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This study presents a novel method for the direct classification of 1H single-voxel MR brain tumour spectra using the widespread analysis tool LCModel. LCModel is designed to estimate individual metabolite proportions by fitting a linear combination of in vitro metabolite spectra to an in vivo MR spectrum. In this study, it is used to fit representations of complete tumour spectra and to perform a classification according to the highest estimated tissue proportion. Each tumour type is represented by two spectra, a mean component and a variability term, as calculated using a principal component analysis of a training dataset. In the same manner, a mean component and a variability term for normal white matter are also added into the analysis to allow a mixed tissue approach. An unbiased evaluation of the method is carried out through the automatic selection of training and test sets using the Kennard and Stone algorithm, and a comparison of LCModel classification results with those of the INTERPRET Decision Support System (IDSS) which incorporates an advanced pattern recognition method. In a test set of 46 spectra comprising glioblastoma multiforme, low-grade gliomas and meningiomas, LCModel gives a classification accuracy of 90% compared with an accuracy of 95% by IDSS. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phenomenological model that simulates the acoustic attenuation behavior of sonic crystals is developed in this paper. The input of the model is a set of parameters that characterizes each experimental setup, and the output is a simulation of the associated attenuation spectrum. The model consists of a combination of a multiresolution analysis based on wavelet functions and a set of artificial neural networks. An optimized coupling of these tools allows us to drastically reduce the experimental data needed, and to obtain a fast computational model that can be used for technological purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sonic crystals are periodic structures that have acoustic band gaps centred at frequencies depending on the lattice constant of the array and on the direction of the incident acoustic wave. To eliminate this dependence, this work presents designed mixed structures constructed with rigid scatterers and resonators embedded in air. Specifically, balloons filled with a blend of air and helium were used as resonators, showing experimental evidence about the resonant behavior of an array formed with these balloons. As a result, the authors obtain full band gaps in a predetermined range of frequencies desired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]