Noise estimation in single- and multiple-coil magnetic resonance data based on statistical models

Noise estimation is a challenging task in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with applications in quality assessment, filtering or diffusion tensor estimation. Main noise estimators based on the Rician model are revisited and classified in this article, and new useful methods are proposed. Additionally, all the surveyed estimators are extended to the noncentral chi model, which applies to multiple-coil MRI and some important parallel imaging algorithms for accelerated acquisitions. The proposed new noise estimation procedures, based on the distribution of local moments, show better performance in terms of smaller variance and unbiased estimation over a wide range of experiments, with the additional advantage of not needing to explicitly segment the background of the image.     

A phase field model for vesicle–substrate adhesion

In this paper, a phase field model is developed for vesicle adhesion involving complex substrate and vesicle geometries. The model takes into account an adhesion potential that depends on the distance of vesicle to the substrate. A variational problem is solved in a 3D computational domain by minimizing the contribution of bending elastic energy and the adhesion energy under the constraints of total surface area and volume, described via a phase function. An adaptive finite element method is used to efficiently compute the numerical solutions of the model. The computational results are validated through comparison of several axisymmetric shapes with the sharp-interface ODE solution. Moreover, we compute shapes for non-axisymmetric situations to support the observation that concave substrates favor adhesion.     

Investigation on optimization design of equivalent water depth truncated mooring system

The oil industry is now increasingly concentrating their efforts and activities in connection with developing fields in deeper waters, ranging typically from 500 m to 3000 m worldwide. However, the modeling of a full-depth system has become difficult presently; no tank facility is sufficiently large to perform the testing of a complete FPS with compliant mooring in 1000 m to 3000 m depth, within reasonable limits of model scale. Until recently, the most feasible procedure to meet this challenge seems to be the so-called “hybrid model testing technique”. To implement this technique, the first and important step is to design the equivalent water depth truncated mooring system. In this work, the optimization design of the equivalent water depth truncated mooring system in hybrid model testing for deep sea platforms is investigated. During the research, the similarity of static characteristics between the truncated and full depth system is mainly considered. The optimization mathematical model for the equivalent water depth truncated system design is set up by using the similarity in numerical value of the static characteristics between the truncated system and the full depth one as the objective function. The dynamic characteristic difference between the truncated and full depth mooring system can be minished by selecting proper design rule. To calculate the static characteristics of the mooring system, the fourth order Runge-Kutta method is used to solve the static equilibrium equation of the single mooring line. After the static characteristic of the single mooring line is calculated, the static characteristic of the whole mooring system is calculated with Lagrange numerical interpolation method. The mooring line material database is established and the standard material name and the diameter of the mooring line are selected as the primary key. The improved simulated annealing algorithm for continual & discrete variables and the improved complex algorithm for discrete variables are employed to perform the optimization calculation. The C++ programming language is used to develop the computer program according to the object-oriented programming idea. To perform the optimization calculation with the two algorithms mentioned above respectively and the better result is selected as the final one. To examine the developed program, an example of equivalent water depth truncated mooring system optimum design calculation on a 100,000-t, turret mooring FPSO in water depth of 320 m are performed to obtain the conformation parameters of the truncated mooring system, in which the truncated water depth is 160 m. The model test under some typical environment conditions are performed for both the truncated and the full depth system with model scale factor λ=80. After comparing the corresponding results from the test of the truncated system with those from the full depth system test, it’s found that the truncated mooring system design in this work is successful. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10602055 and 40776007) and the Natural Science Foundation of China Jiliang University (Grant No. XZ0501)     

Reply to comment on “On the controversy around Daganzo’s requiem for and Aw-Rascle’s resurrection of second-order traffic flow models” by H.M. Zhang

This contribution compares several different approaches allowing one to derive macroscopic traffic equation directly from microscopic car-following models. While it is shown that some conventional approaches lead to theoretical problems, it is proposed to use an approach reminding of smoothed particle hydrodynamics to avoid gradient expansions. The derivation circumvents approximations and, therefore, demonstrates the large range of validity of macroscopic traffic equations, without the need of averaging over many vehicles. It also gives an expression for the “traffic pressure”, which generalizes previously used formulas. Furthermore, the method avoids theoretical inconsistencies of macroscopic traffic models, which have been criticized in the past by Daganzo and others.     

The Szekeres Swiss Cheese model and the CMB observations

This paper presents the application of the Szekeres Swiss Cheese model to the analysis of observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. The impact of inhomogeneous matter distribution on the CMB observations is in most cases studied within the linear perturbations of the Friedmann model. However, since the density contrast and the Weyl curvature within the cosmic structures are large, this issue is worth studying using another approach. The Szekeres model is an inhomogeneous, non-symmetrical and exact solution of the Einstein equations. In this model, light propagation and matter evolution can be exactly calculated, without such approximations as small amplitude of the density contrast. This allows to examine in more realistic manner the contribution of the light propagation effect to the measured CMB temperature fluctuations. The results of such analysis show that small-scale, non-linear inhomogeneities induce, via Rees-Sciama effect, temperature fluctuations of amplitude 10⁻⁷–10⁻⁵ on angular scale ϑ < 0.24° (ℓ > 750). This is still much smaller than the measured temperature fluctuations on this angular scale. However, local and uncompensated inhomogeneities can induce temperature fluctuations of amplitude as large as 10⁻³, and thus can be responsible the low multipoles anomalies observed in the angular CMB power spectrum.     

Geometric Phase in a Two Energy Level <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Photon Jaynes-Cummings Model with Imaginary Photon Process

By using the Lewis-Riesenfeld invariant theory, we have studied the dynamical phase and the geometric phase in a two energy level k-photon Jaynes-Cummings model with imaginary photon process. We find that the geometric phase in a cycle case is independent of the frequency of the photon field, the coupling coefficient between photons and atoms, and the atom transition frequency. We predict the physical effect of the geometric phase in the imaginary photon process may be measured.     

Vibration and instability analysis of tubular nano- and micro-beams conveying fluid using nonlocal elastic theory

A nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli elastic beam model is developed for the vibration and instability of tubular micro- and nano-beams conveying fluid using the theory of nonlocal elasticity. Based on the Newtonian method, the equation of motion is derived, in which the effect of small length scale is incorporated. With this nonlocal beam model, the natural frequencies and critical flow velocities for the case of simply supported system and for the case of cantilevered system are obtained. The effect of small length scale (i.e., the nonlocal parameter) on the properties of vibrations is discussed. It is demonstrated that the natural frequencies are generally decreased with increasing values of nonlocal parameter, both for the supported and cantilevered systems. More significantly, the effect of small length scale on the critical flow velocities is visible for fluid-conveying beams with nano-scale length; however, this effect may be neglected for micro-beams conveying fluid.     

Study of the vi13/2-1 band in 189Pt

High-spin levels of 189Pt have been studied with the in-beam γ-spectroscopy method via the 176Yb(18O,5n) reaction at the beam energies of 88 and 95 MeV. The previously known vi13/2-1 band has been confirmed, and its unfavored signature branch extended up to the 31/2+ state. Within the framework of the triaxial particle-rotor model, the vi13/2-1 band is suggested to be associated with the 11/2[615] configuration, and to have triaxial deformation.     

Doubly magic properties in superheavy nuclei

A systematic study of global properties of superheavy nuclei in the framework of the Liquid Drop Model and the Strutinsky shell correction method is performed. The evolution equilibrium deformations, TRS graphs and α-decay energies are calculated using the TRS model. The analysis covers a wide range of even-even superheavy nuclei from Z =102 to 122. Magic numbers and their observable influence occurring in this region have been investigated. Shell closures appear at proton number Z =114 and at neutron number N =184.     

Exact diagonalization studies on two-band minimal model for iron-based superconductors

In order to explore a superconducting mechanism on iron-based superconductors, we numerically study a two-band minimal model considering two degenerate d_xz and d_yz orbitals on Fe atom. We perform exact diagonalization on a two-band and two-leg square ladder totally composed of 10 lattice sites, which is computationally equivalent to 4-leg 20-sites square-Hubbard-ladder. Consequently, we find that a robust pairing occurs in a wide parameter range when the intra-orbital repulsive interaction becomes smaller than the inter-orbital one. Moreover, the obtained binding energy can grow into much larger value than that obtained in the single band Hubbard model depending on the parameter range.