanalyses is mainly representative of our ability to gauge uncertainty in the assimilation methods. This uncertainty changes a lot from one ocean parameter to another, especially in global indices. However, despite several caveats in the design of the multi-system ensemble, the main conclusion from this study is that an eddy-permitting multi-system ensemble approach has become mature and our results provide a first step towards a systematic comparison of eddy-permitting global ocean reanalyses aimed at providing robust conclusions on the recent evolution of the oceanic state.

A generalised background correction algorithm for a Halo Doppler lidar and its application to data from Finland

Current commercially available Doppler lidars provide an economical and robust solution for measuring vertical and horizontal wind velocities, together with the ability to provide co- and cross-polarised backscatter profiles. The high temporal resolution of these instruments allows turbulent properties to be obtained from studying the variation in radial velocities. However, the instrument specifications mean that certain characteristics, especially the background noise behaviour, become a limiting factor for the instrument sensitivity in regions where the aerosol load is low. Turbulent calculations require an accurate estimate of the contribution from velocity uncertainty estimates, which are directly related to the signal-to-noise ratio. Any bias in the signal-to-noise ratio will propagate through as a bias in turbulent properties. In this paper we present a method to correct for artefacts in the background noise behaviour of commercially available Doppler lidars and reduce the signal-to-noise ratio threshold used to discriminate between noise, and cloud or aerosol signals. We show that, for Doppler lidars operating continuously at a number of locations in Finland, the data availability can be increased by as much as 50 % after performing this background correction and subsequent reduction in the threshold. The reduction in bias also greatly improves subsequent calculations of turbulent properties in weak signal regimes.

DETECTABILITY AND ERROR ESTIMATION IN ORBITAL FITS OF RESONANT EXTRASOLAR PLANETS

We estimate the conditions for detectability of two planets in a 2/1 mean-motion resonance from radial velocity data, as a function of their masses, number of observations and the signal-to-noise ratio. Even for a data set of the order of 100 observations and standard deviations of the order of a few meters per second, we find that Jovian-size resonant planets are difficult to detect if the masses of the planets differ by a factor larger than similar to 4. This is consistent with the present population of real exosystems in the 2/1 commensurability, most of which have resonant pairs with similar minimum masses, and could indicate that many other resonant systems exist, but are currently beyond the detectability limit. Furthermore, we analyze the error distribution in masses and orbital elements of orbital fits from synthetic data sets for resonant planets in the 2/1 commensurability. For various mass ratios and number of data points we find that the eccentricity of the outer planet is systematically overestimated, although the inner planet`s eccentricity suffers a much smaller effect. If the initial conditions correspond to small-amplitude oscillations around stable apsidal corotation resonances, the amplitudes estimated from the orbital fits are biased toward larger amplitudes, in accordance to results found in real resonant extrasolar systems.

Processamento e interpretação de dados 2D e 3D de GPR :aplicações no imageamento de feições kársticas e estruturas de dissolução no campo de petróleo de Fazenda Belém-CE

In Fazenda Belém oil field (Potiguar Basin, Ceará State, Brazil) occur frequently sinkholes and sudden terrain collapses associated to an unconsolidated sedimentary cap covering the Jandaíra karst. This research was carried out in order to understand the mechanisms of generation of these collapses. The main tool used was Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). This work is developed twofold: one aspect concerns methodology improvements in GPR data processing whilst another aspect concerns the geological study of the Jandaíra karst. This second aspect was strongly supported both by the analysis of outcropping karst structures (in another regions of Potiguar Basin) and by the interpretation of radargrams from the subsurface karst in Fazenda Belém. It was designed and tested an adequate flux to process GPR data which was adapted from an usual flux to process seismic data. The changes were introduced to take into account important differences between GPR and Reflection Seismic methods, in particular: poor coupling between source and ground, mixed phase of the wavelet, low signal-to-noise ratio, monochannel acquisition, and high influence of wave propagation effects, notably dispersion. High frequency components of the GPR pulse suffer more pronounced effects of attenuation than low frequency components resulting in resolution losses in radargrams. In Fazenda Belém, there is a stronger need of an suitable flux to process GPR data because both the presence of a very high level of aerial events and the complexity of the imaged subsurface karst structures. The key point of the processing flux was an improvement in the correction of the attenuation effects on the GPR pulse based on their influence on the amplitude and phase spectra of GPR signals. In low and moderate losses dielectric media the propagated signal suffers significant changes only in its amplitude spectrum; that is, the phase spectrum of the propagated signal remains practically unaltered for the usual travel time ranges. Based on this fact, it is shown using real data that the judicious application of the well known tools of time gain and spectral balancing can efficiently correct the attenuation effects. The proposed approach can be applied in heterogeneous media and it does not require the precise knowledge of the attenuation parameters of the media. As an additional benefit, the judicious application of spectral balancing promotes a partial deconvolution of the data without changing its phase. In other words, the spectral balancing acts in a similar way to a zero phase deconvolution. In GPR data the resolution increase obtained with spectral balancing is greater than those obtained with spike and predictive deconvolutions. The evolution of the Jandaíra karst in Potiguar Basin is associated to at least three events of subaerial exposition of the carbonatic plataform during the Turonian, Santonian, and Campanian. In Fazenda Belém region, during the mid Miocene, the Jandaíra karst was covered by continental siliciclastic sediments. These sediments partially filled the void space associated to the dissolution structures and fractures. Therefore, the development of the karst in this region was attenuated in comparison to other places in Potiguar Basin where this karst is exposed. In Fazenda Belém, the generation of sinkholes and terrain collapses are controlled mainly by: (i) the presence of an unconsolidated sedimentary cap which is thick enough to cover completely the karst but with sediment volume lower than the available space associated to the dissolution structures in the karst; (ii) the existence of important structural of SW-NE and NW-SE alignments which promote a localized increase in the hydraulic connectivity allowing the channeling of underground water, thus facilitating the carbonatic dissolution; and (iii) the existence of a hydraulic barrier to the groundwater flow, associated to the Açu-4 Unity. The terrain collapse mechanisms in Fazenda Belém occur according to the following temporal evolution. The meteoric water infiltrates through the unconsolidated sedimentary cap and promotes its remobilization to the void space associated with the dissolution structures in Jandaíra Formation. This remobilization is initiated at the base of the sedimentary cap where the flow increases its abrasion due to a change from laminar to turbulent flow regime when the underground water flow reaches the open karst structures. The remobilized sediments progressively fill from bottom to top the void karst space. So, the void space is continuously migrated upwards ultimately reaching the surface and causing the sudden observed terrain collapses. This phenomenon is particularly active during the raining season, when the water table that normally is located in the karst may be temporarily located in the unconsolidated sedimentary cap

Wavelets in a problem of signal processing

In this work a new method is proposed for noise reduction in speech signals in the wavelet domain. The method for signal processing makes use of a transfer function, obtained as a polynomial combination of three processings, denominated operators. The proposed method has the objective of overcoming the deficiencies of the thresholding methods and the effective processing of speech corrupted by real noises. Using the method, two speech signals are processed, contaminated by white noise and colored noises. To verify the quality of the processed signals, two evaluation measures are used: signal to noise ratio (SNR) and perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ).

Modelagem paramétrica linear aplicada à faixa de sinal de televisão digital para cidades densamente arborizadas

Este trabalho apresenta uma modelagem paramétrica (auto-regressiva) linear aplicável a estudos de propagação de televisão digital e telefonia celular para cidades densamente arborizadas. A modelagem proposta apresenta um forte embasamento estatístico e depende apenas de dados provenientes de medição, no caso dados relativos a potência recebida e o valor de PSNR (Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio). Um algoritmo genético é utilizado no cálculo dos parâmetros de ajuste do modelo a um conjunto de dados. O trabalho foi realizado na faixa de televisão digital e foram analisadas duas variáveis: a potência recebida do sinal e o valor de PSNR. Foram executadas campanhas de medição na cidade de Belém. Nestas medições foram coletados dados de potência e gravados vídeos da programação diária de uma emissora de televisão. Os resultados podem ser aplicados no planejamento de serviços de telecomunicações.

Instantaneous Phase Threshold for Reflector Detection in Ultrasonic Images

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