Intraluminal duodenal “windsock” diverticulum; Case Report and discussion

Intraluminal duodenal diverticulum (IDD) is a rare developmental anomaly usually found in the second portion of the duodenum. The cause appears to be a failure of recanalization of the occluded foregut lumen of the human embryo, resulting in a fenestrated mucosal membrane [1]. A small aperture in this diaphragm will gradually cause it to elongate caudally in response to duodenal peristalsis to form the so called “wind-sock” configuration. Symptoms are nonspecific and generally depend on the degree of duodenal obstruction; 25% of cases are associated with GI bleeding. In most documented cases, IDD was diagnosed radiologically, but the value of endoscopy for diagnosis and treatment has been amply demonstrated.

Robust Burst Detection Algorithm for Distributed Unique Word TDMA Signal

In recent years, distributed unique word (DUW) has been widely used in satellite single carrier TDMA signals, such as very small aperture terminal (VSAT) satellite systems. Different from the centralized structure of traditional unique word, DUW is uniformly dispersed in a burst signal, where the traditional unique word detection methods are not applicable anymore. For this, we propose a robust burst detection algorithm based on DUW. Firstly, we allocated the sliding detection windows with the same structures as DUW in order to effectively detect it. Secondly, we adopt the method of time delay conjugate multiplication to eliminate the influence of frequency offset on detection performance. Due to the uniform dispersion of DUW, it naturally has two different kinds of time delays, namely the delay within the group and the delay between the two groups. So, we divide the traditional dual correlation formula into two parts to calculate them separately and obtain a dual correlation detection algorithm, which is suitable for DUW. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that when the distribution structure of DUW changes, detection probability of the proposed algorithm fluctuates little, and its variance is 1.56×10−5, which is 99.83% lower than the existing DUW detection algorithms. In addition, its signal to noise ratio (SNR) threshold is about 1 dB lower than the existing algorithms under the same circumstance of the missed detection probability.

A Robust Workflow for Acquiring and Preprocessing Ambient Vibration Data from Small Aperture Ocean Bottom Seismometer Arrays to Extract Scholte and Love Waves Phase-Velocity Dispersion Curves

The phase-velocity dispersion curve (DC) is an important characteristic of the propagation of surface waves in sedimentary environments. Although the procedure for DC estimation in onshore environments using ambient vibration recordings is well established, the DC estimation in offshore environments using Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) array recordings of ambient vibrations presents three additional challenges: (1) the localization of sensors, (2) the orientation of the OBS horizontal components, and (3) the clock error. Here, we address these challenges in an inherent preprocessing workflow to ultimately extract the Love and Scholte wave DC from small aperture OBS array measurements performed between 2018 and 2020 in Lake Lucerne (Switzerland). The arrays have a maximum aperture of 679 m and a maximum deployment water depth of 81 m. The challenges related to the OBS location on the lake floor are addressed by combining the multibeam bathymetry map and the backscatter image for the investigated site with the differential GPS coordinates of the OBS at recovery. The OBS measurements are complemented by airgun surveys. Airgun data are first used to estimate the misorientation of the horizontal components of the OBS and second to estimate the clock error. To assess the robustness of the preprocessing workflow, we use two array processing methods, namely the three-component high-resolution frequency-wavenumber and the interferometric multichannel analysis of surface waves, to estimate the dispersion characteristics of the propagating Scholte and Love waves for one of the OBS array sites. The results show the effectiveness of the preprocessing workflow. We observe the phase-velocity dispersion curve branches in the frequency range between 1.2 and 3.2 Hz for both array processing techniques.

Very-small-aperture 3D infrasonic array for volcanic jet observation at Stromboli Volcano

Summary This study tested a very-small-aperture three-dimensional (VSA-3D) infrasonic array. A 3D array is ideal for resolving the back elevation angle (BEL), which has become important in the analysis of volcanic jet noise or geologic flows on steep mountain slopes. Although a VSA infrasonic array, with an aperture as small as a few tens of meters, has recently been shown to have a sufficient resolution of the back azimuth (BAZ) of incident signals, its BEL resolution is considered to be poor. We performed a four-element 3D array experiment with a 20-m aperture and 2-m height at the summit of Stromboli Volcano. We analyzed the direction of arrival (DOA) with the MUSIC algorithm as a function of frequency and conducted a cluster analysis for the estimated DOA–frequency functions of eruption signals. As a result, individual infrasonic signals were successfully related to eruptive vents. We also calculated the standard deviation (STD) of the DOAs in each cluster. Of the observed BAZ-STDs and BEL-STDs, 80 per cent were <2.0° and <4.6°, respectively. A comparison among the array geometries showed that the installation of a sensor above the ground, even at only 2 m, improved the BEL resolution, indicating that the VSA-3D array provides more detailed information about the wavefield than a planar array. The observed signals had higher BELs (−20° to 0°) than the vent direction (−30° to −25°) at 3–6 Hz, although signals above 20 Hz arrived from the vent direction. Our array verified that such DOA deviations were significant by the STD analysis and some tests with synthetic data. We infer that the DOA deviations do not indicate the source location and are caused by topographical diffraction.

DOA Estimation of a Space-limited MIMO Radar with High Degree of Freedom

Aiming at the problem of the small aperture of the traditional MIMO radar with virtual degrees of freedom, this paper designs a high degree of freedom space-limited MIMO radar. Both the transmitting and receiving elements of this radar adopt a sparse array structure. Array composition, the receiving array element is composed of a single array element and a uniform linear array. The number of virtual array elements can be realized by using array elements. Compared with the traditional sparse array MIMO radar with the same number of elements, the designed space-limited sparse array MIMO radar has a larger aperture. Experimental simulations verify the superiority of the space-limited MIMO radar angle estimation.

Ionospheric Clutter Suppression with an Auxiliary Crossed-Loop Antenna in a High-Frequency Radar for Sea Surface Remote Sensing

Ionospheric clutter is one of the main problems for high-frequency surface wave radars (HFSWRs), as it severely interferes with sea surface state monitoring and target detection. Although a number of methods exist for ionospheric clutter suppression, most are suitable for radars with a large-sized array and are inefficient for small-aperture radars. In this study, we added an auxiliary crossed-loop antenna to the original compact radar antenna, and used an adaptive filter to suppress the ionospheric clutter. The experimental results of the HFSWRs data indicated that the suppression factor of the ionospheric clutter was up to 20 dB. Therefore, the Bragg peaks that were originally submerged by the ionospheric clutters could be recovered, and the gaps in the current maps can, to a large extent, be filled. For an oceanographic radar, the purpose of suppressing ionospheric clutter is to extract an accurate current speed; the radial current fields that were generated by our method showed an acceptable agreement with those generated by GlobCurrent data. This result supports the notion that the ionospheric suppression technique does not compromise the estimation of radial currents. The proposed method is particularly efficient for a compact HFSWRs, and can also be easily used in other types of antennas.