Final Calibration Research Articles

Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Fresco Restoration with Multiscale Line Drawing Generation

In this article, we study the mural restoration work based on artificial intelligence-assisted multiscale trace generation. Firstly, we convert the fresco images to colour space to obtain the luminance and chromaticity component images; then we process each component image to enhance the edges of the exfoliated region using high and low hat operations; then we construct a multistructure morphological filter to smooth the noise of the image. Finally, the fused mask image is fused with the original mural to obtain the final calibration result. The fresco is converted to HSV colour space, and chromaticity, saturation, and luminance features are introduced; then the confidence term and data term are used to determine the priority of shedding boundary points; then a new block matching criterion is defined, and the best matching block is obtained to replace the block to be repaired based on the structural similarity between the block to be repaired and the matching block by global search; finally, the restoration result is converted to RGB colour space to obtain the final restoration result. An improved generative adversarial network structure is proposed to address the shortcomings of the existing network structure in mural defect restoration, and the effectiveness of the improved modules of the network is verified. Compared with the existing mural restoration algorithms on the test data experimentally verified, the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) score is improved by 4% and the structural similarity (SSIM) score is improved by 2%.

The New Method To Calibrate Iso/cie General Skies modelled In Artificial Skies

Recently sky luminance distributions under fifteen ISO/CIE sky types were standardised in relative terms, i.e. all elementary sky luminance are normalised by the zenith luminance in nature. However, these standard sky luminance patterns can be characterised also in their physical units, see in CIE215:20014 which can be reduced by suitable intensity scales to simulate the very high natural sky luminance in laboratory under artificial sky domes. For the design of the electric illumination system of the artificial sky the appropriate zenith luminance for each sky type has to be derived respecting the indicatrix and gradation functions of each sky type. Thus, the sky patterns simulated in the artificial sky can be calibrated either by luminance measurements or by analysing fish-eye photos taken from the sky centre showing the smoothness and gradual changes of homogeneous sky type luminance patterns. The sky luminance images can be utilised to proceed with the adjustment or dimming of the LED electrical system to the final calibration check containing zenith luminance and exterior illuminance in the second calibration step.

Usage of GPUs in ALICE Online and Offline processing during LHC Run 3

ALICE will significantly increase its Pb–Pb data taking rate from the 1 kHz of triggered readout in Run 2 to 50 kHz of continuous readout for LHC Run 3. Updated tracking detectors are installed for Run 3 and a new twophase computing strategy is employed. In the first synchronous phase during the data taking, the raw data is compressed for storage to an on-site disk buffer and the required data for the detector calibration is collected. In the second asynchronous phase the compressed raw data is reprocessed using the final calibration to produce the final reconstruction output. Traditional CPUs are unable to cope with the huge data rate and processing demands of the synchronous phase, therefore ALICE employs GPUs to speed up the processing. Since the online computing farm performs a part of the asynchronous processing when there is no beam in the LHC, ALICE plans to use the GPUs also for this second phase. This paper gives an overview of the GPU processing in the synchronous phase, the full system test to validate the reference GPU architecture, and the prospects for the GPU usage in the asynchronous phase.

Modelovanje geotermičke evolucije sedimentnih stena istočne Hercegovine na osnovu refleksije vitrinita

This paper presents the first results of the geothermal evolution modeling in East Herzegovina based on vitrinite reflectance calculations and measurements. Modeling of burial and geothermal was performed using "SimpleMat" software with well known kinetic model of vitrinite reflectance - EASY % Ro. By fitting the calculated reflectance values with mean measured vitrinite reflectances, it was concluded that there was erosion of some 900 m in the area, and that first possible petroleum generation could have started some 100 Ma ago. According to final calibration model that includes additional thickness and subsequent erosion of Paleogene sequence, the Upper Triassic sediments should have maturity from 0.70 to 1.1 % Rr, Lower Jurassic from 0.62 to 0.70 % Rr, whereas Upper Cretaceous sediments should have values from 0.40 to 0.60 % Rr, which is in accordance with measured vitrinite reflectance in 23 samples. Assuming that beginning of oil window in the East Herzegovina correspond to the vitrinite reflectance of 0.50 % Rr, all analyzed Mesozoic samples are at the initial stage of catagenesis ("oil window"), while Cenozoic sediments are at the stage of diagenesis.

Supplementary comparison EURAMET.EM-S42, comparison of lightning impulse (LI) reference measuring systems

Main textIn 2016 the Consultative Committee for Electricity and Magnetism (CCEM) commissioned a supplementary comparison EURAMET.EM-S42 of Lightning Impulse (LI) measurement systems. This comparison was piloted by RISE (Sweden, formerly SP), and it was supported by VTT MIKES (Finland) and FFII LCOE (Spain). Eleven National Metrology Institutes (NMI) and two Designated Institutes (DI) from four Regional Metrology Organizations, EURAMET, COOMET, APMP and SIM, took part in the comparison.A commercial travelling measuring system (TRMS) for Lightning Impulse (LI) measurement was adopted for the comparison. The TRMS consisted of a 700 kV resistive voltage divider and a transient recorder with computer. The TRMS was calibrated by the pilot lab in November 2016 before start of the comparison, and the first circulation was between five EURAMET NMI/DIs. After an intermediate calibration by the pilot lab in July 2017, the TRMS was circulated between seven NMI/DIs in the other regional organisations. On the return of the TRMS in March 2019 a final calibration was made by the pilot lab.The measured parameters are defined in IEC60060-1. Test voltage value (U t), front time (T 1), time to half value (T 2) and relative overshoot (β') were measured for full impulses; and extreme value (U e) and time to chopping (T c) for front chopped waveform. The test voltage value ranged from -700 kV to 700 kV with two full and one chopped impulse waveform. A set of preferred voltage levels and waveforms was defined. The obtained expanded uncertainties (k = 2) of the comparison reference values (CRV) were: <0.3% for U t, <1.3% for T 1, <1.0% for T 2, <0.4% for β', <0.6% for U e and <1.4% for T c.The transfer reference measuring system of the previous LI comparison (EU-SMT4-CT98-2270), arranged between 1999 and 2002, is linked to this comparison. The link is established by comparing VTT MIKES system used 20 years ago with that used in this comparison.To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/.The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCEM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

Absolute calibration method for frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) cloud radars based on corner reflectors

Abstract. This article presents a new cloud radar calibration methodology using solid reference reflectors mounted on masts, developed during two field experiments held in 2018 and 2019 at the Site Instrumental de Recherche par Télédétection Atmosphérique (SIRTA) atmospheric observatory, located in Palaiseau, France, in the framework of the Aerosol Clouds Trace gases Research InfraStructure version 2 (ACTRIS-2) research and innovation program. The experimental setup includes 10 and 20 cm triangular trihedral targets installed at the top of 10 and 20 m masts, respectively. The 10 cm target is mounted on a pan-tilt motor at the top of the 10 m mast to precisely align its boresight with the radar beam. Sources of calibration bias and uncertainty are identified and quantified. Specifically, this work assesses the impact of receiver compression, temperature variations inside the radar, frequency-dependent losses in the receiver's intermediate frequency (IF), clutter and experimental setup misalignment. Setup misalignment is a source of bias, previously undocumented in the literature, that can have an impact of the order of tenths of a decibel in calibration retrievals of W-band radars. A detailed analysis enabled the quantification of the importance of each uncertainty source to the final cloud radar calibration uncertainty. The dominant uncertainty source comes from the uncharacterized reference target which reached 2 dB. Additionally, the analysis revealed that our 20 m mast setup with an approximate alignment approach is preferred to the 10 m mast setup with the motor-driven alignment system. The calibration uncertainty associated with signal-to-clutter ratio of the former is 10 times smaller than for the latter. Following the proposed methodology, it is possible to reduce the added contribution from all uncertainty terms, excluding the target characterization, down to 0.4 dB. Therefore, this procedure should enable the achievement of calibration uncertainties under 1 dB when characterized reflectors are available. Cloud radar calibration results are found to be repeatable when comparing results from a total of 18 independent tests. Once calibrated, the cloud radar provides valid reflectivity values when sampling midtropospheric clouds. Thus, we conclude that the method is repeatable and robust, and that the uncertainties are precisely characterized. The method can be implemented under different configurations as long as the proposed principles are respected. It could be extended to reference reflectors held by other lifting devices such as tethered balloons or unmanned aerial vehicles.

LAMOST Observations in 15 K2 Campaigns. I. Low-resolution Spectra from LAMOST DR6

The LAMOST-\textit{K}2 (L\textit{K}2) project, initiated in 2015, aims to collect low-resolution spectra of targets in the \textit{K}2 campaigns, similar to LAMOST-\textit{Kepler} project. By the end of 2018, a total of 126 L\textit{K}2 plates had been observed by LAMOST. After cross-matching the catalog of the LAMOST data release 6 (DR6) with that of the \textit{K}2 approved targets, we found 160,619 usable spectra of 84,012 objects, most of which had been observed more than once. The effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and radial velocity from 129,974 spectra for 70,895 objects are derived through the LAMOST Stellar Parameter Pipeline (LASP). The internal uncertainties were estimated to be 81 K, 0.15 dex, 0.09 dex and 5 kms$^{-1}$, respectively, when derived from a spectrum with a signal-to-noise ratio in the $g$ band (SNR$_g$) of 10. These estimates are based on results for targets with multiple visits. The external accuracies were assessed by comparing the parameters of targets in common with the APOGEE and GAIA surveys, for which we generally found linear relationships. A final calibration is provided, combining external and internal uncertainties for giants and dwarfs, separately. We foresee that these spectroscopic data will be used widely in different research fields, especially in combination with \textit{K}2 photometry.

Determination of jet calibration and energy resolution in proton\u2013proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 8~hbox {TeV} using the ATLAS detector

The jet energy scale, jet energy resolution, and their systematic uncertainties are measured for jets reconstructed with the ATLAS detector in 2012 using proton–proton data produced at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 20 , hbox {fb}^{-1}. Jets are reconstructed from clusters of energy depositions in the ATLAS calorimeters using the anti-k_t algorithm. A jet calibration scheme is applied in multiple steps, each addressing specific effects including mitigation of contributions from additional proton–proton collisions, loss of energy in dead material, calorimeter non-compensation, angular biases and other global jet effects. The final calibration step uses several in situ techniques and corrects for residual effects not captured by the initial calibration. These analyses measure both the jet energy scale and resolution by exploiting the transverse momentum balance in gamma + jet, Z + jet, dijet, and multijet events. A statistical combination of these measurements is performed. In the central detector region, the derived calibration has a precision better than 1% for jets with transverse momentum 150 , hbox {GeV} < p_{{mathrm {T}}}< 1500 GeV, and the relative energy resolution is (8.4pm 0.6)% for p_{{mathrm {T}}}= 100 , hbox {GeV} and (23pm 2)% for p_{{mathrm {T}}}= 20 , hbox {GeV}. The calibration scheme for jets with radius parameter R=1.0, for which jets receive a dedicated calibration of the jet mass, is also discussed.

Comparison of reliability- and design-based code calibrations

Some of the early probabilistic code calibrations minimized an error term defined as difference between the optimal or target design and the design resulting with the trial partial factors and the code format. In contrast to these design-based calibrations, in recent years, the error was defined in terms of a reliability deviation. Aiming at minimizing societal costs, reliability-based calibrations probably provide more accurate results than design-based code calibrations, however at the cost of a significantly lower computational efficiency.The long duration of reliability-based code calibrations impedes repeated code calibrations, which are needed in the development of a code format or for a more profound understanding of it. This paper compares the reliability-based with the design-based code calibration procedure theoretically and by using an example. The results showed that the design-based code calibration is efficient for the development of a code format. However, the differences between both calibration procedures regarding the calibrated partial factors are significant. As the reliability-based calibration has a more solid theoretical background, it is preferred for the final calibration of the code format.

Calibration and use of well-type germanium detectors for low-level gamma-ray spectrometry of sediments using a semi-empirical method

Gamma-ray spectrometry is a widely used technique to quantify the presence of numerous radionuclides in environmental samples. In this work, we describe a methodology for efficiency calibration of four well-type germanium detectors and their use for the determination of low-level activities of gamma emitters in sediment samples. An experimental efficiency calibration for each detector was built with three materials for 17 energies, ranging from 46.5 keV to 1460 keV. For efficiency transfer to different geometries and sample types, we used the effective solid angle approach (ET-Ω method). Final calibrations were calculated for all detectors, several counting geometries, and elemental composition of selected sample types. Calibrations were validated with six reference materials. This methodology allowed to reliably analyze nine gamma emitters (210Pb, 241Am, 234Th, 228Ac, 214Pb, 208Tl, 137Cs, 134Cs and 40K) in sediment samples. Using these calibrations, gamma emitter profiles of sediment cores from contrasting aquatic systems (lake, intertidal, marine and deep-sea areas) provided reliable profiles of 210Pb and artificial radionuclides useful for dating and stratigraphic interpretation. A protocol to implement this methodology is also presented.

Gravity reference at the Argentinean–German Geodetic Observatory (AGGO) by co-location of superconducting and absolute gravity measurements

The Argentinean–German Geodetic Observatory (AGGO) is a fundamental geodetic observatory located close to the city of La Plata, Argentina. Two high-precision gravity meters are installed at AGGO: the superconducting gravimeter SG038, which is in operation since December 2015, and the absolute gravimeter FG5-227, which has provided absolute gravity measurements since January 2018. By co-location of gravity observations from both meters between January 2018 and March 2019, calibration factor and instrumental drift of the SG038 were determined. The calibration factor of the SG038 was estimated by different strategies: from tidal models, dedicated absolute gravity measurements over several days and a joint approach (including the determination of the instrumental drift) using all available absolute gravity data. The final calibration factor differs from the determination at the previous station, the transportable integrated geodetic observatory, in Concepcion, Chile, by only 0.7‰, which does not imply a significant change. From the combined approach also the mean absolute level of the SG was determined, allowing to predict absolute gravity values from the SG at any time based on a repeatability of 12nm/s2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$12\\,\\hbox {nm}/\\hbox {s}^{2}$$\\end{document} for the FG5-227 at AGGO. Such a continuous gravity reference function provides the basis for a comparison site for absolute gravimeters in the frame of the international gravity reference frame for South America and the Caribbean. However, it requires the assessment of the total error budget of the FG5-227, including the link to the international comparisons, which will be subject of future efforts.

Marine20—The Marine Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55,000 cal BP)

ABSTRACTThe concentration of radiocarbon (14C) differs between ocean and atmosphere. Radiocarbon determinations from samples which obtained their14C in the marine environment therefore need a marine-specific calibration curve and cannot be calibrated directly against the atmospheric-based IntCal20 curve. This paper presents Marine20, an update to the internationally agreed marine radiocarbon age calibration curve that provides a non-polar global-average marine record of radiocarbon from 0–55 cal kBP and serves as a baseline for regional oceanic variation. Marine20 is intended for calibration of marine radiocarbon samples from non-polar regions; it is not suitable for calibration in polar regions where variability in sea ice extent, ocean upwelling and air-sea gas exchange may have caused larger changes to concentrations of marine radiocarbon. The Marine20 curve is based upon 500 simulations with an ocean/atmosphere/biosphere box-model of the global carbon cycle that has been forced by posterior realizations of our Northern Hemispheric atmospheric IntCal2014C curve and reconstructed changes in CO2obtained from ice core data. These forcings enable us to incorporate carbon cycle dynamics and temporal changes in the atmospheric14C level. The box-model simulations of the global-average marine radiocarbon reservoir age are similar to those of a more complex three-dimensional ocean general circulation model. However, simplicity and speed of the box model allow us to use a Monte Carlo approach to rigorously propagate the uncertainty in both the historic concentration of atmospheric14C and other key parameters of the carbon cycle through to our final Marine20 calibration curve. This robust propagation of uncertainty is fundamental to providing reliable precision for the radiocarbon age calibration of marine based samples. We make a first step towards deconvolving the contributions of different processes to the total uncertainty; discuss the main differences of Marine20 from the previous age calibration curve Marine13; and identify the limitations of our approach together with key areas for further work. The updated values forΔR, the regional marine radiocarbon reservoir age corrections required to calibrate against Marine20, can be found at the data basehttp://calib.org/marine/.

Global temperature calibration of the Long chain Diol Index in marine surface sediments

The Long chain Diol Index (LDI) is a relatively new organic geochemical proxy for sea surface temperature (SST), based on the abundance of the C30 1,15-diol relative to the summed abundance of the C28 1,13-, C30 1,13- and C30 1,15-diols. Here we substantially extend and re-evaluate the initial core top calibration by combining the original dataset with 172 data points derived from previously published studies and 262 newly generated data points. In total, we considered 595 globally distributed surface sediments with an enhanced geographical coverage compared to the original calibration. The relationship with SST is similar to that of the original calibration but with considerably increased scatter. The effects of freshwater input (e.g., river runoff) and long-chain diol contribution from Proboscia diatoms on the LDI were evaluated. Exclusion of core-tops deposited at a salinity < 32 ppt, as well as core-tops with high Proboscia-derived C28 1,12-diol abundance, resulted in a substantial improvement of the relationship between LDI and annual mean SST. This implies that the LDI cannot be directly applied in regions with a strong freshwater influence or high C28 1,12-diol abundance, limiting the applicability of the LDI. The final LDI calibration (LDI = 0.0325 × SST + 0.1082; R2 = 0.88; n = 514) is not statistically different from the original calibration of Rampen et al. (2012) (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2012.01.024), although with a larger calibration error of 3 °C. This larger calibration error results from several regions where the LDI does not seem to have a strong temperature dependence with annual mean SST, posing a limitation on the application of the LDI.

Semi‐supervised covariate shift modelling of spectroscopic data

AbstractUtilizing the full potential of spectroscopic calibrations in changing environments typically requires large amounts of maintenance and/or model updates as the presence of new sources of variation makes the calibration insufficient. In this paper, we propose the use of unlabelled data in order to automize such maintenance. We extend the Linear Joint Trained Framework by Ryan and Culp such that the shifts in mean value and covariance structure are modelled explicitly. The extension yields a more flexible framework, and thus we are able to regularize the final calibration in a more desirable manner. The proposed framework is tested on a simulated dataset where we simulate three different realistic scenarios that are either challenging for classic multivariate calibrations or challenging when adding unlabelled data. Furthermore, we test our framework on two real datasets across multiple data splits. We find that our framework not only achieves the same (and in some instances lower) error level as that of the baseline model (NARE), it also yields better calibration models than the Linear Joint Trained Framework.

Acoustic Scene Classification With Squeeze-Excitation Residual Networks

Acoustic scene classification (ASC) is a problem related to the field of machine listening whose objective is to classify/tag an audio clip in a predefined label describing a scene location (e. g. park, airport, etc.). Many state-of-the-art solutions to ASC incorporate data augmentation techniques and model ensembles. However, considerable improvements can also be achieved only by modifying the architecture of convolutional neural networks (CNNs). In this work we propose two novel squeeze-excitation blocks to improve the accuracy of a CNN-based ASC framework based on residual learning. The main idea of squeeze-excitation blocks is to learn spatial and channel-wise feature maps independently instead of jointly as standard CNNs do. This is usually achieved by some global grouping operators, linear operators and a final calibration between the input of the block and its obtained relationships. The behavior of the block that implements such operators and, therefore, the entire neural network, can be modified depending on the input to the block, the established residual configurations and the selected non-linear activations. The analysis has been carried out using the TAU Urban Acoustic Scenes 2019 dataset (https://zenodo.org/record/2589280) presented in the 2019 edition of the DCASE challenge. All configurations discussed in this document exceed the performance of the baseline proposed by the DCASE organization by 13\% percentage points. In turn, the novel configurations proposed in this paper outperform the residual configurations proposed in previous works.

ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ВПЛИВУ РЕЖИМНИХ ПАРАМЕТРІВ ПРОЦЕСУ ТЕР-МІЧНОЇ ОБРОБКИ ДЕРЕВИНИ ЯСЕНА НА ФОРМОСТІЙКІСТЬ КОМБІНОВАНИХ МЕБЛЕВИХ ЩИТІВ

It has been established that the process of thermal modification of wood is an environmentally friendly way of protecting wood. Thermal modification of wood also makes it possible to significantly improve the appearance of wood of low-grade species by changing their color. Method and the results of experimental research of form stability of the combined furniture boards. The influence of mode parameters of the process of heat treatment of wood on the shape resistance of the received boards is determined. The mathematical and graphical dependence of the form stability of the combined furniture boards on the operating parameters of the process of heat treatment of the wood of ash were obtained. It is substantiated that the flatness of furniture panels is greatly influenced by the technological accuracy of the equipment used in the final calibration of finished panels. It has been investigated that the temperature of the thermal modification process is more influenced by the plane of the combined furniture panel than its duration. It is established that the results of experimental studies of the flatness of combined furniture boards, almost all of them do not meet the requirements of the standard. Only combination furniture panels made from a combination of ash wood sections obtained at a modification temperature of 190 ° C and treatment times of 4 and 10 hours with sections of untreated wood meet the requirements of the standard. The deviations from the flatness of the experimental shield data are 0.29 and 0.34 mm, respectively. The justification is made that the unsatisfactory results can be explained by the fact that the individual parts of which the combined shield consists of react differently with the humidity of the environment. It has been found that the combined furniture panels, the sections of which are treated with temperature t = 220 ° C, have the ability to retain their geometric dimensions and shape better than when treated with temperature t = 160 ° C or without treatment. It is recommended to use the results obtained during student preparation and in production conditions to obtain quality products that meet the requirements of the standards.

Computerized adaptive testing and short form development for child and adolescent oral health patient-reported outcomes measurement.

ObjectivesTo develop computerized adaptive testing (CAT) and short forms of self‐report oral health measures that are predictive of both the children's oral health status index (COHSI) and the children's oral health referral recommendation (COHRR) scales, for children and adolescents, ages 8–17.Material and methodsUsing final item calibration parameters (discrimination and difficulty parameters) from the item response theory analysis, we performed post hoc CAT simulation. Items most frequently administered in the simulation were incorporated for possible inclusion in final oral health assessment toolkits, to select the best performing eight items for COHSI and COHRR.ResultsTwo previously identified unidimensional sets of self‐report items consisting of 19 items for the COHSI and 22 items for the COHRR were administered through CAT resulting in eight‐item short forms for both the COHSI and COHRR. Correlations between the simulated CAT scores and the full item bank representing the latent trait are r = .94 for COHSI and r = .96 for COHRR, respectively, which demonstrated high reliability of the CAT and short form.ConclusionsUsing established rigorous measurement development standards, the CAT and corresponding eight‐item short form items for COHSI and COHRR were developed to assess the oral health status of children and adolescents, ages 8–17. These measures demonstrated good psychometric properties and can have clinical utility in oral health screening and evaluation and clinical referral recommendations.

Parameter Set Reduction and Ensemble Kalman Filtering for Engine Model Calibration

Abstract A novel methodology is presented in this paper to reduce the burden of calibrating an engine model associated with a high number of parameters and nonlinear equations. The proposed idea decreases the calibration candidate parameters by detecting the most influential ones in an engine air-charge path model and then using them as a reduced parameter set for further model calibration. Since only the most influential parameters are tuned at the final calibration stage, this approach helps to avoid over-parameterization associated with tuning highly nonlinear engine models. Detection of the influential parameters is proposed using sensitivity analysis followed by principal component analysis (PCA) as an early off-line stage in the model tuning process. Then, an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) is used for tuning the detected influential parameters. The Jacobian-free suboptimal filtering approach of EnKF allows tuning parameters either with off-line recorded data or during on-line engine testing. Using EnKF along with parameter set reduction presents an approach for decreasing the complexity of parameter tuning for online model calibration. Results from experiments on a heavy duty diesel engine show an average of 50% improvement of the model accuracy after calibrating the engine model using the proposed reduced parameter set tuning methodology.

Efficient Hg(II) ionic probe development based on one-step synthesized diethyl thieno[2,3-b]thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate (DETTDC2) onto glassy carbon electrode

In this approach, diethyl thieno [2,3-b] thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylate-2 (DETTDC2) was prepared in one-pot synthesis by using pentan-2,4‑dione (P24D), carbon disulfide, and ethyl bromoacetate (EBA) precursors and finally the characterization was carried out systematically with proton-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (HNMR), Impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and carbon hydrogen and nitrogen (CHN) analyzer. An ultra-thin sheet of DETTDC2 was retained on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with managing binder to evolve the expected working electrode of Hg(II) cationic sensors. The calibration plot was determined based on the current vs. amount of Hg(II) ion and the final calibration curve was appeared to be linear (r2: 0.9979) over the low to high range (LDR: 0.1 nM ∼ 0.01 M). The sensor performance in term of sensitivity (0.74367 µA µM−1 cm−2) was predicted from the slope of calibration plot. It was also measured the detection limit (DL: 12.80 ± 0.64 pM) of the sensor at signal to noise ratio of 3. This sensor was applied to sensitive detection of Hg(II) ions in phosphate buffer condition. Therefore, this novel electrochemical approach is the suitable method for designing the toxic heavy-metal detection to safe-guard the public health and environment remediation.

Supporting diagnostics and therapy planning for percutaneous ablation of liver and abdominal tumors and pre-clinical evaluation

Percutaneous ablation methods are used to treat primary and metastatic liver tumors. Image guided navigation support minimally invasive interventions of rigid anatomical structures. When working with the displacement and deformation of soft tissues during surgery, as in the abdomen, imaging navigation systems are in the preliminary implementation stage.In this study a multi-stage approach has been developed to support percutaneous liver tumors ablation. It includes CT image acquisition protocol with the amplitude of respiratory motion that yields images subjected to a semi-automatic method able to deliver personalized abdominal model. Then, US probe and ablation needle calibration, as well as patient position adjustment method during the procedure for the preoperative anatomy model, have been combined. Finally, an advanced module for fusion of the preoperative CT with intraoperative US images was designed. These modules have been tested on a phantom and in the clinical environment.The final average Spatial calibration error was 1,7 mm, the average error of matching the position of the markers was about 2 mm during the entire breathing cycle, and average markers fusion error 495 mm. The obtained results indicate the possibility of using the developed method of navigation in clinical practice.