Search results for "FRACTALS"
showing 10 items of 40 documents
Using the Scaling Analysis to Characterize Financial Markets
2003
We empirically analyze the scaling properties of daily Foreign Exchange rates, Stock Market indices and Bond futures across different financial markets. We study the scaling behaviour of the time series by using a generalized Hurst exponent approach. We verify the robustness of this approach and we compare the results with the scaling properties in the frequency-domain. We find evidence of deviations from the pure Brownian motion behavior. We show that these deviations are associated with characteristics of the specific markets and they can be, therefore, used to distinguish the different degrees of development of the markets.
A virtual laboratory designed for teaching diffractive lenses
2010
[EN] We present a virtual laboratory generated in Matlab GuiQc (Graphical User Interface) for its use in Optics courses as an informatic tool for teaching the focusing properties of a diffractive lens. This Gui allows the students to learn easily and rapidly about the influence on the focal volume of the lens construction parameters. As an example in this work we analyze fractal diffractive lenses because we found that fractal geometry is a highly motivating topic for students since it is related to a wide range of scientific and technological phenomena.
The fractal model of non-local elasticity with long-range interactions
2010
The mechanically-based model of non-local elasticity with long-range interactions is framed, in this study, in a fractal mechanics context. Non-local interactions are modelled introducing long-range central body forces between non-adjacent volume elements of the elastic continuum. Such long-range interactions are modelled as proportional to the product of interacting volumes, to the relative displacements of the centroids and to a distance-decaying function that is monotonically-decreasing with the distance. The choice of the decaying function is a key aspect of the model and it has been proved that any continuous function, strictly positive, is thermodynamically consistent and it leads to …
Differentiation of hepatocellular adenoma by subtype and hepatocellular carcinoma in non-cirrhotic liver by fractal analysis of perfusion MRI.
2022
Abstract Background To investigate whether fractal analysis of perfusion differentiates hepatocellular adenoma (HCA) subtypes and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in non-cirrhotic liver by quantifying perfusion chaos using four-dimensional dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (4D-DCE-MRI). Results A retrospective population of 63 patients (47 female) with histopathologically characterized HCA and HCC in non-cirrhotic livers was investigated. Our population consisted of 13 hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1α-inactivated (H-HCAs), 7 β-catenin-exon-3-mutated (bex3-HCAs), 27 inflammatory HCAs (I-HCAs), and 16 HCCs. Four-dimensional fractal analysis was applied to arterial, portal v…
Diagnostic Performance of Muscle Echo Intensity and Fractal Dimension for the Detection of Frailty Phenotype
2021
To determine the relationship between muscle echo intensity (EI) and fractal dimension (FD), and the diagnostic performance of both ultrasound parameters for the identification of frailty phenotype. A retrospective interpretation of ultrasound scans from a previous cohort (November 2014–February 2015) was performed. The sample included healthy participants <60 years old, and participants ≥60 divided into robust, pre-frail, and frail groups according to Fried frailty criteria. A region of interest of the rectus femoris from the ultrasound scan was segmented, and histogram function was applied to obtain EI. For fractal analysis, images were processed using two-dimensional box-counting techniq…
Fractal analyses reveal independent complexity and predictability of gait
2017
Locomotion is a natural task that has been assessed since decades and used as a proxy to highlight impairments of various origins. Most studies adopted classical linear analyses of spatio-temporal gait parameters. Here, we use more advanced, yet not less practical, non-linear techniques to analyse gait time series of healthy subjects. We aimed at finding more sensitive indexes related to spatio-temporal gait parameters than those previously used, with the hope to better identify abnormal locomotion. We analysed large-scale stride interval time series and mean step width in 34 participants while altering walking direction (forward vs. backward walking) and with or without galvanic vestibular…
Relative Peripheral Myopia Induced by Fractal Contact Lenses
2018
[EN] Purpose: To assess the peripheral refraction induced by Fractal Contact Lenses (FCLs) in myopic eyes by means of a two-dimensional Relative Peripheral Refractive Error (RPRE) map. Materials and Methods: This study involved 26 myopic subjects ranging from -0.50 D to -7.00 D. FCLs prototypes were custom-manufactured and characterized. Corneal topographies were taken in order to assess correlations between corneal asphericity and lens decentration. Two-dimensional RPREs were measured with an open-field autorefractor at 67 points, covering the central 60 x 30 degrees of the visual field. The bidimensional RPRE vector components: M, J(0) and J(45) of the difference between the values obtain…
Evolution of grain-size distribution of pumice sands in 1-D compression
2016
Abstract Crushing is one of the micromechanisms that govern the mechanical behaviour of sands at medium-high stresses. It depends on mineralogy, form and strength of single particle, mean stress level, coordination number, time, etc.. It causes changes of grain-size distribution, porosity, number and type of grain contacts, fabric, structure of the material, etc.. Results of an experimental research on the crushing of pumice sands compressed under 1-D conditions to vertical effective stresses σ′v up to 100MPa are reported here. They show marked crushing already at σ′v of about 200kPa. The evolution of the grain-size distribution can be represented by ΔDi= h/(K(1+C exp(–hlgσ′v))) in which ΔD…
Fractal-related assembly of the axial filament in the demosponge Suberites domuncula: relevance to biomineralization and the formation of biogenic si…
2007
Abstract The siliceous spicules of sponges (Porifera) show great variations of sizes, shapes and forms; they constitute the chief supporting framework of these animals; these skeletal elements are synthesized enzymatically by silicatein. Each sponge species synthesizes at least two silicateins, which are termed − α and − β . In the present study, using the demosponge Suberites domuncula , we studied if the silicateins of the axial filament contribute to the shape formation of the spicules. For these experiments native silicateins have been isolated by a new Tris/glycerol extraction procedure. Silicateins isolated by this procedure are monomeric (24 kDa), but readily form dimers through non-…
Laminar flow through fractal porous materials: the fractional-order transport equation
2015
Abstract The anomalous transport of a viscous fluid across a porous media with power-law scaling of the geometrical features of the pores is dealt with in the paper. It has been shown that, assuming a linear force–flux relation for the motion in a porous solid, then a generalized version of the Hagen–Poiseuille equation has been obtained with the aid of Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative. The order of the derivative is related to the scaling property of the considered media yielding an appropriate mechanical picture for the use of generalized fractional-order relations, as recently used in scientific literature.