Detection of long bones based on Barker code excited ultrasonic guided waves

Single pulse excited ultrasonic guided wave surfers high attenuation during the propagation in long bones.This results in small amplitude and low signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)of measured signals.Thus,the Barker code excitation is introduced into long bone detection to improve the quality of received signals,due to its efficiency in increasing amplitude and SNR.Both simulation and in vitro experiment were performed,and the results were decoded by the weighted match filter(WMF) and the finite impulse response- least squares inverse filter(FIRLSIF),respectively.The comparison between the results of Barker code excitation and sine pulse excitation was presented.For 13-bit Barker code excitation,WMF produced 13 times larger amplitude than sine pulse excitation,while FIR-LSIF achieved higher peak-sidelobe-level(PSL) of —63.59 dB and better performance in noise suppression.The results show that the Barker code excited guided waves have the potential to be applied to the long bone detection.     

Study on the mean trabecular bone spacing based on fundamental frequency estimation method

Ultrasonic backscatter signals from the cancellous bone can be used to diagnose osteoporosis effectively due to its ability to provide the information of bone microstructure. Mean trabecular bone spacing(MTBS)is one of the important parameters for characterization of bone microstructure.This paper proposed a MTBS estimating method based on the fundamental frequency estimation,which was applied to backscatter signals from simulations, and in vitro bovine trabeculae.The estimated MTBS were compared with those of simplified inverse filter tracking(SIFT)algorithm and autoregressive(AR)cepstrum method.The results demonstrated that the proposed method is very robust for the MTBS estimation with more precise estimates and smaller estimated variance in the presence of a small signal-to-noise ratio (SNR),and a large scattering strength ratio of diffuse scatterers to regular ones.     

Near infrared emission photometer for measuring the oxidative stability of edible oils

Near infrared emission spectroscopy (NIRES) allows the determination of the induction time (IT) of edible oils in accelerated oxidation experiments by monitoring the emissivity of a band at 2900 nm, which corresponds to the formation of hydroperoxides. In this work, a new near infrared emission photometer dedicated to the determination of oxidative stability is described. The photometer presents several advantages compared to the previously reported NIRES instrument, such as lower cost and extreme simplicity of design and maintenance. The results obtained in the evaluation of the proposed instrument were compared with the official Rancimat method and instrument. The significant advantages include: faster analysis, lower sample consumption and operational simplicity. It is demonstrated that the procedure for determination of oxidative stability of oils can be significantly simplified and performed by measuring the sample emission at only one spectral region centered at 2900 nm. Also, the proposed instrument and method present precision equivalent to the Rancimat method (coefficient of variation = 5.0%). A significant correlation between the methods has been found (R² = 0.81).     

Pathophysiological Role and Medicinal Chemistry of A2A Adenosine Receptor Antagonists in Alzheimer’s Disease

The A_2A adenosine receptor is a protein belonging to a family of four GPCR adenosine receptors. It is involved in the regulation of several pathophysiological conditions in both the central nervous system and periphery. In the brain, its localization at pre- and postsynaptic level in striatum, cortex, hippocampus and its effects on glutamate release, microglia and astrocyte activation account for a crucial role in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This ailment is considered the main form of dementia and is expected to exponentially increase in coming years. The pathological tracts of AD include amyloid peptide-β extracellular accumulation and tau hyperphosphorylation, causing neuronal cell death, cognitive deficit, and memory loss. Interestingly, in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that A_2A adenosine receptor antagonists may counteract each of these clinical signs, representing an important new strategy to fight a disease for which unfortunately only symptomatic drugs are available. This review offers a brief overview of the biological effects mediated by A_2A adenosine receptors in AD animal and human studies and reports the state of the art of A_2A adenosine receptor antagonists currently in clinical trials. As an original approach, it focuses on the crucial role of pharmacokinetics and ability to pass the blood–brain barrier in the discovery of new agents for treating CNS disorders. Considering that A_2A receptor antagonist istradefylline is already commercially available for Parkinson’s disease treatment, if the proof of concept of these ligands in AD is confirmed and reinforced, it will be easier to offer a new hope for AD patients.     

基于离散随机介质平均散射声功率的无损测温方法

生物组织中超声散射回波的平均功率与其温度有关.该理论包含:(1)生物组织近似为离散随机介质.(2)离散随机介质的平均散射功率与组织的衰减系数α和声速c有关。对于似水生物组织(如:猪肝),当温度升高时,衰减系数的减小使平均散射声功率增加,但其影响大小与时间窗△t有关,而声速的增大则使平均散射声功率减小。实验结果表明:生物组织的平均散射声功率随温度变化趋势明显,该结果提供一种肿瘤热疗无损伤检测温度的新方法。     

长骨裂纹宽度和角度对低阶超声导波的影响

超声导波检测长骨骨折和监测骨折愈合已成为一种极具前景的课题,但高频厚积下导波多模式混叠带来的模式识别和分离问题一直是一个难点。为避免上述问题,在低频下仅激励两个低阶兰姆波SO和AO模式,采用二维时域有限差分(2DFDTD)法定量分析裂纹宽度和骨折角度对SO和AO幅度的影响。结果表明,SO与AO模式的幅度均随裂纹宽度的增加而下降;AO的幅度随骨折角度增大而上升,SO幅度随骨折角度增大先下降后上升,转折点约为45°。SO与AO的幅度比值在不同骨折角度下均能较好地表征裂纹宽度的变化,可为横断型和斜切型长骨骨折状况的超声评价及骨折愈合监测提供依据。     

Barker码激励超声导波在长骨检测中的应用

单脉冲激励的超声导波在长骨中传播时,信号的衰减大,导致接收信号的幅度很小,且噪声严重。Barker码激励能有效增大接收信号幅度,提高信噪比(SNR)。将其应用到超声导波长骨检测中,进行仿真和长骨实验,得到的信号分别用加权匹配滤波器和有限冲激响应-最小均方误差(FIR-LS)逆滤波器进行压缩,并与单脉冲激励的结果进行了对比。结果表明,对于13位的Barker码,采用加权匹配滤波器进行解码时,压缩信号幅度是单脉冲激励接收信号的13倍;而FIR-LS逆滤波器则达到-63.59 dB的峰值旁瓣水平(PSL),更好地抑制噪声。说明可以将Barker码激励超声导波应用于长骨的检测中。     

Dispersion relation formalism for virtual Compton scattering off the proton

We present in detail a dispersion relation formalism for virtual Compton scattering (VCS) off the proton from threshold into the Δ(1232)-resonance region. Such a formalism can be used as a tool to extract the generalized polarizabilities of the proton from both unpolarized and polarized VCS observables over a larger energy range. We present calculations for existing and forthcoming VCS experiments and demonstrate that the VCS observables in the energy region between pion production threshold and the Δ(1232)-resonance show an enhanced sensitivity to the generalized polarizabilities. Received: 14 March 2001 / Accepted: 18 June 2001     

超声导波的频散补偿与模式分离算法研究

超声导波已被广泛应用于无损检测与评价,针对超声导波应用中普遍存在的模式混叠与频散问题,本文在采用频谱相位与信号时延函数建模导波频散信号传递系统的基础上,提出了一种单一模式的频散补偿算法。进一步地,通过将选择性频散补偿技术与导波模式分离相结合,本文算法克服了传统补偿算法所不能解决的多模式导波频散问题。板中的Lamb波A0,A1和S0混合模式仿真分析表明,本算法不仅可用于单一导波模式信号合成与频散补偿,而且可在实现多模式混合导波信号选择性频散补偿基础上,解决多模式导波信号中单一模式提取与分离。本文研究有助于超声导波多模式频散信号的分析与处理.